Self-promotion is hard. For me it is, anyway. I envy anyone who can proudly march around and proclaim “Here is a thing I made! Look at it, experience it, and pay me money for it!”. In my ideal world, I toil away in cloistered quiet, writing one project after another. It sounds wonderful and it’s entirely unrealistic for two reasons.
1)Life costs money. A pile of unsold manuscripts doesn’t bring home the bacon (or the electricity or the roof over your head).
2)I need an audience. I love the stories that I write, but they don’t fully come to life until they are shared. And I need their feedback too,
The good news for me is that I do have an audience. You, the devoted readers of this too infrequently updated blog, are the people who have chosen to tune in and listen to me. Over the last few years, I’ve been able to share my observations, experiences, and general ramblings with all of you. And surprisingly, you keep coming back. So thank you!
So here’s what I would like from you, dear readers. As you know, I self-published my latest novel “The Patchwork Boy” in June. I am incredibly proud of it, and I want your help to promote it. Positive reviews are an independent author’s best friend. Each review on sites like Goodreads.com, Amazon, Smashwords.com or iTunes brings more attention and more potential readers to the book. I know that some of you are worried about writing a review, and trust me, I understand. But a review does not have to be as complex and verbose as a PhD thesis. A simple, to the point blurb does more to sell a book than you will ever know.
That’s your mission, should you choose to accept it: go write a quick review at one (or more), and let me know when it’s done. I cannot stress enough how much I value your support and encouragement, and I’m grateful for all the help you’ve given me before and in the future. Thanks again!
Chris Loblaw, Author 
People need to stop being ashamed that life cost money and we contribute time & talent into society in order to receive bill-paying money in return. It’s also how we pay taxes to keep roads, sewers, police and hospitals running which benefit everyone. Getting paid is good.
We also need to shake off the stupidity of feeling we should appologize for writing a few good words about ourselves or another with phrases like, “this is a shameless plug …” Hijacking a conversation for a sales pitch is one thing. Being proud of what you do and inviting others to “check it out later” is another.
Getting people to write some positive reviews is a good idea. I’m curious; could you create a “Chris The Writer” Facebook page for the purpose of promoting your writing and posting writer-interesting things? Is that something that writers do? It would give fans a page to “like” and follow without the creepiness of friend-ing people who you otherwise don’t know.