Instruction Included, or Not (Part II)

By Idabel Allen

With twenty plus years writing under my belt – both professionally and personally, I’d learned a great deal about the business of writing and was confident in my ability to master the tasks associated with publishing and marketing my work.

Turns out what I knew about publishing and marketing was next to nothing. The publication of my novel, Rooted, that began my crash-course into the unknown: building a website, growing an email list, setting up a reader magnet, developing campaigns in MailChimp, creating ads, giveaways, and promotions.

To say it is overwhelming is an understatement. I am not a technical guru or marketing mastermind; I am a writer. And yet, instead of creating characters and dialogue and plot, much of my time is now devoted to developing systems and sales ads that are, admittedly, not as effective as they should be, but this too I am learning.

How I refrain from hurling my computer out the window, I’ll never know. But the problem isn’t the computer; it is me. Or rather, the necessity of mastering, or at least, becoming familiar with the never-ending tools and processes and procedures required of today’s writer. Because today’s writer is no longer just a writer, no matter how much we long to be.

As detailed in part one of this blog, I am not big on reading instructions or following an established path, no matter how much I intend to on the front-end. This lack of common sense on my part has cost me time and caused undue stress as I wrestle with all that is required of writers in today’s literary market.

To say I have learned my lesson is misleading. I will always jump feet first into projects without proper preparation; apparently, this is how I learn. Despite many heated battles with Wordpress, I now have a beautiful website that I designed, built, maintain on my own, which was my goal, to begin with. 

But I have learned there is help out there and to seek it sooner than later when needed. Fiverr and Reedsy, freelance marketplaces specializing in technical, editorial, marketing, and design services, have become much relied upon resources. I outsource what is beyond my ability or desire to do myself. Knowing I have experts to turn to if needed has provided a much-needed level of security and relief.

The truth is, we do not have to muddle through this brave new literary world alone. An endless supply of help and support is available to all: how-to articles, writers’ groups, conferences, forums, seminars, mentors – you name it, it’s out there.  In the end, it comes down to finding what works for you. That may take some experimentation and cause us to beat our heads against the wall.

But that’s okay; we are used to it. We’re writers after all.

So just go for it, any way you can. You’ll figure it out, instructions included, or not.

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IDABEL ALLEN is the author of Headshots, Rooted, and Cursed! My Devastatingly Brilliant Campaign to Save the Chigg and Rooted (February, 2018 release). When not burrowing in the written word, Idabel is generally up to no good with her family, dogs, and herd of antagonistic cows. Learn more about Idabel at www.idabelallen.net. or follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/idabelallenauthor/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdaFiction

Instructions Included, or Not (Part I)

By Idabel Allen

Monopoly, Payday, Life even dominoes - as a child I rarely read instructions to any game or activity. I just winged it. Starting with Chutes and Ladders at six, I couldn’t be bothered to take five minutes to understand what I was about to undertake for the first time. There was a game before me, a task, something to do, and I jumped in feet first trusting I would figure it out as I went, or that another player knew more than I.

It’s the same now, at forty-eight. Only, I’m not playing board games, but publishing and marketing books utilizing a whole bevy of technical tools I’ve never used before: MailChimp and BookFunnel and WordPress and more. Tools that have, for the most part, clearly written instructions and training material to help you understand what you are doing and why.

The smart thing to do would be to read through this material, familiarize myself with the steps and start off with a solid base from which to build.

And yet, old habits die hard, and I am back to my old ways, uncertain of process and tool, consulting the instructions only after hitting a wall.

I like to think my aversion to instructions has less to do with laziness and more to do with impatience that goes back to childhood. Who has time to read instructions when there are dice to roll and game pieces to move about the board? Rules were often what we made them.

Playing board games by your own rules has few repercussions. Building a website, setting up email sequencing, inserting pixels, or developing ad campaigns is an entirely different matter. Each piece is critical to your overall marketing plan, which has its own architecture similar to a building. Your website is the foundation and social media accounts, ad campaigns, promotions and giveaways the floors above. Furnishing rooms are content – newsletters, blog posts, articles, interviews, and reviews.

This building is quite a complex piece of architecture. Without a blueprint for guidance, construction is a nightmare. I know because I created this nightmare for myself. Not out of laziness or ignorance, but out of a deep-seated impatience to get the job done that rode shotgun over common sense.

It’s not that I didn’t plan; I’m a planner by nature. I had a general outline in my head of what needed to happen and corresponding deadlines. I gave myself two weeks to build my website in Wordpress, a tool I’d never used. Another week to update my social media accounts.  Once these things were complete, I would start my ad campaign and go from there.

Then reality set in and I discovered how much lack of preparation cost in time, effort and stress. I lost more time tracking down issues with my email account, system performance, and countless other technical issues.

Turns out the saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, has never been truer.  Read Part 2 on 1-8-18.

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IDABEL ALLEN is the author of Headshots, Rooted, and Cursed! My Devastatingly Brilliant Campaign to Save the Chigg and Rooted (February, 2018 release). When not burrowing in the written word, Idabel is generally up to no good with her family, dogs, and herd of antagonistic cows. Learn more about Idabel at www.idabelallen.net. or follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/idabelallenauthor/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdaFiction