It’s a strange thing, to suddenly become a public figure. To be advised by the experts within the publishing industry that you need to be ‘found’ by people looking for you. Mmmmm….spent a lot of my career doing just the opposite of that. Still, I get the point: I’m an author and I need people to read my books which they will only do if;
a) The books are worth reading
b) They can find out where to get the books from
c) They can read about the author and engage with him and his content
Well, a + b I think are taken care of. I work hard to ensure my plots are interesting, my characters are well-developed and that I’m rewarding the reader’s investment with a great product. Because, basically, I give a s**t. I absolutely care that the work I am pushing out is the best that I can. I want readers to finish my books with that little sadness inside because they have no more novel left to read. Until my next one which they wait for with unbridled impatience….
So, I find myself having to create a platform from which my readers and potential readers can find out a bit more about this man who sits in a room in northern Scotland tapping away at a keyboard as the rain lashes the windows outside.
But where to start? What would people like to know? Why on earth would anyone want to know more about me? My (admittedly quite short) bio is printed for all to see on the first page of my books. Isn’t that enough? Surely anything more is encroaching on the Kardashian-esque territory of self-promotion?
Not quite. It’s taken me a while to get my head around this but I understand it now. It took a conversation at a recent business networking event to produce the ‘light-bulb’ moment. I’d been speaking to a lady who mentioned that it was her life-long ambition to write a book and that, as she was nearing retirement she would have the opportunity to do this. I listened to her ideas and timelines before offering some advice based upon my own experiences.
Within minutes, our private conversation had become a group one with a barrage of questions being fired at me from all angles. I had no difficulty at all in answering them and found myself actually enjoying the challenge. And it was right there that I got it. They were genuinely interested in not just my book but, perhaps even to a greater extent, in me. Why did I take up writing, how do I write, where do I get my ideas from, how much of my background and experiences do I use in my novels, am I the next JK Rowling (if I had a pound for every time I was asked this I wouldn’t need to be!) etc, etc, etc.
So, here we are. This was originally my first entry on the site which initially read something like “New Author arrives.” And that was it. Three words written with almost no thought, just to break the self-induced trance of staring at white space and being unable to come up with anything sensible to write. So, I modified the post after the above experience provided me with what I think is a suitable introduction to this platform. And to me. While I could never be described as shy and reclusive, I am not a natural extrovert either. I am confident when delivering briefings or presentations but showboating doesn’t really come naturally to me. But I love writing, I love reading and I’m happy to write about both. I’ll also be posting related articles to get your opinions, feelings and thoughts on. And I’ll try not to be boring but I’m sure you’ll let me know…
So welcome. Thanks for looking me up and taking the time to read a little bit about who I am and what makes me tick. Please feel free to comment, drop me a line or send a messenger pigeon if there’s something you want to say. And thanks again, the journey’s just starting but as the old adage goes, it starts with a single step….
Iain Withers
Looking forward to reading the book. Hope all goes well and there are many more to come. Enjoy the ride.
James
Thanks Iain, definitely more to come and loving the ride so far!