Don’t Hone the Message

Marketing.  The word issues from my mouth like moldy egg shells and coffee grounds falling through a slit in a garbage bag.  Like most things that are gross and now make my skin crawl, I once had a love affair with Marketing.

I wanted to sell more stuff.  So I started cozying up to marketing concepts.  I started reading about marketing and thinking about marketing.  I even met with a couple of prospective marketing managers.  I never took either of them on, but both of them said what the Marketing 101 books and blogs say.  That I needed to define my niche, speak to my target audience, and hone my message.

I started doing that, and I put a ton of time into it.  I didn’t sell any more stuff.  I just wasted  lots of time that I could’ve spent writing, and what I did write lacked my unique vision.    As Kurt Vonnegut said, “If you open a window to the world, your story will catch cold.”

I’m done “honing my message.”  Honing my message actually dulls my edge.  I’m a martial artist and mystic who writes non-fiction books on martial arts and fitness and the occasional paranormal romance novel (my newest bundle is on pre-order until Dec. 1st).

Nowadays I just ask myself, “What is the thought or idea that you and only you are capable of expressing?”  My uniqueness is the sizzle on my steak, the stank that draws the flies, the milkshake that brings all the boys to the yard.  Ooops, I think I got a little carried away on that last one.  I do not have or want any boys in my yard.

What I mean is that if I spent my life trying to be the popular kid and sold a zillion books, then I’d just die wondering if the stuff I really wanted to write could have ever sold.

I don’t want to be James Patterson.  I want to be me.  Me is all I got.