I've had years of experience in the technical publishing world so I was skilled in a lot of areas when I first started down the path to becoming a novelist. But the 3 areas where I had to get up to speed were: (1) how to craft a novel, (2) how to get an agent, and (3) how to promote/market my book. Since I started down this path 5 years ago, I've learned a lot about the craft, I learned how to hire and fire an agent, and I've even managed to learn a few things about marketing. And while there is more than one way to market yourself, I wanted to share what I've learned that works for me.

The latest tool for marketing yourself as an author is the blog, of course. Some take the route of having many blogs, either because they love to blog or they see it as the most effective way of getting the word out there. I started down that route just because I love to blog. But then I noticed 2 things: (1) I was too focused on blogging and wasn't spending enough time creating work that could possibly sell and (2) I seemed to be more successful when I focused on just being myself and being in one place where people could find me. Hence, the redirection of my blogging efforts.

A quote that caught my attention recently was this: "To market yourself as an author, you should brand yourself and not your book." Bodacious Mary says this, "Every woman entrepreneur should watch American Idol." Why? Her advice is to "Watch this show and notice what makes the contestants stand out. Their passion and self-confidence gives the viewer an experience." How did that happen? They were being authentic–they were being who they were meant to be.

I've had the biggest hits on my blog–not when I traipse all over the internet–but when I'm just being myself, speaking out about things I feel passionate about. As a result, other bloggers, touched by what I say, talk about me on their blog (thankfully, it's all good so far), and the next thing I know, my hit counter is spiking. Suddenly, I'm big in Malaysia, Australia, South Africa and other countries I never would have thought to find me. Now that's an incredible experience. Why do they link to me? They love my attitude. After all, "attitude is just how you see things." Wow! I'm just being myself and people are drawn to that. I'm very flattered and I've learned from it.

It's interesting that one of my friends from 8th grade in my southern California junior high school said a few years back that what she liked about me when she met me was that I stood up for what I believed in. I never knew that, but I realized we show who we are at an early age. And that's something we need to remember: be authentic, show who you are, and life will be much more rewarding in so many ways.

Suddenly, I'm hearing Bobby Flay say, "Go out there and eat America." And I say, "Go out there and be yourself." Be passionate, be self-confident, be authentic. And that's much more important than checking off any "Things To Do Before I Die" list.