Not Worth The Panic

Last night I held another live teleseminar about Writing For The Christian Market, my new Ebook. I sent out messages to several thousand writers about the session and reminded them of it. Then several hours before the teleseminar, I received a comment on these entries from someone who wanted to register but couldn’t get on the website. Immediately I checked it out and couldn't pull up the site. I called my host server who has been doing some migration work on their equipment. Yes, they were down but would be back up soon. I asked for a definition of "soon" and they couldn't tell me but reassured me that I would be able to hold my event.

People use askterrywhalin.com to register and ask their question. On the "Thank You" page, they could download the free offer plus the same page is where they could return to listen to a live telewebcast of the seminar. If you have a high-speed computer connection, it's a way for you to listen to the event without cost. Yet my pages were down and no one could reach them. It did cause a few moments of concern but I decided it was not worth the panic.

Almost exactly an hour before the event, my host server company called and told me they were bringing their equipment live and my site should be functional in a matter of minutes. It was available about 45 minutes before the event so it worked fine.

My special guest for about 30 minutes of the call was Shawn McMullen, editor of The Lookout which is a weekly publication with a circulation of about 85,000 copies and an audience of close to 100,000. Shawn described the types of articles that he uses and how writers can best approach him and meet his editorial needs. If you are looking for a new place to get published in the magazine area, I recommend you consider The Lookout.

After the event, I downloaded the MP3 from the teleseminar, then used Sound Forge to add music to the beginning and end of the session. In addition to the full program, I divided the session into three parts and uploaded the files into my audio generator account. If you don’t know about audio generator, it's a flexible system to provide various types of sound to your website. Follow the link for a trial subscription. Then I added the files to the replay page. Later today, anyone who registered for the event will receive the link to the replay.

Last night I launched the replay page. I used Box.net to upload the files and for the first time, anyone can download the entire program to their iPod or they can download each of the three parts. Why are these links important? It allows the participant to download the files and listen to them whenever they want to listen to them--instead of forcing them to listen on the replay page. Anyone who registered for the event after I launched the replay page will be taken to the page as a confirmation of their registration.

Why should every book author care about how I've put together these details? You will see this process is modeling what you can do to launch any book or product of your own. Gather people to a teleseminar and it will stimulate your exposure in the market and sales of your book. If you want to know more about the details of a teleseminar, there will be a great opportunity starting in early December. Alex Mandossian will teach his Teleseminar Secrets course. This training is excellent for any author. It's some of what I'll be teaching next week at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. Hope to see you there.

One Small Missing Step

Several weeks ago, I held my second affiliate training teleseminar. I'm committed to the on-going training of these affiliates. The principles that I taught orally as well as through my study guide are applicable to almost every affiliate program.

As expected, I recorded the call and prepared to send the replay link to my affiliates via email. To add listener interest and the professional quality of this replay, I add a few seconds of music at the beginning and the end of the replay using Sound Forge 8 Audio Studio. I purchased this software earlier this year from Mike Stewart who is known as the Internet Audio Guy. I met Mike at Mega Book Marketing University. I've used Sound Forge a number of times to edit and prepare different products.

When I worked on the audio replay of this affiliate training, I had a problem. Every time I combined the music with the training audio, the sound was off. With some combinations, the music was slowed down until it was like a dirge. In other combinations, my voice was high-pitched and talked too fast to understand it. I knew there was some small missing step but I could not figure it out--despite trying many different combinations. I watched some audio training, then tried again with the same poor result. I emailed Mike Stewart and he graciously responded but I still was not able to make it work.

The speeds of the music and the audio were different. Music was at 44 MHZ and the audio was at 22 MHZ. While I understood the problem, I didn’t understand how to fix it—until yesterday. I had to open a new file, copy my audio then adjust the MHZ from 22 to 44. Then and only then when I added the music segment to the front and back did it play properly. I was stuck for a couple of weeks until I figured out this small missing step. I knew the software was going to provide the solution but I didn’t know how to use it and make the right combination.

With this small step, I fixed my audio and took the final steps to send it to each of my affiliates. Also I used the program to remaster my audios for Editor Reveals Book Proposal Secrets and I sent those files into production and to improve this product. Now each of the three CDs will include a few seconds of music at the beginning and end. The music for all three CDs is exactly the same and it helps the branding for this particular product. After discovering this missing step, I was able to move ahead with several of my pending projects.

While I have this love/ hate relationship with computers and software, I understand that the majority of my difficulties are my own problem. They are not related to the program or the computer. These programs only execute what they are told to do. If one small step is missing, then they do not perform.

It's the same in the publishing world. Are you missing a small step that can propel you to the next level with your writing or your marketing? Is there a tool that you are missing which you need? Do you need to join a critique group to get feedback and improve your writing? Do you need to gain interview experience and add that skill? Do you need to add a newsletter to your website and begin building your audience--even before you get your book published?

Take some time to look for the solutions to the missing pieces, then add them into your skill set. It could make a huge difference in the days ahead.

The Unwelcomed Teacher: Adversity

This teacher shows up at the most inopportune times and demands your attention. When he arrives will you see it as an opportunity or an obstacle? I've already revealed the teacher in my title: adversity. No one that I know in publishing is immune to it yet it continues to teach valuable lessons.

This week, Harvey Mackay writes about adversity and the way perseverance is a key to success. I loved this line in his column, "We must push through the adversity we face. If we don't, we will be poorly prepared for winning. People are successful because they face adversity head-on to gain strength and skill. They don't take the path of least resistance. Adversity is a powerful teacher." Then a bit later he wrote, "When you get discouraged, when you seem unable to make it, there is one thing you cannot do without. It is the priceless ingredient of success called relentless effort. You must never give up. Success cannot be achieved without experiencing some adversity." I hope you will read his entire column because it is filled with pointed quotable insight.

As one of my projects for the week, I've been preparing to launch a new product. I mentioned using Sound Forge to brand a couple of my workshops for the bonus items. I could not get these files into my shopping cart or figure out how to deliver them. I persevered and tried many different ways--without success. Finally at 2 a.m., I gave up and the next day I turned to a friend who is much more knowledgeable about these audio files and asked for his insight. It turned out I was using the default setting on Sound Forge which saved the audio file in the highest possible quality. There is a direct relationship between the size of the file and the quality of the audio. As the quality is higher, the file size increased. I lessened the quality of the audio and the file became more manageable or something that I could deliver to the customer. I've played the files on my computer and can't tell any difference between the high quality and the lesser quality. While I don't have all of the details completed, I know I can deliver the product to the customer and once again my perseverance has paid off.

Many people are amazed at the volume of my body of writing work. I didn't do it to amaze anyone. I'm convinced there are better writers and communicators in the marketplace who have published fewer books and written for fewer publications. I am doggedly persistent to work through the challenges of the day and discover the solutions.

As you think of your writing life, which way are you headed?