I ran across a Van Morrison quote this morning that’s had me thinking. To be honest, I’d been thinking about this stuff for a few days already, mostly following a conversation about music and marketing with my brother the other night.

Anyway, the quote says, “Music is spiritual. The music business is not.”

And, yeah, that quote kinda speaks to my very soul.

I am, or at least like to think I am, a creative person. I make things: books, stories, drawings, music, the occasional scarf. I am not, nor have I ever been, someone who is good at marketing himself. I just don’t have the business brain. I can make music; hell, I could do nothing but write and record songs and write books from now until I die. But I’m pretty piss-poor at the marketing and selling side of things. It just does not come naturally to me.

I’m not really sure why. Dunno if it’s just imposter syndrome rearing its ugly head (which it often does anyway) or I just don’t speak the lingo. I don’t have the pater. And so every time I try to market my work, or announce something new I’ve created, it feels an awful lot like I’m just shouting into the void with only my own echo coming back.

I know part of it is a law of averages thing. You have to really put yourself out there in front of thousands and thousands of people in order to get dozens to even give your stuff a try. And that’s pretty disheartening. You go to all that effort for such a small return.

And it’s not like I don’t think the things I create have some inherent value. I’m a firm believer that art has intrinsic value, worth in and of itself that is completely separate from any monetary value it may or may not possess. And I like to think that the stuff I make is enjoyable and worthwhile, that other people would enjoy reading or listening to it. It’s just real hard getting it out there in front of enough eyeballs to get any sort of return on investment.

I’m not an artist because I think it’ll make me big bucks. I have no illusions that my DIY novels or bedroom recordings are going to set the world on fire. I do think I have an audience out there, somewhere, probably still undiscovered. And if the only way to find them is to become better at marketing, I guess I need to start figuring out just how to sell myself.