Every Email Counts

Since the beginning of 2004, I've had a newsletter called Right Writing News. Ideally, I write one a month but because of my schedule and other responsibilities, the newsletter hasn't gone out as frequently recently. There are 38 back issues of Right Writing News and it's free to subscribers. These back issues contain more than 400 pages of how-to write articles and information--a rich resources for anyone who wants to learn about writing.

Also anyone who subscribes will receive three valuable Ebooks worth over $100. The main page of Right Writing.com has a pop-up menu which offers the newsletter and anyone can instantly subscribe. It isn't automatic--but generates an email which I manually add the person to my email newsletter list--and they confirm they want the subscription. I know the system isn't perfect but I've been using it for five years and it is what it is. This list has almost 7,000 emails which have been collected over the years.

For many reasons, I've not kept up on processing the emails which go into the web mail for Right-Writing.com. In fact, part of me has been ignoring it. This weekend I looked in the email box and it had over 500 emails. I started to check the emails against my master list to see if the subscriber had gone ahead and gone to the newsletter page and subscribed. In fact, I was hoping they had subscribed, then I could delete the email and move through the pile of unprocessed emails.

Instead I learned that only about two in 100 emails had subscribed. If I had been rushed, I would have deleted 98 people who requested my newsletter yet didn't get on my list. It reminded me of a simple lesson when it comes to newsletters and subscribers: every email counts. It's part of the discussion that many publishers and writers frequently discuss--platform. If you want to sell a book to a traditional publisher, you need a platform. You can build your platform in many different ways (get this free Ebook for some of my ideas) but one of the keys is to gather every email and add it into your newsletter. Then through the newsletter continually build your relationship with the individual. It's something I've been encouraging writers to do and faithfully modeling for several years.

Platform building and building an online presence are two chapters in my Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Part of my motivation in writing this book was to encourage every author to understand some proactive steps they can take to build an audience and presence in today's marketplace.

During the next few days, I will be processing the Right Writing email address--and adding those emails to my list. I want each person who wants the free newsletter to have it and profit from that valuable information. Once again I was reminded of the value of each email.

A Different Look At The Book

The most recent issue of Publishers Weekly that I received (October 15) had a Bible and the cover story words, "The Bible’s New Versions, From Manga to DVD, the Oldest Story Enjoys New Tellings." The article highlights audio and video Bible products from different publishers.

The opening sentence of the article implies these products are a new trend to help people from every persuasion to use the Bible. From my many years of writing about Bible products, I understand publishers are constantly producing new Bible product and in every category--print and audio. Like other areas of book publishing, the publishing houses are eager to meet the needs of new generations and new readers. It is nothing new. Publishers are always looking for a way for more people to read and absorb the words of Scripture. I think it's one of those stories where people in the church know they "should" be reading their Bibles but will they take the time and effort to do it? Sadly few people invest the energy in this direction toward a book which can change their daily lives. Yes, intellectually they may know it but will they carry it out with consistency.

Over 15 years ago, I wrote a little magazine article which has been reprinted in a number of different publications called "Listening Through The Bible." I wrote it in the days before CDs and referred to the Bible on tape. Here's a startling fact that I've known for years: if you listen to the Bible for 20 minutes a day, then you can make it through the entire Bible text from Genesis to Revelation in four months. I love the Bible on audio and have a number of different versions which I use from time to time. Yet for me, I continue to be committed to reading the printed Bible. This year, I've been reading through The Daily Message by Eugene Peterson and I've completed 298 days toward reading the entire text.

Let's apply this consistency to your writing life. Do you have a plan or a goal? Are you consistently writing toward that goal? Break it into bite-size chunks and continue to move toward it. You will be surprised how much can be accomplished with this consistent action.

Updated Straight Talk

Last October, I wrote about the Amazon Short program as a way for authors to gain additional exposure with a short original article. Some people will recall that I created Straight Talk From The Editor, 18 Keys To A Rejection-Proof Submission as a part of this program. A number of people have purchased this Short and especially when it released it was the number one ranked Short at Amazon. Part of the arrangement with this Amazon program is that they receive an exclusive arrangement on the material for the first six months then they switch into a non-exclusive arrangement. I suspect many of the authors have pressed on to other things and don’t think about this arrangement.

Over the last few weeks, I've been working toward using Straight Talk From The Editor for some other purposes. It's part of the suggestions I've made to repurpose content. I took the edited version of this manuscript and updated it for my own purposes. I added links into the PDF file which will be a greater benefit for the reader. Plus I've switched from working for a publisher to being a literary agent since Straight Talk From the Editor released. I wanted the updated version to appear as professional as the Amazon version. With a brief Google search, I learned about Ebooks Graphics.com which sells templates for Ebooks along with simple instructions for using it. I created this version of Straight Talk From the Editor as you can see from this different graphic.

How do I get the maximum use for this updated version? I'm still working out the details but I have a partial answer with this entry about The Writing Life. I used Marketing Makeover Generator to create a squeeze page. If you don't know the term "squeeze page" it's a place where you send people to give their first name and email address. When they give this information, you give them the item or in this case they get Straight Talk From The Editor as a free download. Marketing Makeover Generator is simple to use and I've arranged for you to have a trial subscription if you click this link.

I created the form and made it easy to locate and download with this new link: http://www.straighttalkeditor.com/.

Why go to such effort? It is another means to collect first name and email addresses so I can continue to increase the number of subscribers to my free Right-Writing News.

OK, here's my question for you: can you follow my steps and do the same thing? Absolutely. Literary agents, acquisitions editors and publishing executives are looking for people with visibility in the marketplace or some people call it platform. I see it all the time with some good writers who have good ideas--yet they are stuck marketing and remarketing their single book manuscript. It doesn't matter if they have written nonfiction or fiction because I see it in both cases. Maybe they have written for a few magazines (which I recommend) but they have never started a newsletter or have not done the work to continually increase the size of their newsletter list (get this free resource, download it and read it). They do not understand why their good material is consistently rejected. The reason is simple: it takes a tremendous effort for a publisher to push and promote a new author into the marketplace. It's not impossible and it is done but infrequently.

As a book author, you need to do everything you can do to increase your attractiveness and value to the publisher. Last week I was listening to Mark Victor Hansen from the Mega Book Marketing University last March and he said that to get into the bestselling area of the book market, you needed to have at least 100,000 people on your newsletter list. Doesn't that sound like an impossible dream? It's not everyone has to begin some place. Make a plan and get started today.

And if you can, spread the news about my free resource, Straight Talk From the Editor.

The Merit of Consistency

While it's not often recognized, there is great merit to consistently working at the craft of your writing. Which part of that craft you select to work on will vary for each of us. For some people, they need to develop the basic skill of writing a magazine article. It's a good place to start whether you are writing for a large magazine or a small newsletter. You need to learn how to craft a single story with an engaging opening paragraph, a solid section in the middle, then wrap it up with a take-away or single point for the reader. If you learn this skill, then you can apply it to other area of storytelling and writing--whether you are putting together a newsletter or a single letter or a chapter of a forthcoming book.

For the last couple of years, I've been putting together the Right Writing News. Now the back issues have built up to over 400 pages of how-to-write information. It is free but to access this information, you have to subscribe to the publication. I'm constantly looking for additional material that I can use in future issues of this publication. There is a wealth of material in these back issues. It didn't suddenly appear but came one issue at a time.

I continue to regularly work at these entries on The Writing Life. This piece marks the 700th entry which means another wealth of material and resources for anyone who will take the time to search and examine them. I've tried to simplify this process of locating older material with a search tool in the right-hand column.

Today another issue of The Foster Letter, Religious Market Update arrived in my mailbox. Gary Foster compiles a rich publication every two weeks and it comes like clockwork. If you want to know more, I'd encourage you to look at some of the excerpts from his archived issues. You can find a lot of valuable information here.

Yesterday I was interviewed during a teleseminar about Book Proposals That Sell and I was asked about when my first book was published. The common misconception is that it was many decades ago. It was 1992 and now over 60 books later they wonder how such a body of work was created. It's not difficult to understand when you consider the merits of consistency. I'm constantly working to develop new projects and knock on doors for new books--not just for myself but also for my clients at the literary agency. I write my work like everyone else--one page at a time then one chapter at a time and one book at a time. Over a period of time, it ends up being something substantial. It’s not magic but consistency counts.

Regular Writing Encouragement

Some regular readers of these entries about The Writing Life shook their heads in wonder when they read their email. Others probably discounted me as wasting my time. I'm talking about the latest issue of the Right Writing News which I sent out about 1 a.m. Pacific time. It contained 22 pages of rich writing content from many different writers and sources.

While the length of each issue varies, I'm committed to producing a quality publication for my readers and for several years I have consistently delivered it. This 28th issue included a variety of articles from different authors with each focused on helping the reader improve their writing craft. Some readers have told me they would pay for such a material but I'm giving away this content free. In fact, there are over 400 pages of how-to-write information that only Right Writing News subscribers can access.

If you aren't a subscriber (or horrors, you've dropped your subscription), here's the good news. You can still get the information because if you subscribe, you will receive a link which gives access to the back issues--including the one that I sent today.

For many years, I worked as a magazine editor. I know the routine of gathering quality articles for my readers. I'm always looking for additional articles to use in future issues of the newsletter. If you have some of this how-to-write material, drop me a note and let's see how we can get some of it in a forthcoming issue.

I hope each of you will be subscribers to my newsletter. More than simply getting on the list, I hope you are reading and your writing career is improving as you read (and practice) the teaching in these articles.