When the work doesn’t give you joy
Oh, hi friends!
Here’s something new — my first Ask Brass Ring Daily, with a question submitted by a newsletter reader. Why not try new things? I hope you find it useful.
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Dear Brass Ring Daily,
I'm taking these last few weeks of 2020 and have set myself a few goals. (Pre-New Year's Resolutions!) One of my main goals is to self-publish the book I wrote earlier this year. (I'm also working on book #2 to have a draft by New Year's Eve...) I'm working on the whole "JUST SHIP IT" mantra.
My biggest hold up is the social media marketing thing, getting the word out there, finding my audience, etc. I don't love that part and I feel like that is where I'm going to fall on my face and not really get anywhere. I LOVE the writing and putting a package together and researching and figuring out how to self-publish. I even love coming up with a good idea for a cover and mocking something up on Canva.
But the social media marketing makes me grumpy. It doesn't spark joy. That part feels like WORK. How do I find a way to do that part without getting bored, annoyed, sick of it?
I feel like I've read all the books/newsletters about side hustles and how to make $$ on IG or FB and I get stuck at that one part — the building an audience on social media part. And after being mostly off social media this year, it's hard to consider diving back in, though easier for just this thing...
J from Los Angeles
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Oh, hi J!
First of all, congratulations on “just shipping it.” This is one of the hardest things to do, yet the most rewarding. You have almost finished something! During 2020! This deserves all the gold stars, high fives, and celebratory milkshakes (sure why not) you can handle.
Alright, what is “social media marketing”? I’m not sure, because it doesn’t sound like writing a book. No wonder you’re not excited. It’s an entirely different goal.
So don’t do it.
Maybe that’s a rash reaction! Don’t promote the thing you’ve been working on for so long? But your goal, as you said, is to self-publish a book. You’re accomplishing that. You are allowed to let that be enough.
But I have a sneaky feeling that it might not be enough, because you feel like part of the job — part of finishing — is getting eyeballs on the book. So I have to ask, is it the self-promo that makes you chafe? The transparent grabbing at followers or likes? Because those, too, have nothing to do with your original goal of self-publishing a book and (let’s expand the goal a tiny bit) sharing it with other people.
Because that’s the secret to anything on social media. Sharing. That’s all you have to do on whatever platform you choose. The same care and energy you put into creating a cover in Canva? You can make an Instagram post that looks and feels like the cover and an extension of your original vision. You can write captions that aren’t geared toward making money, but are geared toward one thing: sharing this book you have created.
And about that “making money” thing. There are ways to make money on social! They involve selling products or affiliate links or selling courses, etc. You can go that route, too. If you want. But what it sounds like you want to do — correct me if I’m wrong, I’m new here — is to tell people about the book you created and hope that they might be interested in it, or in hearing from you.
That is dead simple. That involves you talking about your characters and maybe how you managed to write this during a pandemic. You can share how you self-published or where the idea came from. You can use your wonderful book — that you wrote! and shipped! — as the creative well for what you share with the world. Keep going back to the source.
Don’t worry about finding an audience. That is overwhelming. Don’t overthink about the fact that you only got 12 likes on one photo. Those 12 people now know a little bit more about you and your book.
Write one post at a time. Share one photo. Act like you’re talking to one person, because you are.
And remember that you’re simply telling people about a project that is meaningful to you, in the hopes they might find it meaningful, too.
There can be joy in that.
And if you *don’t* find joy in creating for the scroll...just stop.
Your book will still be finished. People will still find it. And you will have made something.
You won.
“I still think I’m like most creative people are — confident at times and insecure at times,” she says. “I don’t know if that ever goes away.”
I really loved this profile of Barbra Streisand, which touches on her need for artistic control, becoming a director, and waking up at 6:30am when the stock market opens.
My New Winter Repeat
Joshua Henry is inspiring, my friends. I’ve seen him on stage twice, in Carousel and The Wrong Man, and am astounded by his talent and commitment to his craft. (You also might have seen him as Aaron Burr during the Hamilton segment at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.) He has an Instagram series called Grow With That and is never afraid to talk about the effort required to move up to the next level.
Now he has a new single called “Hold Me” and it’s three-minute groove that you don’t want to miss. I'm adding this to my workday playlist.
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara