Recently, I’ve seen my name mentioned in the industry press a few times. Not only that, but my name has been mentioned in conjunction with the S-word. The S-word is success if you’re wondered. I must admit I get squeamish about praise. I feel stupid and undeserving. Throw me an insult (not that you should) and I’m okay with it…sorta. Confused? I know. Me too. It’s an English thing. You wouldn’t understand. My people are odd that way.
But I digress. However, the digression does illustrate a much larger problem I face. While, I’m quite chuffed to see a spotlight shined upon me, I am little disappointed by a couple remarks surrounding my perceived public image—namely I’m quiet. In one piece it mentioned while some authors were vocal (I’m using a polite euphemism), I was working on a quieter level.
At first glance, this doesn’t sound too bad. I’m the quiet one. The polite author if you will. Sounds nice.
But quiet, polite, nice aren’t the qualities for grabbing the reader’s attention. A problem, me thinks.
Nobody wants to be thought of nice and quiet. Women don’t swoon at the thought of a nice and quiet man. Men don’t aspire to be polite.
I need an image makeover!
Now don’t worry, I won’t rush out and be a dick just to grab a few extra readers. I stand by how I present myself in public. I’ll be polite, pleasant and professional. I’ll be irreverent, but I won’t trash talk people because I believe it makes me look small—and as an undertall person, I can’t be viewed any smaller than I am. This isn’t to say that I don’t indulge in trash talk. My dog knows all about the people who’ve pissed me off, but like me, he isn’t telling.
So I won’t become a noisemaker just to garner attention. I think I have to be a little more assertive. There’s no room for a wallflower on a bookshelf. I put a lot of effort into making my books pop. Now I need to do the same to my image. I need to go from Bruce Wayne to Batman—turn from Simon into Si-man, if you will. It’s time to make some noise.
I’m not sure how I do this yet, so suggestions welcome. J
Sara(h)
When you find out, let me know. 😉 (Sarah RH)
Simon Wood
🙂