Figuring Out How to Sell Yourself

As I continue to learn more about the world of publishing and what it takes to get a book considered by an agent, I learn that comparing your book to similar works, but describing what your unique take is, can be useful to give agents an idea about your book and if they are interested.

Because my book is about teen superheroes and aimed at young adults, I've had to do plenty of research beyond the books I have read or am most familiar with. One thing I've read is that you don't want to declare your book to be the next version of whatever popular title happens to be a hot commodity, so I've had to go looking at other titles to which my book may be similar.

With that said, my inspirations (which I'll talk more about in the coming weeks) came more from TV shows I discovered and people who write at websites about current topics, along with a few works of fiction. Figuring out how to tie every influence together is the difficult part, especially because I'm not the best when it comes to promoting myself.

This is where the challenge lies for me. I have to become better at something that really isn't my style -- talking myself up. I've had that task before whenever I searched for jobs, but this is a little different. I have to find a way to sell myself and my work, finding out what works agents have promoted, all while not trying to make my work sounds like "the next big thing."

I'd like to know more about what others have learned about promoting their works and what they have found to be the best ways to get an agent's attention. By all means, tell me what about what have you learned as you have had your writings published, or attempted to.

In the meantime, I can tell you that I've fine-tuned 13 chapters of my first book, with a few more to come today. The second book's first 10 chapters are finished (first draft, of course) and I plan to start Chapter 11 tomorrow.