Mark Twain once penned an attribution for Benjamin Franklin for a quote along the lines of “Never put off until tomorrow what you could do day after tomorrow.” Twain was working off of the advice that the Earl of Chesterfield once wrote– “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Well. No offense to the Earl of Chesterfield, but I’m going to have to side with Franklin (by way of Twain) in this case. When it comes to blogging and publishing, I’d indeed advise that you “put off until tomorrow what you could do today.”

Put off until tomorrow what you could do today.

It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn. Since high school, one of my favorite quotes has always been “I’m an American and I want instant gratification!” (-Jude Deveraux)

When I write something, I want to see the blog traffic, the interaction, the sales, and reviews, the comments immediately. The temptation to hit “publish” right after I finish a piece of writing is strong.

But.

I’m writing this post weeks before it will be public. And why is that?

So that I can keep a regular blog presences by drafting posts and scheduling them in a staggered fashion. So that I can capitalize on my bursts of productivity to have a reliable presence and multiple releases.

The same principles should be applied to self-publishing.

At least… in a way.

Let me explain what I mean. There is something to be said for writing a book and publishing it as soon as it’s ready (having undergone its proper editing and formatting, of course). If you’re a speedy writer, there may not be a great space of time between your releases that way.

But for someone like me– someone who drafts notoriously slowly– I think holding off on hitting publish would have been a wiser thing for me to do with my first books and my first series.

For instance, if I had written my entire Threats of Sky and Sea series before releasing the first book, I could have capitalized on the marketing I’d done for Book 1, Threats of Sky and Sea.

I could have capitalized on the previous book’s rankings, rather than waiting until they began to lose some of their “new release” momentum.

I could have gained reviews on new books when the previous ones were fresh in reader’s minds. Scheduled cover releases and press to publicize multiple books at once.

I think it’s a very wise strategy in publishing for a series to wait until the next books are penned and undergoing edit so that the momentum keeps growing during publication and releases.

And it’s a strategy I hope to try in my next series, after Threats of Sky and Sea.

What about you? Have you published your series books quickly? Do you intend to “put off until tomorrow” what you could publish today– but possibly not as well?

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