Becoming Visible: An Introvert Tackles Marketing

Invisibility is my superpower.

I am the person at the party that no one notices.

I am the person whose emails go unanswered.

I am the person who sales clerks overlook to serve the person next to me.

I am the person in the corner, against the wall, in the shadows.

Please note that I am not complaining about this—I have worked hard my whole life to avoid the spotlight. My invisibility is hard-earned. It is a wonderful superpower to have for observing life, watching people, and overhearing bits of conversation—great for the writing side of things.

But now I have a book out. (Yay!). I need to market the book.

I need to go against a lifetime of instinct and be the center of attention.

I need to become visible.

And that’s terrifying.

I’m doing the marketing things I can do comfortably. Social media, reaching out to bloggers, doing interviews, creating a book trailer. The safe things. The semi-visible things.

But I’m procrastinating on the big items. The high-visibility items. The school visits and the library events and the book fairs and conventions. The spotlight events that scare me to death.

I know I’m procrastinating. I know my anxiety disorder well enough to see what I’m doing. I’m putting final touches on my school presentation, and soon will have no excuse not to book some. I am planning a launch party, and will have a firm date very soon, making that inevitable. So a time will come when I can no longer avoid the spotlight.

I will become visible.

Why am I so afraid? Good question. The school visits scare me because of the unpredictability of the interaction. Will the kids get involved? What do I do if they don’t? How do I control the presentation while making it a back-and-forth? After all, I chose not to be a teacher for a reason. I’m good with people one-on-one—with a group, I quail.

A library event or book signing would be more controlled, but in those cases I get hit with another anxiety—imposter syndrome. Who am I to be speaking to these people? What can I give them that’s special? I wrote a good book, a fun book, but it’s not Earth-shattering. I simply feel unworthy to be standing in front of people and pontificating on anything.

And yet, becoming visible is my job. I must advocate for my book, because no one loves it like I do. No one has as much invested in it as I do.

I must face my fears. Become comfortable with less control. Quiet the voice that says I am an imposter. Stop being paralyzed by the spotlight.

I must do these things to become successful. To truly move from “writer” to “author”. I must find my voice away from the page. Find a way to connect with my readers.

I need to become visible.

Even if I’m terrified.