
Rumplestiltskin
That Rumplestiltskin story freaked. me. out. as a kid.
Still does.
I mean – I read ALLLL the myths and fairy tales and folk tales and rhymes that I could get my hands on —
(anybody else have those wonderful books by Iona and Peter Opie? Or those magnificent D’Aulaires’ books of the Greek Myths and the Norse Gods and Giants? So good!!)
and if you remember, many of those stories are sad, gruesome, and feature a morality that is, um, puzzling.
But the duplicity and bargain-making in Rumplestiltskin still gives me pause:
A man – the Miller – promises the King that he has a daughter who can spin straw into gold. (She can’t. Why he thinks that saying she can will somehow elevate him in the King’s eyes is unexplained).
The King locks the girl in a chamber with the straw so she can prove it, and while she is weeping in despair, the creepy, elf-like Rumplstiltskin appears and offers to do the task for her in exchange for her necklace.
The next night he does it again in exchange for her ring.
The third night she has nothing left to offer him, so he asks for her first-born child.
She, with a young person’s disregard for the future, says Fine.
The King marries her, and when she has her baby a year later, Rumplestiltskin comes to collect the child.
She cries some more (her tears must have had an unusual magic of their own to both summon him at the beginning and also have the power to make him change his mind – but that’s another element that is never discussed) and he offers her a new bargain: she must guess his name within 3 days or the child is his.
For three days she sends out a messenger to collect every name he can find, but every guess is incorrect.
Finally, on the last day, the messenger reports seeing an odd, creepy, elf-like creature hopping and dancing and singing a song in which he reveals his name.
(Very helpful of the messenger. The true hero of the story. We never hear of him again.)
The Queen guesses Rumplestiltskin’s name (not really a guess – I mean – HE was the one dancing around and proclaiming it) and Rumplestiltskin is so mad he stomps one foot into the ground, grasps his other leg and rips himself in two.
Absolutely shocking. Still gives me shivers.
I share this with you because for whatever reason, that story has been on my mind —
Partly because I always think that writing is about turning straw into gold.
(Taking the ordinary and spinning it into something of extraordinary value.)
Partly because I’ve been thinking about the bargains and agreements I’ve made in my life.
(Like the miller’s daughter, I never thought to ask enough questions…)
And when I think about all the conversations I’ve had with writers and authors about MARKETING, I often get the feeling they would rather tear themselves in two than have to shill.
A coarse image – but not inaccurate, right?
So my friend Allison Lane and I have put our heads together to bring you:
How to Find Your Rabid, Book Nerd Fans
Instantly and For Free
(btw – the stuff we’ll teach also applies to all creative endeavors, so feel free to attend even if you’re not an author : )
You Have Fans.
They Just Don’t Know You Exist Yet.
Tuesday, July 29
9am PT/12noon ET/5pm BST
Live on Zoom.
No recording. No replay.
Because we don’t want this to just become another thing on your “to-do” list to feel bad about, right??
—–> CLICK HERE for FREE registration with EventBrite
Join me and renowned book expert Allison Lane for 45 minutes of real talk about how you can build your audience – even before you’ve written your book.
This is for you if:
- You know you need a “platform” but don’t know where to start
- You have some fans….but not enough fans
- You are thinking about trying a Substack, Medium, TicTok….UGH
- You are having strong feelings about AI
- You wish you could just write and not worry about the marketing stuff
This is NOT for you if:
- You prefer to stay in a haze of I’m-not-sure-yet
- You genuinely don’t care how many books you sell (hey – some people don’t – it’s OK)
- You are an enemy of fun and good advice. JK.
Allison and I….
- Have a cumulative total of, like, 884 years in marketing experience
- Love books
- Love authors
- Love readers
- Love marketing
- Love connecting authors with their ideal readers
- Have shepherded over 100 books successfully to market (f’reals)
Sound too good to be true?
We are two down-to-earth, no bs teachers who are dedicated to your success.
We are 100% allergic to hype, fluff, and hard sales.
We love martinis, books, and telling the truth.
All we want is to get you OUT OF THE SPIN YOU ARE IN (get it?) about your platform, and into direct, positive forward movement that leads to gold.
OUR GUARANTEE:
We will give you an action-oriented PLAN so you can stop griping about how hard it is to find your audience and start gloating about your success. (And you can celebrate the person you are becoming : )
And if you decide to NOT attend, I’d love it if you told me why — I’m curious how all this lands with you –
Let’s turn that straw into gold, people!!
Yours,
Sam
By the Way, You Look Really Great Today