Today is March's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.
Why am I an Insecure Writer this month?
Because I'm wondering where I’m going to find all the time for marketing.
These days, I dedicate every spare moment to writing (much to my wife’s displeasure, I suspect). I contemplate plot points during the drive to work, I stay up late writing on weekends and vacation days, I use my crit group meetings to set hard deadlines for my chapters. Long story short, I’m accomplishing more writing than ever before. Still rather slow compared to most writers, but I’m making progress and that’s what keeps me happy.
But what happens when the book is finally finished? Where will the time for marketing come from? Unless I plan on quitting my day job (which I’m not), something has to give. Either I’m going to dispense with marketing and hope readers magically find their way to my books by themselves, or my writing will once again grind to a halt while I let the world know about my book. Of course, the latter option will probably mean I only release one book a decade, which isn’t a great marketing strategy either. I’ll have to hope that people who enjoy the first book in my series will want to recommend the second book to their kids when it eventually comes out.
Then again, if Alex ever decides to start renting out his clones for marketing purposes, I’ll be all set.
ChemistKen
BTW, who does YOUR marketing?
You know the other option? (And it's a good one.) Stockpile books for a season, then start publishing when you're not going to be under the gun to get something else out there. Truthfully, that's the best way to go.
ReplyDeleteI've done this by accident. Now I have three books kinda ready to go.
DeleteI don't have any advice because I am the world's worst marketing but Chrystal's idea is a great one!
ReplyDeleteMy first 3 books were published while I was still teaching full time, and of course I have a family as well. For me, I found the comfortable times to do things. Blogging over coffee before school. Sending/answering emails on my lunch break and in the afternoon before dinner. Writing late at night. Sometimes it was really hard, writing guest posts to launch a book while I was under deadline for the next book, but somehow it always got done.
ReplyDeleteI'm still in the writing phase so I can offer zero advice on marketing. I hope that you'll be able to find a balance between marketing your work and still having time to write new stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy fee is reasonable for using the clone machine.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, you just make it happen. I can't write while I'm actively promoting, which means my books have had some time in between them. But you know it has to happen so you just carve time for it.
And Crystal's idea is really smart.
Accomplishing more writing than ever before is amazing! Good for you! Most often, the time for marketing takes the place of writing. Finding a balance is necessary though. One or two days a week could be devoted to marking. Or even one hour a day.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand where you're coming from! When I published my first book, I was terrified that I wouldn't have time for writing anymore. Marketing is crazy, especially if you decide to self publish (which I did), so I've done some book talks at local schools, but besides that and blogging, I haven't done much marketing. It's made book sales slow, but I enjoy writing so much more than marketing.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky that my husband is in marketing and handles a lot of that stuff for me (minus my most recent release, which he's been hands-off about because it wasn't self-published . . . Long story). It's a tricky balance for sure.
ReplyDeleteI need to learn the secret of making clones. I do my own marketing, and yes, it takes away a lot of time from writing. Sometimes one or the other or both suffers. I haven't found the balance yet. Though I believe the answer lies in clones.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on such great writing progress! That's the most important thing. Yes, marketing will always be a toughie to find time for, but just keep writing! You can't develop a fan base without finishing a number of books. When readers like one, they'll go buy your others, and then the marketing mostly takes care of itself. :)
ReplyDeleteI find I sell a lot more in person than I do online, so I've got zilch to recommend. Then again, I don't market much. I wish I had suggestions for you. I'd probably go with what Crystal said.
ReplyDeleteIt's called sacrifice, followed by much chaos. I've been living in chaos for years now.
ReplyDeleteAnd I look forward to hearing from you in a year.
I'm pretty much my own publicist. In the past, my publisher has helped and even now they do some, but it's really an author task these days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for signing up for my newsletter. There's something I'm sharing this month that might help with the marketing. Hope so.
I'm pretty much my own publicist. In the past, my publisher has helped and even now they do some, but it's really an author task these days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for signing up for my newsletter. There's something I'm sharing this month that might help with the marketing. Hope so.
I wish I could afford someone to do my marketing, alas, it's all me, and I dislike it immensely.
ReplyDeleteOn Crystal Collier's blog she talked about time, there just doesn't seem to be enough of it to go around.
I hope you find precious minutes to get done what needs to get done. Sometimes its as simple as making a chart of hours to write and getting other things done with home & family. I wish you luck.
Ohhh marketing. The buggerboo word that I hate. I don't think I will ever like it. It's a time stealer and though I know it is a necessary evil, I really resent it. Right now I do my own marketing as I can't afford to pay anyone else! Good luck and thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteI should take Crystal's advice . . . but I never had. When I think something looks pretty enough, I want to send it out there. Crazy me.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I use buffer for some of my tweets, and I try to put myself on a timer for any marketing and social media.
If you ever hear of a marketing service that is reasonable, let the rest of us know, okay?
Balancing marketing with writing is a difficult thing. I think it's easier if you spend a little time with each every day. Marketing doesn't have to be your one and only job.
ReplyDeleteSo far I've done my own marketing. It takes a few minutes everyday to stay on top of it. And I have no doubt you'll do just fine once the games begin. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I'm definitely not worrying about marketing yet. Gotta get something finished first! I can't be pressuring myself about a bridge to cross that's not even in my field of view. Good luck with figuring all of this stuff out, though.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great concern. I worried about it for a long time. Everything just went more slowly. It's taken me almost 20 years to write three books and none are published!
ReplyDeleteI do my own marketing, which means no much marketing gets done. I send out review requests, which is a crapshoot. I do blog posts as often as I can, because the more activity and content on my site, the more search engines will index it, or so I'm told. I've tried bookhops with limited success. As you can tell, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I heard somewhere that the best thing you can do to market your current book is to write another one, so hopefully that's true. Cause writing a good book is about all I'm confident I can do.
ReplyDeleteI'm nowhere near marketing yet, but I have a few friends who have books out and they have varying stages of success. Some have just done a Facebook blitz and gotten others to spread the word on their books, while others do really well with the Blog Hop virtual book tours. Since I'm still in the rewriting phase, I'll be curious to see what you come up with! Congratulations on your writing!
ReplyDeleteWell, since I'm now working full time, I have the same dilemma. I've had a big fail at finding any time to write. But the job is new, so I'm giving myself time to adjust. I do my marketing, but it's not unwise to advertise with booksites and do a paid book tour. That will free up a lot of your time. You might only have to halt for a little bit to set all that up then move on. FB ads are all the rage now, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, the dreaded marketing. When you figure it out, please share with the rest of us amateurs, lol. When I completed my first novel, well, aside from my WIP, my only completed novel at the moment, I tried to publish it. I received bites from two editors at respectable publishing houses, but the changes they suggested were daunting. Don't get me wrong, I would have gladly made them if there had been some hint at publication, but I just kept getting the old, "make these changes and send it back to me" comments. Needless to say, after five years of working on the book, I set it aside and dove into the next one.
ReplyDeleteI've often contemplated blowing the cobwebs off that book and trying my hand at self publishing (after I made the changes of course), but the whole marketing side of things intimidates me. If you figure it out, I hope you'll share what you've learned. Maybe it isn't as hard as I thought.
Enjoyed your post.