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I just want to know when it's time to stop promoting my book and work on the next one? I just feel like I need to make sure this book has legs to stand on its own before I leave it.

I don't think you should ever stop promoting any of your books. Or ever not be working on the next one. This is a continuum. My feeling is that ultimately the best promotion is to have a body of work available, so that if someone reads & likes one of your works, he or she can immediately get additional books.

That's the conundrum: there are only 24 hours in a day. I constantly feel torn between the time needed for writing and for promoting.

K.m. wrote: "I don't think you should ever stop promoting any of your books. Or ever not be working on the next one. This is a continuum. My feeling is that ultimately the best promotion is to have a body of wo..."

It is definitely endurance and persistence that counts. Good response.

I've recently published my first eBook on Kindle called, 'From Goats Gruff to Glory' The only heavy download traffic occurred on my first 'free' day. It is discouraging to see just how many books there are on Amazon and to try to work out how on earth to even get noticed in the crowd. I agree that writing a 2nd book is a reasonable strategy but it would be good to get the first one doing well before embarking on a second!

Hello Rik! Phew.....isn't it the truth? I belong to an awesome small publisher who encourages us to write, write, write. He likes short story series, so we are getting something out at all times. Some people in our group do amazingly well. We all have a gift and someone to reach....May you reach yours!

Thanks for that Karen. I'm used to writing web articles where every time someone accesses the page you earn (a small amount from advertising). Selling e books is very different. People have to pay before they download. Much tougher to succeed. Anyway, best wishes with your writing!

I have to say I agree with all of the above. Keep promoting - never stop, and ALWAYS keep writing.

I usually have 3 or 4 books in the very early planning stages (scenario, loose idea of characters, locations etc.), a couple in more detailed development (partial chapter plans, some scenes planned out, locations designed etc.) and then the one I'm currently writing.

While writing I often have ideas which may not fit the current novel but can be added to one of the ones I'm planning for the future. Sometimes this has led to completely changing the design of one of the books in the early stages or, in the case of my latest book, merging two plans into one novel.

I can't just not write, and having several ideas in development gives me a much more relaxed, low pressure way to develop some really interesting ideas and twists. If I just focused on a single novel from planning through to writing I truly believe my results would be much more mundane in comparison.

The shame of it all is that most of us are not marketers but prefer to be at our desks assembling the stories that collide in our heads till they are transferred to the written word! It is a rare character who can make the combination of left and right brain work without one of them suffering. However, if you can possibly compartmentalize your day so that you spend some promotional time, that can work. If you are on KDP, I am not sure that the free books promo is effective. There's a heap of book piracy happening in India at present. I have noticed some small publishing houses starting up and wonder if some are somewhat of a writers' co-op venture in order to share costs of attendance at book fairs, press releases etc.. That would make sense. Good luck! We struggle on!

Ive noticed that worrying about the marketing doesnt help at all. Being proactive does. On the other hand you can be proactive yet still be spinning your wheels. My motto is to try and keep it simple. I focus on writing the best I ca and trying to learn from other authors. I have met so many good authors who know nothing about marketing. While they write good books there titles sit on Amazon with little to no reviews. I have been writing for only a couple years and fell into it by mistake. I got into writing when I got real sick and lost some cognitive skills. This helped me to become a bit more aware and motivated. I met authors who were stumbling like I was and then one of them created a wordpress site called The Megaphone Society. This helped me get some exposure for my book The Sunshine Murders. I had it for sale but then thought wow, it hasn't been edited. So, I bit the bullet, had it edited and made a decent cover and while I haven't got a bunch of reviews it is making sales now and is hovering around the 100-200k mark. Far cry from when it was sitting at 600k. I think focusing on your work is far more important than trying to market it, especially if you know it needs help. I also found a couple places that will take 5 books at a time on consignment. This too can help get your book exposure. Its the little things I think. And I dont slam KDP, they are a business, nothing more. If it werent books, it would be something else. We are just the little elves that makes it work for them.

I think it's a good balance between the two. When I launched my book Shadow of Wrath I spent a lot of time trying to promote it. However, every single successful author (Hugh Howey, Michael J Sullivan, etc) has told me the key to success is to put out a second book. Normally I try and get in 2000 words a day, and then after that spend some time on twitter, goodreads, etc.

My friend, Don Coresi, would do nothing to promote himself. That's why he chose me as a publisher, because I promised to promote his books as well. So this is what I am doing... His children's books can be downloaded free of charge for a couple of days. Please follow this link and grab your copies, if you like to read fantasy and fairy tale pieces for children...