I wonder how many times I’ve made some comment about the notion of balance or choice point over the past year. At the top of more than one post, I’ve included images of forks in the road, plates spinning on sticks, & tree branches.

Yet here I am, addressing the concept once again as I move forward with writing my next novel. The basic decisions come down to two familiar limitations—time & money. The latter is fairly easy to resolve since I’ve spent every last dollar I allotted for promoting my latest release, Core Haven: Hope Amid the Ruins. OK, the truth of the matter is I wanted to stay within my original budget, but I had to do the equivalent of robbing my piggy bank to cover the overdraws I somehow forgot about at one point or another.

I don’t blame myself since the momentum of support & positive reviews carried me along for the ride, but I also have to face the reality that all things come to pass (at least for the time being).

I do have more resources in my temporal bank account, so to speak. But deciding how much time to spend on promoting compared with working on my new project is at best troublesome.

The writer self in me wants to say the hell with promoting two books that have been out since November 2022 & July 2025 no matter what the reviewer responses have been. After all, soft promotions on social media take valuable minutes/hours to create, post, & follow up on. Even trimming down on the number of platforms I’m active on from eight or so to just a few can only go so far.

The promoter self in me, however, justifies all those snippets of time devoted to creating images & messages by showing the increase in interaction. For example, on some platforms, my views & likes have increased significantly compared to just a few months ago. On all my platforms combined, I have in the vicinity of 8000 followers and hundreds of newsletter subscribers. In addition, since July 2025, my website has averaged 200 visitors each month.

Those stats may seem like small peanuts compared with the megastars of the internet, but for a self-published author starting out on social media platforms in 2022, I’d argue they’re not too shabby.

So here I am juggling yet again. Recently I’ve made some adjustments to my writing schedule by going back to spending the first couple hours on my WIP (work in progress), then using the last hour for promotion, as well as short spurts here & there during my regular day.

In all honesty, one of the most challenging aspects is something I never thought I’d experience or admit to—putting my damn phone down.

Over the past few years, I’ve been able to make use of fleeting moments throughout my day to write or work on social media on my phone.

For example, here’s a partial list of what I do almost exclusively on my phone:

• revise posts like this one after writing the first draft on my laptop
• proofread chapters of my new novel when I’m out & about
• create the lion’s share of reels that I then post on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, X, Bluesky, etc.
• check data relating to my newsletters, posts, & groups
• monitor BookFunnel group promos
• interact with readers & writers on various platforms
• offer my own novels as recommendations for readers who ask, particularly when they mention dystopian or speculative fiction, action/adventure, or even thriller since quite a few reviewers have mentioned these & more.

But even working at the peak of my usual efficiency, I’m still behind in non-writing chores, not to mention family considerations.

So I’ve taken to leaving my phone on my desk whenever I can, ignoring the urge to check on stats, & interacting with the real world outside my author’s bubble.

Maybe instead of symbolizing my reset with forks in the road, spinning plates, & sprawling tree branches, I’ll think of the image of an uncharged phone or a sunny vacation day or a long hike.

Meanwhile I’ll finish revising this post on my phone & check a few stats, then put the damn thing down & go for a walk.

Till next time.

Drew

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Lee Hall’s “The Best Books I Have Read in 2025”

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P.S. I’m happy to report that at the time of my writing this post, Core Haven: Hope Amid the Ruins has maintained its 4.8 out of 5 with 51 global ratings & 49 customer reviews on Amazon, along with 4.62 out of 5 with 133 ratings & 121 reviews on Goodreads. Not too shabby, right?

P.S.S. If by chance you’re interested in reading and thoughtfully reviewing either of my two companion novels, please see the Amazon links below. (And thanks so much in advance!)

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Lee Hall’s Review of Core Haven: Hope Amid the Ruins

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I invite you to check out Lee Hall’s excellent video review, especially the first book he includes on his short list of memorable indie reads—uh-huh, that would be Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown.

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