Tag: marketing tips

decluttering, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Decluttering…The Finale!

Over the past few weeks, hopefully you’ve had the chance to slim down your filing cabinets and your schedule, you’ve gotten rid of that muffin that’d been on your desk for three weeks and was starting to leech spores into the air, you’ve updated your website and social media pages and even learned how to set realistic goals for yourself along the way.

declutter

Some lessons that I hope you heed from this series are that clutter accumulates a lot easier than it tends to disappear or become manageable. If you find yourself getting stressed out from the process of decluttering, remember to take some pointers from our “decluttering mindfully” piece. Go out for a run, write down your frustrations, take a nap, listen to a podcast or call a friend. Sometimes we need to take a break to achieve a task at hand, and it’s perfectly okay to let yourself do that in the interest of being more productive upon your return.

In that same vein, remember that “decluttering ambitiously” can be as important as decluttering your filing cabinet. This means setting reasonable goals for yourself (for cleaning up or for writing!) and using a calendar or schedule of some sort to keep yourself accountable for those goals. Maybe you didn’t have time for cleaning up shop this month because you were busy getting to your blog posts or finishing up a chapter you’d been working on. That’s okay. It’s never too late to organize. A rainy spring day when you can’t find the motivation to write or go outside might work even better for you–it’s called spring cleaning for a reason.

We all know time is precious, so “decluttering temporally” is a practice we can do without having to invest much time at all. This is as simple as being able to say “No”: to working extra hours, to going out when you just really don’t feel like it, to helping someone move, etc. etc. This can also be as simple as avoiding wasting your time on things like scrolling through a Facebook feed.

All that time mindlessly scrolling could, of course, be better used by “decluttering digitally” and cleaning up your author website and making sure your documents are organized in some meaningful way and backed up in case some sort of coffee catastrophe were to be unleashed upon your laptop or hard drive.

But when you do get around to it, remember that a cluttered desk–or room–often means a cluttered mind. Make sure that your physical desktop has only the essentials on it that you need for writing. No need to be stressing out about bills or constantly looking at that empty bag of chips while you’re trying to be productive and create a beautiful story! You ultimately want your workspace to be comfortable and to promote creativity and productivity. This might mean pulling some uninspiring books off the shelves and donating them to Goodwill. It might also mean spending a long time weeding out unnecessary files from your filing cabinet. But it might mean something more fun, like finding a piece of artwork for your walls or a comfortable chair for your desk!

Just remember, if it’s not aiding in your productivity or creativity and it’s even a little bit in the way, it should probably get completely out of the way. Decluttering sometimes means parting with the strange things we hoard and latch onto without any real rationale behind it. But I feel very confident in saying that ridding yourself of these cluttering items will only help you in the long run.

*****

The Series

  1. Decluttering … The Desk & Workspace!
  2. Decluttering … Clearing the Mental Clutter.
  3. Decluttering … Digitally!
  4. Decluttering … Your Schedule.
  5. Decluttering … Ambitiously!
  6. Decluttering … Publishing!
  7. Decluttering … The Archives.
  8. Decluttering … Your Bookshelves!

 

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com
decluttering, Uncategorized

Decluttering…Your Schedule

Making time to write is something we all struggle with. In our day to day lives, when we’re choosing between finishing laundry, making dinner, staying late at work, helping out a friend, etc., we’re probably going to put our hobby on the back burner. Sometimes, this is a necessary evil to remain a functioning human being who still gets eight hours of sleep at night. However, there are a few things that you can cut out of your schedule that are actually just time wasters and there are ways in which you can clear your schedule so that there’s always time for writing.

 

  • Stop using social media as a way to unwind after a long day.

 

In college, I often used StayFocusd, a Google Chrome app that helps you block certain websites for certain blocks of time when you want/need to be productive. Seriously, these things are great. You find yourself drifting off, go to open Facebook, and are immediately reminded that you are procrastinating. Scrolling through a newsfeed does not help you become a more well-rounded human being and does not teach you anything you don’t already know about the world–namely that people are self-absorbed and that politics are frustrating. Writing is time to focus on what matters–you and the things you care about. Clear out time wasters from your schedule and you’ll realize that those 20-40 minutes you spend per day on social media could be spent far more productively.

  • It’s okay to say “No!”

Nobody wants to be the naysayer. Someone needs you to cover a shift at work and they’ve asked you to do it, putting you in the awkward situation of not wanting to be a bad friend, but not wanting to add another shift to your already busy week. Guess what? When you’re overworked, you assuredly will be undermotivated to write. Sometimes you have to just say no. Putting yourself first doesn’t make you a bad person; if you think about it the person asking you for a favor is simply also putting themselves first, so you should follow suit and keep your spare time for partaking in the things you care most about.

  • Use a timer.

If you have two hours that you can allot to writing today, don’t force yourself to sit down and just hammer out two hours straight without blinking or using the bathroom. Set an alarm for every half hour and to give yourself five minutes to stand up from your desk, breathe some fresh air, grab a fresh coffee, etc. If you’re really on a roll and don’t need a break, so be it! But it’s always nice to be reminded that a break is an option, and it’ll keep you fresh!

  • Dial your meals

If you cook for yourself (which, hopefully…you do at least once in awhile), you know how time consuming it can be. Plan your meals out a week in advance and make them ahead of time. Throw together your breakfast and lunch while you make dinner and make lots of extras! This way, tomorrow you won’t be stuck with cooking, dishes, etc. all over again. This will free up hours between mornings, afternoons and evenings!

schedule scheduling agenda

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com
Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Planning for 2017: Damage Control

I think a recurring theme in 2016 seemed to be that a lot of things can go unexpectedly wrong at highly inopportune moments. If your New Year happens to still be clinging on to that pattern from the year just passed, let’s talk damage control.

damage control

First damage control worthy scenario: maybe your holiday marketing plan was a flop, or you were too busy to enact one at all, and you’re still stuck with a pile of books. This is no time to tuck your tail between your legs and wallow in self-pity or defeat. Get online and create a compelling promotional copy for your Amazon book and ebook page, and get some endorsements! Test out your drafts for your promo copies on some members of your target audience and gauge what types of descriptions they find most intriguing. If you’ve written one that generates enough interest to trigger a purchase, then pat yourself on the back and put those marketing pants back on, because those books aren’t going to sell themselves!

Or, let’s say your resolution to spend at least 30 minutes a day on writing or marketing has already fallen through because you’ve become unexpectedly busy at work or home. Maybe recovering from the holidays and trying to get back into your old routine has taken longer than anticipated. I have a few quotes that I try and turn into mantras when I’ve fallen off the writing or marketing bandwagon that I’d like to share with you all, because motivation ultimately has to come from you, and I find that I can really inspire myself to get back into gear by just reading some motivational tid bits by other authors–or just reading in general!

“Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e. do not cave in to endless requests to have ‘essential’ and ‘long overdue’ meetings on those days.”

–J.K. Rowling

“Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very successful careers.”

—Ray Bradbury

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little bit faster.”

–Isaac Asimov

Maybe you have been writing, but your book is taking a different direction than you anticipated and you are trying to reconcile your original plan with the reality of what you’ve got down on the page. My advice to you here–readers love surprises. A book that goes exactly according to plan can sometimes be dull to read, especially if the plan was generic and not authentic to you and your voice. Since we’re talking damage control today, let’s use the comparison of a story taking an unexpected direction to your car hitting a patch of black ice. If you over correct the wheel to try and veer yourself back on course, you’ll end up off the road, or worse, cause an accident. If you slam on the breaks and try and bring the car to a halt, you’ll probably have a similar outcome. But, if you try to calmly go with the flow and let the car get itself back on track, you’ll hopefully ride it out safe and sound. Once your heart rate returns from the shock of the unknown, see where this unexpected turn in the story takes you, and you’ll surprise yourself as much as you’ll surprise (and excite!) the reader I’m sure.

Absolute worse case scenario: you have been writing and you’ve lost your manuscript. Maybe you spilt coffee on your laptop, or the file you were working on was corrupted. Don’t lose all hope. There are a lot of computer nerds in the world who can help with file recovery.

I remember just recently an article I had written for a magazine had been saved in a place I thought to be very safe–Google Docs–but the editor I shared it with accidentally deleted the entire thing! I felt nauseous when she calmly relayed this little factoid to me via email, because I had poured HOURS into the piece. However, after I calmed down, I spent a half hour on Google researching how to recover the older version of the document, and lo and behold, it worked! Now, that was an ideal situation, but I do highly recommend keeping online versions of all of your documents, in case there ever is an issue with your computer. If your manuscript really is unrecoverable, feel free to mourn, you’ve lost something you’ve worked hard on. However, do not let it stop you from starting over with a tabula rasa–something good always rises from the ashes.

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com
Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Taking It On the Road

Whether you’re facing the stresses of commuting home for the holidays–like sitting in a car or airport for hours–or the stresses of hosting and feeding your extended family for days on end, you’re probably not getting much time in as far as writing or book marketing goes. The past few weeks we’ve done blogs focused on how to bolster your marketing efforts during the holidays, but you may find yourself unable to make time for those efforts.

on the road asphalt

While some holiday stress may be unavoidable, your support team at a company like mine (Outskirts Press) may have some suggestions for at least mitigating it and remaining as productive as you can in the midst of the flurry of holiday travel, shopping, socializing, hosting and dining.

Let’s say that your flight has been delayed due to inclimant weather and you’re stuck at the airport. This could be seen as a wild inconvenience, or as an opportunity to sit down and write a chapter of your book, or maybe even spend some time on book marketing. Write a blog and broadcast it on all of your other social media networks to get more traffic on your pages–then your time has inadvertently gone from being wasted to being productive!

Squeezing out these windows of productivity doesn’t have to come from unfortunate travel mishaps, though. If you find yourself stuck in the kitchen waiting on Christmas cookies, ham or pie, why not bring along the laptop and get some work done? And when you present your goodies to your company, maybe suggest that everyone bring along a favorite holiday themed poem or writing clip to read before you feast. This will provide you the opportunity to share something you love–writing–with those you love most. I’m always surprised by how excited people become when sharing a few words of their favorite authors. This seems to give me newfound motivation to produce more thoughtful material, especially after experiencing a shared enthusiasm for the written and spoken word!

While those are two small examples of how to stay sane and at least slightly engaged in your writing and marketing during the holiday season, that’s not to say that you’ll make an abundance of progress in any small window of time. Mitigating stress should be your number one priority, and if thinking about marketing your book during the holidays is too overwhelming, never forget the power of asking for a helping hand. We at SPA are always here to help you get through the holidays, and if I can put in one little plug for my employer, Outskirts Press’s Holiday Marketing Bundle is a great way to make sure your book marketing doesn’t falter just because you’re a busy bee!

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com
Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Making Your Presence Felt

It would be hard to get to 2016 and not feel convicted of the importance of social media in selling books–and, just as importantly, in selling readers on you, the author. The power and influence of social media is uncontested–after all, it has helped feed and foment revolutions in the Middle East, toppling dictators and spinning the mythological webs that create internet celebrities. They have also, demonstrably, created the framework by which self-published authors become self-sufficient and successful. Authors like Lisa Genova (Still Alice) and Hugh Howey (Wool) often credit their devoted social media fanbase for moving their books out of obscurity and into the blockbuster realm.

With that kind of a recommendation on the table, it almost seems a waste to not partake in the wave of social media platforms developing today, right? But wanting to start developing your social media strategy and actually building it from the ground up are two separate propositions. And ultimately, it’s hard to know where to start.

Luckily, there’s not so much one way to get it wrong, but rather so many ways to get it right. This is because there are so many platforms out there, including:

And so many more! Because social media is a moving target–for example, the short-video-hosting platform Vine, owned by Twitter, was shut down recently for its inability to turn a profit for company shareholders–there’s no predicting which platforms will be on the ascent in a given year and which will be on its way out, like the age-old example of Myspace, a platform which more or less lost all of its users once Facebook became peoples’ primary conduit of digital social contact.

This changing landscape isn’t a bad thing, in the end. It’s a strength! It means that yes, you need to be willing to continually adapt to new platforms and to pick up new skills, but it also means that if you’re not all that good at one, you can always capture your readers by making a comprehensive social media presence, rounded out with a variety of different smaller presences that weave together into something greater than the sum of their parts.

I guess what I’m saying is: Try everything. Try everything, and don’t hold on too tightly to any one of those things. Experimentation is the mother of invention, as is necessity, and these two forces will keep your social media presence in a constant state of evolution, well-suited to the M.O. of the Internet itself. Maybe soon we’ll have options to network not just with our friends and our refrigerators, but with our books as active participants themselves. Can you imagine what that might look like? I’d bet you five dollars that someone out there is already figuring out how to make it happen. And that’s the wonderful thing about change: it’s wild and wonderful and asks very little of us except the will to keep up!

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.