"Self-promotion for the Creative Person" by Lee Silbers

Mark gave me a copy of this book. He found it helpful for his line of work (film editing), and thought I might enjoy it, too.

Full disclosure: I think very little about things like promotion. It takes all--ALL--my energy just to create a humble little story that doesn't stink. But Silbers convinced me of the importance of self-promotion (once my stories move beyond not just not stinking), because if you feel deeply about your work, you want it to affect as many people as possible.

The book is organized into sections (persistence, word-of-mouth, creating a plan, et cetera) but really the book's value lies in the multitude of ideas that Silbers rattles off throughout these sections. Like writing (yes, hand-writing) thank-you cards, like taking advantage of a local promotional angle, like the idea that you can be nutty and creative, but still need to act professional.

With this book, I sort of feel like a freshman high schooler who takes the SAT for practice so that when they're a junior, they'll really kick ass on the test. Once I write something that warrants the need for publicity, I think I'll know what to do. All you further-along writers should take a look at this book.