Marketing Madness with Megg Jensen: Marketing for the Shy Writer

The Marketing Madness continues. I'm excited to have Megg on the blog today. And, being a shy writer, was doubly excited to host her. Thanks, Megg! :)

When I first embarked on this writing journey I knew that marketing was part of the deal - and it scared me, a lot. In high school I was really outgoing. I starred in plays, participated in speech team for four years, and loved public speaking. I’m not sure why, but something broke in college. Now I’m incredible shy about public speaking and often find myself feeling nauseous when standing in front of an audience.

Writing is a solitary profession, but if I want anyone to read my books I have to get out there and talk about them. It’s been easy since most of my marketing has been done on the internet. I have no problem engaging with people through my computer and when I mention how shy I can be in real life, no one believes me.

Recently I was asked to present at a local SCBWI meeting, but luckily they also asked my DarkSide Publishing colleague Karly Kirkpatrick if she would present as well. I was nervous, sure, but riding there with Karly made the build up a little less scary. Only about ten people showed up for the talk, and I knew three of them, so I was able to relax somewhat. I let Karly take the lead (she’s a teacher so she’s used to this kind of thing), but I found myself feeling more and more comfortable throughout the evening. By the end of the night, I’d surprised myself by admitting that I actually had a lot of fun!

Don’t take that as a ringing endorsement for me as a public speaker. I was asked by another group to speak in early 2012. I readily agreed, assuming I’d be part of a panel. Once we settled on a date, she mentioned I would be the only speaker. I immediately emailed Karly and GP Ching (another DarkSide author) and begged them to join me. Thankfully they’re both free that day and the organizer agreed that a panel would be a great idea.

While public speaking isn’t my favorite thing to do, I’ve realized that my spoken words have value and that helps me to step out of my shell. I’m not just spewing random facts, I’m engaging with another person who’s truly interested in what I have to say. Talk about a confidence booster!

I have to remind myself that people who come to hear me speak are there because they want to learn something. I want to help people along their publishing journey, so it’s a perfect marriage isn’t it? I may never be as comfortable as Oprah in front of a crowd, but I also know public speaking isn’t going to kill me.

In writing, we often think about marketing our books, but we also have to market ourselves. The writer is as much a brand as the novels we write. Instead of marketing myself as someone who knows it all, I want to market myself as someone who’s here to help anyone who needs it. I’ve found that public speaking is a great way for me to be myself, even if it does scare me.

Megg Jensen has been a freelance parenting journalist since 2003 and began writing YA novels in 2009. She co-runs DarkSide Publishing, is a member of SCBWI, and she blogs about writing while juggling freelancing, volunteering, and family life. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two kids, and their miniature schnauzer, Ace. You can find Megg on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. 

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.

Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.
Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

Reychel thought she was finally free. She was wrong. Everyone saw her gift of prophecy as a blessing, but her gift is uncontrollable. No one alive can teach her to manipulate her unique gift and the answers she needs lie buried within a madman’s journals. She’s thrust in the midst of a brewing war and the only uniting factor for her people is their belief in the Prophet. Will Reychel learn to control her gift or will she be forced to deliver a false prophecy that could lead her people into a violent war?

Book Three: Cloud Prophet Trilogy

Reychel knows her gift of prophecy will lead to madness and now she is at her most vulnerable. The enemy army will attempt to sever her from everything she's ever known: her homeland, her friends, Mark, and her gift. Even at her weakest, she refuses to give up on her desire to end the war between the Malborn and the Serenians. Reychel would do anything, even come back from the dead, to conquer the enemy and reunite with Mark.

An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can’t calm the fires raging inside her.

Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she’s always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen’s alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?