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Using Tech for Book Marketing

Kate Gingold from Sprocket WebsitesKate has been building websites with her husband Don since 1996 for all sorts of clients, including authors.

Kate regularly writes about online marketing for Sprocket Websites and provides tips and techniques for entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Since being an author today is not really different from being an entrepreneur with a small business, most of those tips are just as useful to authors.

Kate is an author herself. She writes books on local history, including the award-winning "Ruth by Lake and Prairie," a fictionalized account of the true story of Great Lake pioneering to the shores of Chicago and beyond to found Naperville, Illinois. 

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Ruth By Lake and Prairie

Author Tips and Tales

If Art Is in your Heart, Don't Be Afraid to Share Your Art with the World
Kate Gingold Host
/ Categories: Author Tips

If Art Is in your Heart, Don't Be Afraid to Share Your Art with the World

I recently talked with a young person, despairing and ready to give up, because the art they wanted to create hadn’t come to fruition yet and they were already over thirty. I also talked with a nearly-retired person, despairing that the opportunity to create art had passed them by. 

To both, I said: “Nonsense!”

Really, their biggest fear isn’t that they won’t be able to produce art. Of course they can. What folks really fear is that, even if they pursue the creation of their art, it won’t be “good.” For most people, “good” means recognized with celebrity, awards, and big bucks. 

That kind of success is possible. Through practice, perseverance, and little bit of luck, both of my friends could hit it big. But “big” doesn’t happen very often. That’s part of what makes it so special. We daydream about that rare pinnacle, but the cold reality is that the odds are against reaching it.

Hence, the despair, which, as I said, is nonsense. 

A few decades ago, I was pursuing an arts degree. My concentration was painting, but I was required to take classes in other media. I wound up taking pottery classes. I was not a natural, although I enjoyed it very much. More significantly, I found the studio community to be friendly and nurturing and it was there that I learned a very important lesson about creating art. 

A competition show was coming up and I was just not getting the hang of throwing clay on a wheel. My professor suggested I work on hand-building projects instead. So I did. Some pieces had holes and wrinkles. Some pieces were flocked and velvety. I submitted a display of my “Hardly Functional Pottery” and won an award. 

I don’t know where those pieces are now. Maybe in a box somewhere. They just don't fit into my daily life. What I do keep nearby are mugs made by my fellow potters all those years ago. Not because they won any awards, but because I use them regularly. And every time I hold one of them in my hand, I enjoy the color, the shape, the way it feels. 

When you think about films, books, and other expressions of art, many of the award-winners and the critic-favorites don’t enjoy popular appeal. We can appreciate them, but we don’t necessarily like them. 

Art-With-A-Capital-A has a place in the world, but so does small-a art. We artists should take pride in giving pleasure and inspiration, even within a more intimate circle. Rather than “good,” we should strive to be “better.” And keep reminding ourselves that our art is worth the creating and worth the sharing.

Find joy in being the mug.

Photo by lil artsy

 

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Full disclosure:  Writing for Sprocket Websites is my day job, so if you have questions about digital marketing, I'm happy to help!

 

Marketing Author Interview

Following a presentation for In Print Professional Writers Group, Kate's husband (and publisher!) Don was interviewed by author Louise Brass for WBOM Radio. During the conversation, Don shared many of the marketing tips from his presentation. You can listen to it online here.

The Sprocket Report

The Sprocket Report is published every other week with Internet marketing tips, tools and techniques. The archive features articles from 2011 up to the present. You are welcome to read how business owners are using technology to market themselves and apply those tips to your author business.


 

 

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Kate will be happy to send you her brief Book Signing Checklist. Treat your book promotion like a business - because it is!

AND, since much of your efforts will be online, she'll also enroll you in her Sprocket Report, an email newsletter sent every other Tuesday, that includes 2 Internet Marketing tips and a post from a guest blogger on related business.

No worries! She won't use your email address for anything else, and you can unsubscribe from the newsletter anytime, but the checklist is yours to keep.

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