It might seem obvious to you, but it wasn’t to me.

In the past, I would just stop working on the project and move on to something else.

That left a lot of half-finished projects in my wake.

There was a pattern

I began to notice my pattern: When the going gets tough, I watch a Hallmark movie.

Realizing that — noticing that there are situations where I stop moving forward — was pivotal, though.

I started asking myself, “Why?” I needed to understand what made me stop.

When I gave myself the time to accept I had hit a wall and explore why, I was able to identify the obstacles holding me back.

As I did this more and more, I noticed that I usually came upon the same obstacles:

• There’s not enough time.
• I don’t know how to do it.
• I don’t have the right tools or resources.
• I’m afraid I might fail.
• The next step is so big or complicated that it overwhelms me.
• Something else became a higher priority.

What are your obstacles?

Are any of those things obstacles for you, too? Or do you encounter other obstacles that keep you from making progress with your book or how you market it?

I thought about this as I continued to work on my 2018 goals with my goal buddy this week.

There have been too many years when I had plans that didn’t materialize. Last year, for example, I was excited about a new book idea. Something stopped me from finishing it.

Pay attention

So this is the year I pay more attention to my rhythm.

I need to notice when I’ve stalled. That will allow me to identify the unseen obstacles in my path and figure out how to move them out of the way.

I’m experienced enough to know I won’t always be able to do that alone. And I’m smart enough to bring in help when I need it.

In a year from now, I want to be able to tell you that I not only identified my obstacles, I figured out how to get over, under, and around them.

My wish for you is that you can say the same.

I hope that you will also pause to think about why you stopped working on your book, its marketing, or anything else that’s important to you. That will help you plan how you’ll navigate around the obstacles you’ve identified.

Let’s use this quote to remind us.

“Never give in to the obstacles that lie in your path towards the achievement of your dreams.” ~~ Lailah Gifty Akita

If one of your obstacles is lack of a solid book marketing plan, be certain to download my free template. I walk you through every step of the process. All you have to do is click the blue bar below to get your free Book Marketing Plan Template:

What’s holding you back? What are your obstacles? Tell us in a comment. 

Because she had to start promoting her book immediately to take advantage of a once-a-year news tie-in, we set it aside. I knew that putting something extra challenging at the top of her book publicity to-do list would stall her completely – because it would stall anyone, including me.

We discussed what she did feel comfortable doing instead, looking for a task that was relevant, appropriate, and do-able. And we found it.

What’s holding you back?

What’s holding you back? What’s keeping you from moving forward with your book promotion? Here are three common problems and how to maneuver around them.

1. Finding the time for it. Even when you write full-time for a living – rather than trying to squeeze it in around your “regular” job and other responsibilities – it’s hard to find time to promote your book. I’ve got several strategies for making the time on this post. My favorites are re-allocating the time you spent writing the book to promoting it, and setting aside the same chunk of time every week for book promotion tasks. I like to do those sorts of things on Friday afternoon, but what counts is what works for you.
2. Confusion about where to begin. Start by spending time studying your target audience. It’s so important that you know who is most likely to buy your book. While this can be challenging for those who felt called to write a book and did so without giving any thought about who would buy it, if you want people to read it, they have to know about it. Get a handle on this topic with this post and this one on my blog, but also read this excellent post by Gary Korisko on the WritetoDone.com site. The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be for you to figure out which tactics to use.
3. Discomfort with the process. You’re going to avoid any task that you’re not comfortable with, right? In the case of my author client mentioned above, I knew that we had to start with the least intimidating option if we wanted things to happen quickly. Because she had product publicity experience already, we started with a tactic that came easily to her — writing and distributing a tip sheet. What do you enjoy doing? Find a book publicity, promotion, or marketing tactic related to that. What do you like doing the least? Don’t start there.

Knowledge is power, so whenever you feel powerless, take the time to learn as much as you can about the topic that’s causing your paralysis. It will help give you the confidence you need to move forward.

What is your biggest obstacle? What’s keeping you from starting? Share it here — maybe we can help you find your way over, under, or around it.