Re-Post: Making a Plan, Checking It Twice

You’ve written your book – now what do you want to do? While your ultimate desire might be to sell books and make money, that is not enough of a plan. We have to concentrate on how to get there.

Start by writing three to five realistic goals that you want to achieve in the next year such as an author appearance at a bookstore, coverage in the local media, and a book club reading. How are you going to achieve each goal?

· ~~ Steps towards the goal of a bookstore appearance:
make a list of the area bookstores
send book info to programming director
follow up with a phone call and/or a walk-in visit

·~~ Steps towards media coverage:
send press releases to local newspaper/radio arts/book department
submit bio and book info
be sure to provide contact info for a reporter to contact you

·~~ Steps towards a book club reading:
create a book club packet of discussion starter topics
contact book clubs/libraries in your area
provide clubs/libraries with bulk-buying information

The above examples are very basic goals and steps, you can cater these to your area and the area you are willing to travel to. In your plan, include a budget (what you are willing AND ABLE to spend) and take into account the time you have to invest. Yes you have to make the effort but you should cater your efforts to what you can do.

Keep your goals realistic – dreaming big is okay, but (with very few exceptions), don’t plan on winning the Pulitzer Prize or going to Hollywood to write the TV movie of your story in the first few months. Think of local appearances, virtual blog tours, even flea markets…

Also look for alternatives – not everyone has local libraries or bookstores that are receptive to lesser-known authors. Perhaps an authors’ group does periodic appearances, see if you could get involved; or maybe your area has fairs or bazaars that would be a good setting for an author’s display.

The main thing is to set goals for yourself and then know how you are going to get there.

Writing exercise: Choose ANY controversial topic which you feel strongly about – this is just for you so the topic really doesn’t matter. Write a paragraph, a convincing one, arguing the other side. In other words, if you feel strongly about red color cars over blue ones, write a convincing argument for having a blue color car. Use strong words and make sure your sentences have clear meanings.

Writing prompt: Make a list of ten titles (TV shows, songs, movies) that you are familiar with. Create a new and fitting title for each, try to keep the word count close.