The Payoff For Consistency

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Most of our writing feels unnoticed. We send it out and wonder if anyone is reading or following us. Because of the large volume of submissions, often publishers only response is silence and they don’t devote the energy to sending out a rejection letter. What plans do you have for your writing? Are you writing a book that you want to get published? Or maybe you have a personal experience story that you want to get into a magazine? Or maybe you want to build a website or start a blog or begin to be more active on a social media platform. Each of these plans are admirable but how do they happen? It does not happen by thinking about it. You have to sit in your chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and write the words or send the submissions or any number of other things.

 

Successful writers are consistent in their efforts. They take consistent action whether their work is published or read or not. A 50,000 word book manuscript is not written in a single session. Instead the writer writes words into their computer day after day until they complete the manuscript. If they miss a day or something interrupts their writing, they continue to move forward.

 

Because of the volume of articles in The Writing Life, in 2008, I sorted those articles into different categories and created a blook or a book which began as blog articles. While the concept sounds simple, it is a lot of work to transform random articles into a cohesive book manuscript which I called Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams, Insider Secrets to Skyrocket Your Success. I self-published this book and sold a number of copies. Later when I began to work for Morgan James Publishing, they published the updated edition in 2014. This book contnues to help many writers. I created a free sample at this link.

 

Since 2008, I’ve been blogging each week. While I don’t get much feedback or many comments about these entries, I’ve been consistent in writing then launching them into the world. Overall, it has felt like a limited number of people read these entries but occasionally it pays off. Last week I found my name and blog in this article called 27 Top Content Writers Sharing Their Talents. This article begins saying there are an estimated 600 million blogs online. The article includes a remarkable group of writers like Seth Godin, Ryan Holiday and Jeff Goins—and I was surprised to be included.

 

Also last week, The Writing Life was listed among 100 Best Writing Blogs You Must Follow in 2023. My consistency to write these articles is not with any expectations to be recognized or included in such lists. I write these entries teo encourage other writers and to document some of what I am learning about the writing life. Sometimes my consistency pays off.

 

Do you get these articles on email? If not, you can subscribe here. Also please forward this email on to others and ask them to subcribe. Thank you in advance for your help. While I'm mentioning help, I'll be speaking at a few conferences this year and have updated them on my speaking schedule. I hope you will check the link but also make plans to attend one of these conferences and we can meet in person. I look forward to it.

  

How has consistency paid off for you as a writer? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Tweetable:

As writers, most of our work feels like it goes unnoticed. What is the payoff for consistency? This prolific editor and author gives the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Many writers have unrealistic ideas and expectations about publishing. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Take Active Steps

Yesterday I wrote about some of the challenges of publishing and the necessity to choose a different path. One of the great elements that levels some of the field for publishers whether large or small is the Internet. Whether you are much published or have never been published, what active steps are you taking each day to engage in this resource?

Some authors have decided they will only work on their craft and ignore the marketing elements. And for a very small percentage of the successful authors that is OK. Publishers love their work and they have built an audience the old fashion way. Yet the majority of authors need to enter into the fray and begin to build their audience--one person at a time. It's a constant amazement to me when authors will pitch me a project hoping I will represent it through Whalin Literary Agency--yet they are doing little to continually build their visibility in the marketplace. If you have a website in your proposal (or not), one of my first action steps before I respond is often to type your name into Google or go to that website. I suggest you try it yourself periodically. Type your own name into Google and look at the results. My name in quotation marks yielded: Results 1 - 10 of about 36,200 for "Terry Whalin". (0.13 seconds)

In this post, I want to provide you with a resource to carefully read and study. It's been out a couple of years from Seth Godin and is a free ebook, Everyone's An Expert (About Something), The Search for Meaning Online. If you scroll to the bottom of the link, you will see the PDF link for you to download, print and read. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes. It can take longer if you explore the various resources and links which Godin has built into this resource. You will notice in several different places that he addresses authors or people who want to be authors. It's another tool for building an active presence online.

Often in our hurry-up, instant world, we are looking for some quick fix. I'm not sure that it's there. What is available to each of us is to consistently learn and grow in our craft, our understanding of the business of the publishing world (whatever part--fiction, nonfiction, books, magazine, newsletter or whatever). My strong suggestion for your writing life is to make a plan then work the plan. Enjoy (and learn) from this resource.

The Beginning and Ending of Marketing

When a writer want to write a book, they will ask at what point to begin their marketing efforts. In traditional publishing, books often take months to get through the system before they are published. While there is no universal starting point for your marketing efforts, it is hard to begin too soon.

In Steve Weber's Plug Your Book!, he includes a relevant quote from bestselling author Seth Godin who says, "The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility, and build the connections you'll need later."

It doesn't take much for me to imagine all of the authors who moan, "Three years!" As the author, you have the greatest vision and passion for your book--no matter how you publish it. The publisher's attention will be divided with other titles and matters where you can steadily focus on your book. Potential readers need continual reminders about the availability of your book and why it is relevant to their needs. In the case of Book Proposals That Sell, I've seen a steady increase in the sales of this book since it released several years ago. At first the more experienced writers would tell me that they knew how to write a book proposal and had read other books on the topic so they didn't purchase my book until later. When they finally got around to reading it, they realized my unique perspective and the valuable information which it contained--even if they had read other books.

If you are looking for the end point to your marketing efforts for a book, again as the author you will have the greatest passion for your book. If your book goes out of print and your passion for the book has failed, then you can stop marketing your book. Otherwise I would encourage you to continue your efforts--even if it is only once a week or once a month. You never know which one of your efforts will be the tipping point to move your sales rapidly ahead. I continue working to let new audiences know about Book Proposals That Sell and the sales continue to be steady for it.

And if you wonder about the wisdom of giving away your novel online before it appears in print, just check out what happened with Paul Coelho's The Alchemist and this recent post from Book Marketing Guru John Kremer. Possibly it will encourage your efforts.