Take Simple Action Steps

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

When I was a high school sophomore, my English teacher, Mr. Smith, saw something in my writing and encouraged me to join the newspaper staff. I started writing sports even though I was non-athletic and didn’t follow sports. I learned the jargon and began to write sports. Ultimately I was the editor of my newspaper my senior year and went on to Indiana University and majored in journalism. I thought I was going to be a newspaper reporter but instead joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and spent the next 10 years in linguistics. I began to work on the mission magazine and ultimately became the editorial director and in charge of the public face of Wycliffe in print.
  
My return to writing from linguistics began in the magazine world. I learned to write a query letter to pitch my idea and then got assignments and completed those assignments. Over the years, my writing has been published in more than 50 publications.

My first book was published in 1992 because an editor at David C. Cook asked me if I had any ideas for children’s books. As a company, their mission statement charged them to teach children about missions, yet they didn’t have a single book on the topic. Since I worked for Wycliffe, she asked if I had any possible children’s book manuscripts. I pitched a possibility and she said, “That’s a good idea, Terry. Write that up and send it to me.” 

I went home and submitted my manuscript. While I went through a number of versions but ultimately it became my first book called When I Grow Up, I Can Go Anywhere for Jesus. This 32 page picture book started my work in books. Since then I’ve written over 60 books for many different publishers. I’ve been an acquisitions editor at three different publishers and for a while had a literary agency (closed).  Many wonder how I’ve done it—and it’s really simple action steps.

At a conference or on the phone or on email, I pitch my ideas to editors. When they respond positively and are willing to read it, I follow up, write it and send it to them. I don’t get published each time—but I do give myself a chance to be published. From being an editor and asking writers to send me their work, I know only about 10% or less actually submit it for consideration. They miss the opportunity by not doing what the editor has asked.

I’ve spoken with hundreds of writers and read thousands of submissions. I compiled a lot of my lessons into my new book, 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed. Watch my one-minute book trailer for the book.

One of my 18 endorsers told me I was missing the 11th myth. I decided to write that chapter and give it away (looks exactly like the rest of my book). You can use this link to get the 11th Myth right away. 


My journey as a writer continues with simple action steps: do what the editor asks and submit what they need. 

Are you taking these simple action steps? Let me know in the comments below.

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Are you taking simple action steps as a writer? Gain insights from this prolific writer and editor. (ClickToTweet)

Better Than Thinking: Action

Let It is great to have thoughts about the world of publishing. There is a place for careful deliberation in our writing lives. But the real difference maker is when you take action on those thoughts. How are you moving from idea to plan to action?

I noticed one of my writer friends launched a new book and recently made the New York Times list. Initially I looked at the details of the book and noticed it was over 500 pages. My reading time is limited so it is rare that I read a book of such length. Yet I was fascinated with the success of this book reaching the bestseller list. I noticed it was available on audiobook and I checked it out through Overdrive.

Listening to a few chapters, I could see why the book made the bestseller list. The writing and the storytelling was fascinating. I made a point to call my friend and congratulate her on the success of her book. We haven't spoken but exchanged voicemails where she told me that she has never listened to any of her books on audio. Our exchange was brief but we did make a connection. The continued connections is an important part of the writing life.

Last week I read a blog post from literary agent Wendy Lawton called An Innovative Approach—Case Study. Wendy wrote about the launch of a three book series from Doug Newton called Fresh Eyes.  I met Doug many years ago at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. David C. Cook where I used to work years ago, published these books. Often series books are released six months or a year apart but they decided to release all three of these titles at once. I looked at the books and found them intriguing. Then I looked at the pages on Amazon and Goodreads. I noticed the books had been out about a month and only had a few reviews.  I have plenty to read. In fact, people approach me almost daily to review their books. Yet I wanted to help my friend Doug Newton (even though I had not corresponded with him in many years).

I wrote asking for a review copy of the books and they arrived late last week. Over the weekend I read through one of them (Fresh Eyes on Jesus’ Miracles: Discovering New Insights in Familiar Passages) and caught the excitement and innovation in these books. I'm posting my review and promoting the book.

Why tell you about this process? Because you can follow the same course of action. If you learn about a book that you would like to read, don't hesitate to reach out to the author or publisher and request a review copy of the book. When you get the book, read it, then write an honest review. Finally send an email to the author or publisher after you have posted your review. This final step of follow-through is important. Everyone gets a lot of mail and email but the ones which stand out are the ones which actually take action.

How can you turn your ideas into action? What practical steps can you take today which will feed into your writing life? I applaud thinking and thoughtful consideration but even more I appreciate taking action.Let me know in the comments how you are taking action on your thoughts.

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Thinking is great but there is something better: taking action. Get ideas and the details here. (Click to Tweet)