By Lisbeth Coiman
Self-promotion is a full-time job. Large publishing companies have entire PR teams to promote an author’s work. If the writer signs with a small press the weight of promotion falls on the author who can chose one of three options. A. Do not promote at all. Bring the book into the world and allow the universe to do its thing. B. Hire the services of a PR company which can go anywhere from $1800 to $3000. C. Blow your own horn and blow loud.
After all, books are like children. We conceive them. We care for them when they are gestating. But once they are born, it is our responsibility as word artists to nurture their growth. I am proud of all my children: the two human and the three books. As much as I have been/am a committed mother, I refuse to just put a book out and abandon it to its luck.
The cost associated with self-promotion can skyrocket. It will cost a couple of hundred dollars to learn to design a website. Li Yun Alvarado does an excellent job. There are fees associated to purchasing and keeping a domain. You will need a few author pics to use for submissions, events, and social media graphics. At minimum that would be another $250. Melissa Johnson offers budget sensitive photo shoots.
Then there is the issue of advertising on social media platforms. Pay anywhere from $15 to $30 to boost a post. Pay fees to store graphics in Planoly or any other social media friendly archive. There is also the opportunity of paying somebody just for the task of posting on social media, which is not cost effective but can take time off your shoulders. I have temporary hired designers to do this for me, but only for short periods of time. Camari Hawkins and JT have helped me design graphic concepts and update my website. Graphics must meet social media constrains, which will require fees if you want a sophisticated job.
In the end, the only low-cost option is a DIY approach. My choice is always to go for the most basic. But even when spending the minimum, the time spent in advertising your forthcoming or just released book takes a toll on the individual. I do not wish to exhaust my readers with a mile long to-do list of items required for a book release campaign. Know that it requires hours of careful planning. These include but are not limited to: writing press releases, sending letters, contacting reading series, calling radio stations, organizing events, contacting libraries, getting a zoom account, purchasing your own books to sign to readers, writing emails back and forth, designing graphics for social media and cross posting everywhere possible to avoid boosting fees, or updating a website that is far from perfect. It is unpaid time in a long process that can last a whole year leaving even the most committed writer with no space to develop new content.
Don’t get me wrong. It is gratifying too. I feel proud knowing that I have done this on my own, with the help of friends who retweet/repost, or encourage me, or offer their venues to host an event, or simply offer fresh ideas. Even when three people show up for an event, I am happy to know that I reached new readers, and they are now aware of my work as a poet.
I am nowhere close to be an established writer even when I can no longer claim to be emerging. But in the last five years, I have worked day and night learning, writing, and making myself known. Yes, I am grateful for all the support I have received along the way from the extraordinary talented community of Women Who Submit and others in LA for they have have welcome me and my craft. But I thank me first for the hard work I put raising my babies.
Lisbeth Coiman is an author, poet, educator, cultural worker, and rezandera born in Venezuela. Coiman’s wanderlust spirit landed her to three countries—from her birthplace to Canada, and finally the USA, where she self-published her first book, I Asked the Blue Heron: A Memoir (2017). She dedicated her bilingual poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento, Finishing Line Press( Sept. 2021) to her homeland, Venezuela. An avid hiker, and teacher of English as a Second Language, Coiman lives in Los Angeles, CA.