Amorina Rose Writes: Orange cake tastes better when made with love or working hard is what it’s all about or is it?

I bet the orange cake has you bamboozled. Well you see I was talking to one of my most favourite people in the world, my cousin and very good friend Emmy and the orange cake came up. I don’t have time to make orange cake because I am too busy and as we talked some curious things came to light. She was very definite in encouraging me to make more of my posts not only in ways that are more time effective but also in ways that are more human with everyday links to everyday things. You see I have become so gung ho when writing posts to ensure I have writing information of sorts that I spend huge amounts of time reading things so orange cakes don’t happen, also my writing doesn’t happen. I am hoping you will understand better when I talk about social media and limits further down.

In keeping with the previous post I found this very interesting piece on http://buildbookbuzz.com/smart-book-marketing-second-contract/. I follow Sandra Beckwith (buildbookbuzz.com) because she offers so much to help budding authors for free and though paying for services may be the ultimate aim she seems to comprehend we have to travel so far before that can happen. This particular post on her website comes from a non-fiction author by the name of Heather Shumaker. Heather took a course on marketing for non-fiction that Sandra ran and it helped get her a second publishing contract. Are you confused now as I seem to be contradicting myself by telling you I got this from my reading which I shouldn't be doing, and where is the orange cake? Bear with me.

Although I am planning to self-publish, the anthology by late May and my novel a month or so later, I was fascinated because I knew somehow this connected to my conversation with Emmy. Marketing is marketing (scary and not easy) and it seems today if you are not willing to take a hand in your own book the results may not be what you desire. Of course it is also a given that can happen to the best of authors but for the moment let’s look at a positive author example. In this case Heather wrote a book called It’s OK Not to Share in 2012 and four years later her sales are still steady. Her publisher also invited her to write a sequel. Now if you are an aspiring writing your mouth will be salivating at this stage because you know darn well that this is not the usual. So how did this happen?

You can luck out with a publisher but then sale track records take prominence or why invest in a second offering by an author. Heather says she knew that she had to do something to achieve those track records so she devoted that first year of her first book to continual promotion. The mind boggles at the work but the brain says it makes perfect sense. However reading the post further we learn some thought provoking facts. Some of these go against all the things I have been reading. It seems she tried to do everything when she first started her marketing and her feelings like mine are at present, were that marketing was and is a big fat black hole of time sucking energy even if she didn’t get quite so descriptive. I can’t help myself. I am currently living it if only in preparation. How then did she succeed?

I don’t have time to make orange cake because I have been looking at so many marketing strategies including social media from every little facet possible. It is time consuming, drainingly complicated and headache material. Heather says limit it. What? Don’t be ridiculous! Limit the marketing, the social media? On the other hand, wait a minute she may have something. I read so many blogs on a daily basis so I can maintain my blog a little better and learn more about marketing, I have so many social media plans/notes in a folder ready to choose from, and I am simultaneously working on my website, and all this from someone whose battle with technology is a nightmare and is trying for full-time work. I am stretched so thin I am exhausted so I have to consider this point seriously and think about balance.

For instance collecting emails is encouraged by Heather. I like this idea and it is already working just through having a blog. Speaking is also highly recommended, and when you do speak of the book she says do it in the present, like it is happening now so it stays new, fresh. This is appealing as strangely enough I like talking in front of and to people. Damn it though I have to have a book to talk about first lol, and not only that but Heather encourages the writing of a good book. That’s easy! So not easy! But I understand what she means and all writers strive for that.

Early promotion may seem never ending but the goal eventually is to have people contacting us especially when the time comes for that second, third or even fourth book. Going slowly, gradually and thoughtfully will bring results especially if we set a reasonable deadline to complete the necessary. So what to choose and what to limit?

I can’t decide that if I am too tired to think so I opt to make an orange cake. It is gluten free, tastes out of this world and my family will appreciate it. When I am more relaxed I will consider Goodreads, Face book, Twitter and decide, one of them, all of them, more of them? We’ll see.

Ciao till the next post

P.P.S. Heather’s second book is called It’s OK to Go Up the Slide. I haven’t read her books because she talks about parenting and I have grown up kids but then again they don’t always behave so maybe I will get me some copies. One thing for sure she makes good sense..