Bill Hicks can stuff it up his bum

Every creative works in marketing now...

“By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself.”

Advice there from the late Bill Hicks who, I think we can safely say, would never have made it as a self-help writer.

And I should probably take this moment to make it VERY clear, that self-termination is a terrible idea and I do not endorse this message. In fact, I’d also like to take this moment to tell the late Bill Hicks to stick his suggestion right where the light doesn’t penetrate.

Because if you’re an artist or writer, you already work in advertising and marketing.

If you’re not trying to drum up followers on the soulless social media platform of your choice, you’re creating postcards and flyers to stick in bars, or putting together websites and blog posts, or recording videos of yourself talking awkwardly about your new Thing – or attempting to think of newsletter subject headers that will skirt round the edges of a spam filter and get people clicking to read. (Did I succeed? Let’s find out!)

I don’t actually mind doing all the social media gubbins. It’s quite fun to fart about in design software, even if the outcome isn’t always quite what I’d hoped for (thanks to a total lack of design skills). I like chatting to people online and I positively love sending out newsletters.

It’s just the TIME it takes. I never have the time to do all that and all the client work and all the actual writing of books (and let’s not forget all the allotmenting that goes on around here, and I guess I should sometimes see my family too).

Which is why this week’s missive is just a bold request from me: please buy my books!

To persuade you, here is just a selection of failed attempts at taking some marketing photos (just to annoy scoldy old Bill Hicks).

I especially like my reflection in the glass on the final shot

And if you read and enjoyed them, please leave a review!!

I got my first two-star review recently (no reason was given. It was just left there, silent and dreadful like a fart in a car, so I would love a few more positive ones.

Direct link to review THE MAN IN THE WALL here

Direct link to review A STAR IS DEAD here

bah

PS. I had the BEST weekend last weekend, staying with the delightful and kind and funny Ben Read (author of The Midnight Hour series) with two of my Writer Crew (aka the Sketchy Bitches, aka The Scarecrows, we really should settle on a name). We were there for the surprise party of another Sketchy B Lorna Woolfson, which she specifically requested her husband organise.

I keep telling everyone it was a brilliant grown up weekend away, but then I looked at the photos…

Shout out to the SBs (incl EJ and Kat who couldn’t make it)

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Katie Lee / KJ Lyttleton