LET YOUR SUBJECT SELL THE POST FOR YOU

If you interview BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, his quote leads everything. That’s my rule.

We don’t need anyone to tell us that he “talks about writing” blah blah blah, so get out of the way and let his words lead the way.

LET YOUR POST SELL YOUR WORK FOR YOU
Stop explaining what you wrote and let the thing you wrote do the marketing.

GET TO THE POINT

You don’t need to explain the details. Nobody cares.

Do what Gabbie does, tell us what the post is about in the first few words, and get out of the way.

STOP APOLOGIZING

Blake and I had a pleasant exchange after this recent Note, but I included it because I want everyone to stop apologizing.

You can post a video, skip posting for a week or a month, you can do whatever you want, but please, you don’t need to apologize.

EMBED YOUR MEDIA

If you ask 100 people to click a link, you’re very lucky if 5% click, so put the thing RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE THING.

PEOPLE BUY BOOKS BECAUSE OF WHAT’S INSIDE THE BOOKS

A book cover and a pre-order link are boring.

People take screenshots of chunks of text, bits of dialogue, illustrations, and photographs from books…

Until you’re big enough for everyone to be excited about your new book, your biggest job is to make sure everyone knows what’s in the book.

At the end of the day, you compete with other writers and outlets posting the same wishy-washy “marketing,” where everyone is trying to sell a 12-pack of soda at the store.

But Coca-Cola is selling flavored sugar water, the most boring shit on the planet, and they make commercials like the one below to get the word out.

You don’t make boring art, do you? You’re work is more exciting than soda, right?!

That’s why the magic can’t stop when the piece is done, or the song is mastered, or the photo is printed.

It’s fucking time to apply the same creative magic in telling the world about your work.