You come home from a long day at work and just want to veg. Your nagging “to do” list of laundry, mowing the lawn, and cleaning out your car seem so daunting. But there is something else you are forgetting. Something really important. What was it?
Oh yeah. My book was just released. I should get to that.
The reality for many authors is that success is not instant. Being an author isn’t a high-paying, full-time job for many; and so authors must work a different, perhaps less exciting, full-time job in order to support their goals of perhaps one day becoming a bestselling author.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be an instant success? To wake up one day, quit your regular job and just earn millions in royalties from book sales?
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper, said on her podcast, “So You Want to Be a Writer,” explains that most writers don’t get published. Even others who do get their book printed only see little sales. Vow not to let that happen to you.
You know you need to spend time marketing. But how do you get there? How do you spend the time needed in order to market your book when your day already feels like it is filled to the max?
Picoult continues: “For many people, the tricky thing is time… often, if you’re working a 9-to-5 job, the last thing you want to do is sit down and work on your novel at the end of the day. But if you don’t give yourself a designated time to write everyday, it won’t happen…. You don’t need six hours. Just a half hour. Or several.”
While she is talking about writing a book, the same concept could be applied tomarketing as well. So many authors out there are struggling with time, just like you. The difference between authors with titles that sell and titles that don’t are that the successful authors go out and market their book when they could, whenever they could. The unsuccessful ones only dream about it, let other things get in the way, and offer the excuse, “I just don’t have the time.”
Don’t let that be you!
As you embark on your journey of being an author while holding down a full-time job, keep these important tips in mind:
Set aside time everyday to devote to marketing.
Develop a Promotion Plan of effective marketing techniques.
Be consistent over a long period of time.
If you can do these three things, eventually it won’t matter that you don’t have gobs of hours to spend marketing your book. Do these things, and hopefully you will be the successful author you have always dreamed of being. Let's expound on these three key things, shall we?
Comments