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Seeking the Work-Promotion Balance

Whether we’re an indy author or we’ve been published through the traditional route, we’re expected to play some part in the promotion of our book. More than likely, we’re playing a large part.

But one day, we feel our eyes glaze over from scouring Amazon.com for potential reviewers. We might find ourselves wondering, “Is this the best use of my time? Are my promotional activities paying off?”

When the question we really need to be asking just might be, “Am I still finding time to work on my next book?”

It’s the question we all ask ourselves every day, in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Are we spending our time wisely? Should we be devoting more attention to one thing and less attention to something else?

Two recent articles examine the question of how an author should spend his or her time. Does promoting our book help sales? Or are we better off ignoring promotion and getting down to the business of writing the next one? Hurry up and wait, or wait and hurry up?

The first article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch breaks down indy published vs. traditionally published authors and what the expectations are for each.

The response, by Suw Charman-Anderson, offers a counterpoint.

What do you think?