Where do you want to be a year from today? What do you hope to be doing with regard to your writing career this time next year? The decisions you make now may have a direct correlation to whether you reach your immediate or long-term goals.
Successful people—that is, people who are where they want to be (or heading that way) in life—usually have a plan. They know what they want and they take steps to achieve their goals.
For example, you might see yourself with enough money in the bank by next December to afford you the luxury of writing another book. So how will you get from point A (having just published a book, perhaps) to point B (being able to spend most of your time writing)? Here are some possibilities:
• Create a serious book marketing campaign so you can sell enough books to bring in enough money to help support your future efforts.
• Write articles for paying publications as one of your promotional activities. This is a good way to promote your book while making a little money.
• Hone your public speaking and communication skills so you can more effectively talk about your book to groups and one-on-one. This may mean joining a Toastmasters club and/or signing up for a college speech course. Certainly read books on the topic such as my, “Talk Up Your Book.”
• Study the topic of book promotion so that you come to understand what it entails in general and how to best promote your particular book.
• Sign up for webinars and other programs related to book promotion.
• Consider hiring a publicist to help you get publicity and to get organized.
But do all of these things and more using a plan and a timeline. As we exit 2012 and approach 2013, this is a good time to look to the future and set a plan in motion.
Let me know how you proceed. It might help others. You can leave a comment here or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com
Tomorrow, we will talk about your basic plan if you hope to produce a potentially successful book next year.