When You're Tired of Marketing...

Burned out?

Want to be writing but feel as if you need to market if you want anyone to read your book?

I know the feeling.

Just yesterday as I was getting the word out about my new audio release, I thought, "When was the last time you wrote other than on your blog?" And I really, really had to think about that. And do you know, it's been two weeks!

Writing on a blog and in my journal is always a good thing, but if I want to get my book finished I know I'll need to focus more on it than a couple of times a month :)

How about you?

If you were to keep track of your writing vs. marketing, which side would win out?

Hopefully, you're writing just as much or more than you're marketing and (unlike me) your marketing hasn't begun to overshadow what you love to do, because, if you're not careful, you'll find yourself scrambling to get a few words on paper that don't include your grocery list.

Sometimes we have the opposite dilemma. We're tired of marketing and do very little of it. We'd rather be writing. And this is good. Our body is saying, "Take a load off, do some writing." And if we do a few weeks of solid writing, maybe even a month or two, we may find ourselves needing to get back to marketing.

But what if this isn't true with you? What if, after spending months away from marketing, you find you have no desire to return to it. You're a writer after all. Why split it doing something you really don't enjoy?

I have a writer friend that feels like that, and maybe it's not such a bad idea that she knows this about herself.

 

If you're feeling the same way, consider what it would mean if you spent a shorter amount of time marketing; say, limiting yourself to half an hour a day, or two hours a week. Seek out someone who enjoys marketing. Have them do most or all of your marketing for you. (I would suggest that you still remain faithful to social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn). But have your PR guru schedule your book signings, interviews, book releases, etc.

The important thing is that you are still connecting with your readers; they know you are there and that you are interested in sharing your books and your writing life with them. And if that means having someone get the postcards out for you for your next signing, or having them work with you on your marketing campaign, do it!

A lighter load is always easier to lift.

5 Ways to Fill Your Bucket

Burned out?

Trying to make sense of your new fiction title, and have finally decided to scrap it?

Don't.

Sometimes, all we need is a re-fill. When we're full, we can easily return to our projects without a hitch. Here are some ideas:

1. Spend some time away from your desk. Meaning a few hours away. Not just in your front or backyard, or taking a cruise to the grocery store. I'm talking about a real fill-up; the kind that doesn't answer the door or the cellphone. I'm talking about a park. The canyons. The lake. The... (you fill in the relaxing place). You may have to plan ahead, but do it. A change of scenery to ponder and think usually does the trick.

2. If you feel as if you can't leave your place (at least not right now when you're feeling so burned out), take some moments to read. I mean it. Don't read and edit your own work. Read someone else's purely for enjoyment. Don't try to fix the awkward paragraphs (because you will probably still see them even in published works) and don't analyze anything. This is so tough for me because I'm doing it every day on my own work and the works of others, but when I can truly relax and read a good book, I'm filled up for the next adventure in my writing life.

3. Play some music and do nothing. Impossible, you say? Try it. Pick something soothing, lay back and close your eyes. See if you can manage doing nothing for 15 minutes, then return to your work. You'll be surprised at what you come up with.

4. Get creative. Write just because you love it. Start anywhere. From a picture you've chosen from a magazine, from a randomly chosen sentence in your favorite novel, from your favorite quote; just start writing and let it flow.

5. Call someone and tell them you love them. Do something for someone else. Visit someone who doesn't get out much. Call a friend you haven't spoken with in a long time. Get out of yourself. When we focus on someone else, even if it's for a few short hours, it's amazing what comes back to us in the form of new and creative ideas.

We all have buckets we need to fill, and sometimes, we feel as if there are more holes in our bucket than ideas. That's when we need to take a second look at life.