“Gosh, so many anthologies out there? And solo books too?” The exclamations come, fast and furious, and I preen, thrilled at being the centre of attention, till the realization dawns that attention spans can be anything between one second and five minutes. Depending on the time spent with the ‘exclaimer’ if there is such a word!
The next moment, I find myself alone, in the centre of a glittering stage, waiting in anticipation for my solo act, and I am not surprised that it is called a solo act. I need to do something drastic to draw the attention of the crowds milling about on the side-lines. They are all busy in their own worlds, doing their own things, as I teeter on stage, wondering what on earth would make them notice me.
Advice is cheap, liberal, and highly overrated!
“Hey, how about creating a video around your book?” Lovely, except that I was born in the last century when the television was just invented!
“I have a great idea. Let’s do some interviews where you can show off your writing and oratorial skills!” My husband was sweet enough to even buy me a tripod since everything is online now, hoping that I would be using it regularly from the day it was unwrapped. As they say, hope lies eternal, and dust just lies.
“Are you at least a bathroom singer? Maybe, a jingle on your writing would work wonders!” ‘Vajradanti, vajradanti’ comes to mind… irrelevant, but that is the jingle stuck in my mind over the decades. Unless it can be replaced by ‘Vicco Turmeric’… more a panacea for pimples than writing!
While I love writing in all its glory, and put out my pieces regularly, whether books, short stories, reviews, or articles, there is one point where I get stuck with amazing regularity. Every single time! The point when I lay down my pen or shut down my computer, apprehensive at having put my heart out there. Yeats knew what he was talking about when he said, “Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
For the next step is selling my writing, and that seems the toughest job on earth, almost like selling snow to an Eskimo. Or milk to a Jersey cow! There are people who can do both and I admire them from the bottom of my heart. I really do. I just wish they could do it for me as well.
My ever-understanding publisher gives out gentle doses of what writers should do. Mind you, he is highly tactful and does not tread on any corns, and has some amazing nuggets of wisdom which make perfect sense.
“Writers are meant to be seen and heard. Both!”
“Why do you think those writers sell more books? They have perfect PR skills and use them to eternity!”
“Listen, you need to talk about your writing at least once a day. Stay in people’s faces!”
“Talk about the stories of other writers. Write reviews. Use Twitter and social media liberally.”
Till recently, I had thought that tweeting was something only birds do…
Now, I am on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and I do try to make a bit of noise about my writing. However, my little honk gets hidden under the numerous other foghorns that blast on regardless, and by the time I retrieve my modest little tweet or post, it has lost its relevance. However, one thing I do with alacrity is retweet every single tweet that I see, unless it is by Arnab Goswami or Donald Trump. Retweeting is easy, thankfully.
I have already decided what my New Year’s Resolution is going to be.
Stop writing! Pronto!
Go back to all the numerous pieces I have written! (In all modesty, I can say I have quite a few, including two giant scrapbooks that could easily be used as dumbbells! Pun intended!)
Put all my pieces out on social media and use a metaphorical loudspeaker to garner eyeballs. I could continue to use a mask if the jitters get to me!
Write reviews on books by other authors and hope against hope that some of them return the compliment. Fingers crossed that those one-star reviews do not make it to the finish line, though. They bring down the five-star effect, somehow, by just making their presence felt, like a bone stuck in the throat.
Pray that my books get noticed somewhere, sometime, in this century. If not, there is always hope in the distant future, when my unborn great-grandchildren dig up my books and prove to be better social media managers that I am. The word ‘posthumous’ has a nice ring to it, after all! Makes one sound famous!
In the end, I apologise for this piece! If you were looking for tips from me, you are going to be disappointed. However, if it evinces a smile, consider my job done!
I was wondering how to end this harangue. Then I found this beautiful quote.
“Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
After that who cares?
They’re a mile away and you’ve got their shoes.”
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