So, when the husband and I began to research indie
publishing one of the tenets was always blogging. You have to, so the research
said, blog as an indie author. Why? Mostly for the purposes of marketing but
also to display your writing prowess. I get that, but here’s my problem with
it: I’m writing a book right now. I am right now, currently, (almost) every
day, using any bit of my spare time to write another book. Call me crazy…but I
think the next book is more important. It is certainly more (to me) engaging.
Speaking of engaging, here’s the other problem with blogging
(as a writer of fiction): my life is monstrously boring. Seriously. It is
sedentary, slow, and taken up with the usual day-to-dailyness of work, laundry,
cooking, dishes, vet appointments, doctor appointments, oil changes, trips to
Target, trips to the grocery store, to Petsmart…the only exciting thing in my
life is what pours out onto the pages.
So that leaves me with a conundrum. Redirect time and energy
away from the small scraps of time I get to write the books so I can write this
blog…or give up the blog (to a degree).
I have mostly been giving up on the blog as you can see from the dates.
And that’s not ‘good’ marketing.
The marketing aspect of indie authoring is tough. You’re
supposed to Facebook, Tweet, blog, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Tumblr…and I’m sure there are others that I don’t
even know about. But how do other authors do it? How does one keep up the
marketing and still get books written? I think the answer, unfortunately, is
that one doesn’t. And most authors seem to sacrifice writing another book to
the altar of marketing.
Sales, while good, fluctuate wildly. There is no correlation
(that I can see) between the marketing I try and do and the sales numbers. I
have to believe that eventually my fan base will expand and the sales will
expand accordingly. I am going to assume that I am in this for the long haul.
The long haul means having a good library. That’s why I am going to keep on the
track I’m on. I’ll hit this blog when I get the chance, but mostly I am going
to write.
And not feel guilty about it.
