Rachel Simeone: A Book Marketing Coach Shares Encouragement

Everyone's Story would like to kick off the New Year of 2014 for writers and readers with guest Rachel Simeone. And due to a major snow storm here in the Northeast and the lurking possibility of power outages, Rachel's segment is being launched a day early. It's my hope that both writers and readers will gain both insight and encouragement in ways to move forward in this new year in whatever endeavors you pursue. Please drop Rachel's a comment--she's looking forward to hearing from you.

­Should I Race With The Energizer Bunny? 
By Rachel Simeone

Are you intimidated when you meet someone who is a bestselling author? Or, someone who has dozen of books in print? Or, someone who has 10,000 Twitter followers? I am.

In the face of that kind of achievement, it can sometimes seem pointless to pursue our own dreams of publishing success.  And yet, every one of these writers started out in the same place that we are today. Unknown. Unproven. Uninvited. How did they start out like us and end up like them?

Image Courtesy of Google Images

They showed up. They started with a goal and they consistently worked to achieve it.

We all know that if we write one sentence, one paragraph or one page we will be that much closer to a finished manuscript. Sometimes, however, something keeps us from taking those simple steps.

As a book marketing coach, I work with clients who are often disappointed when they don’t accomplish every item on their marketing to do list. They expected to tweet more, finish their monthly newsletter or update their bio on Amazon. Generally, they achieve most of their goals, but not all of them. 

The difference between what we hope to do and what we actually accomplish seems to be the cause of a lot of unhappiness. Many of us fret ourselves into giving up what we enjoy, simply because we never accomplish what we think we should. We get discouraged, lose focus and start consuming copious amounts of red wine and chocolate.

If you think about it, berating yourself for not doing everything that you hope to makes no sense. There is and will always be more to do. (If this isn’t one of Murphy’s Law it should be.) Getting upset about it won’t change it. And, when you are focusing on what you haven’t done, you are missing the opportunity to give yourself credit for what you have done.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

I suggest that you challenge yourself to begin celebrating your accomplishments. Take a moment and congratulate yourself on a job well done. If you set a goal and, instead of watching TV or reading about your high school crush on Facebook, you took a step towards your goal, feel good about it. Take a deep breath and acknowledge what you have achieved.

Will there be more to do? Sure. But that doesn’t change the fact that you are now one step closer to the finish line.

Are there people who seem to manage to get everything checked off their list? Of course there are. Your best bet is to ignore them. There will always be people like that. Some may cross the finish line sooner than you. But what they are doing does not impact what you are doing. You have your path; they have theirs. The key is to stay focused on the trail in front of you.

Give yourself a break. If today you don’t completely accomplish what you had hoped, don’t worry. If you keep at it, eventually you will.

Let me leave you will this story.

Last month, I came down with a cold. Normally when I get a cold, I get into bed and sleep until I feel better. This can take anywhere from 8 to 24 hours.  When I get up, I am cured. My downtime is minimal and I never end up with a full blow cold. It’s a good strategy.

This time, however, I didn’t have time for a cold. I needed to honor my commitments to my clients. Plus, I was planning to launch my first romance novella. So, I ignored the cold.

This was a poor decision. Feeling ill made me tired and I immediately lost the desire to anything creative, especially writing/editing my book.

I pushed myself to meet my clients’ needs, napping when I could squeeze it in. But I couldn’t manage to get anything else done. I started to fall behind. The cold expanded from one week to two. I worried that I wasn’t getting anything done. I wasn’t chipping away at my goals.

The worrying caused two nights of insomnia. By the time a friend convinced me to go to the doctor, I had a sinus infection.

My doctor prescribed antibiotics and insisted that I spend the next two days in bed. I began calling clients and rescheduling them. 

One client, when I was explaining my frustration with how behind I was, reminded me “Rachel, you can only do what you can do. Focusing on what you can’t do won’t change anything. Just do on what you can. If you keep at it, eventually, everything will get done.”

So true.

Rachel's Ah-hahs To Tweet:

Book marketing coach Rachel Simeone on what makes an author successful. (Tweet This)

Rachel Simeone on Everyone’s Story: When writers cross the finish line to published author. (Tweet This)

Rachel Simeone, book marketing coach, discusses how writers can make themselves unhappy. (Tweet This)

Author's Bio:

Rachel Simeone is a book marketing expert who leverages her 20+ years of marketing experience to help authors sell their books.

Working with each author individually, Rachel takes them step by step through proven marketing strategies to deliver book sales. Her goal to simplify the complex world of Internet marketing into easy steps that are accessible and manageable for all authors.

Rachel is a regular speaker at writer’s groups in and around Texas.

Prior to working in book marketing, Rachel held strategic marketing positions at Time, Inc., Williams-Sonoma, and Gump’s, where she developed marketing and implemented programs for America’s leading brands.

If you are interested in maximizing your book sales and taking your marketing to the next level, contact Rachel today.

Find Rachel on the Web:

Website

Facebook

Twitter