To market, to market...

...to buy a fat pig, as the nursery rhyme goes. Pigs are good. Very cute. I actually collect them. And, I love ham. I would look forward to a nice ham much more than to market, to market to sell my book!

You see, I like characters I make up, not strangers. I like my quiet office, not crowds. I like home, not traveling. I am…an introvert.

Ursula LeGuin said: “Hardly anybody ever writes anything nice about introverts. Extroverts rule. This is rather odd when you realize that about nineteen writers out of twenty are introverts. We have been taught to be ashamed of not being ‘outgoing.’ But a writer’s job is ‘ingoing.’”

I’m not a complete introvert. I like being alone some—okay, a lot—but eventually I want to get out and do something, see people, and have experiences. But let’s keep it within my comfort zone.

An online presence is okay. I’ve discovered I do like blogging. I like following other people’s blogs and feeling a kinship with what they’re saying about writing. I love talking to other writers via e-mail and Facebook and finding out how the creative process works for them. I think Twitter might be fun; I mean who doesn’t like birds and tweeting and all that? Meeting a few writers here and there in person; that’s okay too. So far, so good.

What I don’t like is what comes next. Marketing teams at most publishers want you to be IN THE PUBLIC EYE. (Loud, booming voice.) It’s all about making connections, getting out there and talking about yourself and your book.

Me???? Scary! Stranger Danger!

I was contemplating this with my usual anxiety when another quote came into my head. My inner voice, the one that’s always trying to kick me out of my comfort zone so I can grow, said, “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.”

Really? Wow. That’s a nice thought. Are you sure?

“Yes. Definitely.” My inner voice is often very firm with me.

Okay then. New friends are great!

Maybe…it will be fun.