The Balancing Act

As an author, mom, employee, and student, I wear many hats. The hat I want to talk about right now is just about the author side of me. Ok, so I have this idea, turns to a synopsis/outline, and with a bit more thought, a finished, unedited book. My baby. LOL!! Now what? Editing and the wonderful world of POD, that's what. SO the book is printed, after toiling away at editing (and I recommend getting a professional to do this since its almost impossible to catch your own mistakes), and getting the perfect cover. Who knows about the book? How do you get the word out? Where do you start? There is a lot of preparation that needs to take place even before the book is completed, I've found.  There is also a ton of work after it too! Maybe for those that are interested, I will name a few things that I have found along my own way, that can make the transition smoother when it comes to finishing and marketing your books. That is a whole other discussion.

 
So, I told you in my profile that I am in pursuit of my Masters in Marketing and Communications, right? Can I just say that I am just absolutely loving my classes!! Never in my life had I thought I'd hear myself say that! There is sooo much information that I am learning and its sometimes overwhelming. There is literally speaking so much that can be done to get your products out there and in front of people...especially with the social media scenes such as this, that its almost impossible to not network and be "found" by someone.

One thing that I have found, even before taking classes, is that marketing your books is and can be exhausting. At the same time, it can be rewarding. So the question of the day is how do you divide your time accordingly when you are self published? Since we/I am self-published as well as business minded, I feel that I have the best of both worlds. I enjoy creating my books and also enjoy marketing them, networking, talking to everyone that will listen and selling myself and my books to no end! I know that a lot of writers want nothing to do with the business side and pretty much want to leave as much as they can with the publicists and agents, leaving them with more opportunity to write. I feel and understand that, but I'm kinda a control freak when it comes to my stuff, so I don't think if the opportunity ever comes along, that I would pass all of the other aspects of my future in someones hands completely.

So balance is the key! What do you do to maintain balance?