In one of my favorite movies, "Sleeping with the Enemy," starring Julia Roberts as Laura, there's a scene where she’s back-stage trying on all kinds of hats. It's a great scene accompanied by the song, "Green-eyed Girl." With each new hat, Laura becomes a different person or, at least, she gets to alter her personality to suit the persona of the hat she's wearing. And she’s having so much fun!

Throughout our lives, we all wear many hats. We are wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, employees and friends. Each of our roles in life brings out different aspects of our personality and we use different skills in each relationship.

Writers need to wear many hats too. Writing is a solitary profession, at least for most of us, but marketing requires us to put on a different hat and, in doing that, to alter our personalities accordingly. For example, when I write I need absolute silence and solitude. No phone, no radio, no TV. It's just me and my computer. I think, I plan, I dream, I write - alone.

Then comes that glorious day. Your book has been accepted or you're ready to self-publish it. And everything changes. Now, a writer needs to change hats. To go from recluse to social butterfly in the blink of an eye. I feel like a chameleon changing colors each time I don a different hat.

No more sitting alone and creating. It's time to socialize. To schedule book signings, advertise on a blog and on several social media sites and to tell everyone about the book. We need to become "shameless self-promoters" if we want to sell our books.

Even when we're at the grocery store, waiting in line, we're promoting. I always carry business cards and I'm sure to have copies of my books in the trunk of my car at all times because you never know when someone you meet - old friend or new acquaintance - will want to buy your book.

Although you could say I'm an introvert/extrovert because I love my alone time but I also enjoying interacting with people, I’ll admit I’m most comfortable and happiest when I’m wearing my writing hat – bringing my characters and my plot to life.

Patricia Gligor