5 Proven Tips for Balancing Your Writing Life and Successful Book Marketing
5 Proven Tips for Balancing Your Writing Life and Successful Book Marketing
Life happens. Here's how to prepare for it!
I’m not sure about you, but life has not been smooth sailing for many of us writers and small business owners since the pandemic. Somehow, I still managed to keep my biz going and write and publish a few books during that time, but now? It can feel overwhelming.
So, when I start to feel the crushing weight of busyness, I stop and process what feels so burdensome and how to stop that feeling.
Here are my five tips for balancing (as best as one can) real life, writing, and book marketing.
1. Remove Excess Stimuli
Are you naturally messy or neat? Like music or no sound whatsoever? Door open or closed?
You know how experts tell you to make your bed, straighten your office, and have everything set up neatly before you begin your tasks? There are a myriad of studies that show that messy work is better for creativity and others that show the opposite. So what’s the answer?
What works for you? Ask yourself a few questions:
How does disorganization affect me (if at all)?
How does clutter cause me discomfort or anxiety?
How does neatness affect my creativity?
Once you determine your own style, you can make adjustments.
Clutter is an excess stimulus for me, and constant notifications cause anxiety. I require a neat desk. But I think what’s missing in these “messy versus neat conversations” is that it’s more about cleanliness. Interestingly, working in a neat environment can make you more generous.
Is your desk covered in cat hair? (My editor cat, Pip, loves my desk - it’s a constant battle.)
Are your writing areas uncluttered and organized, or at least not covered in animal hair? All this matters. Figure out what works best for you.
What about social media? What about marketing? What about your blog and/or newsletter? These are all additional stimuli buzzing around our heads (not to mention editing and revising, right).
So, add these tasks to your priority list. What must get done today? Right now?
How to do this? Read on…
2. Create A Daily Priority List
One of my biggest discoveries in managing my anxiety when I was a teen: I started using a daily planner, and through the years, I have tried most types of planners: Bullet, Franklin, DayPlanner, BlueSky, and Goodnotes (on my iPad).
We remember better when we write out by hand (assuming that’s an option for you), than typing. More here.
What works best is a written planner with plenty of room for note-taking and reminders. If I don’t finish a particular task, I add it to my next day.
I’m kind of annoyed at myself for not sticking with a digital planner, but I find physical note-taking to be a much more effective and strategic use of my brain. You may love your digital planners, and yay! Whatever works.
The point is…make time for your writing and marketing activities (or hire someone to help you). Add these tasks to your priority list. Here are some tips on how to prioritize.
3. Schedule What You Can - But Not Everything
When I started my BadRedhead Media, LLC business back in 2011, I had only just heard about social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and TweetDeck (now only available to X Premium+ users - at least this week). Now there are a million schedulers out there!
Take a look to see what works for your brain. I prefer Hootsuite, but it’s pretty spendy now (I have a grandfathered plan). Buffer and Canva are reasonable alternatives.
I schedule all my blog posts for the #MondayBlogs blog-sharing meme I created over a decade ago on Twitter (now X but whatever). Share your own posts, repost and comment on others, and grow your site traffic and blog readership. Not for book promo.
More info here on my site. All writers are welcome!
What to schedule? I recommend blog posts, articles, quotes, and, of course, occasional book promos. It’s crucial that you still interact live with folks—potential readers or clients—to establish and build those relationships.
Keep in mind that while writing a book is a huge achievement, it’s also only one part of the entire publishing equation. Read more here:
4. Trust Your Instincts
If something feels like a stretch—in whatever ways—it’s okay to say no. I recently declined a client (and hey, who doesn’t need the money?) because I knew that I was not the best fit for what he needed - but I did connect him with the perfect person.
That said, I’ve helped my 83-year-old mama write her first book (how cute is this cover?), a memoir/cookbook, and have been invited to participate in a sexuality book series (er, not including my mum), so I’m outside my comfort zone and loving it! And I’m learning so much.
If something feels wrong, it is. Sit with those questions and feelings, create an analysis or Pros/Cons list - whatever process works for you. Just be sure you listen to your gut.
Another recent client asked if his feelings about a potential publishing opportunity being predatory were on target. After research showed many issues, I advised him not to do it.
Schemes abound. It’s good to ask someone who may know, check online reviews, and do your due diligence.
And always check the WriterBeware site! It names and shames (aka calls out) predatory companies. It's worth bookmarking.
5. Write About What You Enjoy
If you don’t feel it as you write it, the reader won’t feel it when they read it.
Are you writing about topics that inspire or ignite your passion? If not, then why do it? Usually, the answer is money.
I get it. I take freelance writing assignments sometimes just for a little extra cash. Do I enjoy it? I mean, I always enjoy writing, but some topics more than others.
Ultimately, I’ve decided only to focus on my main topics, and the rest can wait. That’s important for me because I wasn’t enjoying it.
More here.
What Works Best For You?
The writing life is fun, hard, challenging, soul-lifting, soul-crushing, and ultimately, a choice. You have the tools to figure out - and if you don’t, reach out. What questions can I help you with?
Want an hour of one-on-one consulting? Email me and let’s talk: badredheadmedia@gmail.com. 20% discount for mentioning this newsletter!
Coming Up
Join me for my monthly #BookMarketingChat next Wednesday at 2 pm pst/5 pm est on Twitter (now X) Spaces at @BadRedheadMedia with special guest, award-winning author Linda R. Sexton, who just published her first book on open adoption, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝑾𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉: 𝑨𝒏 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒊𝒓.
Click here now to set a reminder/add to your calendar. All attendees are eligible to enter for a free copy of Linda’s book. I record all spaces so you can always listen later if you can’t attend.
Featured Author
One of the best novels I’ve read so far this year is Tears Are Only Water by J. Herman Kleiger. If you’re a trauma survivor or know someone who is, this book will be eye-opening and healing in profound ways. This is his second work of psychological fiction.
Dr. Kleiger is a psychologist who also writes fiction. Read more here.
Sponsor
💜 Thank you, Booklinker, my exclusive advertising sponsor for 2024! Free universal book links for all authors. Super easy to use. And they have a fantastic blog here.💜
See you next week, and happy writing!
A handwritten list and a clean desk. Ahhhh.
I feel like my preferences for a writing space has changed over the years. As I type this, my desk is very cluttered with pens, notebooks, clothes, scarves and more. But I'm not sitting at my desk. Instead, I'm sat crosslegged on my bed, typing away at my laptop which is on a bed-desk (yes, they exist!) Maximum comfort, although my back may disagree eventually. I used to also love sitting on the sofa, but less so these days. I suppose everything has a time and place.
I absolutely LOVE a to-do list. I tend to write mine before I go to bed, that way when I wake up the next morning I don't need to waste time with thinking. I can focus on the doing instead.
Anyway, great newsletter with some great tips for writers!