Can We Twiddle Our Thumbs?

Posted by Postado por Dulce on às 17:13 | |

Can We Twiddle Our Thumbs?

Can We Twiddle Our Thumbs?

Posted: 27 Apr 2011 03:01 PM PDT

Whether you find an agent or a publisher or you skip that and go with self publishing your book chances are you will get to a point in time where you are doing nothing. This is especially true if you acquire the services of an editor. It is strange to think that there will be downtime when we think about a book being published. I mean many of us picture editors and publishers as evil taskmasters cracking a whip behind our ears to hurry up and get done.

Granted, I have been told that once you get the edits from the editor he or she reaches into their cabinet and pulls out the whip but until then we get to wait patiently. How long do we wait? That is a great question and I'm not sure a there is a standard time set for it. It really depends on how busy your editor is and also how much work is needed on the manuscript. What do we do with all that time? Do we relax and soak up the rays of our publishing success? Do we relax and focus on other activities? Well, both sound good and, by all means, they should be a part of life; however, this is also a time that will test our time management skills.

In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with having fun, relaxing, and enjoying the fact that soon your book will be out there for all to see. We worked hard for that moment and it should not pass us by without acknowledgment. However, after a little time is spent in that environment we must face the music and get back to work. No, I don't consider the next novel as work and I assume we will be working on that no matter what because, after all, writing is in our veins. The works I speak of are the intangibles that can make a huge difference when our book is ready for release.

What are these intangibles? Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Make sure your blog or site stays current. It is important that you maintain your connections and your blog stays fresh.
  2. Research! What should you search for? Book clubs, forums, chat groups, twitter hash tags - anything that relates to your genre, topic or plot that connects you with other people. These people can be authors and/or readers but, in the end, your audience will increase in size. Why not do that before you write your book? We really can't narrow down our search until we know for sure what the genre and topic of the book will be. Sure we have an idea but that can change until we finally get to that point where we think 'this is it; this is what I wanted to write.' After that we can refine our search and reach out to those that make up a specific audience.
  3. Introduce yourself and build those connections. WARNING, we don't want to seem like we are pushing our novels on anyone nor do we want to come off as 'just another author.' It is important to be genuine and honest just as we did when this ball was first kicked.
  4. Generate a blog or website for your books or refresh your existing site. Have fun with this so your personality shines and draws attention to the fact that your book is coming out soon. This is the place to let it out.
  5. Update your profiles. This is another great way to get some free promotion about your upcoming release. By updating your profile information and e-mail signatures you can be sure that people will notice.

These items are easy to do but they also consume a great deal of time because we are also working and writing. With that said, if we do these things now than we are free to do other things when we draw closer to that release date and our nerves are in overdrive.

What would you add to this list?

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