Hello my Freaky Darlings,
I recently attended an Author Talk given by Mike Nicol at Indulgence Coffee Cafe in Johannesburg. Mike is a Crime Writer who lives down in Cape Town and was up in Johannesburg promoting his new book. His talk was fascinating and all about the history of Crime Writing in South Africa. The venue was unique and I won’t even start on how delicious the cakes were.
There aren’t nearly enough venues here in Johannesburg or Pretoria that host these type of events for local writers. There are very few opportunities for South African Authors to promote themselves, which is probably why local writers don’t make enough book sales to pay their bills. A sad state of affairs.
I’ve signed on to do a Talk in October at Indulgence, although after witnessing Mike in action I’m even more nervous about getting up in front of a crowd and talking about horror writing or the lack there of here in SA. I’m not a fan of public speaking. But unfortunately a writer has to do what writer has to do. I’ll have to suck it up and try not to hurl. You’ve got to grab hold of all opportunities to promote your writing.
So, wish me luck!