When first hitting the book road I had the usual big plan to have my book in many bookstores. I quickly learned that to stay enthusiastic about the challenging selling process that I'd my plan needed a strong supportive strategy.
While the plan is the big goal, the strategy is the small steps or sub-goals that give it direction. The strategy is the daily and weekly steps (thoughts and actions) that keep the plan on track, change the course and breath life when the plan is stalled or failing.
The steps must be consistent and executed in a timely manner to keep the momentum flowing. To help you stay consistent start with a weekly checklist. Who will you contact this week? Be realistic. Look at your calendar and chose how many people to contact. Say you've depleted your sources without good results. Do you want to revisit those sources, taking a different approach? If you called a bookstore with no positive results your new goal will be to walk in, introduce your self and book. Perhaps you've developed a following, let the bookstore know you can bring people for a book read. Are you ready to open up new territories? Contact those you know professionally and personally for marketing ideas (you don't' have to do what they suggest, just take note and read my other articles for different venues); listen in on a telemarketing writers phone lecture and put one goal on your list this week to forward your book. Always stay open to new and/or different ideas that you have not thought of before.
Developing and making workable strategic sub-goals helps you to know if your plan is working and what needs to forward it. I decided that, rather than making another list, I'd use a corkboard with various colored stickies - red for immediately, yellow for float it around - blue for a thought. With each sub-goal I included a date. Adding a target date to weekly sub-goals will progress or least, show you why your goal is not progressing. For example - send marketing kit to "Eye on the Bay" Thursday, 7 a.m. - Tuesday, 3 p.m. call three bookstores within a 50 miles radius for events coordinator's name.
Chose a weekly goal that is reachable. One does not reach a lofty goal of selling a million books by hitting the wall repeatedly. Create an attainable goal that says, look Mom, I did it!. It's okay to pat your back with a fulfilled easy goal such as following through with three calls to bookstores. For your commitment you get a blue star for effort or a gold one for selling books.
Weekly goals - even ONE with a target date reached - will keep you motivated and your book options moving along.
See what readers are saying about my newly released novel, "The Skye in June" at http://www.juneahern.com
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