Invest In Your Writing

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Many editors and agents are difficult to reach. These gatekeepers play an important role in the publishing community. This aspect of publishing is rarely discussed but your connection to this person is important aspect of publishing. As I’ve written in these articles, every author needs a champion for their submission. 

As a new writer, how can you connect with these important gatekeepers? Many publishers don’t take electronic or mail submissions which is sometimes called a slush pile. They are not on LinkedIN or interested in developing new connections. These professionals are busy with their current books and authors. It’s the same story with the literary agents and often more difficult to get their attention much less to have them represent your work. In fact, it’s rare for them to sign a new author. 

If you want to break into the publishing business, what are your options? They are limited but one of the best ways to make connections with an editor or literary agent is to attend a writer’s conference. For many years I’ve been teaching and attending various writer’s conferences. In detail, this article gives the reasons why you should attend a conference. At the bottom of the article, there is a link to learn about various conferences.

Next month I will be teaching at the Blue Lake Christian Writer’s Conference. This particular event is a smaller conference (about 100 people) which gives each person the opportunity to get to know the faculty, talk about why you want to do what you want to do, then get their ideas and input. 

I understand that attending such an event is an investment in your writing. It will cost you time and money to make this effort but it is an investment that I’ve seen return many fold through my years in publishing.

I encourage you to invest in your writing and attend a conference--even plan to come to Blue Lake next month. Take the time to get prepared, select your classes and the people you want to meet at the event. Also create a business card and bring lots of them to exchange with people. Create a one-page pitch with your article idea or your book project. Then go to the event with an open heart. You never know who you will met and what door of opportunity they will open to you during your conversation. I find often what happens is not what you expect or anticipate. At these events, I’ve made life-long friends who have read and reviewed my books. I’ve also met editors who have called or reached out to me when they have a writing need or a project for me to tackle. These relationships often began at a writer’s conference. 

As writers, we spend a lot of time alone but we need each other to accomplish this work and reach others. Some of these connections happen at a writer’s conference. I look forward to what will happen at Blue Lake next month. I hope to see you there. In the comments below, let me know what steps you are taking to invest in your writing. 

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Ideas Are Fragile

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Years ago, I took a continuing class from bestselling author and Guideposts Contributing Editor Elizabeth Sherrill. She said, “Writers are swimming in a sea of ideas. You have to carefully select which one to pursue.” While I have forgotten other things from those workshops, this concept has stuck with me and something I want to address in this article. As Earl Nightingale said,  “Everything begins with an idea.” Ideas are fragile and need to be guarded and most importantly executed.

Capture The Idea

As you read books or magazine articles or watch something on television, ideas are swimming through your head. There are many different tools for capturing ideas. Some people use their smartphone to make a quick note. I often use a piece of paper or a post-it note from my desk. The post-it notes are good because after I handle the idea, I will throw it away.

Pitch the Idea 

 

As I’ve mentioned in these articles, timing is a key element with the idea. You have to pitch it at the right time to the right person. Maybe it's a magazine article idea and you write a query letter which you send to several different publications at the same time. Of course, you mention in the pitch that it is a simultaneous submission. 

Or you have written a book proposal which is getting out into the market and getting turned down. The rejections happen to all of us as writers, but you are working for the one person who will say yes to your idea. 

Recently an author signed their contract with Morgan James Publishing. This author has been on quite the journey with his book idea. He had a literary agent who pitched the idea to various publishers but no one offered a contract. Then he hired an editor to write his book manuscript and pitched it to me. I championed the book to my colleagues and this author got a contract and is going to publish his book with us. See the persistent effort in this example? Timing and the right connection are critical for the idea to happen.

Take Action 

The final and important step with your idea is to take action or execution. From my experience, the sooner you can take action, the better. 

To give you an example of taking action, next month I will be teaching at the Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference. I’ve not been to this particular event but I know a number of the faculty. If you can, I encourage you to attend this event since I understand it is a smaller conference. This week the conference director wrote that a broadcaster was coming to the event and could record an interview (an idea). I studied my schedule and looked at the interview calendar. Then I scheduled a time. I pitched an interview about my Book Proposals That Sell book. I have prepared a list of possible questions for an interview and I mailed a book to the broadcaster. 

When the broadcaster saw my interview, he reached out and reminded me of our interview several years ago about Billy Graham. We have never met but we will meet next month during our scheduled interview.  

Will others on the conference faculty, take action and schedule an interview? I have no idea but I saw the opportunity, seized it and took action. It’s the same process each of us have to do with an idea.

What ideas are swimming through your head? How are you taking action as a writer to capture, pitch and execute these ideas? As writers, we have a world of opportunity around us. We need to be constantly expanding our connections and continually pitching and executing our ideas. What actions are you going to take today? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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