An Amazing Legacy Built One Day At A Time

Early in the morning last Wednesday, I learned about the passing of Billy Graham. Because of my biography about Mr. Graham, my phone and email have been intense with contacts from media. 

For example, I did three interviews with the BBC in the UK on Wednesday. On Thursday, I began radio interviews with East Coast stations at 5 am in Colorado and it continued throughout the day. I'm thankful for each opportunity to talk about the remarkable life of Billy Graham. Here's an example of one of these interviews with Keith Alan at 57^th Street Media in Tampa, Florida (just follow the link to listen).

Mr. Graham preached the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ face to face to more than 215 million people (more than anyone else on the planet). Countless others heard Billy Graham through television and radio while others read his books and his articles in newspapers and magazines. The impact of his life work can't be explained.  Mr. Graham has left an amazing legacy. His ministry will continue through his son, Franklin and his grandson, Will plus others at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Many in the media have been asking me about the legacy of Billy Graham. The concept of legacy boils down to his impact on the world and his singular message: that each person has to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. From my personal experience and writing about Billy Graham, I saw his life as focused on service to others. Mr. Graham was humble man and lived each day with integrity. Some of the basic principles of Mr. Graham's life and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association were formed in 1948 in Modesto, California and a document they created called “The Modesto Manifesto.”  If you want to know more about the Legacy of Billy Graham, I encourage you to watch these short videos and celebrate a life well-lived.

Writing and publishing has been the consistent focus of these articles about The Writing Life. Each of us need to consider our own reputation and legacy. Our reputation or legacy is built one day at a time. As I get older time seems to pass more quickly and as Mr. Graham often spoke about, each of us will one day die. Day by day, what are you writing that will last? What is the purpose of your writing? Is it to entertain or to instruct or to help others? It is valuable for each of us to take some time to consider these questions about our writing.

What lasting legacy are you building with your writing? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Do you listen to audiobooks on Audible? Are you willing to listen to the audiobook forBilly Graham, A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist, then write an honest review on Amazon? If so, please email me and I can get you a review copy of this new audiobook. 
 

Tap Into the Power of Asking

Mega-promoter P.T. Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens. Nothing.” This statement is true for promotion and marketing but it is also true for almost every aspect of the publishing business. If you are not tapping into the power of asking, you are not having opportunities for your writing to be published and sold.

For example, if you want more reviews on Amazon for your books, are you consistently asking people if they are willing to read your book and write a review? It's been proven that a steady stream of reviews on Amazon (even if your book has been out a while) helps your book to sell even more copies. I understand it is important to get over 20 Amazon reviews (if possible) and 50 reviews is another benchmark. And when it comes to these reviews, I've often found willing people—but they haven't posted their review. Part of the process is to return to these individuals and make sure they have the book and remind them about the review. I understand there is a lot to read and write about since new books are being released into the market every day.

If you want to do more publishing in the world of print magazines, are you creating article ideas and pitching them to editors? I'm not talking about doing it once but over and over on a regular basis. You need to learn how to write a query letter then write your ideas and send them out to editors. I'd love for more editors to approach me with their ideas—but that is not my reality—even though I've written for over 50 magazines. Instead I have to ask editors to write for their publication.

If you want to get a literary agent, are you crafting your proposals then consistently pitching agents? Every agent receives numerous pitches every day and you have to be part of those pitches. As another strategy, are you going to conferences to meet agents and editors face to face and make your pitches? As editors (and a former literary agent), we work with people that we know, like and trust. Nothing happens if you sit back and do not actively pitch editors and agent.

Are you writing a book and need someone with a high profile to write the foreword for the book? Or does your book need some endorsements? Readers buy books every day because of endorsements and the foreword for the book—even if behind the scenes you had to write these endorsements. You will have to ask others for these endorsements, then probably give them a deadline, follow-up and even offer to write them a “draft” endorsement for it to happen. See how you have to be actively involved in this process and be asking for something to transpire?

While we depend on email, know that email can often not deliver—so make sure your pitch is reaching the right person and they are able to read it—even with a quick follow-up call or follow-up email to see if they got it.

If you don't have enough writing work or your books aren't selling, then I encourage you to become more active in asking others to buy your book or publish your work. Every writer (including me) would love to not have to ask others and have editors and agents clamor for their writing and work. In an extreme few cases, these writers exist—but for the bulk of us, we have to continue to pitch our work, promote our writing and get in front of new audiences.

How are you tapping into the power of asking in your writing work? Let me know in the comments below.

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Writers Study their Craft

One of the ways we can grow as a writer in the knowledge of our craft is to read how-to books. Even though I have an undergraduate degree in journalism and have shelves of how-to write books, I continue to read books on the craft of writing. For years I've read at least one of these types of books every month. New how-to books continue to be created and published—and I learn something from each of them.

In fact, I'm on the lookout for notices about new how-to books and I enjoy reading them and writing reviews about the books. In this article, I want to highlight two new books that I've recently read and reviewed. I don't recall where I found out about these books but in each case, I looked the book on Amazon and noticed the book had one or no reviews. From my experience I know other readers are making buying decisions all the time based on these reviews. I know they are important to the author. Most authors are easy to find their website and contact information. I reached out to each of these two authors, Ann Byle and Carolyn Scheidies. I expressed my interest in reading and reviewing their book.

As a way to support other writers, I encourage you to take similar action. Reach out to these writers and offer to read their book if they will send you a review copy. Yes you get a book but this book comes with some responsibility: that you read the book and write your review.

First, CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING 101 by Ann Byle:

Journalist Ann Byle has compiled and edited a wide-ranging look at Christian Publishing from her years in this business.  As she explains in the opening pages of the book, “Most chapters are based on interviews I did with the professional or about his or her area of expertise.” The 45 chapters are broken into seven sections: Creating a Writing Life, The Craft of Writing, Exploring the Depths of Nonfiction, Discovering the Breath of Fiction, Writing for Children, Tweens, and Teens, Reaching Your Readers, and the Business of Writing. Each chapter includes an “Assignments” section with a series of questions for the reader to dig deeper into that particular topic. Some chapters include sidebars with additional resources and insight.

For a couple of the chapters, Byle writes from her detailed experience in the Christian market such as Chapter 16 Contents Is King: Article Writing for Magazines, Websites, and More or Chapter 42 Book Proposals: Whys and Hows of Creating a Great Overview of Your Book.

For almost any area of the field, reading CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING 101 will give you the basics and insights you need to start in this area.  Byle has compiled a book of experts in each area that the book explores for example: Jerry B. Jenkins, Nancy Rue, Bill Myers, or James Scott Bell. Many will want to read this book over and over as a valuable resource. I highly recommend it.

Second, ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHRISTIAN WRITER by Carolyn R. Scheidies

Whenever I learn from another writer or editor, I want to learn from someone with experience in what they are teaching. Carolyn Scheidies is just such a person. In ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHRISTIAN WRITER, Scheidies teaches about writing letters to the editor, queries to magazines, articles, news releases and much more. You will gain insights for your own writing as you study the pages of this well-written book.

In the opening pages, Scheidies gives critical information saying, “Want to get published? Then you need three things in great abundance: passion, persistence and patience. Without these, you will never persevere as a published writer. If you don’t care about your subject, how will you make your reader care? And if you give up, you’ll never know how far you could have gone.” (Page 10)

ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHRISTIAN WRITER is full of practical insights for every writers.  I recommend this book.

I hope you will check out these two books about the craft of writing and they will help your writing life. Do you regularly read books about the craft of writing? Let me know in the comments below. 


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How to Move When Feeling Overwhelmed

Whether we acknowledge it or not, it is easy to feel overwhelmed as an author. The realities of the publishing world can be daunting. 

Every day thousands of new books enter the market. In addition, authors and publishers are promoting existing books to consumers. Every consumer has to hear about your book seven or eight or more times before they reach into their wallet and purchase your book. The average self-published book sells less than 100 copies and the average traditional book sells about 1,000 copies.

Yet as an author you have a much bigger vision than selling 100 or 1000 books. When it comes to book marketing, there are dozens of books—and each is filled with great ideas. Maybe you have read a few of these books and are stuck in the “shiny object” syndrome where you are buying the latest and greatest tool for marketing your book. While it may be good to purchase that tool, are you using it and then measuring to see if it is working for you?

If you are feeling overwhelmed (and everyone has these feelings from time to time), here's several ideas for you:

1. Change gears to a different type of writing project. If you have been writing a novel, switch to a nonfiction magazine article or writing a blog post or an Ebook or some other type of writing. The experience can get you moving again.

2. Plan a series of social media posts using Hootsuite or some other schedule tool. When you put these posts into your tool, you are doing something active—building your platform and presence in the marketplace.

3. Follow some new people on Twitter or Facebook. Why? With the idea that some of those people will follow you back and you will grow your social media following—a good thing to do if overwhelmed.

4. Get more friends on Goodreads. There are 55 million registered readers on Goodreads. As an author, you need to be spending a little time there on a regular basis. Use the friends section (see this link) to get more friends. Many authors only have a few hundred friends. I used these tools and built up to the maximum (which I learned when I hit it) of 5,000 friends. Now everytime I write a review on Goodreads (for a book that I've read or heard), it shows up on all these pages. You can have many friends if you faithfully use the tools from Goodreads.

5. Look for someone to review your latest book. Maybe it is someone you are corresponding with on email.Ask them if they are interested or willing to write an honest review and get their commitment. Then mail them your book. It's part of the publishing world to continually look for new reviews and feedback about your book.

6. Write a query letter to a magazine editor and pitch an article idea.

7. Read a marketing book like Online Marketing for Busy Authors and take one idea from the book and put it into practice.

My key point with this article is to take a small yet measured step in the direction of action. The worst thing you can do when feeling overwhelmed is nothing.

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