Marketing can be overwhelming, and I get caught up in it all the time. When I’m not writing, I feel like I should be sharing my work–even when I am writing, I feel like I should be sharing my work. I blame the Internet: we see people working all the time, or talking about how they should be working all the time.
But while I recognize the futility of constantly marketing, I also realize that it’s part of being a writer. Being a writer means finding readers. Maybe that’s new for this particular time, maybe it’s always been part of being a writer–to me, it doesn’t really matter. It’s my responsibility to find readers for my work.
But I don’t want to lose site of my goal, which is to keep writing.
So how do I keep things balanced?
I’m not perfect by any means, but I do try to follow one questions I ask when I make time to market my work: Does this help me write?
Listen in below (or on Stitcher or iTunes) to hear an example of how my marketing helps me to write. Also hear the genesis of this very podcast: how I started it and why, and how I spoke to an imaginary audience for several weeks.
Show notes:
Writing update: I’ve written a few more pages in my new novel.
Reading update: I read another mystery, but nothing to recommend. Alas. Please send more mysteries. Also, I said I was reading P.G. Wodehouse, but I am actually reading P.D. James! They are different people. P.D. James’ book on writing mysteries is great: Talking About Detective Fiction.
Links:
- I’m on Twitter. I lied on the podcast (again) and said that Twitter has never helped me write, but it is how I found my agent, and she helps me write so much! I talked at length about this is in Episode 16.
- I’m also on Instagram
- Sales of my ebooks and nice reviews like this one help me write
What are your goals for your marketing? What things are you trying? How do you find readers?
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