I Suppose I Should Be Shouting (January Theme from Jody Feldman)

I could whip up a marketing plan with the best of them.
I could write ad copy that would make your head spin.
I could conjure up ways to convince you that you need the unnecessary.
But when I was trained in advertising, it was always as a way to promote some other company’s products. At the time, who knew I’d even have anything to promote, so I was brave and bold with my methods and statements. I could brag and boast without seeming pushy. Even the premise of The Gollywhopper Games series centers around a marketing ploy.

But when it came time to be all about me, I wanted to hide behind my mom’s legs again.

One school superintendent who brought me in for a week of visits sat in on my first presentation. “You need to talk more about your new book. Don’t waste this opportunity.”

And she was right, so in each session the rest of the week, I gave my new book an extra 20 seconds. As I was on the plane home, I wondered why I didn’t want to push. It always came back to my reason for writing for kids. I write for the kid who was me all those years ago. I write so some kid today will actually make it through to The End. I write for the voracious reader who wants to have fun. I write in hope that my books will speak to some kid on some level somewhere in the world.

And that’s the Catch 22. I want kids to read my books – I want many kids to read my books – but outside of speaking at conferences and especially in schools (which I happen to love), I don’t enjoy self-promotion.

I do, though, operate within my comfort zone. I offer class sets of bookmarks. I write blogs like this. I interact on Facebook and Twitter and I try and be myself which has seemed to work pretty well. And I am especially appreciative of anything my publisher might plan.

Of course there’s so much I could be doing. What’s more I truly know how to do it. But here’s the thing – mostly I just want to write the best next book I can then hope it finds a way to catch fire with the smallest spark. 

(As long as I'm here, feel free to follow me on Twitter - @jodyfeldman - and Like my Jody Feldman Facebook page. And if you think anyone might like to know, tell them The Gollywhopper Games 2 will be out later this year. Now, I will slink away ... )