Marketing: especially when you don't want to

I realize that I'm in the minority of people who enjoy the marketing aspect of being a writer. But even for me, there are times when I'm not in the mood to market. Like right now. But the truth is, we should work to spread the word about our books especially when we don't want to.

This advice is for everyone, but I especially need a swift kick in the pants. Right now, I'm at the point where my book is selling. Nothing chart topping, but enough sales that it's making money and the word of mouth and Amazon visibility is pretty much taking care of things. And that's a really dangerous place to be.

Because it would be easy for me to decide I'm done marketing this book. I'm hard at work on book two and before I know it, it'll be time to put together that marketing plan.

But that would be dumb.

Back when a book's success was decided by its first two weeks on a bookstore's shelf, there really wasn't any point in marketing a book several months after the release unless it was already selling well enough to keep its shelf space. But today, with eBooks such a prominent part of the equation, regardless of how you are published, there is always an opportunity to find your next readers.

And even more than that, it would be dumb, because I know I'm leaving marketing opportunities on the table. Even with everything I've done to promote my books, there are other efforts that I haven't explored yet. And I bet I'm not alone.

In fact, I cringe when I hear authors say "I've done everything I can to promote my book and haven't found my audience yet." Because I've yet to sit down with an author and not be able to identify at least a handful of marketing ideas they haven't tried yet.

The reality for most of us is that we haven't tried everything. We've tried all the things that were easily within our reach, or that didn't push us too far out of our comfort zone, or didn't make us sacrifice too much. And then we let our book sink or swim on its own.

I don't know about you, but I work really hard on my books. I can't imagine being okay with walking away from something I've put so much effort into because I was "done" marketing. But the struggle is real. There are so many other productive ways we could be spending our time. Marketing sometimes feels like I'm hurling my body against a three foot thick concrete wall in the hopes that someone on the other side heard a thump.

But if it's not us hurling our bodies at concrete, then who? So even when it's uncomfortable or or difficult or just plan draining, we still need to find time for marketing. Because as painful as it can sometimes be, it doesn't hurt as much as seeing a book I've carefully crafted fall into literary oblivion.

And because I realize just how hard this is, come back on Friday and I'll share some tips for finding passion for your marketing plan.