The Puzzle of Book Marketing

When I was a kid, I loved puzzles. My favorites were landscapes, the more complicated the better. I had a system: all of the pieces with straight edges went in one pile; all of the pieces that were one color (usually blue sky or green grass) went in another pile; all of the oddball pieces with funky shapes went in another pile. I’d begin with the straight edges to create the border and then fill in the sky, working my way down to the other one-color pieces and then tackling the harder areas last. Seems simple enough, right?

Well, when you’re color blind, it’s a little harder to tell blue sky from green grass and when it comes to shading and subtlety, like the leaves on a tree, the shape of the piece is the only way to figure out where it belongs. My eye learned to pick up shapes rather than colors, focusing on the lines and edges of the pieces rather than on the picture that was unfolding in front of me. It was only later, as I got older, that my mind could trick itself into seeing shades of color. I think I know what the color red is supposed to look like. I can usually feel red and blue, green and yellow. I can feel the bright colors and I’m right more often than not when I play that guessing game with my family, many of whom are also color blind. When it comes to dark green, brown, navy blue, and strange shades in between, though, I’m pretty much lost.

Book marketing feels like a puzzle to me. I’m intrigued by the multiple venues and the options available online. I understand the need to be social, to take advantage of the marketing opportunities on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But I also feel like I’m right back to where I started as a kid, sorting my pieces in little piles of shapes and sizes and colors. I can’t see the big picture that’s supposed to be guiding me.

My e-library is chock full of books promising to tell me the secret of marketing using social media, how to make a million dollars with email and Twitter, how to build sales with “likes” and page views and +1s. I saw a post on a message board the other day that really confused me: the writer claimed that he was working with an author who made it to Amazon’s #1 e-book spot in one week using only social media. One week! When I asked how that’s possible, the response was “by working dusk to dawn.” Doing what?

I‘ve finally figured out the answer: There’s a piece missing. I can put all of the information in neat little piles, coded by shape and color and size, but the final piece doesn’t exist. The piece that will fill in the gap, that one empty space in my puzzle, is one I will have to make on my own. Or hire it made. I hear there are some pretty good puzzle piece makers out there just waiting for someone to come along. For now, I’m sifting through my pieces again, looking for the one I might have overlooked. It’s about this big, with funky edges but I have no idea what color it is. If you see it, let me know, will you?