The "joys" of being an introvert in a world of extroverts

I will say this over and over again: writing a book is the easiest part to being an author, especially an indie author. At least with traditional publishers (or so I'm told), you have a team to do most of the leg work for you and handle the business side of things. For an indie author, though, it's all up to me. I have to do my marketing, my promoting, my deadlines, my research, my networking, and every other business-related activity one can think of. I've come a long way since last July when I knew NOTHING of what I could expect as an indie author, but I know that I have so much further to go until I'm on par with my peers.

Until last week, I barely had any sort of internet presence. My books are all over the place, sure, but I didn't really have any sort of outlet for the author behind the books. I avoid social media like the plague for the most part as being exposed to the world makes me a bit jittery. My social media accounts almost never have any actual goings on from my actual offline life; it's mostly just nerdy memes, food porn, bad puns, and pictures of cute animals. I didn't even have a smartphone until two and a half years ago because I didn't like being tethered to everything every moment of my life. I'm a pretty private person in real life, too, with only a few friends that I've had for a better part of two decades or more. I can't fathom having hundreds (or thousands) of people looking at my personal Facebook page like I see that some people have. There just aren't that many people I want to know the inner workings of my life.

But with every step I take deeper into the writing community, the more I'm told that I need to make myself a brand, that the more people recognize my name and can put a real person to it, the better. For someone like me who treasures my privacy and doesn't like to draw attention to herself, that can be quite difficult. We all know the internet can be a scary place at times; the anonymity of it all can bring out the worst in people, which I've learned through some of my book reviews. There are those out there with sadness and pain in their lives that redirect it onto others to ease their own suffering. So why put my face out there? Why feed the trolls?

But to be an author, eventually you're going to have to put yourself out there. You're going to have to go to book signings and smile for (hopefully, someday) a line of people anxiously waiting to speak to you for a few moments. You're going to have to get asked questions by someone who wants to interview you. You're going to have to walk up to a stranger and tell them about your book with total confidence in your work. It's just a part of the industry, and for me it's the most difficult part. Yet I'm working on building my brand: I am trying to learn more about Twitter (@BravingStormPgh), I have my own official author website now (jenniferlbrooks.com), and of course I started blogging. There are days that are easier than others; I've talked on live Facebook feeds, talked to people during author events, and even spoken to a few local bookstores.

When my first book came out, I wanted to hit up all of the local bookstores to get my book on actual shelves. The thought of walking into a bookstore and speaking to someone in charge. though, was absolutely terrifying, though. What if they said no? What if they told me to GTFO before I even stood a chance? What if I made a complete ass out of myself and somehow tarnished my reputation before it even had a chance to grow? Talk about a panic attack!

It took a while--and my best friend coming with me as moral support--but eventually I walked into White Whale Bookstore and asked them if they'd carry my book. I gave a brief synopsis of the story, and before I knew it I was going out to the trunk of my car to get more copies. The same thing happened at Rickert & Beagle Books as well. There were a few more places I'd gone to and was denied, but it wasn't so bad because my book was already in another store. I'm going to have to do it all over again for the second book now that it's out, but I've been dragging my feet for all of the reasons above all over again.

Will I ever be a chatty cathy? Probably not...but I'm making progress everyday. It's a struggle, but it's worth it.