Small Things Matter

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Last week an online group had a discussion about small or short writing projects. Do they matter and do they lead to longer writing projects? Yes they do and in fact the small things matter. Many forget big doors turn because of little hinges. A small or short writing project can lead to bigger things.  In this article I want to give you some specific examples and ideas for your own writing life.

 

Your relationships with others in the writing community is important. Often who you know as much as what you know or pitch is weighted with importance. For example, people recognize birthdays and anniversaries on Facebook. Do you particpate and say something? If you do it's a way for you to be back in the thoughts of that person. When someone passes, do you say something on Facebook? Do you mail a physical sympathy card? I have a box of these cards and when I see that someone's relative has passed, I will often reach for a card, fill it out and mail it. It doesn't take much time but the gesture is appreciated and remembered.

 

In these articles I've talked about getting your book into libraries and the importance of promoting these books to others so the books get checked out and used. It's a small effort but I have a series of social media posts that I've created to promote my own books to a local writer's group. I don't use them very often but from time to time I post that my books are available at our local library. In my short post, I include a link which goes to the place where they can check out my book and use it. I make this small effort occasionally but it helps others to know about and use my books in the library.

 

Recently I noticed one of my long-term writing friends is speaking at a nearby church. We had not seen each other in decades but I reached out to him and we arranged to meet for coffee. During the time we have known each other, this writer has published about 30 different books. He was telling me about one of his books which consistently sells about 50,000 copies a year. I don't have any idea about the sales of  his other booksl but this one book has consistently earned year after year.  You may have written many books but if you write one like my friend with consistent sales, then that book will be a small portion of your overall books but something huge for you personally.

 

Follow-up Opportunities. Often throughout the day I will think about a social media post or an email to send or a phone call to make.  Everyone is busy and often it takes a gentle follow-up with this person. I use the word gentle because if you push, you can easily hear no response. Are you taking action when these ideas come into your mind? To have the idea in the first place is great, but the people who take action are the ones who get it done.

 

Write Reviews and Articles. The ability to write a short book review or short magazine article is a different skill than writing a longer book project (nonfiction or fiction).  I don't want to get rusty in this skill I've developed over the years. I continue to write book reviews (over 1,100 on Amazon and over 700 on Goodreads). I continue to write articles for magazines and blogs. I encourage you to write these shorter pieces as well.

 

In the world of publishing, there are many other important yet small actions which matter. What small actions are you taking which matter? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Try Something New

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Within the world of publishing, people fill many different roles such as writer, editor, agent, publicist and many others. Recently one of my writing friends released a new book from a major Christian publisher. As I've mentioned in these articles, this release event happens with about 4,500 books every week.  

 

The Advanced Reading Copies (ARC) for this new book arrived at the author's home the day before the release date (late to be of much use since the book is out). I have not seen this particular ARC but typically these books are created in advance of the book release, have different information about the book and release date on the back cover and printed in small numbers for book reviewers, the press and a few other categories. These books are costly to create because of the small printing numbers. With over 4500 new books published every day, ARCs are reserved for a few titles the publisher believes is important and worthy of the limited marketing dollars to create these specialized books. My friend told me about the late arrival of his ARCs and on my own I offered to ask some writers if they would read and review, then compile a list of addresses to send to this friend. It's something I've never done before and I have no financial gain from promoting this book. I was simply willing to help.

 

I turned to a couple of Facebook groups with Christian writers. I wrote a short post about the author, the book. I asked the writer to email their mailing address and willingness to post the review on at least Amazon but hopefully some other places as well. These groups had many members and I had no idea the response. 16 people responded. These people get a free copy of the book and the opportunity to make a new relationship with the author (who will be grateful for their help). I encourage you to look for these opportunities and take advantage of them because they can be the start of something else in your writing life.

 

I've been reading ARCs from publishers for decades. My first time was at an American Bookseller convention in Los Angeles in 1987.  At the Doubleday booth, I picked up an ARC for a new book called Covenant House. The meeting was in May and the book released in the fall or at least six months before the release. I was interested in reading the book (always the first step because not always the case). I thought, “I can write about this new book.”  I wrote a query letter to a Christian magazine (no longer in print) and asked if I could review Covenant House. As I look back on my query, it was not in perfect alignment with this evangelical magazine. Covenant House was from a Catholic priest who was rescuing homeless children. Yet my pitch to the editor worked. He said yes (probably on speculation) and gave me a deadline and a word count. I read the book, crafted my review and sent it to the magazine. It was accepted and published for my first published book review. I began to write more book reviews. For years, I reviewed each month for a Christian trade publication. I've also written book review columns for a couple of magazines (no longer in print). I selected the books for these magazines (which reached thousands of readers). Publishers added my name and address to their list for new releases and the books poured into my mailbox. 

 

Back to my friend and the late ARCs on his new book. I emailed him the addresses from those who volunteered to read his book and review it—something I had never done before but I was trying something new. Notice I've left out some details in my story—the author, the title of the book and the publisher. I tell the story so you will see there are many missed opportunties in this business. I don't want to do anything to hurt my own relationship with the publisher or author—who will be around hopefully for many years in the future. As I've mentioned in the past, you never want to publish anything to hurt your relationship. While it may seem big on the surface, the publishing community is small and interconnected.

 

What are you going to try that is new? There are many opportunities in publishing but you have to pitch and take action for them to actually happen. You could publish in a newspaper, a magazine, be on a podcast or radio station or any number of other possible things. You have to reach out to that editor or the person running the radio station or podcast and make a compelling pitch.

 

Throughout publishing, there are many opportunities but you have to take the first step. This prolific editor and aiuthor details trying something new. What new things are you trying? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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What Is Your Back Up Plan?

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Sometimes even the best plans have hitches. For example, these weekly articles I write about the writing life. For many years, I've been writing and putting up these articles. Ahead of time I write the article, set up the details and check it. Then early on Sunday morning, I check to see if it worked.

 

Last week, I went to my blog—and nothing was posted. Behind the scenes, I checked and my post had a headline but nothing else. The day before I had carefully written my article, added links like my ClickToTweet and others. I had checked everything and scheduled it to go live online. Yet my article was not there. It was completely blank.  

Many writers in this situation would panic. I did panic for a few minutes but then I sat down and went to work—because I had a back up plan. While I rarely use this back up plan, it is there and something I'm going to explain in this article so you can create your own back up plan.

 

For years, I've been writing my original articles in a different program—reviews, articles and blog posts. My back up didn't have everything—but had the majority of the information. Years ago for my blogging, I began to use a program called BlogJet and that's where I had my original article. In fact, I use this program to keep my ideas and notes for future blog articles. 

Some of these notes are never used. Throughout my day when I get an idea for an article, I will often go to BlogJet and create a new file, then scratch a few words of an outline. Later I use this outline to craft my article. When I looked for my blogpost and nothing was there, I turned to my article on BlogJet which had most of my original article. I still had to re-do some of my work but not all of it to put it into place.

 

Back-up Is For More Than Blog Articles

 

I've written over 1,100 reviews on Amazon and over 700 reviews on Goodreads.  I begin the process writing my review in a Word document—not online. I craft my review in this document, sometimes even print and read it later then rewrite before I post it on Amazon and Goodreads.  I create my reviews in this way because it gives me a back up place.

 

Through my decades in publishing, there have been a few rare times  I've lost writing and it is painful to have to recreate something. I've learned the hard way the importance of planning a back up plan ahead of time. It's a simple concept to write and preserve your material in another location than the online place but a regular part of my practice. Then when the rare day like last week happens, I don't panic and can still meet the deadline.

 

I captured this experience in this article as a part of my writing life to help you. What do you have as a back up plan for your writing or online work? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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An Important Attitude for Every Writer

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Writers hear the word no a great deal. It maybe a submission or a pitch to a podcast or radio station or magazine. You may not even get a response to your pitch and hear only crickets.  How do you keep moving forward inspite of the rejection? 

From my experience, it takes persistence and consistency to find the right connection. Remember Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen were rejected 140 times before they published the first book Chicken Soup for the Soul. Mark tells that story in the foreword to my book, Jumpstart Your Publshing Dreams. You can follow this link to read the foreword and first chapter. It is free and no opt-in. 

 

It doesn't take much to find the negativity in our world. Just watch the news for a few minutes and you will hear the variety of challenges in our world. In this article I want to emphasize an important tool each of us have to shift our attitude: gratitude. Many people talk about gratitude in the month of November because of the Thanksgiving holiday but this attitude is something you can be exercising every day. As you express your gratitude, it can shift your focus to the positive. 

 

Bestselling author Joyce Meyer has released a book to help us understand the biblical attitude shift to gratitude with The Power of Thank You: Discover the Joy of Gratitude.  Meyer has written twelve, easy-to-read chapters with a combination of personal stories, Scriptures, and stories about others. As she writes in the introduction, “My goal in this book is to birth in you a fresh revelation of the power of being thankful and urge you to make a new and firm commitment to being more thankful than you have ever been. I truly believe that the words thank you contain power that will change your life.” (page viii)

 

As I read this book, I found it was filled with practical insights like about why we experience difficulties:  “I have come to believe that we would have no appreciation or gratitude for life’s good times if we never experienced difficulties. Many of us are extremely grateful for all that God has done for us in Christ because we did have difficult and painful lives.” (Page 31) The Power of Thank You is filled with ideas for every Christian to become more grateful.

 

In addition to this book, I want to give several more practical ideas to increase your gratitude:

 

1. Begin a gratitude journal. Several years ago in November, Darren Hardy suggested starting a gratitude journal. I began to daily write a number of things for which I am thankful. It is a habit which stuck and a daily part of each day when I read my Bible and pray. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or complicated but it is a simple way to add more gratitude into your every day life.

 

2. Get a box of thank you notes and use them regularly. Many years ago when my first book released, I was at a convention and interviewed bestselling author Richard Foster. I showed Richard my new book. To my surprise a few weeks later, I received a handwritten thank you note from him. I decided to incorporate this practice into my life. When authors send me a physical copy of their book, I will write a short thank you note and put it into the mail. It is a simple but powerful way to express gratitude.

 

How do you express gratitude on a regular basis? Let me know your ideas in the comments below.

 

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There is an important attitude for every writer to incorporate consistently into your life. Learn the details from this prolific editor and author. (ClickToTweet)

 
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