Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Choosing Between Writing & Marketing Books




Every day I come to work with the intention of accomplishing a great number of things.  Usually the goals outnumber the deliverables.  One simply runs out of time and then has to reset his clock to gaze upon tomorrow’s to-do list. Writers must confront the same process, daily, of tabulating a wish-list only to see they barely made a dent in it. How can authors balance their time between writing, getting published, and marketing their brand?

There’s no easy answer to this, no one-size fits all formula.  But there is an approach or mindset one must take to be productive.  You have to first layout your foundational values – who do you want to be – and what would such a person do today to achieve his/her dreams?

By foundational values, I’m talking about how you define yourself, as if putting together a profile of yourself for a dating site.  How do you filter who you are and how you want to see yourself?

Are you only a writer and not a marketer?  Will you farm out your book publicity to others, completely and successfully?

Are you a blend of writer and book marketer, and if so, to what degree?  What percentage of your day’s thoughts, discussions and activities will be devoted to each?

Once you answer these questions you’ll be better prepared to take action, as you will act from a point of knowing and acceptance of exactly who you are.

The tough part is that many of us have multiple talents – and we believe we can do it all.  But we can’t.

Many of us want to act out of need – things must be done and not everything can be handed over to someone else.  But we must try to utilize the help of others wherever possible.

Even the act of putting out a book is not solely up to the writer.  There’s the editor, cover designer, layout person, and manuscript doctor.  It takes a team to build on your creativity, vision, and passion.

So what’s today’s writer to do?

First and foremost, you write.  That’s what you do best.  That’s what you are passionate about. That’s why you exist.

Second, determine what else needs to get done, i.e. marketing, and map out a plan of who does what and when.  Know that you can’t do it all but that you have to do some.  Believe that there’s a payoff to what you’re doing and remind yourself that book marketing is as important as writing your book.

Lastly, set goals and benchmarks for activities and results and then evaluate them over time and see where you can improve.  The name of the game is to always be writing, editing, and marketing. If you do enough of all three well, you’ll see success come your way.


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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute Conference.

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