Not Just a Writer, but a Storyteller

Before I studied journalism, before I mastered English, before I learned how to read and write, even, I told stories. I grew up in rural Morocco, immersed in an oral tradition millennia old, and to this day, I love stories and storytelling in all their myriad forms.

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That’s probably why I don’t share the dread that so many of my fellow authors feel when the time comes to transition from writing their manuscripts to marketing their finished books. To them, I can only offer this advice:

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Think of marketing as another kind of storytelling.

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Writing your book involves telling a story. Marketing your book involves telling a story about the story that you’ve told—a meta-story. A frame narrative. A prequel. A sequel. An expansion. A seamless continuation.

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Depending on the project and the genre, writing your book may also have demanded research. Finding your place in the market and learning how to navigate the publishing world demand research, too.

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As long as you think of yourself as a “writer” and only a “writer,” you’ll remain trapped in a story that someone else is telling, and in which others—agents, publishers, publicists, marketing specialists—play the starring roles. But once you start to think of yourself as a storyteller, whole new worlds open to you. Instead of feeling overpowered, you’ll find that you can help the agents, publishers, publicists, and marketing specialists help you—by telling them what your readers need to understand about your book so that they can convey this story to the wider world.

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Thanks to my love of storytelling, I’ve had a great time putting together the marketing plan for my memoir, conducting industry research, and learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. So can you.