Graphic Creation

I have a love/hate relationship with creating promotional graphics for books. At times it's an enjoyable task, and others a necessary evil. Like today. It took me two hours to come up with something I liked, while the last book took fifteen minutes to make a graphic I loved. I loved it so much, I had a poster printed and bought a frame and easel so I could display it.

Today, I was getting so frustrated (which of course wasn't helping the process) with the time I was spending because I'd rather devote it writing more of my new book that I wondered if it's worth it. Why was I doing this to myself...getting myself in a tizzy over a graphic to put on Facebook? It seemed like a waste of time. I am a writer. I should write. But alas, one must promote and market their book(s) if they want readers to know about and read it.

I knew I'd be short-changing myself if I ignored this necessary task so I took a deep breath and got back to work. The truth all writers face is that there are a lot of books out vying for readers love. Readers won't know about my book if I don't share. If I don't tell. So, I pushed the negative feelings aside and continued with coming up with a show-and-tell for my new book.

It took some tweaking before I had a option that I liked. At first, it looked too plain and now it seems a little busy. I'm going to let it "sit" for today and see how I feel tomorrow. Though right now, I'm leaning toward deleting the Crafty and Crime sticker in the lower left corner.

I'm the greatest

Raise your hand if you like to sell. I mean, sell anything—cookies, your book, a product you've created, or yourself.

My hands are by my side. Not a good posture in today's world of 24/7 marketing and promotion.

For authors, it's essential to keep our names out there, they tell us. A recent article in a popular writers' magazine suggests that authors doing signings at bookstores start by "easing a copy" of their book into the hands of anyone who seems curious, and tell them what a "terrific book" it is and how "people are talking about it."


Here's how I started my sales career.

In the early 80s, I formed a company around products I made. The idea was to put images and quotes from scientists and engineers on common items such as potholders, mugs, note cards … anything that had a design. I wanted to replace the mushrooms and butterflies that dominated kitchen towels with an educational theme.

One of my first products was a calendar of dates in science and engineering. Pre-internet, it took nearly a year of evenings and weekends to come up with at least one entry for every day. For June 8, for example, I typed in Francis Crick, b. 1918; patent for the vacuum cleaner, 1869.

I thought a good market might be the many bookstores around the UC campus where I lived. I made a list and ventured out. (Pre-internet, remember.)
I walked into the first bookstore, stepped to counter and said (and this is pretty much verbatim), "Excuse me, I hate to bother you. I have something here and you're probably not interested. It's a calendar and I know you already have a lot of them and maybe don't want another one."

The response was something like, "Yup. No, thanks."

I was shocked when the business failed.

I've gotten a little better in promoting my books, but the phrase still has a slightly grating sound to me. I don't like people who promote (anything) aggressively; I don't want to be like them.

P. T. Barnum, a pioneer in the art of promotion said, "Without promotion, something terrible happens … nothing!"

I do love to talk about my books, my writing process, and my publishing adventures. I love especially to talk to readers, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to call anything I do "the best" or "the greatest" or even "good" without blushing. Should I pack up and leave the field?