Content Creation for Your Bookish Business: 6 Tips
The life of an indie author is fraught with continuous demands. From editing, cover design, publishing, marketing and everything in between, being an indie author is not for the faint of heart.
In fact, the actual writing of the book is often viewed as the easy part!
And now you have to create content, too!?
However, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or devote countless precious hours to creating content to help readers find you and your books.
The following tips can be applied social media posts, newsletter and blog writing, and anything else that needs to be done consistently.
Content Creation Tips to Grow Your Author Platform
TIP #1: Batch similar tasks
Creating consistent content is like doing laundry 😂
If, for example, you needed a clean shirt, it would be ridiculous (not to mention, inefficient!) to go through all of the dirty clothes to find the shirt you want, put the shirt in the washer to wash it, dry the shirt, fold the shirt, and then put it away.
Batching similar tasks, i.e., doing a whole load of laundry all at once, allows for much greater efficiency, lessens procrastination and overwhelm, and defines a clear next step.
Let’s say, for example, you need to create 10 social media posts for your upcoming release. Consider batching in this way:
Step 1: Come up with ideas for each of the 10 posts (e.g., release date, title reveal, cover reveal, trope reveal, etc.).
Step 2: Place each idea into an editorial calendar. Each post should go up on a predetermined date and time. This consistency helps to build a relationship between you and your readers; therefore, successfully building your author platform.
Step 3: Create the graphics for each of the 10 posts.
Step 4: Write the captions and hashtags for each of the 10 posts.
Step 5: Schedule each of the 10 posts to go up at the predetermined and consistent time and date (see Step 2).
By batching each similar step, rather than the end result (= a single social media post), you will work much more efficiently.
As your author platform grows, talk with your readers to get their feedback on what works well and what needs improvement.
TIP #2: Schedule the content posting in advance
Life happens. By having a predetermined posting frequency and scheduling accordingly (see Steps 2 and 5 above), you’re prepared when the unexpected rears its ugly head.
Future you will be thankful for this buffer room.
When determining a posting frequency, consider the following:
Only do what you can realistically maintain.
Think about the time you have to devote to content creation.
Prioritize where content creation falls among your other tasks.
When embarking on your content creation journey, consider posting less frequently than you see others doing. Try this frequency for a while and throughout some especially busy seasons. See how having a book release, hosting birthday parties, traveling, illnesses, and other unexpected occurrences impact your posting frequency.
Once you get faster, your systems are in place, and it seems doable, then you may wish to increase the posting frequency.
Consistency is more important than the quantity of posts. Scheduling the completed posts in advance will help tremendously with this.
Although Canva allows you to directly schedule to Instagram, for example, it doesn’t allow for scheduling far in advance (at the time of writing). With Metricool, you can schedule posts months ahead of time . . . with a FREE plan (at the time of writing).
TIP #3: Brainstorm ideas and make notes on the go
As mentioned in Tip #1, Step #1, coming up with ideas all in one session is not only a huge time saver but also serves as a procrastination buster.
Many of us have faced the ominous blank page and the subsequent writer’s block. The words simply don’t flow, and we walk away frustrated and put off the task until we muster up the gumption to face it again.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, and we get farther and farther away from our goals.
By having a list of ideas already brainstormed, you’ve already made it over the first hurtle. And it’s a big one!
Take this one step further by making notes of ideas as they come to you: in the shower, on a walk, driving, on your commute, etc. Especially with the dictation ability on our phones, making notes on the go is easy!
Please take the pressure off of yourself and know that every idea you have doesn’t need to be a “good” one nor does it ever need to be a completed post. Just simply make a note of it and go on with your day.
Then, when it come to task batching time, you can go through your previously brainstormed ideas. Determine what is timely and brings you joy to expand upon. This is Step 1 under Tip #1.
Next, you’ll employ Step 2 under Tip #1 and sort the ideas you want to bring to fruition onto a content calendar. Use a tracking method you’ll enjoy: physical planner, Asana, Google Calendar, Notion, etc.
You may find that doing this monthly in order to prep for the following works well, for example. That way, when the date arrives, you know exactly what needs to be done on that day.
TIP #4: Decide that creating content is a high priority
In order to grow your author platform, creating consistent content is key.
In fact, the ability to regularly show up for your bookish business is often THE difference in someone finding you and your books . . . or not finding you and your books.
It’s the double-edged sword of being an indie author:
The good news is that it’s ALL YOU.
The bad news is that it’s ALL YOU.
However, consistent content creation is critical to sharing your books, building relationships with readers and growing your author platform.
TIP #5: Outsource repeatable tasks to a team member
While you might want to be the one who comes up with the ideas for your content and/or to do any writing involved, the rest of the tasks can easily be handed of to an author personal assistant (PA)!
Passing all of the repeatable tasks to a PA allow you to focus your efforts on your area of genius: giving the world your gift of stories! ❤️
Since you likely learned how to do all of the tasks involved in creating content, a PA could easily be trained to do so, too, and taking it off of your already-overflowing plate! The post, Looking to Hire an Author Personal Assistant? Here’s What You Need to Know, shares invaluable information on reclaiming your time to write.
If you’re having a hard time determining WHEN and WHERE to find the time to create content consistently, or you’re needing more information on what needs to be considered when hiring a PA, download:
It’s free and provides detailed, actionable steps to finding and hiring your dream PA!
TIP #6: Maintain a schedule and automate tasks
What’s the secret 🤭 to getting everything done in your bookish business?
Make doing so as easy as possible on yourself!
Here’s how:
Have a process/schedule so no steps are missed and so you know what needs to be done each day.
Automate tasks so each step is done as efficiently as possible.
There are countless ways to do this, whether it’s an old school paper planner or with software like Notion, Asana, Airtable, Clickup, Slack, etc.
Find and use one that works for you and your team. Happy creating!
When you’re ready, check out my personal assistant (PA) services page to learn more about how I can help get your books into readers’ hands!
In the meantime, know that your readers appreciate you and are so grateful to you for sharing your stories with us! ❤️
Your supportive side character,
Lisa