Promotion and Community

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Like so many of us authors, the idea of promoting myself and my work makes me all wriggly and barely-coherent. But in my conversations with other authors, I'm comforted by the fact that I'm not alone.

And the fact that I'm not alone is what I've come to love about publicity and promotion. Because to me it means building community. I know well the power of story, and as a writer, I love "finding the story", which brings a whole new meaning to the concept of promotion to me. I know that when I put myself "out there", when I take risks, I'm expanding on my story. I'm sharing my story, and being welcomed into others' stories -- other writers, other educators, other readers of all shapes and sizes. I'm offered new opportunities to engage and grow. 

The experience of being a part of group sites like The Brown Bookshelf, The 2009 Debutantes,  The Tenners, and now Smack Dab, has been about much more than simply promoting my work. I'm so grateful for the generous spirit of the kidlit community -- I've made friends, learned and re-learned a countless number of lessons, been inspired, and have been surprised by so much. Even my craft blog has been an opportunity to build relationships with readers and writers around creative processes and inspiration. (And of course, the books! I get to find out about new and new-to-me books! MY TBR pile is skyscraper-high and that is a very, very good thing.) 

By challenging myself to expand my concept of community, I get opportunities to go deeper with readers and writers of all ages -- it enhances my life, and my work, and that's been a wonderful and unexpected part of "promotion."

Looking forward to getting to know you here!