How I Manage Social Media While Writing Novels (& Working Full Time)

Writing a novel while working full time (and raising a family) is tough enough, let alone having to manage a social media platform, and yet being able to market yourself is a skillset publishers often consider. 

So how can you manage a social media presence while writing and working?

My answer isn’t going to work for everyone, but this is how I fit social media into my busy schedule:

I take advantage of writers’ block or other writing dry spells. 

Whenever I’m not quite vibing with my writing, I’ll use my writing time as content creation time. That means I’m drafting a blog post (like this) or analyzing my stats to see what I should be making next. I might be shooting videos or writing captions. Whatever I’m in the mood for, I’ll do. What’s important is that I’m utilizing my writing time (when I can’t write) to create social media content. 

Now that you have a set time to create social media, let’s focus on the next step: batch content creation. 

If you take a close look at my TikTok, you’ll see that I’m wearing the same clothes in numerous videos. That isn’t because I’m a cartoon; it’s because I shoot numerous videos in one day. Too many content creators worry about looking perfect and making every post unique. In a sense, you get content creator’s block (instead of writer’s block). My biggest tip here? Don’t overthink it. I don’t have time to jump on every single trend, so instead, I go into TikTok and ask it to recommend sounds for me. I browse those for a few minutes, select a couple, and record. I’ll edit everything (and post) later. 

Make a posting plan. 

WIthout getting into the nitty gritty, it helps when you have a plan and stick to it. For example, I post every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning. I’ll use my Stories feature on Instagram for any extras, and I have a unique Wednesday discussion post for my Facebook followers. All of the content is drafted two weeks beforehand. That way, I’m not scrambling at the last second every day (and I have wiggle room in case I fall behind due to unexpected illness or other life events). Figure out how much you want to create, and start posting at targeted times (I use a third-party scheduler, like Later, so that it uploads on its own). I’d recommend starting slow and building up from there.

One last piece of advice? Use Canva and delegate if you can. 

It takes one minute to flip my videos around so that my books are facing the readable direction instead of being mirrored backward. Use their already made templates to create reel covers. This will help your feed look consistent, which attracts viewership. You could even consider hiring someone through Fiverr or Etsy to make branded templates for you. (I did, and I wish I had done it earlier.) Design is not my strong suit. Maybe you even want to hire a social media person to do the posting for you. Whatever is in your budget, go for it. 

At the end of the day, your platform is a great way for readers, teachers, publishers, and librarians to learn more about you. But it doesn’t have to take you away from your writing time.

Writing comes first, then social media creation. Do as much or as little as you can. 

You got this!

~SAT