A few weekends ago I watched my son pursue his fascination with photography. He’ll be 14 next week and has dabbled with
the hobby on and off over the years. He was never really armed with having anything but the
camera on his phone or a ten-year-old digital camera with limited capabilities.
But he recently bought a “real” camera with some special lens that give him the
range he previously lacked.
As I
watched him snap off hundreds of photos in a matter of minutes I realized that
the act of taking photos allowed him to not only express his creativity but to
really see the world differently. A zoom
here, or a shadow there, and you can start to see a whole new reality open
before him. I couldn’t help but think
authors could learn from this and take a new perspective to book marketing.
I
don’t mean that authors should take up photography, though if they did they
would not suffer for it, but they should begin to attempt to see things
differently. Just as my son would focus
his lens on things he normally wouldn’t look at otherwise, authors should start
to see opportunities in ways or places they previously had not.
As
my son would crawl into spots or climb things he normally wouldn’t venture
towards, with a camera in hand, he has the excuse and courage to wander
around. There he was, going up a hill of
rocks, walking across a fallen tree with no safety net, and nuzzling the
grounds from an angle only seen by dogs.
All in the name of capturing an image never seen before.
Authors
need to look at the book marketing landscape and see things differently,
putting aside assumptions, fears, or beliefs they have seen things fully. There are always new ways to look at things.
Focus your attention on opportunities you never knew existed or see old things
in a different way.
Ok,
so what’s a practical way to use this?
·
Question
how you’ve been doing things. Are you operating under myths or incomplete
truths?
·
Did
you fully explore and engage your ideas on how to best promote yourself?
·
Have
you tried to view things from a different perspective, such as trying things
you had ignored or dismissed?
·
Can
you get help from others – or invest in tools and resources – to help you do things
differently?
·
Have
you examined all opportunities as thoroughly and close up as you need to do?
My
son’s photos of close-up objects with a zoom lens from an unusual angle would
actually distort the image to the point it was unrecognizable. He had
transformed his surrounding environment into a whole new universe. You can do the same with your approach to
book publicity.
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