Sometimes, you need a quick project.
For the past two weeks, my daughter has been teething (read: grumpy) and, as a result, I’ve not had more than 30 minutes to focus on any one activity (save for sleeping at night, blessedly).
I suspect that I’m not alone: 45% of us are only able to work for 15 minutes without being interrupted by one thing or another.
When you’re facing a day (or week…or month) filled with interruptions and distractions, it’s ideal to focus on quick projects! Knowing what you can complete, however, in such a short period of time is difficult.
If you’ve followed us for awhile, you know we think spending time on book marketing every day is an absolute must. To help out my fellow time-strapped folk, I’ve put together a list of 31 book marketing (and fanbase-building) ideas that you can easily complete in a day — or less!
- Email a fan who has commented on a recent blog post, just to say “thank you.”
- Tweet a personal “thank you” to every non-spammer who has mentioned you in the past week.
- Respond to every comment on your blog.
- Find another indie whose work you love and send them a friendly “hello.”
- Plan a giveaway — choose a date and write down 3 ideas to build up hype.
- Uncover your “one reader.”
- Contact an indie friend and propose a review exchange.
- Figure out your best reader hangouts.
- Set a schedule for writing and marketing (tip: try the Duolit weekly planner, part of our Book Marketing Toolkit).
- Plan a relaunch of your book.
- Read every marketing post in a weekly roundup, like “Friday Features” or the “Friday Round-Up“
- Choose a blog topic for the next four weeks.
- Add an email list opt-in box to your website.
- Audit your author website and consider installing a new theme.
- Examine how your favorite author is reaching fans online; borrow one idea and start using it today.
- Research blogs on which to guest post; leave a comment and add them to your RSS reader.
- Create a freebie to release exclusively to your email list; try a short story, alternate-POV chapter or flash fiction.
- Design limited-edition packaging for your book.
- Release a snippet of your WIP/next book on your blog — make it a cliffhanger!
- Write down two new ways you can better engage your readers.
- Make a personal commitment to respond to every genuine reader email, comment or tweet.
- Eliminate a social network you don’t like/don’t use to focus on those you prefer.
- Find a fan’s blog (hint: click on their name in the comments); add it to your RSS reader or leave a comment.
- Write a quick sentence or two on how you use each of your social networks. What will you post? How often? Who are you trying to reach?
- Interview one of your readers; find out why they like your work and where else they hang out online.
- Revamp your media kit.
- Improve your Amazon listing.
- Focus on creating a connection with readers, not just making sales.
- Craft a perfect elevator pitch.
- Follow the reader-finding advice of other awesome indies.
- Sign up for our free book marketing course (hey, you know I had to put this on here!)
Why only 31 ideas? I figure those will keep you busy for at least a month! And, if you find yourself with some extra time (lucky), you could easily knock out two or three of these in a single day.
Talk Back
Which one of the ideas above will you try today? Do you have another to add to the list? Let me know in the comments!
We're 
