Hey! Over Here! Look At Me!

Ick. 

That’s the first word that comes to mind when ever I think about (gulp) “self-promotion”.

Yuk. (That’s the second word.)

It’s quite a conundrum if you’re basically an introverted singer-songwriter like me. You have something you want to share (which is why we write songs at all), but the idea of asking people to listen leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.

And yet… I do it. Yes, I self-promote. It still feels icky-yucky BUT there’s no point in writing songs no one will hear, right?

[Sigh.] What to do, what to do? 

In late 2021 as I was preparing my second album - “Like A Luna Moth” - for release, I made something of a quasi-New Year’s resolution: that I would step up my self-promotional game in 2022. I was pretty inexperienced in this area and had few ideas on how to achieve this goal.

But I did know the first thing I had to do: get comfortable with touting my art. (UGH!) I figured that I was probably not the only one who is faced with this daunting hurdle, so I did what I often do for self-help advice.

I consulted Dr. Google.

And my search led me to this close-to-life-changing quote from James Altucher’s book, “Choose Yourself”. (Brace yourself, ‘cause it’s a doozie!)

“No matter who you are, no matter what you do, no matter who your audience is: 30 percent will love it, 30 percent will hate it, and 30 percent won’t care.”

WHAT!? OMG.

Like many other artists (maybe?), I used to feel that if I couldn’t win over the whole world with my songwriting, the effort of promoting myself would be worthless. But it isn’t worthless because winning over the world can’t happen. So, why even worry about that? 

If you’re reading this blog, I’m gonna assume YOU are part of my 30 percent. Yes!! You are a member of the “Patty M 30 Percent Club”! (Might have to make some merch for that 🙂.)

Thank you so much for the love and support, 30 Percenters! And for you other publicity-shy artists out there, I feel your pain, and I want to let you know: you can do this.