Friday, December 16, 2016

Pain, Loss & Fear: The Keys To Great Book Marketing ?


I’ve noticed that I find a way to persevere, sometimes even thrive, under adversity.  I feel more familiar when operating under a deficit, pressure or challenge.  Many of us are like that.  We procrastinate until we feel the adrenaline of stress flow.  We multi-task and over-schedule ourselves.  We throw ourselves unnecessarily into danger.  We take risks.  We force ourselves to tune out our pain, fear, or shortcomings and pour our efforts into what we can control and where we have success.  Perhaps to promote your book, you need a hindrance in your life.

This past year ranks as one of my worst.  I had a sick child develop a chronic condition, diagnosed only after numerous hospital visits and restless nights.  I had a spouse overcome a life-threatening illness.  I suffered some health issues.  My dad passed away.  The only consistent living being in my home is my dopey bulldog, Daisy, and even she has burned a hole in my pocket with her allergy shots.

But through it all I noticed that I focus harder and work better under duress.  Why?  Because it becomes my outlet and takes my focus away from disease, death, insurance companies, and sadness.

I know I’m not alone.  Life has many setbacks, curves, and losses.  Authors don’t need to get sick or lose someone to feel pain, anxiety or frustration over life, but when significant things happen in your life, the best remedy may just be to further immerse yourself in your writing and book promoting.  It beats the alternative of wallowing in self-pity.

You may say it is so hard to concentrate when something physically hurts you or snaps at your heart or clouds your mind, but that’s exactly when you need to make peace with what disturbs you.  Take a time out from the shit of life and for a moment or two, let yourself escape into your writing mindset, where the world can literally be redrawn with every pen or key stroke.

Maybe I’m just good at avoidance and denying my very own sad reality, quick to assume the life of the writer and book marketer when life itself is too difficult to confront.  But I don’t run to write to the exclusion of other things.  I handle my responsibilities but I don’t languish in them.  I simply choose not to.  But that’s me.  Everyone handles life differently.

When burdened with a problem, we try to fix it.  These things take time and often there’s a price to pay that’s lasting and painful.  But while the drama of life unfolds – good or bad – there’s always a need to compartmentalize our lives and make sure that we thrust ourselves into our craft.  In fact, we may use the emotional energy of our trauma to infuse and enliven our writings.

If you are hurting -- physically, emotionally, spiritually -- hang in there. embrace it. Turn your lemons into lemonade. You may just become more productive for it. 



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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
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