Advertising Can Be Obnoxious by Morgan Mandel

As I sit in the commuter train on my way to my day job in Downtown Chicago, I can't help but be annoyed. That's because on select cars at varying times, a bunch of signage covers the car. Today, it's the one I'm in. When I glance out the window, it's like looking through a screen door. Apparently, aesthetics aside, Metra has found a way to get advertising dollars, which in this day and age are sorely needed. If it keeps the fares from going up more, it's worth the inconvenience.

When he sees a commercial come on, my DH grabs the remote and flicks to a different channel. I'm more willing to watch, but what drives me crazy is when a short commercial comes on, is followed by a different commercial, and then after the second one, the very same first one appears. At that point I'll get up and let the dog out or do some other chore because it's just too irritating.

As an author, to get my brand out I'm forced to do advertising, which we like to call promotion. How else will the public know that I've so far written three books? So, I do book signings where people will still stop by and say they've never heard of me before. "That's why I'm here," I usually tell them.

I hand out bookmarks, I get reviews and post them, I send out postcards, I do presentations at libraries, I do so much networking online on blogs, egroups, and networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever have time to concentrate on my work in progress.

Lots of authors find the promotion side of the coin obnoxious. Most of the time I have to admit I enjoy it, maybe even too much - Except for those times when I see thirty emails waiting to be opened so I don't miss something important and I just don't have time to open them, or when I just want to spend time with my husband and our dog child, Rascal and I have to tear myself away from the computer and ignore it.

A happy balance would be nice, but in this competitive day and age, somehow that doesn't seem possible.

What about you? Do you enjoy promotion? Or do you consider it obnoxious? Please share.

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com/