I know I’m not the only one who can claim to have a very busy life. Everyone is busy these days. No one has time for any extras, and it’s just plan impossible to squeeze in time for things you really, really don’t want to do. I wear many hats as a wife, mom, homeschool teacher, friend, Reiki healer, writer, sometimes employee, and a very sometimes blogger. Lately, I’ve added another job as packer and mover with our family’s relocation to Florida in the next few weeks. I really don’t have time for anything extra, especially for something I don’t want to do and something that’s most assuredly going to add more stress to an already stress-filled life.
If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know I recently published my first novel last month. Most writers would be marketing their little hearts out and plastering the internet and anything else they can think of to get the word out about their new book! And why shouldn’t they? It was hard work and it’s time to reap the benefits. But I’m not like most people, I already got the “benefit” out of writing my book. I finished a really hard and tough project (well the first book of it anyways) and damn if that didn’t feel freaking awesome! If I actually sell some copies here and there… bonus!
But I did not become a writer to make money, and I do not and will not get to a point where I rely on book sales to supplement my income (that’s what my hard working husband is for–– love you Hun!). If I need money, I’ll find some other way to acquire it. That being said, it would be really, super awesome to at least earn back my investment in self-publishing my book, and I certainly appreciate anyone who has helped and will help to contribute to that goal!
I know there are a lot of hard working writers out there who do rely on writing as an income and my hat is off to them, but partway through my writing “career” I realized that’s not for me. I can’t write that way. I have to be one hundred percent free to be me when it comes to my writing and that means not limiting myself in anyway or stressing myself out over something I don’t want to do. And marketing is something I most certainly do not want to do.
Truth be told, when I first decided to publish my novel I was SUPER stressed about what to do about marketing (even though I told myself I wasn’t going to). I got all kinds of advice. I did lots and lots of research on marketing. I even started working on my own marketing plan. But you know what I realized? I was spending so much time on researching, thinking, and planning on how to market myself and my book, I was getting NO writing done. None. Zero. Zilch. I was too stressed out about marketing. Too stressed about finding time to get it all done (and the writing I wasn’t getting done).
So stopped everything. And I took a look around at my super stressed self and the really dark path I was clearly headed down and said, “Oh hell no, I am not doing this. I am not going there. I am becoming an overstressed person just to sell one or two more copies. It’s not worth it. I never wanted to do it this way anyways.” So I went back to my original plan of not marketing.
I can’t say I haven’t marketed at all. I did several Facebook posts. I created a Facebook author page. I have a Twitter account that I managed to schedule some quotes from my published book to post once a day for about a month. I have also done a few blog posts about my book release. I also did an author interview. But that’s been it. I managed to get most of that done in random moments of free time that I had. It wasn’t stressful stuff. Just little bits I did when I had the time between all the other stuff I normally do.
And you know what? Because I stopped stressing about marketing, I started writing again. In fact, I have three major writing projects I am currently working on. I have been averaging one scene a day on the sequel to the book I just published. I have a nonfiction book that’s almost completed and ready to send to my editor. I also have been working on developing a new kid friendly science fiction series that does not yet have a title, but I have a fantastic main character, super cool secondary characters, and a really neat plot premise all tumbling about in my brain eager to be put to paper.
Maybe I actually do have a marketing plan. It’s very simple though. My plan is to write. Write as much as I can so I can put out as many book as I can, because my theory is… the more I have out there to sell, the more that will sell. A good variety is good too. And along the way, I’m doing what I love one hundred percent. I’m not stressed out because I’m not doing things that take away from what I love. I. Just. Write.
Cynthia D. Griffin 