As a book author, how much time should you devote to promoting your book and yourself each week?
There’s no "right" answer—the amount of time that you can devote to promoting your book depends on a number of factors, including your goals for the book, family responsibilities, and outside job commitments.
In my recent Book Promotion Strategies Survey, 68 percent of the respondents said that they spend 14 or fewer hours a week on book promotion, and 24 percent spend less than five hours a week.
Regardless of how many hours a week you can devote to book promotion, the key is to create a solid book marketing plan, set aside time to promote your book, and make the most out of the time that you have available. Here are some tips:
Prioritize your book promotion tasks. In your book marketing plan, determine which tasks have the highest potential return on investment so that you can concentrate on those areas first. Then set daily, weekly and monthly promotional goals.
Schedule time. Decide how many hours a week you can spend promoting your book and block out time on your calendar every day. If you have a day job, set aside a half hour or an hour on weekday evenings for promoting your book. Even if you just have time for a few quick emails, make sure you do something EVERY DAY to promote your book, so that you don’t lose momentum.
Learn to be more productive. If you need help in learning to manage your time for top productivity, there are lots of resources available. From February 9 to March 9, Ali Brown is offering a 4-part telecourse, Millionaire Time & Productivity Secrets. The course is discounted to $197 through this Friday, February 4. For those of you who don’t know Ali, in just a few short years she has transformed herself from a freelance copywriter to a multi-millionaire business mentor with eight employees, so she must be making excellent use of her time!
Divide and conquer. Break down large projects, like designing your website, into smaller tasks and schedule a specific time to get those tasks done.
Group similar tasks into batches. For example, write several articles at one time, read your email just once or twice a day, and set aside a specific block of time to do your online networking.
Develop routines. Create systems and check lists for repetitive tasks. Save time by creating document templates and standard cover letters that you can re-use by just changing a few words.
Spend a day getting organized. Set up folders to store your computer files and emails. Organize your paper files with folders and three-ring binders. Set up automatic backups for your computer. Make a list of all of your websites, user names, and passwords. Create a database of all your contacts. Set up an electronic or paper system for keeping track of your marketing and article ideas.
Look into time-saving software and services. Spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel are ideal for creating lists, budgets, schedules, and databases. If you aren’t familiar with spreadsheets, learn the basics by reading a "Dummies" book or using the help menu.
Consider outsourcing routine tasks if your budget allows. You can hire a virtual assistant or a college student intern, or use a freelance agency such as Odesk.com or Elance.com to hire help.
Reward yourself. Acknowledge how far you’ve come and celebrate your successes!
Don’t be overwhelmed by the myriad of opportunities for promoting your book. Develop a solid plan, get organized, and then implement one thing at a time. You can do it!
This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.