Make The Most of Your Writing During the Holidays

Most of publishing isn’t good at communication any time of the year. Often it takes weeks to hear from an editor or literary agent. This time of year between Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day are an even slower time of year. It is like your submissions go into a black hole with no response.

As an editor, I understand that people are focused on holiday shopping, sending greetings and other events which interrupt the typical publishing responses. At Morgan James Publishing, I'm still processing manuscripts with authors and contracts.  Our publication board meets weekly (instead of the typical once a month) and has one more meeting before the end of the month. In a long-standing tradition, Morgan James will be closed from December 22^nd  until January 2^nd .

How can you make your writing life productive during this period? It is possible for you to be active during this silent period of publishing. 

Last week I had the opportunity to drive to Denver and do an in-studio radio interview about my book, Billy Graham, A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist. Most of these types of radio interviews are 20 to 30 minutes and I “thought” that was what I was doing. As I settled into my place in the studio, they thanked me for co-hosting the program (which I learned was two hours). I loved the opportunity to talk for two hours about Billy Graham—even if unexpected. Here's a little seven-minute glimpse at that session (use the link to download it and then open it on your computer). 

Here’s six different ways to make the most of your writing during the holidays:


1. Work on building your platform and presence in the marketplace. Use my ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Writer on this topic or something else for some idea starters. Can you take some actions to increase your twitter followers or add to the number of people who are reading your newsletter?

2. Rework or update your website.  I've not reworked my own website in some time and I'm going to use this time to update some of my websites.

3. Write a free ebook for a list generator. Can you take a series of blog posts or articles and turn them into a free ebook that you offer to your mailing list? Use this time to create such an ebook.

4. Create your own event in January. Your new ebook (#3) could be the ethical bribe that you use with this new event. Now is the time to be planning the details of such an event. 

5. Read a book on marketing such as 5–Minute Book Marketing for Authors or Online Marketing for Busy Authors. Follow the links of those books because I wrote in detail about each of these books. When you read the book, apply some of the lessons to your books and writing.

6. Begin a new income stream. Writing has multiple paths and income possibilities. During this quiet time, select a path that you are not currently using such as affiliate marketing, then begin to develop a new income stream. I have a list of writing possibilities in the free sample of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Follow this link to get this free resource.

You may not be able to tackle all six of these ideas but hopefully several of them help you. Notice each of them are something you can do without a connection to an editor or agent.

As a seventh way,I encourage you to polish or create a book proposal. Even if you are going to self publish, you will still need a proposal. The proposal is the blueprint for your book—especially if you are writing nonfiction. If you are writing fiction, you will still need this information for the platform and marketing section. A free resource to learn more insights about proposal creation is at: AskAboutProposals.com.

You can move forward with your writing even during the holidays. I understand this time of year has many things pulling for your attention. It is a matter of commitment and focus to get these actions for your writing in motion.

What suggestions do you have for your writing life during the holidays? Tell me in the comments.

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