I've written a lot this week about understanding and developing a plan around your target audience and reader personas. But the bottom line is that all of that takes a lot of time and effort to do, and even more to do it well. As a self-publishing author, it's likely that you have limited time for writing and marketing. Me too. I work full-time and need to fit it in with everything else I do, from work to my family to my friends - and then of course there's myself. And of course doing the actual writing.
Apart from writing a lot and making sure that the content you create is great, the next most important thing is to make time to talk to your readers and your potential readers. That means spending more time doing the outreach than thinking about and planning the outreach. But it also means not getting burned out with too much social media, too many events, and/or too much focus on the strategic aspect of outreach.
Just connecting with people who are reading or may read your book is critical and fun.
Here is how I manage my time to make sure I bring my whole self to those efforts.
A typical day
Mornings: Mornings are my time to write. I do my best to stay away from email and social media and make sure to get the work done.
Mid-day: This is when I take a break, whether that is for lunch or, on lucky days, a mental break from work. I take a full break, for me that's about 30 minutes, and then before I return to work, I check all of my social media and respond to anyone who has reached out to me.
Evenings: This is when I do most of my social media work and go to events. I think of the evenings as the time to put myself out there. I set aside an hour to actively contact people, spend time in online forums, and try to go to at least one author or book -focused event per week. I also schedule tweets through Social Oomph for the following day so that I have a presence even when I'm not there.
It adds up to about 1.5 hours per day + three hours or so for the event/open mic/networking meetup. I think that's a lot, but I do it because I find it helps me grow my audience and connections. What you do will be based on how much time you have, to be sure, but the amount of time is less important than the habit of making the time. If you have 30 minutes each night to keep up with social media, set aside that time and do it in earnest rather than trying to "fit it in" in spurts throughout the day. If you can only go to one event each month, make it a great one and be prepared with your Quick Pitch.
Do any of you have any other tips for managing time for communitcating with readers?
Image courtesy of Dave McLean via flickr
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