Writers, Don’t Let Your Ego Be Your Downfall

  

“Lindsey Vonn Plans To Compete In Olympics Despite Torn ACL Sustained In fall.”

This was the newest sports headline. 

If you don’t know that she has been a world-class athlete, that is okay. And if you did not realize the 41-year-old skier had been retired for six years until she made another goat making our nation's Olympic skiing team, no worries. All that you need to know is that this once vaunted athlete is letting her pride and ego get in the way of doing what is best for her team and country. 

Authors should learn from this. 

So, here is an exceptional story, of how an older athlete comes back from a long break to qualify to represent America in the Winter Olympics in just a few days. Very inspiring. Then, she gets hurt. Badly. She still wants to compete. Sounds courageous and resilient, but it is just her bloated ego that is now talking, tone deaf to reality. 

How can she expect to be at her best by skiing injured? How can her aging body compensate for a damaged knee?  

If she proves to be instrumental in carrying Team USA to earn Gold, it will be an amazing story, but it would also mean something is wrong with the sport or her level of competition, for what merit is there to a sporting event that can be won by a damaged competitor? For her to stand tall, we would need to scrutinize which chemist drugged her to withstand the pain and perform (steroids?) well at such a high level while on one leg? 

And if she loses, as would be expected, it is a cautionary tale to not let vanity get in your way. Authors, pay attention. 

All too often, an author's ego undermines their success. They either don't believe enough in their talent and ability to influence others -- or they think they are so great that they don't have to do much to gain readership and sales. In both cases, nothing good ever happens.  

As for not believing in yourself, you may need a therapist or a good self-help book to inspire you and instill you with confidence. Maybe you need to just have the courage to take a risk and put yourself out there. You need to feel you are worthy, that your books are good enough, and you need to get out there and market your writings like crazy.  

In the case of acting like there is no need to push your book simply because you think it is great, you are undermining the success such a book deserves. You may think or know it is great. So what? You need to let others know it exists. Every author must not think he or she can just lie back and wait for the readers to come to them. Oh no. You must push, pull, and constantly be in the faces of others. Even word-of-mouth won't help if you don't get enough people to initially read it and spread their praises. 

So, whereas Vonn think, she is entitled to ski in the Olympics, and is putting ego ahead of the team, she is setting up a cold winter of defeat for America. And you, too, are setting up disappointment and defeat for your book if you don't market it and overcome your insecurity or your inflated ego.   

Get the hell out of your way and market like there is no tomorrow for a chance at success today. 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,600,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum