Today I saw a thread on Twitter, authors half-jokingly griping about the doubt and despair that often accompanies “marketing efforts.”
I get it — I’ve been there. There are an infinite number of things you could do to promote your book, but every approach requires time, money, and/or social capital, and it’s easy to get frustrated and discouraged and to wonder if your efforts are producing zilch.
2019, for me, was a combination of fun times and existential dread. I love my family and friends and the time I spend with them. I released my second novel, completed the first draft of a third, and started on my fourth. I had plenty of consulting work and money in the bank. I had great times playing Dungeons & Dragons, Pokemon GO, poker, and a bunch of other games.
At the same time, I worried for my daughter’s future. Climate change is an existential threat, guns in schools are a constant worry, and every major city in California has tent cities filled with homeless people, many who are drug addicts and/or mentally ill. And our leader? We have a racist, short-sighted, vindictive president backed by at least 40% of the country.
I worry for myself as well. Will I stay healthy? Will I continue to have enough work as a freelancer? Will enough people buy and review my novels that publishers stay interested? But in my wiser moments I can see that these worries are just manifestations of my desires (longevity, wealth, fame in my profession) and are self-inflicted; being grateful for what I have in the moment is usually the remedy.
The Guardian in John Scalzi’s advance reading copy pile
I should say up front that this post is a book plug. But it’s also an honest account of what’s been going on in my head since the orange menace was elected and the stock market graph of human progress took a sharp dip.
Three years into the Trump administration, I’m learning how to manage my emotions around the fact that a narcissistic man-child is systematically dismantling everything good about our country (human rights, environmental protections, voting rights and fair elections, a relatively good standing in the international community, etc.), while simultaneously worsening our preexisting national issues (racism, gun violence, massive wealth inequality, expensive healthcare, etc.). It’s an awful situation that has negatively impacted my own well-being (and I’m a relatively wealthy, privileged white male, with plentiful resources; most have it much worse).
If you’re interested in my new anthropological science novel The Guardian but you don’t want to pay for it, you can either check out a copy from your local library, or you can enter this Goodreads giveaway contest to win your own paperback copy:
Good luck, I hope you win! Please share with your science fiction loving friends.
In 2019 almost all my writing efforts were dedicated to my new novel The Savior Virus (currently in first draft form). That meant I didn’t work much on much new short fiction, though I did start a Duotrope subscription in August, which got me back into the habit of submitting stories. I went back to some older pieces with fresh eyes and made substantial revisions (and changed the titles of a couple stories). That resulted in some new sales, the first of which was just published in Into the Ruins.
So my 2019 awards eligibility list is very short:
Short Story
“The Sacramento Sea” – Into the Ruins #14, November
SFWA members can read the full story here
Novel
“The Guardian” – Flame Tree Press, September
Available at your local library, your local bookstore, via the contest mentioned above, or here
SFWA members and WorldCon attendees, thank you for your consideration!
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