My Selling Curveball

To make it clear to some who may not know, I like to write. I've had two books published with a third on the way; all part of a series. If you don't know about my books and would like to find out more, you can go to my website here: www.markkoning.com/chronicles. I am proud of my accomplishments and I thoroughly enjoyed writing them, although the process of getting the story bound and packaged and all that, presented some headaches; but that was somewhat expected.
I am happy with the fact that I got to tell the story I wanted and I've received some good feedback, including both compliments and some constructive criticism. The books have not gone flying from the shelves and I have definitely not been able to start a future retirement fund for myself, but these things have not brought me down nor have they tarnished my passion to write. To publish, maybe, (It isn't free after all) but not to write and continue to develop stories.

Going the route of self publishing has been a little bit of a challenge and I suppose I haven't helped myself by being the quiet person I am. Marketing and/or self promotion is not my thing, at all. I can, at times, talk almost endlessly about the storyline, my characters, the thought process behind the book(s) and the way in which things developed, (of course this is all usually dependent on whether you ask me about it) but when it comes to making the sale, to actually saying "buy my book"........ it is not really me. I'm even having a bit of a hard time writing this. And whether this hardship that I'm challenged with is because of a difficulty I face with certain aspects of communication or because I'm simply shy/afraid of rejection, doesn't really matter much, it is the way it is.

Email and other forms of social media has helped, I can take the time with want I want to say, but I still don't push the 'sell'. I'm not your typical out going leader or salesman who can talk a good game and get everyone involved.

I have found though that when it comes to pitching something else, something to help out a cause, I tend to be just a little more 'on the ball' so to speak. I'm not going to say I'm a whole lot better at this, but I do try to put in a bit more effort. And since we are at the point of the discussion where we are, I will shamelessly plug the Heart & Stroke Big Bike Event that I will be participating in. An annual event to raise funding for critical care and research that helps sustain life all across Canada. Please visit my page and lend me your support: Mark Koning's Big Bike page!

Selling is a hard thing; some are born with a gift for it, some are not. Some people tend to push a little too much, some do not push enough. I tend to float around the later, or sometimes even less then that. But that's okay with me. Putting an effort toward advocating for a cause such as the Big Bike for Heart & Stroke simply registers with me more than trying to sell my book...... it's my curveball.