by Rachel D. Russell, @RDRussellWrites
Writing your novel is one thing. Writing newsletters, blogs, and social media posts are another. It’s hard to take time away from your deadline in order to snap a picture and come up with some fun, witty, or interesting thing to say. It feels like we need to be everywhere at once.
It can really bog you down and, quite frankly, overwhelm. My own postings have resembled the ocean tides. High…low…high…extra low.
You get the idea.
Take social media, for example. I’d create several days’ worth of posts. Send them out into the world. Then, crickets. I’d totally forget to post until I was reminded, once again, that I should be posting.
And the tide would come flooding back in.
Here’s the thing—when you’re a one-man show, it’s very challenging to keep up on all the things. My own postings are still a process-in-process. However, I have found these tips have helped me stay the course and work towards consistency.
1.) Pick a posting schedule that you are, more likely than not, able to keep up with. If that’s once a day, fantastic. If that’s once a week, do it.
2.) You don’t have to be everywhere at once. Odds are, your readers have one or two top platforms they spend their time on. Focus your time on those platforms.
3.) Get inspired. Look at other author accounts in your genre. What do they post? What gets comments and interaction? Use these posts to inspire your own.
4.) Get a calendar. Whether you like digital or pen and paper, write down a plan for your posts. I like to plan out a month of posts at a time. Not only does the calendar help you plan ahead, it also gives you a reference so you don’t repost the same content.
5.) Create a hashtag cheat sheet. Again, make note of the hashtags you follow and the ones you use. This will give you a quick reference guide to get your posts out faster. You can also find free lists online of author hashtags. Just know what they mean. If you write inspirational romance, there are going to be some romance hashtags that are probably not for you.
6.) Consider automating your posting processes. There are options for automating your social media posts. Depending on the platform, these may require a subscription. Be sure before you sign up that the platform you want to use works well and allows for that particular scheduler.
7.) Don’t fall in. After you post, it can be easy to start perusing all your feeds. Engagement with others is important—however, I find setting a timer helps me get in and get out without losing my entire writing time block.
8.) Give yourself grace. Unless you’re hiring a social media specialist (which may, or may not be, on my wish list for “someday”), you’re probably going to miss a day, week, or month (don’t judge) here and there.
Whether you love, hate, or feel apathetic towards social media, it’s a key way your readers will get to know you and your writing. Use these tips to take advantage of it without losing your mind.
Cole Barrett, former Army Ranger, has a new mission objective. Sell his grandfather’s house and put Deep Haven in his rearview mirror as fast as possible. Deep Haven holds the hurts of physical abuse at the hands of his grandfather, a man now in a memory care facility with dementia. Recently divorced, single, and unattached, Cole just wants a new life as a US Marshal. One where he can forget the past and start new.
Unfortunately, there’s a tenant in the garage apartment who’s refusing to move. Even worse? It’s his childhood crush, Megan Carter, and her son.
She’s waited years for her first love to return.
Wedding planner and single mom Megan Carter is no stranger to Deep Haven. To her, it’s the place where she makes dreams come true—at least, everyone else’s. Her big dream is to purchase the Black Spruce Bed & Breakfast to turn it into a premier event venue and, if she can stay booked for enough weddings over winter, she’ll have enough money to buy the inn, move out of Grandpa Barrett’s garage apartment, and finally give her nine-year-old son, Josh, the life he deserves. After using part of her intended down payment to cover his hockey fees, she’s behind on her Black Spruce funds and only has thirty days to come up with four thousand dollars.
Still, she’s oh, so close…until her childhood friend-slash-crush, Cole Barrett, returns to Deep Haven. Unfortunately, he’s not back to fulfill a silly childhood promise to return, but she never expected him to evict her! The last thing she needs is more expenses. Or for another man to walk into her heart…and break it.
Maybe it’s never too late to finish a love story…
When a blizzard strikes Deep Haven, and Megan is overrun with wedding catastrophes, it takes a former Ranger to step in and help. But the more he comes to her rescue, the sooner she’ll be able to move out…and he can move on.
And that’s what they both want, right?
Rachel D. Russell writes contemporary inspirational romance focused on forgiveness, redemption, and grace. She’s a member of Oregon Christian Writer and My Book Therapy’s Novel Academy. Her two Deep Haven Collection novels with Sunrise Publishing will release in 2021. When Rachel’s not cantering her horse down the Oregon beaches, she’s probably interrogating her husband on his own military and law enforcement experience to craft believable heroes in uniform. The rest of her time is spent enjoying her active family, including two teens and three keyboard-hogging cats. You can catch up with her at RachelDRussell.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.