Meghan Tifft: An Introverted Author Talks Book Promotion

Posted on August 5, 2015

The writing profession has been portrayed in many books and films as a solitary one. But that is certainly not true today. In a very interesting -- and funny -- essay in The Atlantic author Meghan Tifft bemoans the fate of an introvert trying to make it as an author in today's interactive and extroverted world.

Ms. Tifft teaches writing at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and has a new novel coming out next week called The Long Fire, which looks quite interesting and is garnering excellent reviews. But she's dreading doing publicity required to get the word out.

We've spoken to many authors over the years who have been surprised and dismayed at how much effort they had to spend doing PR instead of actually writing. With the advent of social media, woe betide the author who doesn't have a website with current updates. And if your readership is young, well, you'd better have a Twitter account. A Youtube channel is also a plus. John Green's Youtube channel has more than 2.6 million subscribers. His many fans flocked to the film version of his YA novel, The Fault in Our Stars, and made it an instant hit. Next up is the film adaptation of his book, Paper Towns, starring Cara Delavigne. He and Paramount are happily cooperating in a publicity blitz.

But what if your novel isn't aimed at quite so young an audience? Here it gets a bit murkier, but many people do check out the website, Twitter, Insta and Facebook account if they like an author. Many authors are happy to interact with fans and love to do readings, signings and talks. These authors might see Twitter as a bit of a time waster, but it's not a terrifying experience. But what about introverted authors who can do author talks, but find them exhausting?

Ms. Tifft understands and accepts the value of joining a writing community and making oneself available to readers. But she finds it all rather annoying -- and perplexing. She writes, "What I want to know is, since when does making art require participation in any community, beyond the intense participation that the art itself is undertaking? Since when am I not contributing to the community if all I want to do is make the art itself?"

Public speaking terrifies her, although she begrudgingly does it anyway. She's not an actor, after all, she's a writer. She worries that her performance could actually detract from the reader's enjoyment of the book. She notes that, "Despite the fact that the introvert is a romanticized figure, in practice the introvert is reviled and pitied. (And offered pharmaceutical cures for her unfortunate existential defect.)"

But mostly, she finds it all exhausting. She'd rather be writing than talking, and we suspect that many authors feel the same way.