Stay True to Your Writing Path in 2015

 

Stay True to Your Writing Path

By Mary Manners 

Many authors struggle with the fact that marketing rarely takes a holiday vacation, and thus tends to devour writing time. Deadlines loom, but at the same time there are book releases that require promotion. Often the worlds of Facebook and Twitter closely resemble black holes that suck writers in and refuse to let go. The question soon arises: How does one maintain a fine balance between marketing and writing? As we head into 2015, I’d like to share a few easy solutions that I have found to be highly effective:

Rock Around the Block:

Schedule daily ‘clean-up’ marketing in short blocks of time. By clean-up marketing, I refer to staying connected with friends who have commented on posts, sent messages, etc. These require a fairly quick response and should not be neglected. An example of blocking technique might be to use three 15 minute session: one first thing in the morning, one mid-day, and a third in the evening, when the day’s writing is complete. Set a timer and limit yourself to fifteen minutes per block. Whatever is not completed during that time should be put off until the next block.

 

Goal for it:

When the black holes beckon, setting a writing goal and sticking to it works well. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. My goal is usually five for five: I must write 500 words before I break for a five-minute trek through the virtual world to see what’s going on. I set a timer and strictly limit myself to five minutes. This technique works very well to help me tackle and tie up my writing projects as deadlines loom; the promise of a trek through a black hole motivates me to get those words down on paper.

 

Chunk it Out:

When dealing with the bulk of marketing, consider chunking the work into a half-day once a month to schedule tweets and posts. I use Hootesuite to work this in. Hootsuite is a free service and allows Twitter and Facebook scheduling several months in advance. I have found that a half-day provides plenty of time to plan and schedule a month’s worth of information for both of these venues. Additional blocking times throughout the course of a month may be used to work in last-minute posts as well as to retweet and/or respond to the posts of others. As an aside, it is quite beneficial to have all tweets/posts saved in a document with links already shrunk, which allows for quick cutting and pasting.

 

Take a Deep Breath and WRITE:

The next time the virtual world threatens to snatch away writing time, step back, take a deep breath, and then dive back in to WRITE. Remember these simple tips to help stay focused and enjoy the journey. Happy New Year and Happy Writing!

 

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Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband Tim and daughter Danni, and the cherished cats they've rescued from local animal shelters...Lucky and Gus. She loves flavored coffee and Smoky Mountain sunsets.

Mary was named Author of the Year by Book and Trailer Showcase. She writes inspirational romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.



Learn more about Mary Manners at her website: www.MaryMannersRomance.com.

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Kate's Kisses

Broken dreams...shattered hearts...a special recipe... Following the tragic, sudden death of her parents, Kate Spencer broke off her engagement from high school sweetheart Logan Daniels, just weeks before their wedding. She chose, instead, to remain in Mount Ridge, Tennessee to raise her younger sisters and help keep the family together. Now, with her sisters grown, she spends her days at family-owned Sweet Treats Bakery, hiding a wounded heart in the sweet confections she creates. Logan Daniels left town when Kate broke his heart, but now he's come home to claim what he lost four years ago, and he won't stop until he gets what he came for...Kate's kisses.

The Steps to Effective Marketing by Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer Slattery recently signed a contract for her debut novel. She's been enthusiastic about being an author with a marketing plan, so I asked her to share her ideas on marketing. -- Sandy

Jennifer: It was the moment I’d been waiting for, the event that moved me from aspiring novelist to contracted. After a brief celebration, I got to work, because I refuse to be a “one book wonder.” You see, selling a book doesn’t necessarily launch a career. Contract number two hinges largely on how well book one sells. Successful novelists, then, are those who write and market well. And marketing is a journey of stepping stones.

Most publishing professionals will tell you it takes a great deal of time, energy, and books to develop a strong platform. I believe this platform starts with consistency.

A writer’s online presence is important. In fact, my publisher asked me point blank, “Are you blogging regularly?” My answer, “Yes. In fact, I just agreed to write regularly for Crosswalk.com. I also have articles scheduled to appear on…”

In essence, I had an ever-expanding plan in place. A plan that started small, with nonpaying markets. When I first started writing in the evangelical sphere, I blogged for pretty near anybody and sent articles to most anyone who would print them. Yes, even those publications that wanted me to interview locals… when I lived, oh, ten or so states away.

As soon as editors started showing interest in my work, I began to pay attention to what others were doing online and in print, from guest blogging to article writing. I read about book launches, give-aways, and marketing ideas. I developed an email folder and word document where I could save all marketing links and ideas. I made blogging and article writing part of my novel-writing career and scheduled time for these activities. This took work, diligence, time management, planning, and a great deal of prayer.

Most importantly, I made sure every piece I put out was my best work, recognizing lazy, boring, or poorly written posts and articles will drive readers away. I made deadlines, whether they were for a friend’s blog or a paying magazine editor. As a result, people began to come to me. In fact, that’s how I started writing for Crosswalk.com and the ACFW Journal. In both instances, I started as a freelancer and was later offered a regular gig from the editors.

I set reachable blogging and article writing goals and wrote those into my planner. Reachable goals are things like:

Blog weekly

Send four article queries out per month

You have no control over things like how many new subscribers you’ll gain or how many articles you’ll get published. However, if you consistently make and meet reachable goals, over time you’ll naturally grow your readership and writing credentials. And increased writing credentials lead to increased writing opportunities.

To reiterate, increased sales come from an increased readership. An increased readership comes from an increased reach. An increased reach is helped by increased writing credentials and an ever-increasing online presence. Increased credentials and online presence comes from starting wherever you’re at and presenting your best work while keeping an eye out to opportunities.   

Even if you're not published yet, do you have a general plan for developing a platform that will help you sell future books? Do you keep a file with marketing ideas that seem to work for other writers? We're here to learn from one another, so share something you are doing now to prepare for "that day."

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Jennifer Slattery loves blogging and connecting with others through Facebook, and she’s trying to learn Twitter. This past October, she received a contract on a missional romance (title and release date to be announced) from New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about Jesus Christ and seeing lives transformed by His grace. When she’s not blogging or writing, she’s helping other authors perfect their writing and grow their gift. You can find out more about her and her writing at her devotional blog, http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com. You can find out more about her editing services at http://wordsthatkeep.wordpress.com/about/