Marketing for Romance Writers – Don’t Be Afraid

One of the aspects of writing romance novels I have been dreading is the marketing.

I think a lot of writers dread it. The writers I know are people who cringe at the thought of public speaking never mind the incessant interaction with strangers the term marketing implies. We tend to be more comfortable hanging out with the strangers in our heads.

Nonetheless, I have come to the conclusion after exhaustive procrastination that the real issue with authors and marketing is not shyness.

Instead, we are intimidated by the idea of being amateurs in a field where many people have academic training and a lifetime’s experience. It seems like the height of hubris to think we can succeed where professionals struggle to be noticed.

But wait a minute.

Isn’t that what we did when we decided to write a book?

Didn’t it seem then that authors were unapproachable geniuses? Unlike us, they had a deep instinctual understanding of plot arc, character development and enticing metaphors. Yeah, well. We know better now.

Most of us authors tried other careers before deciding we had to write. Many of us continue to pursue day jobs and write in the chinks of spare time we have. If we had the arrogance and unmitigated gall to do that, why shouldn’t we try our hands at marketing too?

Applying SEO, targeting an audience, advertising and planning marketing campaigns are things we can all do if we are willing to learn how. And if learning how means we can bring pleasure to countless readers, who are we to stand in our own way?

Rose Grey has written three romance novels and is hard at work on a fourth. If you liked this post, come visit the rest of the blog at www.rosegreybooks.com. Hot Pursuit and Not As Advertised are available as ebooks and as paperbacks online.