Marrying Marketing and Writing Goals

It’s almost the end of the year. The smell of fresh-baked cookies lingers in the air and if you tilt your head, you can probably the jingling of bells and holiday ornaments. Winter offers writers the chance to reflect on goals: What did we accomplish the previous year? What do we want to do over the next couple of months?

If you’re focused on shoring up your image, this is a good time to consider not only what you will write, but what you have time to promote. When you self-publish, you might want to take a look at your publishing schedule and plot out some marketing-related activities for your new releases.

The key with setting good goals for marketing is to consider the following:

+ What tools do I have access to?
+ What kinds of activities can I do? (Online and off)
+ How much time do I have to spend on marketing?
+ Do I have a budget to spend on new tools/promotions?
+ Do I need to track the results? If so, how am I doing that?

I feel marketing is often taken for granted because online it looks so easy. Tweet once or twice (or sometimes even multiple times a day) and you’re done. Right? Unfortunately, a lot of marketing techniques require consistency to be effective. Tweeting about a book release isn’t enough to get the word out. Remember, book publicists solely focus on marketing day in and day out. When you’re an author, you have to balance your PR time for you and your book with the time you spend plotting, outlining, writing, revising, and polishing.

Even though it’s a necessary evil, marketing can be a little easier on your schedule if you set some goals that coincide with your writing. When you’re in “production mode,” don’t focus on heavy-handed marketing techniques. Pull back and focus on your words. It’s okay not to market yourself at times and, for authors, it’s necessary. If you’re self-publishing, figure out a release schedule that works for you. Then, pop in some promotional goals that relate to your new books.

Sample marketing-related goals may include:

+ I will research five new author blogs where I can guest post.
+ I will submit my e-book to three places for a review.
+ I will write one week’s worth of blog posts talking about different aspects of my book.
+ I will price out bookmarks and find places to distribute them.
+ I will ask four authors for a blurb.

By including a range of marketing-related goals to complement your writing-related aspirations, you will ensure you are putting some effort into marketing. Plus, when you schedule your PR time around a release, you’ll be able to balance your deadlines, too.

So, for this year, take the plunge and identify some marketing goals for yourself. You’ll be glad you did!

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://howtowriteshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/MLV_Logo_Color_Small.png[/author_image] [author_info]Monica Valentinelli is an author and game designer who lives in the dark. Her hobbies include: tormenting her cats, designing jewelry, and hiking in the woods. In addition to her genre work, Monica has a professional background in online marketing with a strong emphasis on copywriting, web analytics, social media and search engine optimization. Find her online at: www.mlvwrites.com.[/author_info] [/author]