I have avoided this topic for … as long as I’ve been writing and podcasting. I do not like teaching productivity. I do not think that I should be doing it.

That said, I’ve consistently written at least one novel a month for the past two years, while also running this site and podcast (with some podcast breaks here and there), and being a full-time mom to kids who are ages three to eleven.

So, fine. I’m productive. I guess I’ll talk about it.

But the reason I’ve been hesitant is that I feel like productivity is really relative and it’s incredibly specific to individuals. What I’ll cover is not a one-size-fits-all approach to productivity.

Instead, I’m going to share tips for finding your OWN productivity, starting with another thing I hate talking about: mindset.

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 178- TIPS TO INCREASE WRITER PRODUCTIVITY

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app!

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FIRST! CAVEATS.

I want to start by saying that this whole conversation has the potential to derail people. When we talk about productivity, the danger is comparitivitis. You see someone else’s output and compare your own to it. No.

Productivity is not about how well you produce on a sliding scale. It’s not graded on a curve with all your peers.

When we talk productivity, it’s about getting the most bang for your buck. The BEST result with the least amount of wasted time, energy, and maybe even money.

I am NOT encouraging anyone to write as quickly as I do. I love it. Sometimes I burn out, but I still love it and come back to it. My head is FILLED with ideas and stories begging to get out. I feel fulfilled letting them out. Fast.

That may change at any time for me. And it’s not something I recommend. It’s what works for ME.

What this whole conversation should do for YOU is to help you discover the best methods to produce the best result with the least amount of wasted time, energy, and money.

I also want you to consider productivity without ANY negative thoughts. No guilt for what you’ve not done in the past. No feeling like you’ll never achieve what you want. No comparing.

Got it?

Let’s move on.

THE MINDSET FOR PRODUCTIVITY

While I do often say that Create If Writing’s mission is to help reframe the conversation about author platform and marketing, I don’t love the term “mindset.”

Why?

It often goes hand-in-hand with another M-word I like even less: manifestation.

{shudder}

These are two different things, but both seem to deal with the idea of focusing on your inner workings. I’m an action girl.

I don’t want woo-woo. I want TO DO. 

But how you frame things in your mind (see how I avoided the term mindset there?) is crucial. And I’ve seen in my own life how changing my attitude or how I viewed something had an visible and measurable impact.

My Personal Re-Framing

For years, I told myself and stated in podcast interviews that I wouldn’t write fiction until all five of my kids were in all-day school. (Which is still two an a half years away.) I was SURE of this.

Every time I tried to make writing novels work in my life with young kids, I failed.

I got angry. With them. With me. With life.

Frustration only made my writing worse. I didn’t want to be the mom angry with her kids because she’s working and they’re in the way. So, I told myself it was out of the question.

When our financial circumstances changed a bit and we were in need of some income, I decided to try writing something I hadn’t written before: clean romance. (Another mindset shift. Especially considering that I HATED romance before that time.) I wrote my first novel in a few months–far faster than the year plus it took me to write the novel that was my MFA thesis.

And then I wrote another novel in six weeks. Then one in two weeks.

Oh, and then I found that I actually love writing and reading romance. WHO KNEW. Not me, obviously, or I would have started in 2013 and made tons more money.

Identifying Your Blocks

When you’re thinking about productivity, you need to get out of your own way MENTALLY. This really goes two ways.

 

You need to stop putting too much pressure on yourself to live up to unrealistic standards.

and…

You need to stop selling yourself short to think that you can NEVER do something.

 

This whole idea of productivity starts here. When you feel guilty and like you can’t ever do something, that is a dark cloud hanging over you. No–it’s like the cloud of dirt that follows Pigpen around in the Peanuts cartoons.

It has an impact. STOP IT. Easier said than done, but when you catch yourself in that negative spiral, remind yourself to step away. We call that stinkin thinkin in my house. No stinkin thinkin!

As for the second, when we put limits on ourself, we might miss what we’re capable of. I NEVER would have considered that I could write most of a 60k word novel in two weeks on an elliptical machine at the gym. That’s RIDICULOUS.

But in desperation to get out some words, I discovered that this works well for me. If I had been listening to my logical, though limiting, voice, I would have laughed and told myself not to write on my phone. I would have said to wait until I got home from the gym, until the kids were napping (ha! that doesn’t happen), or some other time that made more sense.

Instead, I discovered that I’m actually SUPER productive, maybe the MOST productive, tapping words into my phone on an elliptical machine.

So, when you’re being too limiting, you might miss learning something about yourself. Which brings us to the next big bit of productivity…

IDENTIFYING HOW YOU WORK

The “you” is very important here. I’m not saying that you need to identify what works well for someone ELSE. This is where you identify what works for YOU.

And not just YOU, generally.

You, right at THIS SECOND AND IN THIS SEASON.

Seasons Matter… and They Change

Seasons are important. While MAYBE I could have written novels sooner if I’d shut that limiting voice up in my head, maybe NOT.

Yes, we have more kids now and I’m writing more. But I also am doing a little more… coasting. (That’s a joke–there is NO COASTING in parenting.) What I mean is that I’ve gotten through toddlerhood with five kids intact.

NO ONE HAS DIED ON MY WATCH. (Yet. I’m such a worst-case scenario person, and am now knocking on all the wood.)

I feel like I’m struggling or limping through parenting five kids, but I have a rhythm and routine that I didn’t have four or five years ago. In some ways, having the first two was the hardest, as I was transitioning to the loss of that independence you don’t realize you have until you have kids.

Seasons matter.

That’s not to say that you can write off TRYING to be more productive. (That’s the next section.) Don’t let your season be a limiting belief, but also rest in it.

I wasn’t wrong when I told people a few years ago that I just couldn’t write novels at that season. I couldn’t. I can’t go back and what-if myself. It was TOO HARD. Not an excuse. A season.

It wouldn’t shock me if in a few years, I move away from this season where I feel like I have to get the words out and get them out NOW. Maybe I’ll burn out in a blaze of glory, or just need some rest. Or I’ll work on more literary novels, which are slower for me.

Ask yourself: What impact does my current season have on me? How does it shape my productivity?

Then, keep on pushing those limits. Try something new and ask yourself if your season has shifted to allow change. If not, keep on plugging away. But allow yourself to have the rhythm you have.

Figuring Out Your Best Work Habits

This is that space where it gets really personal, really fast. And I don’t have a lot of things to offer you. This little section is why I don’t tend to teach productivity.

Because I feel like what works for me is a little weird. I’M a little weird.

But it’s not about ME. It’s about YOU.

I asked in the Create If Writing Facebook group what tips people had and I’m going to list some here. (Once you’re in the group, this is the permalink for the conversation.)

First, you need ideas. You might need to read books on productivity or listen to podcasts. Ask your friends. See what people say in a Facebook group.

Then you try things. Again, don’t pressure yourself to fit in someone else’s box, but also don’t get stuck in a box of your own making. You might be surprised.

Here are some ideas from me, and some from the community:

• Timers
• Time-activated playlists
• Planners
• Calendars
• Dividing up daily tasks
• Creating daily schedules
• Using a to-do app
• Starting the morning looking at your day
• Planning out your week in one night
• Batching like tasks (as in: doing all images at one time, all social media scheduling another)
• Distraction-free devices or blocks of time
• Finding the right work zone
• Committing to one set time a day
• Having your favorite beverage, food, or other motivator

These are just a few ideas and things to consider.

Here are a few very specific things that have helped me the MOST.

Writing on my phone, not the computer. This one, as I’ve mentioned already, is huge. I can write about 3k words in an hour on the elliptical, which is USUALLY faster than my speed on the computer. Who knew! Must be endorphins.

Writing in Google Docs. I have my phone everywhere, so sometimes I’ll be random places and start writing in Google docs. It syncs with my computer. Recently, I went to work at the YMCA with my kids in their childcare… but forgot my computer. No worries! I sat and wrote on my phone in Docs.

Doing timed writing sprints. Usually people talk about sprints meaning a short time where your plan is to write quickly. I’m less about the word count (though I love a good word count) and more about the not doing ANYTHING ELSE while the timer is on. I like 27-minute timers (see? I’m weird) and a 3-5 minute break. Then I go again, if I have the time.

Scheduling a set writing time. This week, I’ve started planning my writing time between about noon and three. Most days, I have the ability to get at least two hours done with those 27-minute sprints. I have gotten SO MUCH DONE this week.

Accountability. I started the sprinting with a writing accountability partner (you rock, Jenna!!!) and also have been posting in Facebook threads in the Collective, the paid membership group I host. Even if we don’t start the timers at the same time, I know other people are writing and checking in at the same time that I am.

Finding my ideal workspace. Hint: it’s not at home. I CAN work at home, but usually I am distracted by the mess (especially in our current renovation) and the things that I also could do. It’s hard. Plus, no one leaves me alone. They just don’t. If kids are home, they WILL FIND ME. So, typically I leave and go to a coffee shop or the YMCA. Which brings me to …

Creative childcare options. I still remember the light bulb going off in my head when a mom mentioned in a Facebook group that she joined two gyms. They each have two hours a day of childcare included in the membership. So, as a stay-at-home working mom, she used those four hours to get much more affordable childcare than if she’d hired a babysitter. Kids were happy; she got work done. I’ve used our YMCA for that purpose for the last four years. I get 12 hours a week of childcare for something like $100 a month. Babysitters? Are like $20/hour.

Seek out different productivity solutions and try them.

Take personality tests to help you understand how YOU best work.

Let other people’s ideas inspire you, but then adapt them to work for YOU.

CHALLENGING YOURSELF

This last one is pivotal. If you do not challenge yourself, you may never realize how productive you could be.

Again, no guilt.

If you try and get a higher word count and can’t, DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP.

If you want to write a novel this year, one single novel, and your debilitating headaches won’t let you, LET IT REST AND COME BACK TO IT.

The point of challenging yourself is to discover what new or limiting beliefs you may have. It is to account for changing seasons and new rhythms.

It’s continual, not a one-time thing.

Try New Things You Don’t Think Will Work

This week, I started reading books on plotting. And I’m going to attempt to plot my next novel. If you’ve listened to the podcast, you may know that I’m a pantser. I have an idea for a story, maybe a middle, and an end, maybe just a start, and then I GO.

Remember? I’m an action girl.

And it works for me. I have no complaints right now about my productivity. Except that I would like to write MORE books. So. Many. Ideas.

So, why try something new?

Well, what if by considering myself a pantser, I’m missing out on how plotting could help me write better or faster? What if I can learn a NEW way of mixing plotting methods with my current working method to be even better? To have more cohesion and better stories? That’s more productive, even if I get slower.

But I might also get FASTER if I have more of a set framework.

This is me, challenging myself.

It might fail. And that’s fine too! I’ll keep the status quo. Then I can challenge myself again with something else later. Or, try plotting again in a year and see if it works better in that season.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PRODUCTIVITY

For a woo-woo-hating, mindset-rejecting person, there sure is a lot about your frame of mind here.

Maybe you were expecting more specifics. Ones I can’t give.

I can’t tell you what to do. But I can share examples and ideas to get your wheels turning.

Because, again, productivity is about finding your BEST output with the least amount of wasted time, energy, and money.

Note that I didn’t say least amount of time, energy, and money.

It’s the least amount of WASTED time, energy, and money.

This might take time.

Your productivity output might not EVER be as fast as someone else. As long as you aren’t wasting your own time, energy, and money, THAT’S FINE.

We can challenge ourselves, learn from others, and try new things, but we can’t always change our circumstances and seasons. We also can’t really change much about how we’re wired. We just need to find better ways to work with ourselves.

Don’t let other people’s productivity cause you to stumble on your journey. Don’t get in your own way, either.

Find what works best for YOU, for RIGHT NOW. Then every so often, take a step back. Challenge yourself. Try something new. But keep on making the choices that are best for your own personal productivity.

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE COMMUNITY!

CHECK OUT UPCOMING WORKSHOPS!

 

Other productivity resources:

• Pomodoro + movement from the Indestructible Author
• Apps writers might consider for productivity
• 5 Ways to Be More Productive

This post may be a review to some or completely new to others. But I wanted to get super basic on how to set up the very basic author platform. If you don’t have much time, money, and experience, but want to do this for the long haul, here’s the best foundation.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 177 – HOW TO SET UP A VERY BASIC AUTHOR PLATFORM

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app!

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WHAT IS PLATFORM?

Your platform is your people. It’s not made up of numbers but actual people who follow you and will (to a greater or lesser degree) support you and your writing.

Platform matters if you want to traditionally publish, because you’ll be expected to bring something to the table. Namely, sales. In my talk with Maria Ribas in episode 40, you can learn more about this.

If you’re an indie author (self publishing independently), you’ll need a platform to sell books and get reviews.

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HOW TO SET UP A BASIC AUTHOR PLATFORM

Your platform will include other areas, that people often refer to as platforms: email, social media, blogging, and podcasting. Email is about direct communication with your readers. Social is like hanging out with them in a room with other people. Blogging, podcasting, YouTube and other platforms can be about connection, but involve a higher level of creating more content. If you’re already writing books, you may not have as much time to devote to creating other content.

PART ONE: SET UP YOUR EMAIL LIST

• Create a freebie that relates to what you plan to send AND your paid products.
• Set up a single form or landing page to give away that freebie.
• Create a name for the group or list or create a tag for the people who join by downloading your freebie.
• Set up a super simple automated welcome series of 1-3 emails.
• Promote your free thing through Bookfunnel, Story Origin, Book Cave, Prolific Works, or by sending paid traffic via Facebook ads.
• Show up consistently in people’s inboxes.

Other email resources:

• I’m an affiliate for and use both Mailerlite and Convertkit. and highly recommend both if you’re looking for an email service provider!
• Check out my post on how to create the perfect freebie and how to deliver your freebie.
• How to grow your email list.

PART TWO: PICK A SOCIAL MEDIA

• Choose a platform that you love, know, and where your readers hang out.
• Get your basic bio, images, and info up to date.
• Promote your social media to your email list and vice versa.
• Show up consistently with a mix of conversational and promotional content.

 

SHOULD AUTHORS BLOG, PODCAST, AND CREATE VIDEOS?

Maybe. Those things require time that could be spend writing your books. Will they serve to help sell and promote your books or find new readers? If you understand SEO and how to create content, then yes. Blogging and podcasting and other content-heavy platforms might bring you new readers.

For non-fiction, this can be vital. You need to not only find readers, but build authority. You can also do this by guest posting on other blogs with authority or being a guest on relevant podcasts or other places. Just be sure it’s RELEVANT. Does it help serve your ultimate goals? Is the audience YOUR audience?

 

Platform doesn’t have to be complicated. It does take work and upkeep. But platform is really about connecting with your ideal readers and helping turn them into raving fans.

I’m getting a little bit real in this post about what it takes as an author to sustain your book sales and yourself. 

Books don’t sell themselves. To keep them selling, you have to actively DO things. But between the writing, marketing, and life, it’s easy to burn out. Let’s try to avoid that, shall we?

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 175 – SUSTAINING YOUR BOOK SALES AND YOURSELF

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app!

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Earlier in 2019 I wrote a post celebrating my success–going from making $30 a month to over $8000 in a month just from digital book sales. I’m still totally in awe of that! (Read this post if you want to know how I did that.)

I don’t tend to talk about income a lot, because that’s just … not something I want to do. But I also wanted to address what happened after my giant celebration.

What I expected: passing the 5-figure mark that next month

What happened: my sales continued to fall through the year and are still falling

Yikes! One thing I’ve noticed in the online community is that people love to share the big numbers, but it’s much harder to share the low ones.

I mean, duh, right?

Part of this stems from the fact that it’s just plain embarrassing. (Even though I have to remind myself that it ISN’T. I’m still making solid 4-figures monthly from just book sales. Yay!) I had huge goals, and it was disappointing not to meet them.

Admitting disappointment? Uh, no thanks. I don’t even like admitting them to myself! I don’t check my income as frequently because I kind of don’t want to know.

Which brings me to this place: I want to talk about sustainability for your sales and for yourSELF.

Sustainable is a word that gets thrown around a lot. In this context, sustainable is what you can do and continue to do over longer periods of time. 

SUSTAINING YOUR BOOK SALES

Enough time has gone by that I’m examining why my sales dropped. A few key things happened.

1. I joined a multi-author series and wrote a book that was NOT in my bestselling series.
2. I stopped running ads on Facebook.
3. I stopped putting books out as frequently.
4. The hot trend I was writing in cooled off.
5. I finished a series and started a new one in a less hot niche.

These are all factors in my sales drop. I might dive deeper into each of these later, because these are BIG THINGS and I could say a lot about them.

What I’ve realized as I’ve looked at these things is that overall, to sustain sales, you have a few choices as an author.

YOU CAN:

• Rely on paid advertising (Facebook, Amazon, Reddit, etc)
• Work on smart marketing (updating old books, finding new places to promote, growing your list)
• Continue writing books quickly to boost your backlist

Honestly? I’m not sure what else is in your control. If your book gets great word of mouth reviews and people start snapping it up, that’s amazing! But you can’t make that happen.

Sometimes, all three of those things fail. Your books may simply not be connecting with readers or they may not be written in genres that are easily targeted or where there are a lot of sales. (This is where I see most people struggle–their book might be great, but it’s not in a more profitable market or is harder to market.)

The biggest thing, though, is that you cannot STOP. Which is a scary thought.

Book sales won’t happen very organically (in other words, without you ACTIVELY doing something). If you want to see your sales continue, you must continue writing and marketing.

It can start to feel like a very terrifying and fast hamster wheel. Which brings me to the next point…

SUSTAINING YOURSELF

If you want to sustain book sales, you need to find ways to continue to get eyeballs on your books. Ads, newsletter swaps, paid email services, social media marketing, or a million other creative things.

But as you’re planning out how you’re going to sustain those sales, consider how you’ll sustain yourSELF.

I’ll be honest: I never thought I’d write a book a month.

What I’ve found is that I could write several books a month. I love being fast at things, so I shouldn’t be so surprised. My fastest-written book has over 100 reviews on Amazon. The average rating is 4.8 stars. I wrote it in just over two weeks, mostly while on an elliptical machine, typing with my thumbs into my phone.

I NEVER WOULD HAVE PLANNED THAT. It just happened.

Then when I started publishing monthly or every six weeks, I saw a bump in all my old books. This REALLY worked for me.

The problem is this: I can write fast. But I also have to get things like covers done, edits done, emails sent, and MORE. There is all the marketing stuff.

I don’t mind marketing, which I know might make me a weirdo.

But I love writing.

If I could write and do nothing else, I might put out three books a month. I really might. My ideas file? Is HUGE. And I can’t wait to write each book. I’ve written over a book a month this year and love love love the writing.

Without marketing the books, though, they don’t sell. I have to actively market. Even if you release a book a month, without marketing, you aren’t going to make sales. It’s not magic.

Here’s the conundrum authors face: You have to keep marketing to SELL books. But you have to keep yourself alive to WRITE books.

That means you need a writing and marketing plan that’s sustainable for YOU.

What does this look like? I’M NOT SURE.

I’m figuring this out for myself right now. But I can tell you that I don’t want to lose the joy I have in writing. I also hate writing great books and seeing them languish on Amazon, dying a slow death because no one can find them. Because: no marketing.

I want to challenge you to think about sustainability.

What are sustainable goals? (Ex: My $10k a month goals are not, right now, sustainable.)

What are sustainable writing habits? (Ex: Writing a book a month IS sustainable. I love it and can do it.) 

What are sustainable marketing habits? (Ex: If I’m writing MORE than one book a month, it’s hard for me to carve out marketing time.) 

This looks different from everyone. It may look different for you year to year. But these are big questions. If you aren’t thinking long-term about what you can maintain, you’re likely to burn out or get frustrated. You might lose your joy or your income.

Make sustainable goals. Set sustainable writing habits. Create sustainable marketing plans.

Then adjust whenever necessary. And believe me, it WILL be necessary.

 

I hear a lot of confusion about writing to market and writing to trend. In this post, I’m going to explain MY personal view and my experience with both writing to market and writing to trend: how they’re different, how they’re related, and help you figure out what’s right for YOU.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 174 – WRITING TO MARKET AND WRITING TO TREND

 

WHAT WRITING TO MARKET IS

Chris Fox coined the term “write to market” and talks about it in his book called … (wait for it) … Write to Market. In the Introduction, Fox states that the book will teach you “how to analyze the market, and to use that information to write a book that readers want.” (Check out the book HERE.) 

Often, writers start out by writing that story that’s in their head. They have that one idea that they just can’t shake, or the story they HAVE to tell. That’s writing for love and it’s author-centric.

Writing to market shifts the focus from the author to the reader. What does the READER want?

I mean, we all WANT them to want that story that’s been on our heart to write, but that isn’t always the case. (There are, of course, happy accidents where this happens, sometimes in a big way.) We learn what the readers want when we study the trends of what’s selling on Amazon.

Indie authors can do this better, because we don’t need two years to publish a book once it’s done. I’ve decided to write a book to market and had it published in six weeks. It’s a little harder if you’re hoping to secure an agent, because if you study what’s hot NOW, realize that in a few years when your book has been through the whole process, it won’t be hot anymore.

So, we clear on the idea of writing to market? Study what readers are buying. Find a space that’s selling and that you also love. Write that.

More resources:

• Niche It Down a Notch
• How I Wrote and Launched a Book in a Month

WHAT WRITING TO MARKET ISN’T

I want to be CLEAR about this before we continue. Writing to market is not selling out. Most people who write to market find a market selling well that they LIKE. But even if not, even if you’re an author who needs to write in a market they don’t LOVE because you have a mortgage to pay, THAT’S OKAY.

Some people write for the love. Some for money. And some for both.

I’m okay with all three of those choices. As long as you’re okay with YOUR choices, then go on with your bad self. 

But I want to be VERY clear that if you think “writing to market” is a dirty term, this probably isn’t the space for you. Or, maybe you should reframe the conversation. Remember that writers are writing for themselves, but also for readers. Writing to market is serving readers what they want to read.

If that’s wrong, maybe I don’t want to be right.

WHAT WRITING TO TREND IS

Writing to trend is something that I hear people talking around a lot, but it’s not always called the same thing by different people. To me, writing to trend is taking the principles of writing to market, but applying them to a particular niche, genre, or trend that is HOT now … and may or may not stay hot for long periods of time.

As I’m writing this, there is a hot trend for bully romance. Essentially, that’s just what it sounds like. A guy (or group of guys) bullies a girl and she falls in love with him/them anyway. Not my fave trend (kind of an extreme example of the enemies to lovers trope) but one that went WILD this year and has made some authors serious bank.

Will this be around next year? Gosh, I hope not. But who knows. Another trend in romance (reverse harem– one main girl with a bunch of male lovers) was thought to be a hot trend and is still going strong years later. There is a big tie between reverse harem and bully romance.

You don’t always know how long a trend will last or when it will fizzle out. But trends tend to show up more suddenly, become THE thing, and might gain ground or lose steam. For a little while, at least, their star burns brighter and hotter than the others.

And they can make a LOT of money if you can hop on while they’re hot.

Other resources:

• Writing Gals Video on Finding Hot Markets

AN EXAMPLE OF WRITING TO MARKET vs WRITING TO TREND

When I launched my Emma St. Clair pen name, my goal was to write to market. I made some mistakes (notably in covers and some tropes early on) but quickly figured out that romance needs a happy ending (ha!) and that adult clean romance readers like faces on covers, while photos without faces tend to be either more women’s fiction or YA fiction.

My first few books eventually had the right covers, the right tropes, and met expectations in a market that was selling well. They did fine. I went from making $30 a month to $300 a month to over $1000 a month.

While marketing and doing all this research, I kept seeing billionaire books. They were everywhere. I tend to NOT be a trendy person, so it made me eye-roll-y. I’m also not super swayed by dudes with lots of money.

Despite my annoyance, one day I had an idea for a billionaire book. I wrote it fast. And when I launched it (COMPLETELY to market and according to the billionaire trend), in under a month, it outsold what my first two books made COMBINED over the previous three months total.

(To understand the screenshot, the first number is sales within the first three weeks of July 2018. The second number is books sold, the third is Kindle Unlimited Pages Read, and the fourth is the number of books I gave away in that time for free. I had a free promotion on Cold Feet, Hot Summer.) 

THAT is the power of writing to trend vs writing to market. Writing to market may have hungry readers, but writing to trend is hitting on a hot button trope, idea, theme, niche, or genre that has VERY voracious readers gobbling up that particular kind of book on a likely more limited time frame.

Like Veruca Salt, they want it and they want it NOW. If you can serve up that golden goose, you’ve written to trend and may find some solid success.

HOW YOU FIND HOT TRENDS

Finding hot trends is not hard, but can be time consuming. It means spending a lot of time on Amazon, looking at categories you like (again, the goal is writing something you like that also sells) to see what readers are buying.

Narrow it down to a few categories you’re interested in writing in, then spend some time watching what’s selling in the top 20 of those categories.

You’ll want to look at:

• covers
• titles
• publishers (it matters whether it’s traditional or indie!)
• themes
• tropes
• niches
• settings
• conventions
• keywords
• pricing
• descriptions

And that’s just a start. What are the top twenty books in a category doing? What is the rank of the first book in the top twenty? What’s the rank of the LAST book in the top twenty?

I already linked to it above, but you can check out my post Niche It Down a Notch to see my slideshow presentation I did on studying categories. You can also check out K-Lytics (affiliate link!), which has paid and free resources based on Amazon data, broken down by specific niches and categories. I first started writing clean romance after studying keywords in a program called Publisher Rocket (affiliate link!), which showed me how many people were searching for Christmas Romances.

You’re trying to find a sweet spot: a market or trend that sells well, but not so well you can’t break in.

Any category where the top twenty is all traditionally published books (or super well-established indies) or all in the top 5000 will be a challenge. Any category where the number one book is 5000 or above is not going to make you a lot of money.

If you’re hanging out in other author groups by genre, you’ll also see what kinds of books authors are talking about and promoting. Sometimes I’ll spot the trends there first.

More resources: 

• How to Find a Hungry Market (Chris Fox)
• Hot Markets and Trends in 2019

 

TIPS FOR WRITING TO MARKET AND WRITING TO TREND

The thing about writing to market is that the demand for bigger niches is more long-lasting. I believe that clean romance overall will be around for a while. Billionaire books? They’re still selling, but my sales have started to flag. Sometimes they get too crowded and readers get tired. Sometimes new trends come along and get so hot they push the others out.

I’m currently writing paranormal academy books right now under the pen name Sullivan Gray. (Think boarding schools for magical creatures.) This is a hot trend right now. But are people ever really tired of vampire books? No. They trend hot, then die down, but they never really go away. (JUST LIKE ACTUAL VAMPIRES.) Indie author Bella Forrest may have started near the Twilight hot trend, but she’s still making a killing with a 70-book vampire series. And the next time vampires trend HOT, those books can burn bright again too.

All this to say: if you’re chasing a hot trend, the books will have more longevity if they fit a broader market as well and can still SERVE those readers when the trend isn’t hot. If there is ever a backlash against billionaire (in small groups, there totally is), I could rebrand and retitle my books and they would STILL fit well in the broader clean romance market with other tropes and conventions. There are more CLASSIC elements to the trendy books.

If you want to write to market or go further and write to a hot trend, hang out on Amazon. Talk to other authors. Study. Be a little nerdy. READ books.

Then see if you can find a sweet spot for books you love to write and books readers love to read. Make sure the elements of your books match the ones in the market AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Cover especially. Readers should glance at your book and KNOW where it fits or if they want to read it.

 

SO… SHOULD YOU WRITE TO MARKET? OR TREND?

Maybe! This is really up to you. No one else can tell you that you’re a sellout. Only YOU know your why. I think that this is a really important thing to consider, whether you are traditionally publishing or indie, but it may not be for YOU.

If you’re trying to be profitable, writing to market will help you get there faster.

I’m tackling how to establish a healthy relationship with your readers. This is a topic that more authors (blogger, creatives, and influencers) should ask before they establish their online platform. If they don’t ask before, they for SURE should ask soon after. The question is: how close should authors be to their audience?

You might be wondering what this question even means. Stick with me. I think you’ll understand why I feel like this is so important.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 173- HOW TO ESTABLISH A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR READERS

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app!

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FROM THE IVORY TOWER TO INSTAGRAM

We are living in a glorious digital age, where more than ever, authors and readers can connect. My 12-year-old self would have DIED to be able to tweet at or email or DM my favorite author online. I remember LOOKING in the backs of my paperbacks to see if there was an address so I could write fan mail. Usually? There wasn’t.

Authors were in ivory towers, out of reach, out of sight, and far from readers.

Now? You might be able to find out what your favorite author ate for lunch, because they’ve posted it on Instagram.

You could know their kids’ names.

What shoes they bought yesterday.

What they’re struggling with personally.

The switch has completely flipped. Honestly, this all started with reality TV, as far as I’m concerned. We all got nosy (okay, humans have probably always been nosy) and enjoyed getting a front-row seat to all the inane (and dramatic) details of other people’s lives.

Then: enter the internet and social media.

We have ACCESS now. You can choose not just to post your lunch, but to do a live video or create an Instagram story about your lunch. And your readers get INSTANT access to your life, lived up to the minute.

This is, on the one hand, really amazing! I love this … in some ways. And as with social media as a WHOLE for people, this access can also be very, very unhealthy.

UNHEALTHY ACCESS TO AUTHORS

Here are a few things I’ve seen recently (a few details changed to protect those involved):

• authors getting mad at their own Facebook group, make an offhand comment about killing a character to “show” readers, and a massive fallout off the hundreds and thousands of group members
• readers DEMANDING that authors finish their favorite series faster and sending angry emails or posting public rants when books in a series take more than a few weeks to release
• authors promising in their emails and Facebook groups that books are coming out, then readers getting angry because the author breaks those promises, then disappears from public view
• readers bullying authors and personal assistants to authors
• authors rallying their reader groups up to attack other authors or people on twitter or through low ratings on platforms like Amazon
• readers in an author group getting nasty and mean with each other and the author not stepping in to stop it or moderate
• authors receiving nasty personal emails about their families and personal lives because readers didn’t like books
• readers giving up on authors (and announcing it publicly) because the authors didn’t do what the readers wanted OR what the author told readers they would do
• authors apologizing profusely because they aren’t doing exactly what the readers demand

These are all pretty general examples. I don’t want to get more specific and share someone else’s story. You get the idea.

All this access has allowed for some unhealthy relationships to form! It may sound GREAT to share pics of your new baby in a group … until an angry reader makes a threat and names your child. (I know it’s weird, but stuff like this happens, y’all.)

HOW TO CREATE HEALTHY BOUNDARIES

Look. There isn’t one way to do this. It will be different for different authors. And you could do the best job ever, feel great about it, and still have someone lash out. (I’ve had readers freak out at me for things I 100% never did. Once I responded to an angry email and it turned out they sent it to the wrong person altogether! Still, though: yikes.)

We won’t all agree, but here are some things to consider and best practices for keeping and maintaining healthy relationships.

Decide how many and what kinds of personal things you want to share. Reevaluate, as this may change. Will you share the actual names of your family members? Are you going to share pictures of yourself and your family and friends? How much of your real life will your readers see?

Choose the platform that feels the best and healthiest for YOU. Where are you happy? What feels like a space that has a good vibe for YOU as a platform? If you choose too many places, you’ll be stretched thin, and that may impact how you feel and interact with your readers.

Consider establishing a space that can offer you control. If you find yourself on the receiving end of an attack, what can you do about it? (Ex: On Twitter, the gloves are off. In your personal, closed Facebook group, you can kick people out, report to Facebook, and block.)

Set the tone in your spaces. Your online space? Is YOUR space. Or, it should be. Really, this won’t be true on every space, which is why I suggested finding a place that offers control. This is one reason I love Facebook groups and would recommend spaces you can control. You can decide what stays and goes, what people post, and how people speak to one another. The culture of your group reflects YOU. So if you have a space that allows people to be nasty to each other, that can also turn on YOU.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Breaking trust with your audience is something you may not be able to come back from. Keep this in mind when you share things like launch dates or make commitments. Trust is a HUGE currency and one that’s hard to gain back once it’s lost.

Make sure your readers know that you’re in charge. Serving your readership is great. Creating a connection can be wonderful. But if you let the readers think that they OWN you or that you are going to do everything as they want, when they want, it’s not going to end well. They won’t be happy. You certainly won’t be. Find a balance between making the decisions YOU want and taking into account the readership you’ve built.

Don’t get so emotional, baby. It’s so easy to get emotional online. We are emotionally tied to our work. Social media can incite our feelings. But posting in an emotional state rarely brings good things. Take some time before posting. Step back. Sharing your feelings on occasion can be a really good thing, but if you’re posting a lot in the heat of the moment, it’s going to come back to bite you.

TAKE ADVANTAGE; DON’T BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF

As a final point, let social media and all this connectivity serve YOU. Don’t become its servant or let your readers demand things of you.

If you started out and hadn’t thought about this, THAT’S OKAY! Take some time to decide how you want to handle the relationship with your readers, where you’ll interact, how you’ll communicate, and what you won’t tolerate.

Have you ever given this thought? What is important to YOU in terms of establishing boundaries with your readers?