It's a Doggie-Doggie World

Face facts. You may be a writer, but until you are Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson or Danielle Steele, you ARE going to be your own marketing agent. No two ways about it. Promo, marketing, advertising - no, no one can "prove" how many "hits" you get on your website or blog. No, they can't swear that you'll make NNN dollars in sales if you run a print ad. And does getting a great review or a bestseller ranking ratchet up the profile and ka-chign? NO ONE CAN TELL YOU.

But what they can tell you is if you don't create a platform, if you don't brand yourself, if you don't have a web-presence and if you haven't calculated your own marketing plan, well, you're doomed to remain in the literary minor leagues forever.

So deal with it. There are going to be the times when you have to take off your creative beret and pull on that nifty fedora and be a business person. Sell yourself. That's writing. That's life.

That's the writing life.