Author Platform 101: Time Management

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That’s my cat Pitterpat sitting at my computer. I think she’s trying to friend all the cat lovers in my Facebook groups.

Social media. It’s got its benefits. And it’s got its issues.

Social media can drain our time and creative energy without generating much income in return. Yet it can also hopefully help generate sales for your books.

A couple of years ago I read a survey that interviewed published authors. A few years ago, these published authors earned a certain amount of income and spent a certain amount of time writing and a certain amount of time marketing on social media.

More currently, these same authors spent significantly more time on social media and less time actually writing, and their income also dropped significantly.

I wish I could remember where I saw that survey so you can see the results for yourself.

But this was an eye-opener to show me that I need to spend quality time on my writing first and foremost. I need to keep landing contracts to earn income.

But I also want to spend time marketing on social media because that’s what authors in today’s world need to do. Our role is to help get the word out about our books. So people can buy them and get them into the hands and hearts of children. That’s why I’m working on building social media as part of my author’s platform for the upcoming release of my newest book, Jane Austen for Kids.

The key is time management. Here are some ideas to help you manage your time on social media marketing so it doesn’t drain your creative energy or time from your actual manuscript and writing.

IDEA #1

We could spend 10 minutes every day working on social media to build our author platform.

IDEA #2

We could spend one hour each week on social media.

IDEA #3

We could pick one day a week to focus on social media.

IDEA #4

We could focus on a task instead of the time. We could just pick one task, one bite-sized chunk, to accomplish. Then do it. When that task is done, we pick a new task to accomplish.

What are your strategies for managing social media so it doesn’t drain your time or your creative energy?