Writing? Sure! Promotion? Well, hmm.
I love to write. Wrote my first dog story when I was eight and have scarcely stopped since. It's because of all my journaling through the decades that I can now in my 70s write memoirs telling stories from long ago, some funny, some tragic, some romantic, some adventurous.
Promotion has never been my strong suit. Of the eight or ten books I've written and self-published, the most successful one was about llamas, back in the 1980s when llamas were popular and often profitable. People loved my book but week after week I would postpone tasks like making phone calls to book distributors. That was before email, which admittedly has made promotion easier.
So a couple of years ago I started my series of memoirs and I've got the first two up on Amazon. Have got the third one almost finished. My excuse to not promote the first two until the third one is done isn't going to hold water much longer. My reasoning was that the third one will interest more people and I do think that is true, but I confess that it was less reasoning than procrastination.
As I have also written websites, I wandered into WA about two months ago. I've learned things, I've shared things, and I've been inspired. And now I ask for your advice about doing things you don't want to do! Any tips? Not about how to promote books (I have a to-do list all ready) but about motivating yourself?
Thanks!
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You’ve accomplished amazing things already.
It should take just a tiny nudge to push you forward.
Check for a group of other writers and self-publishers, either online or locally where you can draw motivation from each other. A group of like-minded people can always accomplish more than individuals on their own.
All the best!
KyleAnn
I'm on a facebook group of that sort but it seems like a waste of time. I'll give it another chance and if it isn't for me I will give it the axe and look for a better one! Good idea, thanks.
Start with one social media platform. Join up, look around and see what you think. I know Twitter have a lot of authors who all support each other and share tweets. I think Instagram probably has something similar.
Facebook is making it more difficult for small businesses to be seen because they want you to pay for ads.
Pinterest is good apparently. I just add blog posts but still get over 12,000 views per month. I still don't 'get it' though.
Once you begin and see how easy it is you might not procrastinate so much.
Worth a try?
Thanks Linda! I'm active on Facebook and used to be on Pinterest, think it's time to set aside a few hours to get back into it. I'm on twitter but don't much like it, will leave it be for now.
I used to make nice images sized for Pinterest, could easily do that again.
It's bit like asking someone to pick your lottery numbers. Everyone will choose different ones for their own reasons. My main protagonist is 'self-promoting'. As I write now (As in this reply) I have just had a thought as to why and it goes all the way back to my childhood, never really had reason to ask the 'why' before. Anyhoo, that aside. Whenever I am having bouts of procrastination I try to think about how I will feel 'after' the fact has been completed. For me, that sense of satisfaction (and relief) is always greater than if it was just another run-of-the-mill task.
Let's see, a good lottery number would be 13-28-13. No that's my combination lock for when I goto water aerobics.
How I will feel when done? AHHHH! Good tip!
In my venture in the online world, I see myself discovering all the things that could really help my audience and me as an entrepreneur. I see and feel that my goal is too far and it makes me sick when I only have the exact blessings in order to live.
For three years in WA, I still have to find that system to funnel in my account the dollars. My comfort is that I now have a website, I understand about affiliate marketing, I know I have to do my own part.
That makes me stay and feel the joy of being in the online world.
Thanks. You hit something here... I am always motivated by helping others and my books DO help others in a variety of ways even if they aren't the obvious how-to. For example, my second book is one about a summer I spent in Sierra Leone, West Africa, on a workcamp. People who read it would benefit by seeing more clearly how we are all one. And also they could learn how much joy the people had there.
Rosana, you've covered a lot of ground in your writing that makes it more challenging to find new inspiration.
Try meditating. Not about writing but about what new experiences you would like to achieve. Then write about that if you haven't already.
Congrats on all the writing you have already done. I find that incredible!
Cheers.
Edwin
Bingo! I haven't written much about what it would be like for my books to reach a lot more people. Will do asap!
Writing a to do list is easy, and motivation is harder for sure. I read encouraging things about how others were always consistent. this motivated them because consistency provided success, and success provides motivation to keep going forward.
If I'm not always consistent now (which I am not), I don't know if that will become a characteristic at my age. BUT hey even as I type this I realize I am quite consistent about planning my days and weeks! Just gotta include success-yielding promotion...
Gee, thats a hard one. The motivation is the kicker. What helps me is reading motivation books. There are things that I don't want to do them but I do the tasks anyway. The sooner I do it, the better. I write down small goals. I use a Passion Planner. That planner works. I need to use it more often, sometimes I slack off.
Thanks -- I signed up for the Passion Planner email list and also I bought some good PLR from Alice Seba, a bunch of motivational worksheets. have a couple open now on my laptop and will do them today!
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I have had similar problems with promoting my books as well. It's kind of a feeling that, since I went to all the work of writing it, someone else should promote it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
So mine start out with a bang and then slow way, way down. If you find an answer, let me know.
I am way more motivated now, partly from reading all these good tips people have given me, and also I think the general good vibe here at WA. Right now I'm in the process of deciding how long and at what time of weekday I will commit to promotion.
I don't think there is one answer...
No, there isn't. I do pretty well when I sell my books person to person. I have a friend here who goes on lots of book-signing trips. She must make money on them, because she keeps taking them. I put one book on my website in the hopes that it would sell, but no such luck so far. I'd love to find someone who would promote my books for me.