Summer Writing Blues: Dealing with Distractions, Procrastination and Other Book Killers

 

Summer is here! And that means vacations, barbecues, lazy summer evenings, and bored kids at home watching the television all day and asking for endless snacks.

However, finding the time to write a book is definitely going to be a struggle.

Procrastination is even worse.  When you're writing a book and feeling just a tiny bit stuck, suddenly it seems much more important that you finish your laundry, brush the dog, or redesign your website than it is to sit down and write.  

 And when you combine the possibility of procrastination with a few of life's little distractions... well, you can see how it might take you several years to finally get the book written.  

To prevent this from happening to your author dreams work out a plan ahead of time.

Look at your schedule for the next two weeks; 

 Where can you identify pockets of time to spend even five minutes writing? This includes looking at the time before everyone's awake, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, evening, late evening.  

✔   When is your best time for being productive during the day? Are you a morning or night owl person? Write during your most productive time.  

✔   What can you cut back on or give up in the next 2 weeks? Instead of endless scrolling on social media, watching television or cleaning - open up a notes app on your phone and write your book.  

Procrastination is a little harder to deal with, because it's all on you. The key is to know what's likely to trigger procrastination, and design ways to keep yourself motivated.

Some ideas include:  

✔     Set some goals for the week whether it's a word count or page count. Sometimes, procrastination comes when we don't have a definitive goal to work towards.  

✔      Rewarding yourself with a favorite treat or trip to the bookstore after a week of good writing (or even a day if you're prone to procrastination). 

✔    Enlist the help of a partner to keep you on track.  

If you find the first five minutes to write you'll easily find more and for much longer. The reward for all this effort is that you will discover you can write a book.  

 Keep writing! 

About Rebecca

Rebecca Camarena is a Book Coach, author and editor who helps writers, creatives, authors, and entrepreneurs elevate their words with editorial and writing support and critique services.

Connect with me here, www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact

Put Yourself in the Spotlight to Get New Fans for Your Book

Writing a good book is step one. The next step is getting it to sell. Gone are the days when the big publishing houses scheduled your book tours, television interviews, and radio spots.

Now is the time start shouting from the rooftops about your book because if you don’t tell people about it, they simply won’t know it exists. Get the word out with these steps;

Put yourself in the spotlight.  No more hiding behind the keyboard if you want to make a book sales! Be proud of what you’ve produced and tell the world. Not a single soul will know about your book unless YOU tell them about it, via social media, press releases, and publicity events.

You Get to Publicize Your Book with Fun Social Media Events

As an author, you have the opportunity to become the life of the party in your industry leading up to the official launch of your book. Build excitement with pre-launch parties and events plus celebrate post-launch milestones as well. Your followers will adore your for it. Plus, they will share the love by inviting their friends to follow you as well.

Connect with your social media followers. Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to connecting with your followers online. It’s all about building a trust relationship so your fans know without a doubt that you are credible. Build that relationship, share parts of your life and/or business, be silly, and of course talk about your book. Just don’t hit them over the head with sales post consistently. Show them you’re a real person who cares about helping them more than about selling your book.  

Arrange blog tours and podcast tours. Don’t discount blogs or podcasts as part of your promotional efforts. A blog tour is simple a written interview which is published on a blog but they usually include links to your website. Podcasts are audio recordings, similar to traditional radio talk shows, Research who the influencers are in your industry and check out their numbers of readers and listeners. Many blogs or podcasts have national reach so those are the ones to target with your pitch.

Keep the Messages Going Even After You Launch

A book launch is great but when it’s over don’t allow the momentum of your book to die in a post-launch slump. Even if you plan to take a break for a few days following the main event, make sure you have social media messages lined up and ready to go during your downtime.

Writing a book shows that you are the expert but staying in touch and building relationships shows that you are relatable and compassionate.

 

About Rebecca

Rebecca Camarena is a Book Coach and author who helps women write, publish and market their impactful books about their heartfelt story of the challenges they’ve overcome so they can be an inspiration to others by sharing their words, their voice, their journey.

From refining your narrative to navigating the complex world of publishing I provide tailored editing and publishing strategies that will make your book shine.

Are you’re ready to turn your heartfelt story into your dream book and become the author you were meant to be? Connect with me here, www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact

 

 

 

 

Create a Writing Schedule You Can Stick with

  Contributed by Rebecca Camarena

It's easy to say you want to write and publish a book. You could talk about writing a book for years. 

But that's not enough! 

You need motivation, accountability, and persistance to see it through. Follow these tips to start writing your book. 

Create a Plan

You need to create a plan that details how you'll write a book, otherwise it won't get done. 

But creating a writing schedule is boring, isn't it? Not necessarily. A schedule is a terrific action plan and accountability partner. It allows you to brainstorm specific goals and assign achievable deadlines to your project using these tips; 

Find Time to Write 

Create your schedule by first evaluating how you're currently spending your time. Take a look at the last two weeks and what each typical day looks like for you. Make sure to include both your personal and professional activities. 

After you're done, review your days and look for pockets of time that you could dedicate to write your book. 

Outsource Tasks 

If you're stretched thin and can't find any time to devote to your new goal, then look for tasks that you don't personally need to oversee.  For example, cleaning your home doesn't have to be done by you. You could also hire a company to do it. Outsourcing doesn't always work for everyone.  You can schedule cleaning for each day and do only the basic elements. Get kids involved in cleaning or a spouse, partner. You don't have to be the only one holding it altogether.  

Make a Temporary Sacrifice 

Look for areas in your day and week where you can make a temporary sacrifice. If you spend several hours binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix, consider giving this up until you finish your book. Cut back on other activities that don't have to be front and center in your day. 

Thinking about writing a book can make you feel a bit overwhelmed.  That's why you want to break it down into smaller tasks now that you've created time and space in your life for this project. 

Make a Calendar or Chart 

Now that you've identified time where you can write your book you want to  track it. Create either a daily word count goal or a time tracking goal. 

Set a word count goal for an hour, a day or weekly goal. Write down your word counts and watch how the total grows over time.  At this point don't worry about being perfect with your words just get them on the paper. 

Track your time instead of word count. Very often as it happens committing to a certain word count can bring on writer's block. To avoid this just sit down and get yourself to write something in the allocated time. Even if most of the time is daydreaming at least you are gaining momentum. 

Whatever your reason for writing your book be honest about and make a promise to yourself that you will try to reach your goals and then exceed them. The important thing to do is experiment with a writing schedule you can stick with. 

About Rebecca

Rebecca Camarena is a Book Coach and author who helps women write, publish and market their impactful books about their heartfelt story of the challenges they’ve overcome so they can be an inspiration to others by sharing their words, their voice, their journey.

As a best-selling author with her co-authored book Out of My Comfort Zone: Stories of Courage, Perseverance and Victory she helped women share their stories of how they got out of their fear zone to excel in their business.

Are you’re ready to turn your heartfelt story into your dream book and become the author you were meant to be? Connect with me here, www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact

Jumpstart Your Signature Product Offerings by Writing a Book

 

Writing a book offers many benefits to professional coaches. You may be surprised to discover how the process of writing a book can help you jumpstart other projects, such as signature product offerings that gain you more business, a wider presence in you industry, and other avenues for helping others.

Writing Stimulates Creativity

Writing is an utterly creative process. Regardless of the endless hours you spend researching and outlining your book, the time you spend in front of the keyboard pounding out chapters is an entirely creative time that actually serves to feed your creative tendencies. These are the times when ideas, plans, and processes for other projects will come to you.

Take a little time to jot a not so you don’t forget about these new ideas, then get back to work on your book. You want to make sure you don’t lose track of these signatures ideas but also that you do not get lost in planning that project rather than completing your book.

Create Mini Classes for Group Coaching Sessions Based on Topics Your Book Covers

Your book offers a straightforward guide your readers can follow to achieve real success. However, diving in deeper to some of the topics your book covers through group coaching and mini classes can help your audience accomplish so much more. Jot down outlines for these classes and group sessions as you are writing those chapters for your book. Your mind is fresh with the details and you can get double rewards for the information you’ve researched.

Consider Developing a Book Series

If not a book series, at least consider creating a workbook series supplemental planners that are based on your book or topics related to your book. That offers you opportunities for greater profitability while helping your audience transition the principles in your book into actions in their lives. The more books, workbooks, planners, and other products you have available, in addition to your book, the more opportunities you have to earn greater profits from your existing audience.

Kick Your Price Point Up a Notch or Two

Books build confidence and trust among your audience. Now that you’ve written a book, it’s time to consider the value of the courses, products, and coaching sessions you offer and reevaluate how much you’re charging for your time.

Books create authority and expertise in the eyes of your followers. Make sure the prices for your new items reflects the added value your time and talent now command.

Also take the time to review existing products for ideas about updates and upgrades that can make them more valuable to audiences and help them command a greater price from consumers.

The more time you spend creating products, reworking existing products, and planning out new products for the future, the easier the writing, planning, and publishing process will become for you. The key is to actually start and see how quickly it all comes together for you.

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Rebecca Camarena is the Book Coach that helps memoir and business book authors write, publish and market books that grow their brand. As a best-selling author with her co-authored book Out of My Comfort Zone: Stories of Courage, Perseverance and Victory she helped women share their stories of how they got of their fear zone to excel in their business.

Sign up for my FREE 30-minute Author Consultation call so you can start on your book writing journey. Click here www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact/