Feeling Proud? Self-celebration, the Bottomy Dance and its Benefits!

Let me guess the 'Bottomy Dance' in the title made you curious... Smirk! Okay this is not going to be a monumental post of great epiphany. Instead, it is a simple suggestion for self-celebration. The thing is - how often do you stop and allow yourself to feel proud of yourself? How often do you allow yourself to let go and do a random bottomy dance that involves a lot of posterial shaking to celebrate all the hard work and hours you have put into something that means a lot to you? Let me guess - not enough?

This is it - when we work hard then how do we actually reward ourselves? So many of my friends work and work. They reach their goals and do not pause and take in their achievements; instead, they simply construct the next goal and start working towards that. Where is the motivation to succeed? With that attitude there is an endless treadmill of work, goal achievement and then more work. The way I see it is that life is more than work. So surely the pleasure is in the celebration. When you achieve something that is great for you then why not pause, feel proud, shake your behind and enjoy that moment?

I have noticed the world is in a state of continued rush. It grows faster and more complex day on day. In this state of rush we do not take time to 'sniff the roses'. Life, in my opinion, should not be a conveyor belt of achievement but contribution, celebration and shared moments of joy. So with this in mind I am feeling proud. Money Farm on audio is selling, I have just completed the audio edit for the production of CLAN DESTINE and The Office Zoo is in the pipeline to hit the audio market. I have to say Ray, the producer has a voice which will have you in stitches. Already people have contacted me to say they have discovered Office Stinkers and Office Freaky but definitely Geeky! Love it!

 

So today is that day of celebration where the bottom dance has been shimmied around the writing room and resulted in a few Jazz hand motions too! Some people may view such self-celebration as madness. Well if madness comes in the form or joy and misery is demonstrated by contained lack of self-appreciation and continued effort with no reward then the bottomy dance will win every time!

So how do you celebrate? I would love to hear how people reward themselves.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010BJOYFQ

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SZFEQIO

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00H7MRV5G

 

Writing and self-promotion.

Self -promotion in writing is one of the biggest challenges for many authors.
Why?
Well it is a case of having to blow your own literary trumpet to a bunch of strangers - commonly known as the audience. Of course there are fans, but the original issue is how do you get the audience to engage, become fans and then buy?

Well for those Indie writers amongst us, Amazon KDP offers self-promotion tools. You can place your books on offer for a limited period or offer a time-limited free download. When I first started out I completely disagreed with the concept of free - especially when I spent years writing books. Why would I do all that writing and give away my book for free? Isn't that just a bunch of 'cheapos' wanting something for free? Well yes it is - however, that free book might be the trigger to turn that 'Cheapo' into a fan. That new 'fan' may well tell other people about your books. Or they may well go back and buy all your books. Or they do nothing. If they do nothing you have not lost anything. The point is that you are making people aware of your existence.

If you have read any of my other posts, you will know that I teach creative writing to evening classes. In these classes the biggest resistance arrives at the end of the course when we talk about editing and then promotion. Most writers want people to do the promotion for them. Yes that is great; however, why pay people to do what you can do for free. If you are a writer then you can write great pieces of promotion material. Isn't that the challenge? Finding ways to engage the audience and get your book / books out there. What most people don't know is that everyone has to deal with the feelings of 'not good enough'. Everyone also has to feel fear. That fear will always be there even when you do what you fear. Common mental churns turn up - what happens if the work does not sell? What happens if it does sell? What happens if I am catapulted into absolute stardom? This type of thinking does not serve a purpose - it is illusions. Nothing ever turns out the way you think it will anyway. Whatever happens you will deal with it. You CAN deal with it. It will provide lessons. Also fear is a good thing. It will never go away but it reveals that you are in touch with your comfort zone. So find where that zone finishes and leap into the unknown - release your book and then hype it. Why not? What is the worse that can happen? You won't sell any or you will sell loads. Who cares? This is all part of the fun of the experience. So suck it up princesses and self-promote. If you don't then who will know you exist? GO FOR IT!!!! YEY!!! 

In order to demonstrate what I am saying and show you how it works: this one is on promotion until Feb 4th and it is Free - yes Free!!!

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00928727A