Pitching To Magazines

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 This week I've been dusting off one of my old skills: writing for magazines. On a regular basis I write for some online sites but haven't been writing much for print magazines--even though my work has appeared in more than 50 print publications. These magazines have a higher standard than online publications (in general). Here's a detailed article I wrote about the basics of writing for magazines.  Before you through out your pitch, you have to ask yourself a series of questions like: 

• What does the editor want?
• Is my pitch something they need?
• Have I studied the magazine?
• Does my word count and topic match what they need?
•  Is my query on target?
• Do I even know how to write a good query? 

These questions matter to the editor who is the gatekeeper for the publication. When you pitch, you want to strike on all cylinders. If you don't know how to write a query, then I encourage you to follow the links in my article and learn this skill. Like any skill, it is not something you do once but you will need to do it over and over. 

 

As I pitched this week, I've relearned some lessons on persistence. I wrote an article for a trade publication that I've been reading for years. Because attachments can contain viruses and spam, you have to pitch the editor and then get their permission before sending the article. I carefully crafted my pitch to the editor. I rewrote my pitch and sent it a second time—and heard nothing. Just crickets.

 

I felt strongly that the article I'd written would get published in this magazine, but only if the editor asked me to send it. I rewrote my query for a third time and sent it last week. In a short time, I got a response from the editor, "send it." With his permission to send the article as an attachment, I sent it. Now I don't know if he will read it and decide to publish it (I'm hoping) but at least I have gotten closer to that happening. If my article is published, it will be a huge boost to my Book Proposals That Sell. My article opening takes the reader inside a room that many people have never been in--a pub board meeting where key decisions about books are made. I've been in this room so I have a "different" perspective on it. I'm trusting that God will honors my work on this piece and it gets published. I hope my little lesson about persistence helps you too.

 

As editors, each of us get a lot of email. If we believe in an idea or article, sometimes we have to pitch several times before it gets published. Have you had to pitch multiple times to magazines before they consider your work? Let me know your experiences in the comments below.

 

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A Cautious Tale About Recommendations

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As a writer, I am constantly looking for tips and insights to improve my work. In this process, I read books, blogs, articles and many other things. When I find a recommendation, I will track down the recommendation and sometimes buy the book.

 

Recently a long-term source of reviewing books strongly recommended a writing how-to book. This source said it was filled with practical tips for every writer. I went to the book's page on Amazon and ordered the book. I ignored the fact that this book was published a couple of years ago—and has zero customer reviews. The lack of reviews and customer feedback should have been a warning sign but I ignored it and purchased the book.

 

Last week I received and read the book. It turned out to be a lengthy rant with almost no valuable tips or advice. I wasted my money on this book and didn't find anything valuable. I will not be giving the name of the book or writing a review or promoting the book. I believe my recommendations and reviews have value and I want to recommend books—and not write about books I don't recommend. It's my personal stance on reviews. My experience with this book has tarnished my respect and appreciation for the source of the recommendation. In the future, I will check and double check those recommendations before I purchase the book.

 

When you get a recommendation for a book or an online course or a product, I encourage you to look for validation from another source. Does the book have customer reviews? How many reviews does the book have in relation to the date it was released? What is the overall ranking of those reviews? As I look back at my poor writing how-to book that I bought, I should have been clued into the poor content from the lack of Amazon customer reviews since the book has been out a couple of years. Yet I ignored this warning sign and purchased the book—a waste of my time and money.

 

When I teach at writer's conferences (which has been limited with this pandemic), people can easily look into my background and see that I've not just written one or two books but worked with a wide variety of publishers as an author. I've also been on the inside of three publishing companies as an acquisitions editor and for a season I ran my own literary agency. Just reading those sentences, you can see that I have had a wide variety of experiences in publishing and also in the magazine area (not just books). This type of information gives weight to my recommendations.

 

How do you validate recommendations? In particular, what adjustments do you make when you buy a recommended book or product and it doesn't meet your expectations? It's why I wrote this cautionary tale and I look forward to your comments and insights.

 

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When You Miss Your Mark

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As writers, we have big goals and dreams. We work at it every day and sometimes we hit it and most often not. What happens when you miss your mark or goal? Do you quit or do you find the courage to continue with new efforts?

 

It's one of the constant tensions in our work. Mistakes happen. Things you want to do, do not get done. Interruptions spring into your day. Or you pitch your heart out and hear nothing. Crickets. Yes it happens to me as well. Your mindset and next action steps when this happens is important.

 

Last week I mentioned the launch of Book Proposals That $ell and how you join my launch team. In this article, I'm going to tell a behind the scenes story that I don't have to tell. I include it here to illustrate an important point for every writer.

Several months ago I rushed through the printing process on this book so I could have copies for a writer's conference. Because of the audience (writers) I sold a number of copies at the event. One of the participants emailed me about some typos in the book. It turns out there were typos and missing words in the first couple of paragraphs. I was chagrined with this news but determined not to ignore it because the details matter and the book had to be right. I reached out to a proofreader who worked through the book and changed a number of things (mostly for consistency). The entire book has re-done. That means the type was completely reflowed into the book so that everything to the best of our ability was fixed before the launch and release date next month.

 

While I was chagrined at the typos, I knew for the life of the book and the readership of the book that it had to be fixed. Yes it cost me extra time and expense. I'll be ordering the revised version of the book to autograph and send with my appreciation to the various authors, literary agents and others who endorsed the book. Revising this error was not easy and took a lot of effort from a number of people but it's important to get it right from the beginning.

 

I wrote about this error and how it was fixed to point out the principle of extreme ownership, which is also the title of a bestselling book that I recently heard.  Fixing these mistakes was a choice. I could have ignored the person who wrote me about the typos. Or I could have learned, fixed and moved forward.  

 

What happens when you miss the mark? Do you ignore it and continue or fix it? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Help Me Launch My Next Book

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

In 2004, as a frustrated editor, I wrote Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. This book has over 100 Five Star reviews and has helped many writers find a literary agent and land a publishing deal.  One of my key reasons for writing it was to help more writers succeed in publishing and also to help agents and editors (like myself) to receive better submissions.

 

Publishing has changed a great deal since that book was published. In recent months I've revised the content, gathered new endorsements. The revised edition includes a foreword for the book from literary agent Marilyn Allen who has worked with Ken Follett, Stephen King, John Gray and many others.

 

Literary agent Steve Laube told me at a recent conference, my revised edition fixed a key flaw with my original book. At that time I was focused on nonfiction. Some fiction writers used the first edition and it helped them. The reality in today's publishing world, I believe every author needs to write a book proposal—fiction, nonfiction, children's book—even if you self-publish. Why? Your proposal is essentially your business plan how you are going to sell your book and it contains information which never appears in your manuscript yet is critical to the publishing process.

 

I worked with Misty Taggart at Trailer to the Stars to create a 60–second book trailer and you can watch it here.  In addition, I've reworked my old website with new information and a new free book proposal checklist ebook. In recent years I have participated in different launch teams for new books. I'm working with launch manager Tammy Karasek on the details of this book launch. I'm writing to ask if you will join my launch team for Book Proposals That $ell which releases on October 5th. 

 

My launch team will have a limited number of people. You will have access to our private Facebook group, drawings for prizes, special images to use and much more. The first step in this process is to fill out the launch application (which should only take you a few minutes).  

 

Through the years, I've helped a number of other authors as I've read and reviewed their books. I hope you will consider helping me to successfully launch Book Proposals That $ell. You have to apply to join the launch team and fill out the launch application. Thank you in advance for your consideration and help. Hope to see you in our private Facebook group.

 

Have you ever launched a book with a launch team? Or maybe you have participated in a launch team? Let me know in the comments below. 

 

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It takes a team to launch a book. This prolific editor and author needs your help to launch his next book. Here's the details how you can join this launch team. (ClickToTweet)