Early in my wanting-to-pursue-publication journey, I heard a woman give a talk about maximizing your time. She said, “Nothing you do should go to waste. If I see a movie, I’ll figure out a way to use it in my writing. I’ll write something about it.”
Honestly, at first, I did kind of give a big eye roll. Really? Nothing could be sacred, private, and free? Couldn’t my mind ever just have a void where I didn’t have to think about marketing?
Now, I might have changed my opinion on that somewhat.
Marketing is hard work. Author Richard Mabry once said to me, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” And this is the truth. When your book releases, there is usually a flurry of activity to launch your baby. But, there comes a time when you need to begin to focus on the next book while still keeping your other marketing activities going. This may be less about your book and more about growing your platform and social media presence.
Consider all your activities: can they aid in growing your social media? Can they give you a blog topic? Can something you do for fun give you a possible return on your time investment?
I recently read the book Fear Nothing, by Lisa Gardner. I wanted to read this book. Lisa is a favorite author of mine so I put most other books aside to enjoy her new releases.
On the marketing side, this is how I used my leisure time to help my social media.
1. I wrote a Goodreads review on the novel. This is good for authors. It gives people an example of your writing style and can help readers find you. After all, you likely write what you like to read.
2. I pinned it to Pinterest. Some readers/followers are more visual and I do find people repinning books from my boards.
3. I blogged about it– in two different places. My main blog is Redwood’s Medical Edge and it deals with medical accuracy in fiction. Fear Nothing had a character with congenital insensitivity to pain so not only did I blog about this particular medical disorder but I also did a post that was a review of the novel and some of its medical aspects. And now, I’m here blogging about how to use one activity to foster multiple marketing efforts. So, I guess that’s three blog posts.
Your activities should become the ultimate wardrobe, where all pieces can be mixed with one another. Ultimately, a book I read for fun ended up being used to build my platform (a medical nerd who writes suspense novels) and, hopefully, keep up interest in my social media.
What about you? In what ways have you used fun activities to maximize marketing efforts?
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I’m a Christian author and raised Baptist though I now relate to simply Christian (labels feel itchy to me), but as a kid we REALLY separated church and earnings… that can be tough for me now. Marketing myself always seems so big headed and I really don’t enjoy it one bit. Any advice on how the world’s can coincide?
Hi! I realize this question was posed to Jordyn, but I felt compelled to jump in, too. Your description of separated church and earnings pegged my upbringing, too, and pure marketing can indeed be distasteful. Try framing your marketing efforts towards the greater goal of knowing that you’re interacting with flesh and blood people that Jesus loves and that you’re developing relationships with a wider audience so HE can speak through you and touch their lives. That removes the ickiness for me every time. 🙂 Blessings~
Shellie, beautifully put. This really does hit home. Thank you so much for your understanding. When we had a visiting group, we had them sell their tapes (oh, listen at my age showing haha) WAY down in the parking lot. Then there’s that imagery of Jesus flipping the table at the temple. lol Don’t ever want to be THAT table. God bless you! Great advice, my friend.
Thanks so much, Shellie. Great points.
Excellent post, Jordyn! I’ve had the same experience in that looking at everything with a marketer’s eye yields great benefits to the writing career itself. Great advice, and I love the ‘ultimate wardrobe’ metaphor (especially since pulling together outfits has never been one of my strengths). I’m going to steal it from you.
Steal away.
Another great post from Jordyn. 🙂 Thanks woman. I love the connect the dots approach to marketing. It must fit seemlessly into who we are or the efforts scream fake, don’t they?
Absolutely, Shellie. I think people know when you’re not being authentic. Interesting about incorporating this book read into keeping my social media stuff alive was none of it was actually about MY books but does support my brand in my ultimate medical nerdiness. So, I think it doesn’t always have to be about your book but just little tastes of your brand are good, too.
I am so new to all of this. Having finished the first draft of a book, I’m in the process of learning about “platform.” It can be just a tad overwhelming. Thank you for these practical ideas.
You’re welcome. If you’re new– check out Michael Hyatt’s blogs or book on Platform. He focuses a lot on building your platform for all learning levels. Just focus on one thing at a time. When you feel you have a handle on that then move on to the next thing and congratulations on finishing your first draft! Personally, I think that’s the hardest part. You can’t edit an empty page. Now, you have something to polish. Be proud.
Great advice! I’m just jumping into the world of social media marketing in preparation for the release of my first novel and have been at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it. Thanks for sharing!