Think Big, Start Small

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was great. The weather was awesome. My wife and I spent some time working in the yard. I began power washing the fence around my back yard. It's a pretty big fence and the job is one I've been putting off for some time now because it seemed so daunting. But, yesterday I was in the right frame of mind and approached the project one board at a time. Pretty soon I had completed a whole section and it looked great. The results were amazing and I kicked myself for having waited so long.

I don't want to sound trite, but I began thinking about how this approach might help with other tasks. As a writer, marketing your work may be a job that seems incredibly daunting, or just not very fun. After all, you're a writer, not a salesperson... right? But, spreading the word about your work is crucial to your career. Why not apply this "one board at a time" approach to marketing your work? Start by making a list of ideas you have for spreading the word: start a blog, compile a list of email contacts, approach your local newspaper about writing an article about your area of expertise, send out copies of your book to a review list and so forth. Next set aside some time to work on each thing on your list. If it takes less time than you've alotted move on to something else. You'll gain momentum and before long you'll have checked off a large chunk of your list. Plus, if you're anything like me, by setting aside managable segments of time for promoting your work, you'll be able to focus on your writing better knowing that your "chores" have been taken care of.