I am so thrilled to post this. I have to say, being a part of LitSisters has changed my life in the most amazing way. And we are starting 2010 off with a bang! Not only did our boutique publishing house, LitSisters Publishing, launch today, but we also were featured on the home page of [...]
1. Create a SMART selling goal. Specific, measurable, realistic, and timely. For instance, aim to sell ONE book a day. If you don’t set a goal then don’t be disappointed if you don’t sell many books. Also, don’t think just because your book is sitting on a bookstore shelf or is listed on Amazon it’s going to sell all by itself! YOU must sell it.
2. Describe features and benefits when pitching your book. For instance, the key feature of my novel To Kill An Armchair Husband, a dark comedy is that it’s a dark comedy. I build this feature into the sub title, so the main title wouldn’t scare off potential readers. And so my family members, namely my husband and children, wouldn’t freak out. The subtitle, a dark comedy also serves to describe the benefit. The book is a comedy, therefore a reader should find the story entertaining and laugh . . . a lot.
3. Believe in your book. An author must be absolutely convinced that his or her book is good, that it’s worth X dollars and X hours of someone’s time. This confidence must come across everywhere, in person, on the author’s website, on promotional materials, etc., etc., etc. If you’re shy or uncertain, then fake it till you make it, baby! You wrote it, it’s published, now go for it!
Terri
Over the past couple of years, I’ve read lots of books about how to build a business and how to find happiness doing what you love. Why? I was trying to find a way to make money, doing what I loved — writing. Last January, at the height of our economic downturn, I finally found success as a full-time writer. Three books have stuck out in my mind as life-changing. I recommend you read them; they may change your life, too!
Have you read these books? If so, let me know what you think? If not, check them out!
This is the last of four installments in the most important aspect of Time Management 1.0: Prioritizing what’s Important in Your Life
Time Management 1.4: Creating Your Plan
Now that you know what’s important and what’s not, we can look at how to create a plan that works for you. We’re not yet at the color coded Excel spreadsheet yet (though you can make one at this point if you want!). Right now we’re just creating a basic plan.
Okay, take out your happy list, your categories list, and your “what to get rid of” list.
We’re going to make a weekly chart.
Take out a clean sheet of paper. You can do this in Excel, too, if you like. Turn it side-ways and across the top, write the days of the week. Leave a column to write times on the right side and one to write notes on the left side. I write out Monday through Sunday, because I like to see my weekend days together. Do what works best for you.
Now, down the right side write the time (I recommend ½ hour to 1 hour increments) from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. Consider how much sleep you need. If you need 10 hours, make sure that’s included in your chart. You can’t function with high energy if you’re too tired. If you have to be up by 7am so that you can get to work on time, count backwards to determine what time you need to be in bed.
Once you’re done with that, write in the most important obligations, tasks, appointments, etc. For instance, if you must be at work by 8am, put that in. If you take your kids to school at 8:45 or must pick them up at 3:15, put that in, too. If you write every day between 5am and 7am, put that in! Now, based on the work we did last week, you should have gotten rid of any obligations that aren’t serving you or making you happy. So, they shouldn’t go in your chart.
If you do have obligations that you’re not happy with, but can’t seem to get rid of, like scrambling to pick the kids up or rushing to get them to school, consider other options.
For instance, I was scrambling to drop off the kids and pick them up after working a 9 hour day. Often, I was running late in both directions. My husband and I had decided I would perform these tasks because my job was closer to the day care. However, I was running ragged and never had a moment to breathe. So, we considered other possibilities. He decided he could start work later and take the kids in the morning. This meant that I could go to work earlier and pick up the kids earlier, too. Our children ended up in daycare less time, I felt less harried, and my husband and I shared the burden of pick up and drop off, making our family more relaxed and less rushed on either end of the work day.
What types of tasks are you performing that someone else can manage? This can be work or home tasks. What chores at home can be passed off to your kids? Even a four year old can dust and help set the table. And an intern make copies, schedule meetings and file.
Once you get in all of your obligations (make sure all daily items are repeated throughout the week), consider your happy list and your categories. What hasn’t been in your schedule that you would like to have there? It may not seem like you have the time, so consider items that can be done simultaneously, from tasks like talking to family and unloading the dishwasher to riding your bike with a friend or listening to music while you clean.
When I started looking at categories and themes in my happy list, I found that exercising was something I wanted to do, but not something I ever seemed to fit into my life. I started pairing it with things I always included – like socializing with friends and reading. I started going to the gym to ride an incumbent bike and read a book. I spent an hour there relaxing and reading AND getting my exercise. I felt refreshed and ready to take on the world when I was done – I also brought my kids to the kid’s place at the gym. They loved it because they got to play with other children right after spending all day in school. It really worked for all of us and I did four days a week.
Add in those things that you want to be a priority in your life, whether it’s a weekly date night or a daily walk. It’s important; schedule it into your day. This goes for writing time, too. Also, it is okay if you’re only putting in 15 minutes a day to start. Put it in! It makes you happy and that means it’s essential to your well-being.
Okay, do you have everything in? If you have monthly obligations, add that to your notes column, and be sure to add those into what ever calendar/organization system you use.
How does your weekly chart look? Does it depict a better balance of work and play? Does it include things that make you happy as well as things that make you feel productive?
As you schedule each week (I recommend you pick one day a week to do your scheduling) use your chart and be sure that the things on this chart get into the appropriate days first — before you plan anything else. This will help you keep writing time sacred and date night important, and it will alert you not to schedule another appointment during that very precious time. And keep in mind…it’s okay to slip up. Don’t give up. It takes practice to live by your priorities, but if you keep coming back to your chart for guidance, you’ll start to see a shift in the way you live.
I hope this helps you get started with managing your time!
This is the first of four installments in the Time Management 1.0 Series: Prioritizing what’s Important in Your Life
Time Management 1.1: What Makes You Happy?
Dear Writer: If you want to get organized and manage your time effectively, the first step is knowing what’s most important to you. Chances are you may feel so overwhelmed with everything in your life that you don’t even know where to begin. I know. I’ve been there. The next four blogs are designed to help you discover what’s essential to your happiness and success, and how to make it first and foremost in your life (like writing!) Before the rest of the unimportant, and often very insistent, things overrun your day.
The first step is to make a list. Stop! Don’t run away! Yes, I know. If you’re struggling with managing your time and organizing your life, then there’s a good possibility you hate lists. But, trust me. This is a good list.
Drum roll please. Write down a list of things that make you happy. Really happy; joyfully, blissfully happy.
There’s no right or wrong answer. Put your censor/editor in a padlocked box for this exercise. The only criteria is it makes you happy – don’t worry if it makes anyone else happy (or sad). Use a pen, pencil, crayon, typewriter or computer. Write it on a napkin, in your journal or on your eight-year-old’s report card. I don’t care, just get it down on something you can find again later.
Take note, you may not know what makes you happy. Not right away.
I didn’t. I really had to think about it…for awhile. I was stunned: How could I not know what made me happy? I thought for days about my list and slowly I began thinking of things and writing them down. Once I started, I made a very long list. I still have it saved to my computer. It has things on it like, listening to the sound of thunder, working on a story, and playing with my kids. It may sound goofy to make such a list. However, if you want to manage your time, it helps to know what you’d like to be doing with it.
You don’t need to do any of the things on your list (unless you want too!), just write them down. It might take a while, but they’ll come to you. Add to your list throughout the week, and next Monday, I’ll share the next step.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at christine@litsisters.com. Check back regularly for more LitSisters™ writing tips and resources.
Next Week: Time Management 1.2: Determining the Important Stuff
OR: How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Book
Whether you’re an Indie author, or you’ve chose to go the traditional route of being agented, there is one major common fact: there is no money for marketing. The state of the industry doesn’t allow for it. So you’re this new author, with this amazing new book that you’ve worked on making as perfect as it can possibly be. Well, now what? How do people buy it? How do they find out about it? And the most important question: how can you make more money selling it?
And the easiest answer, dear readers, is this: social media.
Here are my top five tips for getting started on social media promotion for your book.
Get Profiled!
You’ll want profiles on all of the prominent social media websites: Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, etc … Upload photos of yourself, your book, any events you’ve done, things like that.
Use the Resources
Now that you’re all set up and good to go, USE THEM! The only way for people to remember who you are, is if you make yourself visible. Think of the old advertising rule: consumers need to see an advertisement seven times before the business name resonates with them. If someone needs to see you seven times before they recognize you, how many times does it take to get them to buy from you?
Build Relationships
While money, as with this and any other business, is the bottom line, you can’t view social media as social media = $. It just doesn’t work that way. You’re building relationships here. You’re making that connection with other writers, small presses, potential readers … caring about who you’re talking to and spending the time to get to know who they are will make all the difference when it comes to promoting your work.
This Shouldn’t Even Have To Be A Point
You have a website, right? And a blog, of course. And you’re updating with useful, relevant content several times a week, correct? And you’re making sure that you’re writing in your voice, and maybe even including little tidbits of your personal life to reach out and make that personal connection with your readers. I shouldn’t even have to put that here, right?
Yeah, I didn’t think so. You’re on top of stuff. Right?
Don’t Whore Yourself Out
With social media, you’re walking a fine line between good promo and being a pain-in-the-ass. I hate to be crude (okay, I really don’t) but the best way to make the most out of your social media is to understand that no one wants to be spammed. And no one wants to be forced into your product. If every update you make is about “Buy my new book!” “OMG did you buy my book yet!” “Hey, didya know I have a book and you should totally buy it?!” … yeah, you’ve just crossed into PITA territory. Keep it light, keep it simple, KEEP IT RELEVANT.
Lastly, think of social media like a party. Behave as if everyone you meet online is someone you’re meeting at a party. Writing is what you do, not what you are, and surely, you have other things to talk about. We good? Good. Now, go get started by joining the party at the LitSisters Facebook Group!
(see what I did there? eh? eh?)
What the heck is this all about? So glad you asked, reader!
Let me introduce myself. My name is CL. I’m the founder of LitSisters. What is LitSisters? Well, we’re a group of women. We write. We love wine, tea, coffee and the occasional pastry. But mostly, we write. And we believe that the term ’self-publishing’ is a four letter word. We’re writers with a strong business sense, empowered to do this publishing thing on our own.
We’re Indie Authors. We’re Writerpreneurs.
And we’ve each got our own poison. Aud, for instance, writes heart-warming stories about families, love, and strength. Terri will make you laugh until you pee yourself, but then smile when you realize that you’ve learned something in between your giggle-snorts. Christine’s literary-noir style will suck you into her sepia-toned world and keep you hooked until it’s 4am and you’re wondering where the night went. Robin’s slow, romantic style will make you swoon, like you’re holding hands with your loved one, taking a walk in the park in the middle of an Autumn day.
As for me? I write about hot guys, smart girls, glitzy parties and fabulous clothes.
So, what is our goal here? Well, in business terms, here’s our mission statement:
To encourage and empower writers to complete, polish and market publishable commercial print and electronic creative work. To provide technical, artistic, emotional and social support. But above all, to be kind and honest.
We support each other in a way we believe all women should, writers or not. We focus on creating quality work that we believe in, and will all stand behind. We’re a family. We’re sisters. And we hope that this site will help you, with your writing, the way we help each other. By providing useful links, interesting articles, and letting you into our worlds.
I hope you’ll come back soon, reader! You’re always welcome to join in the discussion in the comments, send us an email or two, and let us know what you need help with.
Because, just like in our three-dimensional meetings? We’re here to support you with your writing business, too.
