The 2 things that need to happen before you enjoy marketing

Discover the key mindset shifts that transform marketing from a dreaded chore into a sustainable, rewarding part of your creative career, no sleaze required.

Hi,

I’ve worked with hundreds, heck, probably thousands, of authors over the years and (despite their protestations) all of them like marketing.

No, really. They do. They just don’t call it marketing. When I ask authors what they enjoy doing to grow their audience, I hear answers like:

• “I love hosting my podcast.”

• “Writing a weekly newsletter is actually fun for me.”

• “I enjoy showing up to conventions and talking to readers.”

• “Creating TikToks is weirdly addictive.”

• “I love plotting out hooky stories that just grab people.”

You know what all of that is? Marketing.

But when I use the actual word “marketing,” I get a completely different reaction. Those same people say things like:

• “I hate marketing.”

• “Marketing feels gross.”

• “I’m just not good at it.”

If you ask 10 writers to define marketing, they might give a similar answer, but when you ask them to list the actions they actually like about being a writer, it turns out that most of them are marketing related.

There are basically two simple things that must happen before you start enjoying marketing.

Miss either one, and it’ll feel like pulling teeth, but get both right, and suddenly marketing becomes not just bearable, but fun.

1. You have to actually like the thing you’re doing

This sounds so obvious it’s almost dumb to say out loud, but it’s the first hurdle that trips up almost everyone.

If the marketing activity you’re forcing yourself to do fills you with dread, or even apathy, then it’s never going to feel good, no matter how “strategic” or “high ROI” it is.

I see authors doing stuff they hate all the time just because some expert on YouTube or in a $997 course told them it’s what successful authors do. They’re jumping into Facebook Ads even though they can’t stand being on Facebook. They’re launching podcasts even though they don’t like talking. They’re setting up weekly livestreams when the very idea makes their skin crawl.

I’m not saying you’ll never have to do hard things. but there’s a difference between difficult and dreadful. If you’re constantly fighting your own instincts just to tick the “marketing” box, you’re going to burn out fast.

Instead, ask yourself:

• What do I naturally enjoy doing?

• What lights me up creatively?

• What platforms or formats do I already use in my everyday life?

If you love chatting with other authors, maybe podcasting is your jam. If you love writing short thoughts and sharing book recs, maybe Substack or email is your place. If you’re a visual storyteller, TikTok or Instagram Reels might be a good fit.

Find your thing. That’s step one, because no one does consistent marketing from a place of dread.

2. You create a positive feedback loop that rewards you

Even if you love the activity, you still won’t enjoy it long term unless you get something positive back. You might be able to do it for a week, a month, or even a year, but it will eventually drain you.

There has to be a positive feedback loop for you to enjoy it. You need to see some kind of result from your effort. That might mean:

• Getting more readers on your email list

• Hearing from a fan who loved your last book

• Making sales and actually seeing the financial reward

• Receiving comments, likes, or shares on your content

• Watching your community grow slowly but steadily

Without a reward, marketing becomes a black hole. You pour in all your time and energy and get nothing back. No response. No sales. No engagement.

It’s a fast track to quitting.

But when you find something that feels good to do and gets you results? That’s when the real magic happens.

Suddenly, each action gives you energy to do more. You enjoy showing up. You feel like your work matters. You want to keep going, because it doesn’t feel like screaming into the void anymore.

Remember, the only good marketing is the marketing you actually do.

You can have the perfect funnel, the most beautiful branding, the smartest long-term strategy, but if you don’t actually execute any of it, it’s worthless.

Good marketing isn’t about the best strategy. It’s about the sustainable one. The one you’ll keep doing when things get hard. The one you won’t abandon two weeks in. The one that doesn’t crush your soul.

That’s why I built my whole career around direct sales, Kickstarter launches, and in-person events. I like doing those things. They give me energy and they get results. So I keep doing them.

Stop trying to force yourself into someone else’s system and start building your own.

If you want to figure this out for yourself, here’s the exercise I give to my students and coaching clients whenever they complain about doing marketing:

1. Make a list of all the stuff you’ve ever tried. Write it all down. Newsletters, Facebook, TikTok, interviews, Amazon ads, whatever. Make sure to include all the stuff you don’t think are marketing, too.

2. Mark which ones you liked doing. Be honest. Which ones felt at least kind of fun while you were doing them.

3. Mark which ones actually worked. You don’t need massive results, just any sign of life. Clicks, comments, replies, sales. Anything that showed you it was moving the needle.

4. Find the overlap. Those activities you enjoyed and got results from? That’s your sweet spot. That’s the basis of your sustainable marketing system. Build from there.

If there’s no overlap? That’s okay. That just means you haven’t found your lane yet. Time to experiment and test again, using this framework to evaluate as you go.

I know it’s easy to feel like marketing is the “necessary evil” of author life.

But what if it wasn’t?

What if marketing was just another way to tell your story? What if it could be playful? Curious? Joyful? What if it was simply a way to show up as yourself and invite others to connect?

Marketing doesn’t have to feel like a burden. If you’re hating it, you’re doing the wrong marketing, or you haven’t built the system that rewards you yet.

So find your thing. Make it fun. Then give it time to work. That’s how you start to enjoy marketing.