To-do
“When do you have time to do anything but write?” That was the question my brother-in-law posed this weekend.
Other than jotting down plot points, I haven’t actually written a word other than a blog post most of this month. Last week was vacation for our family and during the times when my boys are around I try to be present as much as possible, although sometimes that is easier said than done when an idea strikes. Self-publishing has become my full-time job. I work four days a week and at least one day over the weekend even when I’m not writing.
“What are you doing today?” MJA asks each morning.
Last night we had a discussion about story timelines and one would think that my priority would lie there. After all, I do have another book release planned for the fall. There is also my almost complete business plan that is missing the actual financials from Amazon broken down into sales versus pages read with Kindle Unlimited borrows. (Sounds pretty boring, huh? That’s why I’m going back to that later.)
This won’t be posted until Wednesday, but it’s Tuesday and that means teasers—those cute pix with quotes that get posted to Instagram and Facebook every week. Since I was off last week, today’s weren’t scheduled so I had to bundle them on the fly.
Other than content and grammar edits, I do everything for each of my books from endless hours searching stock photography to designing the covers and teasers to formatting paperbacks and digital copies. I also manage three Facebook pages including my fan page, reader circle, and street team; each with their own image needs. I’ve made some amazing contacts with review sites that are happy to share after I create the graphics and post information. This morning I got a fantastic reply message from Romance Novel Giveaways that they will be sharing Canvas on their page. Yeah!
The remainder of my week looks something like this:
Repackage Eric to send to a review site
Investigate the Goodreads, BookBub and Amazon Giveaways promotional information.
Define the marketing parameters for September
Design Facebook ads after deciding if they are stagnant or video images.
Oh yeah, and I found out last week that my website (that I also designed and maintain) actually has traffic. Who’da thunk that? Not me! So at some point, I need to find a payment processor and consider offering signed paperback copies and other swag…And if you are reading this could you puh-lease sign up for my newsletter so that I know who you are? Thanks!
Overwhelmed yet? I get that feeling often because self-publishing is a small business. Its success or failure depends on my initiative and drive. When I’m not writing I have to get as many things efficiently checked off the to-do list, while still maintaining my own integrity and providing a quality product/experience for my readers. Having messed that up before it isn’t something I want to repeat.
The thing is, I love this job. I love it more than any job I’ve had. I learn something new every.single.day. The frustrations are always countered by the simplest compliments. Even something as mundane as logging weekly downloads is sort of fun. I'm connecting with amazing people...And, for as "busy" as I am, I feel like there is still plenty of opportunities to be distracted by the thing in life that count. <3
Thanks for reading!
