Without consistency, people are going to forget about you. They’re going to forget about your writing and you.
Pretty terrifying, right? No one wants to hear that. Sorry for being so harsh, but you’re not doing anything to remind them who you are.
That’s why you need to be consistent. Consistency is the key to being successful in anything.
Let’s start at the top.
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You need to be consistently writing.
My friend Sean McCabe says “show up every day.” You should do at least one thing that works toward your writing career daily.
That doesn’t mean you have to post something every day.
Just one thing is all it takes. So show up every day and do at least one thing that will get you closer to completion.
- Use “stream of consciousness” to write ideas for new stories.
- Come up with a character name, birthplace, and favorite thing to do.
- Write one sentence.
Just one thing.
One thing every day will get you closer to your goals.
Sean says that doing this for two years will get you where you want to be. That’s such a short period if you think about it.
Plus, you’ll improve your writing each day as you work on it.
While you’re getting closer to completion, you’ll need to be working on marketing. Building your audience is what you should do, which is why the next three parts need to be consistent.
You need to be consistently sharing your writing.
Show people what you’re working on. Show your works in progress.
It doesn’t have to be anything crazy or intense. Maybe it’s a short piece on Mastodon of a WIP you made this week.
Heck, even share a teaser of a character concept.
There’s so much in creating a piece of writing that can be shared, and it drums up interest in your release.
Of course, you can and should be sharing this stuff on your social media, the Fediverse, but you should also be sharing it on your blog.
I don't have anything free to bribe you with.
You need to be consistently posting on your blog.
If you don’t have a blog, ensure you’re signed up for the newsletter. I’ll post a comprehensive guide that will teach you step-by-step how to set up a blog for your writing.
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You need to be posting to your blog because it’s the one platform you control.
Remember MySpace? Who uses that anymore?
I don’t think it’s impossible that Twitter or Facebook could be next. I don’t even know anyone who uses Tumblr anymore.
But your blog, your website, that is something you can control. It will exist as long as you want it to. I use A2 hosting and their quick and easy one-click WordPress installer for this site and almost all of my sites.
You can also do a simple little thing to keep people returning to your blog for more. Aside from posting consistently, you need to collect emails from your visitors and send them a newsletter.
Of course, if your audience is a bit tech-savvy, you can point them to your RSS feed. That way, you don’t have to collect any personal data!
You need to be consistently sending out email newsletters.
My biggest regret is not having started collecting emails sooner.
I would have made way more sales on my previous releases by now had I started collecting emails from the very beginning.
It’s the best marketing you can do for any release. Tell people about it.
As I mentioned above, controlling your platform is essential. If TikTok or whatever disappears or loses popularity, it won’t be easy to retain that audience and move them to whatever new platform you’re on.
I use ConvertKit because it’s easy, and they have great functions for automation.
If you have a reader’s email, you’ll be able to take them wherever you go.
Plus, people will see you all the time. You’ll be in their thoughts because you regularly send them valuable and engaging emails.
That way, they won’t see it as spam when you release something new.
You ever sign up for an email list and forget about it? Then weeks or months later, you get an email like, “Hey, I just released my new short story!”
Of course, I usually check it out, but it’s like, “ugh, who is this person, and why are they trying to get money from me?”
You need to share at least once a week.
They won’t forget about you this way. We think in weekly cycles. That’s why most TV shows release new episodes at least weekly (during their season).
Of course, if you want, you can share more than once a week, but don’t overwhelm yourself.
Trust me; people will start to notice.
I’ve been inconsistent, and people have commented on it. I was embarrassed.
Consistency is hard, but there are many ways you can prepare, like setting up an editorial calendar or automating your social media posting with a tool like CoSchedule.
Make sure you’re signed up for my email list so that you can continue to learn more about growing your fanbase.
Garrett Mickley
I've been working in digital marketing for a decade and a half, and I'm ready for a career change. This blog is my journal.
I don't have anything free to bribe you with.