Controlling the Beast of Social Media by Betsy Ashton

Writers face a daily dilemma: how much time to spend on social media marketing books and how much time in writing new ones. Our agents press us for new manuscripts which have to be written, edited and re-edited before we submit to the agent. Once the agent passes the multi-edited manuscript to the publisher, the writer faces additional edits and proof reads. At the same time as we are preparing the current WIP for publication, we are expected to be working on the next manuscript. The juggling act is worthy of the Ringling Bros center ring.

We are expected to have a presence on social media. Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. The next social media fad. Publishers tell us we need a platform we can exploit for book sales. No platform seems good enough. They pressure us to expand, spend more time in social media. Out on speaking engagements we set up. Out on book tours we set up. Out in signing events we set up. Tweet all the time. Post all the time. Blog all the time.

Some writers hit the daily slide into the social media sand trap and emerge hours later or not at all. If I don't set limits, I'll "check my mail and posts on FB" before I begin writing. I'll answer only critical messages, look at the most important posts on my timeline. Oh, look, how cute is that kitten. I love kitties. I respond. Before I know it, I need more coffee. What? Two hours flew by? It can't be.

I decide I'll watch the clock in the corner of the computer screen. Right next to that wonderfully snarky post from one of my favorite FB friends. Someone is following me on Twitter? I have to check out this intelligent person who finds me worthy of a follow. I tweet back, receive a response and trip lightly into conversation that goes nowhere but takes time.

I don't suffer from writer's block. I don't have ADD or ADHD. I love writing, but those snarky Maxine comics must be read.

I put my foot down. No more wasting time. Watching the clock was a failure. I asked my husband for a special present two Christmases ago. I wanted a special egg timer. Mine has blue sand and flows for 15 minutes. When the sand of time runs out, I switch off my wi-fi and get back to work.

Oops. Time's up. What works for you?

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Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max Unintended Consequences published in March 2013 by Koehler Books.

Multitasking Or Overextending? How to Budget the Hours of the Day

Laura Breck

I’ve been so busy this week, I nearly forgot to post my blog today. That’s pretty bad. I have my life plotted out to the hour.

I use two calendars - one for personal and work commitments outside the house. Book signings, conferences, and meetings. The other is for online work commitments like blogging, editing, and writing deadlines.

Right now, both calendars are overflowing. I’m editing for my edit-swap partner, I’m doing a paid edit, and I’m helping my mentee with her first edits on her first contracted book.

Add to that trying to prepare for an upcoming conference where I’m presenting two workshops, rewriting a book I wrote three years ago and on which I just received my rights back. Plus I have requests from an agent for two books, and a request from an editor for a book. None of these three books is ready to be sent out without hours of rewrites.

I think I’ve over-multitasked myself right now, and unless I can find a way to stretch out my writing days, I may need another calendar to reschedule some of these projects - in 2014!

How do you organize your life? What are your tricks to make good use of every hour of the day?

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Have a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend!
Laura
~Smart Women ~Sexy Men ~Seductive Romance
LauraBreck.com
~Dancing in a Hurricane is available in digital formats at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble and in paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Createspace
~Love in the Land of Lakes is available in digital format at Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, and in paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Createspace