These days my life is crazy. Take for example the fact that this blog post was supposed to be scheduled yesterday and release at 6am, but in fact I'm just now typing these words at 5:30pm and I don't know when the post is actually going to go up. (In all honesty, I have a great excuse though, since today is release day for my sister's new book and we went to Starbucks to celebrate! *throws confetti*) In the midst of the rush and craziness, sometimes I can find it hard to make time for what I love most. Writing. But the truth is that writing is a skill and to develop that skill I have to (surprise)...write. So when time runs short these days, what exactly helps me to keep writing through the craziness? And maybe you relate because you're in a busy season too? Well, then let me share just a few ideas for you on how to keep writing, even if it feels like you're racing the clock. 1) Just write something! Even if it's ten words. Even if it's two sentences. Just. Write. Something. If you struggle with blogging consistently because of your schedule, just remember that blog posts don't have to be super long. They could be a paragraph or two. Just make sure you're writing something consistently, no matter how short. 2) Turn off social media. What's more important? Your writing or checking your Instagram status for the tenth time? Priorities, my friend. Turn off the socials for a bit and get back to what truly matters. Use every spare moment to work on your craft of writing. 3) Get up a little bit early. Maybe set your alarm for fifteen or thirty minutes earlier and then use that time to write! It may not seem like a lot, but it will make a big difference. I know it can be hard to keep your focus on writing when time goes crazy, but trust me it's worth it. You'll become a better writer and in the process you'll have tons of fun. What are some ways that you keep writing, even during your own busy seasons of life? When I published my first book, I had no idea what a blog tour was. But when I was ready for book three, "Worth it All," to release I was much more familiar with blog tours and how beneficial they can be to spreading the word about your newly released book. So first of all, what is a blog tour? A blog tour is the virtual way of doing a book tour. A lot of times when a published author (usually with a traditional publishing contract) releases a new book they'll have a book tour where they go and speak at certain places, or they'll set up and do book signings all over the place. A blog tour is your way of doing that from the comfort of your own home. You'll pre-set a list of so many blogs that you'll be visiting during the week or month of your book release. At each blog stop, the blogger can do something fun such as: an author interview, giveaway, author guest post, character interview, or book review. Or you can get creative and come up with your own idea. By doing this with lots of other blogs, you're exposing your writing and new book to a fresh audience. This begins circulating your work around the internet. Second, how do you host a successful blog tour? Well, I'm probably no expert at this because I've only actually done one blog tour, but I've definitely learned a few things from my experience with marketing. The first thing you'll need to do to make your blog tour a success is schedule everything ahead of time. Trust me on this. Procrastinating or planning-as-you-go with a blog tour is not the way to do it. Lives get busy and if you wait until the day of the tour to start organizing things, it's going to go crazy. Have posts scheduled in advance. If this is your first blog tour, maybe start out small with 5-7 blog stops. Organize which blog post you'll be on what day and if you're doing any guest posts or author interviews at the blogs, always schedule them in advance. Don't wait until that day to write them. Please, you'll be doing yourself and everyone else a favor by staying organized. Organization shows professionalism, and when promoting a book it's always best to stay professional. The second thing to do to have a successful blog tour is to spread the word. Even if you have blogger friends who aren't on the blog tour, maybe ask them to spread the word. Ask your social media pals to tell others about the tour. Join blog link-ups which are a great way to spread your blog to a higher audience. Use your own social media to direct traffic to every blog stop and always ask your readers to show each blogger some love by leaving a comment. You should also leave a comment and share/follow each blogger as a way of saying thank you. If you're hoping to reach a really big audience with your book release, try something fun by asking a more experienced or popular author/blogger to join your blog tour. Maybe offer to do a giveaway on their blog or have them do an interview with you on your personal blog which will drive their blog traffic your way. Do you have a favorite author or blogger? Just go for it and ask if they have some time in their schedule. The worst they can say is no, but the best they can say is yes. Finally, to have a great blog tour, focus on having fun. Don't make it all about selling books or getting blog traffic. Although those are very important things, always keep your focus on what truly matters: Developing relationships, having fun, and most of all, glorifying God. Support the bloggers on your tour, have fun creating the posts, and point every message back to God. Have fun creating your blog tour! Have you done a blog tour before? What tips or advice helped you most? Since the release of my very first book, I Dare You, I have hosted three book signings and a writer's workshop/signing. Because of this, I've learned a thing or two about how to host a successful signing and how they can benefit you as a writer. :) Here are my thoughts: 1) Don't overestimate how many books to order. For my first book signing, I ran out of books. However for the next two and my writing workshop, I had ordered far too many books. Honestly, it's better to run out than to take some home. :) Of course, you can always use extra books for another book signing. But then you've got lots of money put out that you haven't made back yet. If you do run out of books at a signing and more people come by wanting to buy some, have a form ready where you can get their name, phone number, and address. That way you can follow up with them about buying the book the next time you have some on hand. Especially for a writer just starting out, you don't need to have 50 books at your book signing most likely. My first signing I sold 22 books. 2) Plan your location and time strategically. My first book signing was super successful because of the day and time I did it and my location. I had it at our local library when an event was already happening at the library. This brought more people to the library than usual which meant more people at my signing. My last book signing was at the library on a regular Tuesday evening and it didn't go so well at all. If your book signing doesn't do very well, don't be discouraged! Consider your location and time and see if you can make it better next time around. Try to do the signing in places where there will already be a lot of people and on a day/time when people will be more available. (Like don't do it on a Monday afternoon when most people are working or in school) 3) Advertise well. Another reason that my last signing didn't go so well was because I didn't advertise nearly as well as I should have. For my first signing my mom did most of the advertising (and my mom ran her own successful business for over a decade, so she knows marketing/advertising), which is probably why it went so well. Make sure you're using successful advertising strategies. Set up a Facebook event for the signing and invite your friends if you have Facebook. If you don't, maybe ask a friend to help you out with it. 4) Interact with your guest. Don't just sell a book, sign it, and move on. Whenever I meet a band at a concert and all they want to do is sign my CD and move on, it makes me sad. I always told myself that I never wanted to do that with my readers. If someone is taking the time to come buy your book and have you sign it, be genuine towards them. Smile, create small talk, thank them for coming. Of course, if your signing is super busy and there are a lot of people wanting to see you, this may be more difficult, but trust me; you can still make each guest at your signing feel like they were more than a reader to you. Always be genuine. Don't make it about money. Make it about your reader. 5) Have free food. I mean, enough said. Who doesn't love free food, right? Have bottled water or soda, and maybe some cookies or a fruit tray. My mom brought cookies and water to my first book signing, and they were very popular. :) 6) Do something fun. It doesn't have to just be sitting at a table, selling and signing books. When I did my writing workshop, I taught the attendees about writing and then signed books afterwards. If you want to teach something, maybe a craft workshop, writing workshop, or journaling workshop, go for it. Then sign books after. (Make it about your book though. If your book is a craft book, have a craft workshop. The book I was promoting was about writing, so I did a writing workshop.) Other ideas are to have an author Q&A or read an excerpt from your book. If you wrote a novel, maybe have your friends help you act out one of the main scenes, or create character profile cards that readers can look through at your table. Make the evening fun! There you have it! Those are my top tips for a fun, successful, and epic book signing. If you're an author and you have book signing tips, I'd love to hear them in the comments below. Editing has always been one of my least favorite parts of being a writer. I'm not the most patient person you'll ever meet (probably why I'm impulsive too), so after I'm done writing an article I'm totally ready to just get it out there and post it somewhere. I cringe at the editing process. Yet what I've learned over the years is that editing is your friend. Yep, it really is. Editing (especially when others edit your work) makes you a better writer. And although I strongly recommend an editor if you are working on publishing a book, it's still necessary for you to edit yourself. So with that being said, here are five quick tips to help you edit better and faster: 1) Read your work out loud. Reading aloud gives you the chance to slow down and catch little mistakes. It also allows you the ability to see how well your words flow together. 2) Read through it a few times. Don't just read it through once and let it go. This will prevent you from catching mistakes. Read a couple times with different paces. Maybe one time you'll read it really slowly and the next time you'll read really quickly. 3) Print it out. Read your book/article/story in printed form. If you're publishing a book, this is where you buy a physical proof copy and read it. Reading it off the computer gives it a new dimension and helps you read it differently. 4) Put yourself in your reader's shoes. When writing something, you should first identify your general audience. You can't write to please everyone. Figure out who will benefit most from your work. The general audience for my first book was teenagers and young adults. With that knowledge in mind, when editing my book I had to ask myself, "Is this something that would catch the interest of a teenager? Are the chapters too long and intense for a busy young adult?" Put yourself in their shoes. 5) Remember you can't be perfect. No one is perfect, not even your favorite author. You can't possibly catch every mistake or plot error. Edit to the best of your ability, allow one or multiple people to edit with you, and then leave the book in God's hands. He's got it from there. |
About this page:
This page of my blog is dedicated specifically to writers. I've been writing for over half of my life. I live and breathe writing. Because of that, I'm passionate about helping other writers grow, develop, and succeed. This section of my blog will include blog posts dedicated to writing, encouragement, and resources. Feel free to read through some posts and my contact form is always open if you ever have any questions or need encouragement! ♥ Archives
April 2018
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