This blog series is all about marketing. But is it ever okay to take a mini marketing hiatus? You bet. In fact, sometimes it’s more than okay. Sometimes it’s just plain smart. When should you take a marketing break?

1) When you’re spending more time marketing than writing.

This is always a no-no. You’ll hear experts give all ranges of ratios and percentages about how much time you should spend marketing versus writing. And feel free to go with the ratio of your choice. But I don’t think you’ll ever hear someone tell you to spend MORE time marketing than actually writing. (That is, unless you’re in that 2- to 3-month window around a book release. In which case, just ignore this. 🙂 )

If you’re spending way, way more time marketing than writing, your writing may be suffering. So take a break. Whether for a couple days or a couple weeks, you need to reevaluate how you’re spending your time and come up with a plan to make sure marketing isn’t overshadowing your writing. After all, without good writing, you don’t have anything to market.

2) When it’s not working.

If you’re spending time and resources on marketing efforts, but you’re not seeing results, it’s time to step back from the “doing” and take a little time to assess your marketing plan. Take stock of what you’re doing and try to figure out why you’re not getting results. Ask author friends or mentors for help. Take a look at what’s working for others. Revise your plan as needed.

3) When your marketing is all over the place. One of the reasons your marketing may not be working: it’s too fragmented. If you’ve spread yourself too thin, taken on so much that you’re not able to see various marketing efforts through to completion, you need to step back. Much better to follow through on three or four solid marketing activities than fumble through nine or ten. Take a break and review your strategy. Try to hone in on the most effective of your tasks and put your focus there. 4) When you’re doing NaNoWriMo. Just write. 🙂 5) When you hit saturation point. This is something we talk about in my day job from time to time: have we saturated our constituent market? Which is basically fancy lingo for, “Are we driving people crazy?” 🙂 If you’re in tune with your work, your readers and your marketing plan, you might have those twinges now and then when you feel you’ve put you and your book out there…enough. None of us want to drive our social media friends/fans crazy. We don’t want to drive launch team members away or bombard readers with too much. If you get that twinge, I say, listen to it. Take a little break. And in the downtime, start brainstorming ways to connect with new people in new places. 6) When none of it is fun anymore.

Marketing isn’t always going to be a blast. There will be days when your inbox feels like a chain around your neck, social media drives you up the wall and you really don’t want to attend one more event.

BUT there should be at least some key piece of your marketing strategy that appeals to you. The best marketing happens when we as the authors are authentically enjoying connecting with readers–whether that’s through social media, in person, newsletters, etc. If you’re not enjoying one single piece of your marketing work, then I think it’s important to ask yourself why? Are you focusing on the wrong areas? Is there a marketing strategy that would better fit your personality? Don’t be afraid to take a break, re-assess and look for the fun.

Have you ever found yourself in need of a marketing break? Do any of the above six “whens” apply to you?