Twenty-three years ago, while my
husband was working in Japan, I got up in the middle of the night and sat at
his computer. I didn’t know anything about computers beyond the very basics; I
didn’t really know how to type, for that matter. But a sentence had come into
my head. A first sentence. The first first sentence, with many more to follow,
though I didn’t know that at the time. I only knew that I was compelled to
write this one down. When the sun rose on a new day, I had forty-five pages of
what was to be my first book. Several months later, it had grown into
four-hundred-and-fifty, over 100,000 words, the final ones being “the end.”
According to everything I’d read
about being a writer, now it was time for me to begin hawking the book to
publishers. It wasn’t really “hawking” at first; in fact it was more like
baring my soul to strangers. I had created this wonderful thing and wanted to
share it with the world, to gently lay the baby kitten of my immagination at
the feet of those who would appreciate it. I was in for some serious reality
checks. After time, I learned that selling a book was like selling anything
else: part enthusiasm, part good advertising, and part being louder than
everyone else in the room.
That book was never published, but
I didn’t mind. As long as I remained unpublished, I could write anything I pleased
with no deadlines, restraints, or obligations. Then came my Crazy Cat Lady cozy
mystery series, and life has never been the same. I can’t just write my stories
anymore: I need to blog and use social media, tweet and post. I have launches
and book signing events. I take part in large book shows with multiple authors.
I dress the part, wearing cat-print clothing and furry ears, a crazy cat lady
costume. It’s fun, draws people’s attention, and is an integral part of “hawking
my wares.”
The term “hawker” comes from the
16th century or before and was originally defined as a traveling street vendor. The verb “to hawk” means “to offer for sale
in a very vigorous, public fashion, especially by calling out loudly in the
street.” I don’t actually sell in the streets, but some of the big shows such
as the international cat show I’ve been doing this weekend can feel that way.
As people walk by, I shove a promotional postcard into their hand and give them
the 1-sentence book pitch: …more trouble than a cat in catnip! It works. They
stop. They talk. I tell them what a cozy cat mystery is and they tell me about
their cats. Sometimes they buy, and I’ve achieved my goal: to lay that kitten
of my imagination, if not at their feet, at least on or near their bookshelf.
Check out
more blogs by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:
Happy
reading!
You pegged book promotion perfectly with this: "part enthusiasm, part good advertising, and part being louder than everyone else in the room". It's a dog-eat-aardvark world out there in the land of publishing, marketing, and promoting. Makes me tired just thinking about it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMe too. I try to have fun with it, and then run away when I get tired.
ReplyDelete