Tuesday, September 13, 2016

What Happens When A Writer Won’t Whore Her Book?



While working with authors over the past 25 or so years, I’ve come to meet people who ranged the gamut of life.  Some were the uber successful 1% class, writing about money, leadership, and their lives.  Others were victims of unthinkable suffering, from incest and orphans to those who experienced loss of family, friends, children, parents.  I’ve also met people from a variety of career backgrounds, including entrepreneurs, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, poets, teachers, students, unemployed, ministers, etc.  One woman I had met several months ago left a lasting impression.  She ended up not becoming a client of the PR firm that I work for, but her story fascinates me.

She’s an escort who wrote a series of novels about a woman who used to be an escort.  She writes under a pseudonym with a bio description that features her as an ex-escort.  Because she still entertains clients, she can’t go public. Plus she doesn’t want family and friends to know what she did -- or still does. 

She hoped her novels could be promoted on their own merits, without playing up the angle that she used to be an escort -- and not mentioning that she’s still in the business.  It’s hard to walk away from an opportunity to exploit such an appealing strength.  Will anyone be excited to talk to an erotic novelist just simply because of the nature of the series – or will they want to talk to an escort who pens what rings true to her?

We can’t sell what we’re not, and we shouldn’t run from who we are.  If you sleep with others for money, own it and use it to empower your writing career.  If you don’t want to discuss the thing that people really want to hear, then don’t write a book expecting people to like it without fully understanding where it came from.

On the other hand, why can’t we just appreciate the books on their own?  We should be able to separate an author from his/her work, but what a story it makes to have a beautiful blonde reveal things that most of us don’t get to actually experience.

Some of the best novels, I believe, are based on an author’s background and his or her life experiences.  They write what they know.  Life informs them, shapes their views, and provides emotional unrest that inspires their escape into a fictional terrain.  With novels, we can see anything, do anything, be anything – but I believe the root of good fiction is a deep connection to either reality lived or reality denied.  In this case, she is what she is writing about and people want to hear from the escort more than the writer.

If  you have a good story to tell, one that’s intricately linked to your past or present, share it, and market yourself as someone who can tie your life with your art.  Be your book -- and sell who you are. 


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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.

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