It’s me. I’m back. Wow. Many of the topics for Marketing for Romance Writers #MFRWauthor this year have been the same or similar to previous years. I skipped them and finished writing a book, revised and updated another already published book, and have been typing away at yet another work in progress.
Look what week we’re up to already.
Week 14: The Difference Between Bragging and Marketing.
I replied to a similar topic in 2018. You can find the post here. And this post in 2017 when we were allowed to brag. 🙂
Here is what Dictionary dot com says about bragging:
brag
verb brags, bragging or bragged
to speak of (one’s own achievements, possessions, etc) arrogantly and boastfully
I believe the “keywords” here are ARROGANTLY and BOASTFULLY.
Of course, I had to look up marketing too. 🙂
Marketing
noun
the act of buying or selling in a market.
the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
There is no mention of boasting or arrogance.
However, I’d like to mention the difference between bragging and PRIDE.
Being proud isn’t usually done in an arrogant or boastful fashion. (IMHO) What if someone said, “Wow, I got twenty, five-star reviews but I see you have twenty, one-star reviews.” (Oh, OUCH!) Or, “I was good enough to win a gold medal, but my competitor only received a bronze medal.” Is that pride or bragging? Arrogant? Boastful? You decide.
Another example: What if every time we saw one of our friends, they boasted about their beautiful flowing and thick hair when they know we/us have thinning and thin hair, and it hurts our soul to think of losing our hair? Boasting? Pride?
It’s because of what others may think, that I rarely mention raving reviews for the sake of mentioning them. People tell me to be proud and post them. Of course, I am silently proud, but I don’t want readers to think I’m bragging although I know that wouldn’t be the reason. Hah, I don’t have enough confidence to brag. Maybe I’ll change this and say “What the f#$%” and change my way of thinking. I should. You’re right. Okay. I will. ☮ Peace, baby.
Which brings me to Marketing.
In marketing, I will on occasion post a Tweet with lines from a review. For the rest of us who must market by saying glowing things about our books, we aren’t doing it to be boastful or arrogant. We/ I do this with hopes of encouraging a reader to look at the book then, fingers crossed, buy it.
When I mention wonderful things about my books, it’s for marketing purposes done with PRIDE for MARKETING. When authors do this, It’s in no way bragging. Heck, we’re trying to sell books, and for some of us, to keep our careers afloat. Please don’t hold it against us.
To wrap this up, I’ll go back to the beginning with the keywords arrogant and boastful. In my opinion, I see these two words as the difference between marketing and bragging. To see what others have to say on this topic, click over to get links to their blogs.
It’s a pleasure to be back. I missed all of ya.
However, as much as I do miss y’all and writing in my blog, I fear book writing will keep me busy since I’ve added new works in progress this year. Plus, my youngest son and daughter-in-law will be visiting soon, and I’d love to clear my schedule for them. I’ll post when I can. ❤
Thanks for reading!
I admit, moving in with my son encouraged me to get serious about reaching for my dream. I published Howdy, Ma’am after struggling, for personal reasons, to write that book for over two years. It’s hard to write when your mind is in turmoil. In the end, the turmoil helped me to finish this book. It opened the door for me to continue writing western romance. I’m about to publish book number eleven. As soon as Finding Kimber is published, it’ll be my third book this year. Now, I’m proud to say I’m in my own apartment and comfortably taking care of myself. The point is, I picked myself up because I was determined to survive. These books contributed to that survival to this point. This is worth a little bragging to me.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
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