Love the Hustle Or: How to Let Go of Your Feelings of Injustice and Have a Good Time Selling Yourself
On September 24th, 2005, a long-overdue one-way ticket landed me in New York City where I’d pledged to seriously pursue a writing career. I found a tiny hole in the Lower East Side, and an email I sent on October 10th reads, “I’m sitting alone in a dark apartment in the middle of one of the most intense and social cities in the world. What the hell is wrong with me?”
My schedule those days involved coming home from my job—working as a copywriter in an office on Broad Street in front of which bomb-sniffing dogs and policemen wearing bulletproof vests and carrying automatic rifles paraded all day—pouring myself a glass of single malt whiskey, and standing, not sitting, in the kitchen and typing furiously at what eventually became the collection of prose poetry called In This Alone Impulse.
The night I sent that email, like most nights that winter, I was terribly alone, I was half drunk, and I was suffering from an overwhelming mixture of both over and under exposure—close enough to my dreams to be truly frightened by them. I was, in other words, living something closely resembling the idealized image I’d half-consciously carried in my mind about the life of a writer since first wanting to become one.
When you think of the writing life, many things come to mind, both good and bad: isolation, frustration, intensity, investigation, exploration, imagination… booze. If you’re lucky, of course, these things are accompanied by publication, recognition, accolades, and the like. But I would be very surprised if many aspiring authors put things like networking or community building, or—dare I say it here?—hustling on the list. Even near the bottom. That spot is reserved for “dying of syphilis.”
And yet, as many writers realize, it is a hustle. Of course, fortune has always favored the bold in some way, but I’m going to project a little here and say it’s difficult not to feel like small press and online publishing has turned those words of encouragement into an unnerving reality. The literary community made possible by constant and easy online interaction is a boon to the aspiring author in many ways—this web site is a perfect example of a valuable resource that simply couldn’t have existed ten years ago. But it can also be quite insular and cliquish. I know I’m not alone in wondering, from time to time, whether we’re unwittingly creating an environment in which artists are rewarded for their social skills instead of their art.
Not to say self-promotion is always and only met with praise. As a natural and healthy response to the saturation of social media—and the sometimes devious advertisement deals that support the platform—people are becoming, to use appropriately reductive marketing jargon, savvy consumers, and this means you’re bound to attract some whistle-blowers if what you’re doing seems inauthentic or overtly self-promotional.
Like, say, writing an article that thinly disguises a goal of self-promotion with “thoughtful consideration” of the “larger issues at stake.”
So there are the self-promoters—people who seem to take to this system quite naturally (If you haven’t thought about Tao Lin yet while reading this, you obviously haven’t heard of him)—and there are the whistle-blowers. But there are also many writers who resent the fact that they’re increasingly expected to hustle. Is this what we signed up for?
No one my age signed up for developing a readership through blogging for the simple reason that blogging didn’t exist when I was cobbling together my fantasy writer’s life. Someone growing up today, on the other hand, might naturally incorporate such activities into their vision. But that doesn’t help me.
What helps me is to conceive of the activities a bit differently. To use the same kind of attitudes and insights that inspire normal, non-literary pursuits like “introducing friends to one another,” and “throwing parties,” and “streaking through densely populated urban areas at noon.” In our hyper-mediated environment, there’s a kind of blurring of lines that occurs, and to see it clearly you have to take a step back. Does the writing life end when you put down the pen? Close your eyes and concentrate on that fantasy you once had. Get up from the awesome imaginary desk and walk out of the room. Leave your apartment and walk down the street. Ring your friend’s buzzer and say you’re there for dinner. Hang out. Chat.
I don’t think there’s any way around the fact that we’re competing for attention with an increasing number of authors—more and more of whom are starting out as “savvy consumers” who know their way around networking technology. People who read and/or use this site are likely among them. But if you’re still feeling uncomfortable with your new role as writer, marketer, promoter and salesman of your work, it might help to take a simple look around at how you conduct yourself in other parts of your life—things you do even without thinking about it—give them a fancy word like “tactics” and incorporate them into an even fancier word: “strategy.”
Currently, if someone is familiar with my name, chances are good that the phrase “Forecast 42” isn’t far from it in their mind. The 42 Project brought together a host of literature enthusiasts in a co-publishing venture that I think most people found fun, and not a few found inspiring enough to begin similar projects of their own. To be sure, it also caused some backlash here and there from people who turned their noses up at the undeniable stench of self-promotion. And yes, I had my moments of doubt along the way, too. Was it anything more than a stunt? Well, it really didn’t involve anything unfamiliar to anyone who’s planned a party big enough to merit inviting people they don’t really know. Similarly, I met a lot of interesting people in the process, and formed deeper connections with those who I already knew.
I’ll soon be organizing a book release event for In This Alone Impulse, and for it I’m gathering as many writers as I can, each of who will read a brief excerpt of the work. I can’t say I haven’t considered the fact that this will ensure that the audience is at least as large as the number of writers I can involve—and I’m sure a few people will smell a scheme. But the idea began with an authentic interest in bringing people together, in throwing an interesting party, and in full frontal nudity. I think people will get it, and if all goes well, I’ll organize similar “group readings” in a few other cites across the country. It’s a small but significant twist on the standard reading—enough, hopefully, to make it into something memorable and valuable for all people involved.
It’s a long way from the dark apartment in which the poems were created. But because I love the poems, I want them to enjoy a little exposure. And because I love people, I want to introduce them to these poems. Am I selling myself? Sure. But if I didn’t try to build a readership or share what I love, I’d be selling myself short.
Shya Scanlon’s work has appeared in Mississippi Review, Literary Review, New York Quarterly, Guernica Magazine, Opium Magazine, and others. His book of prose poetry, IN THIS ALONE IMPULSE, was published by Noemi Press in January, 2010.
In 2009, his novel FORECAST was serialized online across 42 journals and literary blogs as part of the Forecast 42 Project. Forecast will be published by Flatmancrooked in spring, 2010. He received his MFA from Brown University, where he was awarded the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction. Please visit him at www.shyascanlon.com
You heard him, WordHustlers! Shya has perfected the art of hustling his way to success. Why not submit to our Literary Storm Novel Contest and win the chance to be published by Shya’s publishers, Flatmancrooked? Get your work out there and market yourself with passion, panache, and wit. We know you’ve got it in you. And we’re here to help.
13 comments
This is an inspiring piece. But enough about you! I’m only commenting here because I’d like people to read my latest endeavor, CADAVER BLUES, which is being serialized on The Nervous Breakdown. Is this plug too much like full frontal nudity? Get over it. Remember, Walt Whitman reviewed his own books.
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As an author of a non-fiction ‘how to’ type book I totally hear you on the pain of the unexpected self-promotion. I had NO idea I would have to market my own book when I signed my contract. While the publisher does what they can, I was told that the books that do the best are the ones that the authors ‘work’. In my field that usually means teaching workshops and having a current blog, doing Facebook etc. These things take TIME. Commenting on other folks blogs and remembering them when they come to yours, typing blog posts, checking in on FB, etc…. it means you have less time to spend writing or in my case making new art. I fought against this self marketing for a while, then I tried to do too much, now I am doing a little a day and calling it good.
If I wanted to be a salesman and I hustler I would have gone into that. One of the things I hate about the modern writing world is that no more are we writers we’re the writer, publisher, curator, and all those other roles. Promoting your own work feels like literary masturbation. If you work is good and someone feels they can make money they should be doing that. Writers are artists they should cause us to think about our lives, not the brillance of their sales copy or the aplomb of their facebook page.
J.E. - A perfect and appropriate use of this comments area, to be sure. And for the record, I too encourage everyone to check out Cadaver Blues - it’s edgy and full of quick wit.
Shona - I think that’s about right. Each author, once confronted with these new expectations, will find their own “comfort zone,” which can be anything from complete refusal to whole-hearted embrace. One of the biggest factors, as you rightly point out, is time. But assuming everyone has at least some of that, it’s more precisely about one’s attitude toward it–or whether such things come naturally. As I say above, if I look at it like I’m throwing a big party, it’s all easier to stomach.
Cameron - mostly see my response to shona, but I totally feel you. I had that exact attitude for years. But until someone “feels they can make money” by promoting my work, I’m not going to let it wallow in obscurity. As for “literary masturbation,” well, I guess some folks are just more prone to self-pleasure than others…
MUSIC IS MY MUSE and is the name of my autobiography now available for your review, comment and hopefully recommendation on authonomy.com. If you’re more of a visual person, you should look at my photographs at rjbphoto.etsy.com. Thanks for your thoughtful consideration.
I think this comment area should become an open forum for people to promote their own personal projects.
[…] Scanlon has an article on self-promotion in Word Hustler. And he’s been recording a new poem daily from In This Alone […]
Great piece. I can attest to the fact that I spend three fourths of my day promoting/social networking for my book SUGAR MILK and only a quarter of it writing–if at all. This sort of chafes at my nature, and sometimes it feels like the actual art itself is becoming secondary. Sure, hustling is necessary, but at the same time, I don’t want to be in public relations either.
I like this concept of networking much better. It has a sort of symbiotic feel to it, while carrying the potential for the relationships that are being built to last longer than those online.
Shya, how do you feel about giving away your work as a self promotional strategy? After farming around for an agent for my mystery novel ‘the Butcher Shop’ (and getting laid off at the same time for what I hope are unrelated reasons) I decided to self publish — I’m selling the paperback for about $12, most of which is ‘printing costs’, but I’ve also taken a gamble on offering it as a free PDF download on a variety of sites that cater to that sort of thing, and as far as I can tell, I’ve been download over 500 times, but I still haven’t had a single email response.
I haven’t given up on the idea of a traditional publisher yet, but I wonder if I should be discouraged. Or should I try something else?
Just recently spent a good deal of time formatting my book for the Kindle, but I have absolutely no idea how you go about promoting to the invisible hordes of electronic ink fetishists out there. ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036R4K4G )
Re: SUGAR MILK
I certainly know how you feel. One of the things someone in our position has to do, I think, is slowly build such relationships over time, independent of the particular book you’re trying to promote at the moment. That is, engage in the publishing/literary community in various ways in general, by creating/contributing to a blog, commenting on other blogs, and generally generating awareness for yourself. It’s this kind of social infrastructure that will support you not just with SUGAR MILK, but with whatever your next book is, and on down the road.
Re: Neil Austin
Giving away my novel FORECAST was how I attracted the small publisher who went on to offer me publication. So my experience has only been positive. My feeling is, people will read enough of a novel online to whet their appetites, and those readers will become the first buyers of the book upon physical release.
My advice would be to go a step further than offering the free PDF on sites like Scribd, you should post at least a few chapters on your own web site, and offer the pdf there, too (forgive me if you’ve already done this). I’d then try to publish excerpts of the book on literary sites, which excerpts could then link back to your free pdf.
And as I said to SUGAR MILK above, I think an important way to generate interest in your work, is to generate and foster interest in yourself as an author and as part of a literary community. So I’d continue commenting on sites like this one–anywhere that books and publishing is being discussed.
As far as I can tell, there’s never a good reason to give up entirely on the possibility of finding a traditional publisher. But they’re definitely less interested in taking risks on authors who can’t bring an existing readership–however small–with them.
[…] written recently about the (potentially) unfortunate necessity of promoting yourself as an author these days. My own basic take on this situation is that the best way to promote […]
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