There’s everything right with promoting yourself if you’ve got something worth promoting. There’s everything wrong with promoting yourself if you’ve not. The greatest, most long lasting and effective self promotion for the contemporary poet is the poem. But why not send a postcard to those who book you for a gig to say thanks. It wouldn’t take much effort. These days printing a postcard is easier than drawing one and never has a postcard through the post been more pleasurable or memorable. I wish I’d done it years ago.
The idea comes from the late theatre and broadcast veteran Ned Sherrin who sent me a postcard with a personal note each time I was on his BBC Radio Show Loose Ends. I felt honoured. The illustration on the reverse of the postcard was of him holding a cigarette holder in a theatrical pose with a quote beneath it. I remember it long after I’d forgotten the programme. I imagine his postcards on dressers and walls all over the world. Best thing about it? It was witty and sincere. It’s a long life. We artists go to some amazing places and meet some amazing people. Leave a trail of light.
Never has something I’ve written sounded so wet. I will probably take this post down. The action of sending the postcard speaks louder than my words. meh!
Don’t take this down or condemn it as wet for that rather invalidates and undermines those of us who do this very thing! I have done this for years as a matter of courtesy and it has garnered me a reputation as a polite and well mannered performer (actress) being nice is never a wet thing to be, Mr Sissay!
Rachael. My sincere apologies. It stays.
‘A trail of light’, in these dark days! We spend so much time sending emails that many of us forget the wonderful old-fashioned way of sending a letter or as you’ve suggested, a postcard. Us Greenacre peeps try and live as sustainably as possible and using our local postal service is up there as one of our priorities. We started the ‘Post GB Day’, (when Gordon Brown was in power), and we were trying to save one of our local post offices – the idea being that people should send a postcard to Downing Street on a particular day in June. I love making my own postcards from old photographs, just stick photo to a thick piece of paper, and voila, something personal, arty and interesting to send to someone, somewhere in the world.