SELF PROMOTION

Why do so many artists cringe when they hear “self promotion?” I sit with all my words around me, writing what I want and even liking what I write and what those words create, but shy away from getting others to look at or read or perform my work.

I spent nearly 20 years hiding away from putting my work out there: applying to residencies, entering playwriting awards, submitting to theatres who wanted to see new scripts. Just recently I began to pick apart my protective shell and come up with some reasons.

1. I protected myself from rejection. If I didn’t submit anything I would never receive that rejection from the theatre.
2. I saved myself a lot of time – submissions take a lot of time – to get a cover letter, a log line, a proof-read draft together. All the mechanics and technologies that go into a submission can seem daunting. And I let them daunt me.
3. I gave up on the dream of seeing my plays on stage because the risk seemed to great.

Further, I never talked about my plays with others. If they asked, I would say, “going good.” But never had any results to show after years and years.

Today I am promoting myself. I have this website and I have begun uploading my plays here. I started with the most produced play I have, Random Theft & Other Acts, which has seen three productions. And will be adding more over time. I uploaded Random Theft to my page on New Play Exchange as well. People who are looking for plays can then download this to read.

I’m most comfortable with these passive self-promotion techniques. The active self-promotions such as submissions, I began doing in early 2024. In the old days, submissions required printing copies of the play, writing a cover letter, sending either sample pages or the full script along with a stamped self-addressed return envelope. Time consuming and expensive in the long run.

Today’s submissions come with electronic forms and require a good PDF version which is uploaded or sent via email. Very easy and convenient.

Even though I spent 20+ years in marketing for software technology companies, my self-marketing comes in baby steps. I still feel the need to protect myself and the work, but it’s less about rejection and more about making sure it is the right time.