Q - While I think writing itself should take the bulk of my time, it seems marketing tasks can engulf my schedule. what percentage of my time should I actually spend in marketing and seeking markets?
A - This is a question I know a lot of writers struggle with. As creative souls we want to--and think we should--spend most of our time writing. However, writing for publication tends to throw that creative time into the back seat. Unless you spend considerable time on seeking and studying markets--and then handling all the submission work--your writing projects are not likely to sell. I would estimate that many successful writers spend 50% of their available time on marketing. Those who have taken my writing workshops have heard me say that the biggest reason writers fail to sell is becasue they don't give marketing the time it deserves and demands.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I think this is one of the things that "older" writers have a hard time accepting (myself included). When I started publishing in the 80s, you wrote 95% of the time, then figured out a market to submit to on spec, sent it off into oblivion for six months, then wrote the next book for 95% of your time. Not so now! With websites, blogs, email, newsletters, etc. to do, we have to accept that a higher percentage of our time has to be spent marketing, whether it feels like wasted time or not. I'm not up to 50% yet, but if I do all the things I learned at Mt. Hermon, it will be!
I think we look at marketing the wrong way. It's another way of being creative. Sure, it's not writing, but we can still be creative in the ways we market our books.
Keeping that in mind will help with the frustration we feel when we'd really rather be writing.
Post a Comment