When You Hear Crickets

  

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It happens to every writer. We pitch oaur books to editors and agents. We work for hours on creating a thorough and complete book proposal. We craft a query for a book publisher or a magazine editor. Select any of these active steps you are taking as a writer. 

After this action, what happens? No response or crickets. What do you do next? First, my encouragement for one action not to take: quit. Here’s a second one not to take: stall and work on your piece and not submit or do anything. 

From my years in publishing, I understand the challenges in the work but also I understand the opportunities. There are abundant opportunities for your work to be published and your words to enter the marketplace. In this article I want to present some ideas and encourage you to move forward.

While your desire to write and tell stories is a good one, publishing is a business and each of us (including me) need the help of others to find the right fit. Are you connected to other writers? Do you belong to a local writer’s group? If so, when does it meet and are you making the time to attend these sessions? Every writer needs these connections. Read this article for more reasons. 

Another important writer activity is to join a critique group. Whether you do it face to face (ideal) or online (also possible), these groups are a free method to get insight and help for your storytelling. Whether it is a writer's group or a writer’s critique group, it will take some effort on your part to find the right connection. Don’t be surprised if you have to try several groups before you make the right connection. This trial and error is part of the journey that each of us have to make as writers.

For example, I’ve been in some incredible critique groups which helped me month after month for years. I've also been in some critique groups that I attended a couple of times, then dropped out of them. The critical element is to find the right one for you and your writing journey. It is different for each of us.

If you are not getting responses to your writing, I encourage you to try a different type of writing. Read the first free chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams (follow this link).  Maybe you want to write a book which is a good goal in my view as a book editor. But your first step should be to write some magazine articles. The 2026 Christian Writers Market Guide includes over 150 magazines where your writing could be published. The information changes from year to year so make sure you are using the latest guide. Articles are shorter than a 50,000 to 80,000 word book. As a writer, when you craft these articles you are learning some important skills about headlines, beginning paragraphs, writing to a single takeaway point and many other details. Use these links to learn more about magazine writing. 

Another wise action when you are not getting any response is to attend a writer’s conference. There are large and small writers conferences with a variety of emphasis, cost and connections. The majority of us as writers are introverts but during these events,we have to push ourselves to interact with others, ask good questions and make new connections. At these events, I’ve made life-long friends who I can call or email when I'm stuck or need help. You can attend these events and take in the information yet not make new friends or connections. Bring plenty of business cards during these conferences and exchange with everyone you meet. 

Recently I called a local writer friend. We had not spoken in years but during our conversation, she recalled the details of a conversation from over 20 years ago. The event where we met no longer exists but the details from our conversation has stood the test of time for this writer. You can have the same sort of impact with your writing and your conversations. More than reading about writing or listening to teaching about writing or thinking about it, getting your writing into the world takes consistent action. Every writer needs to spend time sitting at their keyboard and writing. You can make it happen through your continued actions.

When you hear crickets for your writing, what actions do you take? I look forward to your comments.

Tweetable:

Sometimes when we submit our writing, the response is silence or crickets. This prolific author and editor encourages a series of actions in this article.  (ClickToTweet)

Editor’s note. For some reason, I could not get ClickToTweet to work. I’m including it below so you can easily cut and paste it on to others with my gratitude: 

Sometimes when we submit our writing, the response is silence or crickets. This prolific author and editor Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin) encourages a series of actions in this article: https://bit.ly/3QYoXze #writinglife #pubtip

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Not every podcast host tells me about the launch of our recording. I found a couple more podcasts last week and here are those recordings: 

Cameron Cowan (@cameroncowan) and I spoke about the publishing industry and much more on the Cameron Journal Podcast at: https://bit.ly/4uFDdLH 

Christian Brim (@christian_brim) and I spoke about navigating the myths and realities of the publishing world on The Profitable Creative Podcast at: https://bit.ly/42VXW1R

As I’ve worked in the publishing world for years, I’ve spoken with many authors about their expectations and dreams for their books. I’ve found many of these authors have  unrealistic expectations about what will happen with their published book. Many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help and take actions no matter what the publisher does for your book. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses. 

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