Quick Reflection: Self-Promotion in January 2023

Somehow, January’s over, so I thought I’d do a quick update on how my New Year’s Resolution for 2023 is going. (I included a creative list of ways to promote yourself in there that I thought I might be able to follow—more on this in my self-interview below!)

Q: Have you promoted yourself in some way every day this month?

A: YES!!!! (including this post :P)

Q: Which self-promotion strategies from your New Year’s Resolution post worked for you this month?

A: All but one of them! Here are the strategies that I actually implemented in January 2023 (which featured a lot of low-braincell and/or stretched-to-thin days):

• Submit your work (a story, poem, photograph, or basically anything else you’ve created) to someone for publication consideration. [ <– I made 3 story submissions this month!]
  
• Tell someone, somehow, about something you’ve created or been working on. [ <– I did this a lot. It’s an easy “cheat”. Several days, I did quick watercolor exercises from Instagram or Youtube tutorials and shared them with people just to have something new to talk about. Many other days, I told people I encountered throughout the day about new story acceptances or my works that have been published so far. A few days, I talked about upcoming projects I’ve been working on.]
  
• Make a social media post about yourself (especially some small thing from the day that brought you joy – those little moments of sharing joy also function as telling other people about what makes you who you are! and that’s cool, just like you!) [ <– I did this sporadically, mostly via Twitter and Instagram. If you want to see them, follow me on either platform! I’m @molo_writes.]
  
• Share your work (a snippet of writing, a whole piece, a work of art, a close-up detail, etc.) somehow, somewhere, with anyone! [ <– See above. Accomplished!]
  
• Write a review for something you enjoyed! [ <– I did a couple of Twitter reviews of books I finished reading.]
  
• Reach out to people who you want to be your new colleagues, collaborators, clients, or friends! [ <– I reached to a few authors whose works I enjoyed reading. I asked to translate 1 short story, and told another author I loved her novella. I’m trying to stay atop existing translation projects, so resisting the urge to over-commit is a huge challenge.]
  
• Turn projects in on time (I struggle with this one sometimes, but successfully hitting deadlines is important!) [ <– I’ve not been the most responsive to emails this month. I’m sorry! I’m not ghosting or forgetting about you, I promise! ❤ (Managing time, stress, responsibilities, and gathering braincells are a constant work in progress for me… hopefully next month will be better!)]
  
• Advocate for yourself professionally and pursue your professional bucket list goals NOW! (You are the *only* person who truly knows what *you* need to be happy, and you are your own best advocate. You know that bucket list goal? Imagine how crazy it seems to you now. Imagine how fucking A you would feel if you accomplished it and had time to come up with even more awesome dreams!) [ <– I reached out to my high school, my college, and my grad school to offer author copies as donations to their respective libraries. All three responded affirmatively! I’ve mailed books off to 2 of the 3 schools already! HOW COOL IS THAT?!]
  
• Do something that moves you one step closer (no matter how small!) to completing a bucket list item. [ <– Accomplished! New adventures planned!]
  
• Tell someone about one of your accomplishments. (It doesn’t matter which, or how small. Pick one! Pick a different one tomorrow!) [ <– See above!]
  
• Tell someone about your vision for your future. (If they have suggestions on how to make that vision reality, be receptive!) [ <– Accomplished!]
  
• Draw a silly doodle and share it with someone. [ <– Accomplished!]
  
• Participate in a convention (this includes being a panelist, moderating, selling things you’ve created, or even just chatting with other attendees after panels or in the dealer hall or con bar.) [ <– I applied to be a panelist/moderator at a convention later this year!]
  
• On days you have braincells, draft at least 1 content idea for your list of self-promotion posts (or emails) that you can lift from on days when you have 0 critical thinking braincells left. [ <– NOT accomplished. This required too many braincells!]
  
• [Something else you’ll later learn could be a self-promotion strategy yet goes here!] [ <– See above!]

PS: I received an acceptance for my hotshot firefighter story!!!! Details coming soon!