See Something and Say Something

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

The details of publishing are important. Each of us as individuals can make a difference in our world--but only if you see something and say something about it. In this article, I want to give several specific examples.

As a writer, it’s easy to feel like you are writing and putting material into the world, but getting little feedback and few things are changing. Or you feel like there is little you can do about incorrect things you see in your work. I understand these feelings and yet I want to tell about a couple of actions that I took this week. They are actions any writer can take whether you are experienced or a beginner. 

As a regular practice from time to time, I will join a launch team for a forthcoming book. I’m a part of such a team for a new book which releases on Tuesday, June 18th. The launch manager sent us a list of websites where we can post our review. In general, I write my review in Microsoft Word. I also create a unique image for the book that I can post with my review. When I got this list of possible places, I opened each one, then cut and pasted my review into the right section. Some of these sites will send a confirmation email to make sure you are who you say you are. Others will take time to post the review and still others will not post the review until when the book releases. 

One of the review sites on this list was a well-known bookseller. The forthcoming book was listed but this website did not have the book cover. Instead they posted a generic book graphic. I posted my review but without the right book cover, my review has less visual impact on the consumer. On my computer, I had downloaded the missing book cover. At this bookseller site, I looked for how to contact customer service about this missing book cover. I filled out a form on their website and attached the book cover asking them to add it to the appropriate place (and I gave them the exact website address). After a day or two, the customer service area sent an email they had added the book cover to their site. I checked it and now the image of the book appears with the book information. My action took a little effort but hopefully helps this author sell more copies of his book. Anyone could have made this change. It did involve seeing something that was missing, then saying something so this missing element was added.

Recently one of my friends on Facebook posted the cover of his new book. It was an attractive cover but when I read the words, I noticed a key word was misspelled on it. I could have shrugged it and figured others would catch this error. Instead, I reached out to this author. I was hopeful that what I was seeing was a preliminary cover and not a final one. My friend appreciated my feedback but I was seeing a final, printed cover. Ouch. As he told me, I would be surprised how many people had reviewed this cover and didn’t catch the misspelled word. I encourage you to help others when you see errors, then say something.

In these articles, occasionally I highlight my consistent actions on Goodreads. There are millions of dedicated readers on Goodreads and I encourage every author to take the time to build their Goodreads profile and connect with friends. The average person on the site has about 200 to 400 friends. I’ve got over 5,000 friends or the maximum. Why is this detail important? When I review a book on Goodreads, the review shows up on the main page of each of these friends. That translates into lots of exposure for my review and the book. Exposure is one of the first actions to drive book sales for every author.

While reading a recent book to review on Goodreads, I noticed the cover was white instead of blue. It was a small detail but important. The book wasn’t my book nor from Morgan James Publishing where I work. I could have ignored it. Instead I filled out a help form on Goodreads and sent them the cover with the right color. BTW, Goodreads has excellent support for such questions. Within 24 hours, they responded and fixed the cover. 

Each of us can take these types of simple actions to improve our world. My encouragement to each of you is to take these small but significant actions. Much in our world is outside of anything in our direct control. Yet each of us can take our own responsibility for making our own changes and fixing what we see needs to be fixed. If you are a Christian, you have a powerful underutilized resource for whatever you see needs to be changed outside of your control: prayer. We can talk with the God of the Universe about these aspects and ask for his help. 

Recently I read and reviewed 1001 Ways to Be Kind by Dallas Woodburn. Each of us can use more kindness in our lives and that can begin with you being kind and spreading kindness. Get this little book and tuck it into your desk or briefcase or purse, then read it and get a practical idea to apply into your life. 

If you want to be a world-changer, that process begins with you and your actions. What actions can you take to improve what you see and make a difference? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Why Book Size Matters

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Our growth as writers and authors is a combination of experience, learning about the marketplace then putting what we learn into practice. In this article I’m writing about a detail of publishing which can be easily overlooked yet can be significant for your book and how you use it. I’m going to tell you why your book size matters.

Recently a publishing friend reached out to ask me about this size detail. She heard me talk about it but didn’t recall the specifics. I’ve written in the past about how your word count affects the size and acceptance of your book with publishers. Follow this link to read this information if you haven’t. Space is limited in every bookstore and most books are spine out in the bookstore. Your book has to be large enough to take your space inside the bookstore (provided you have a way to even get your books into that space).

Some authors will not be able to do anything about the size of their finished book because they are publishing with traditional houses. Whether true or not, these traditional houses do not include the author as they plan the size of the book because whether right or wrong, they believe they know these details better than the author and there is no need to include them in the decision process. Education and knowledge is a key part of the publishing process. When you learn this detail, you may be able to have some influence on your own books during the production process--at least that is my hope and why I’m writing this article. 

In the area of adult books, there are two common sizes: 6 x 9 and 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. If you do get a chance to discuss and influence this book production element, I prefer the slightly smaller size of 5.5 x 8.5. My reason is “unusual.” The smaller size will pack perfectly into the free priority mail boxes from the US postal service. The larger size does not pack as well in this process.  

This detail is important if you ship boxes of books because there is a flat rate priority mail box. There are different types of priority mail boxes and to get the best rate, make sure you get the right one). Then you can pile your books tightly into these containers and get the maximum use from them. The other reason that I prefer this smaller size related to my frequent travel to conferences. 

When I travel to a conference, I often have the opportunity sell some books in the bookstore. In my carry on bag, I will put two of these priority mail boxes and pack them with my books. Because they fit perfectly into these boxes, with no extra effort, the books arrive in pristine shape and no bent or damaged covers. 

Admittedly this size decision seems small but it can have big implications for your future if you don’t consider it. 

this small decision can be significant later on. These small details are important as you create, market then sell your book. What other details are important to know about during the production process? Let me know in the comments below.

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Why Your Word Count Matters

      

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Good writing and storytelling is foundational in every submission.  I’ve been in publishing for many years and in a few minutes, I can read part of your writing and see if the writing and storytelling is there.

Throughout my writing life, I’ve been encouraging writers to gain this writing and storytelling skill not in the book area but in the magazine area of the market. It is easier and faster to work with the shorter form and you will likely reach more people than with a book.

If you have passed the hurdle of good writing, what other factors are important in your book submission? The one I want to emphasize today is your word count.

Recently got a novel submission from a New York agent who has not worked in the editorial area. I liked the writing and storytelling from these authors. It was unusual for this agent to submit something to me. I knew that it was likely she could not sell it anywhere else and that I was a last resort submission. Because I’ve worked in the editorial area of publishing for years, I could instantly spot the challenge of this submission: the word count. This novel was 213,000 words. 

To be fair to this agent, she didn’t come from an editorial background. She probably has never focused on the importance of the word count and how that detail translates into the production costs of the book.

I knew instantly the word count would be a concern to my colleagues. I reached out to one of them for clarification. This colleague confirmed my suspicion about the projected size of this book. A 213,000 word novel will be 700 pages in a 6 x 9 format and have a retail price of $49.95 (Yes, $50). The sales for this book in this length are going to be dismal and it explains why another publisher had not decided to publish this book. 

I explained the details of my discovery to this agent and I recommended the authors find a couple of places in the story to halt the action and end the book. I suggested the single story be split into three 70,000 word books. Then the retail price could be normal and the page count would be much more attractive to the readership--which sells books. 

There are some additional reasons for making such a shift. In recent years, the price of paper has increased and this increase drives the increases in the retail price for books. Also in terms of a trend, people are reading smaller and shorter books. These factors play into your pitch to a literary agent or an editor and your word count may be one of the deciding factors.

During a recent marathon pitch session with multiple authors, I spoke with several authors who had novels with a 200,000 word count. I encouraged them to divide their story into a smaller novel. To a person, they instantly responded the story had no division point and was one piece. It is a common experience that I’ve had with authors. They either are open to guidance, follow it and increase their possibility of success. Or they are doomed to search for some publisher or agent to take it and when that does not happen, they self-publish (with likely dismal sales). As an author, you either listen to experienced advice or reject it. 

Whether you are aware of it or not, the word count is used to calculate the finished book size and this detail figures prominently into the decision. I wrote a different author last week with a 107,000 word book to see if he can divide his book into two (or hire an editor to help him). Our upper limit for fiction used to be 100,000 words but now it is closer to 80,000 because of the increased retail price. This author was open to my suggestion and even pointed out a natural place in the story for the division. I liked this author’s “coachable” attitude and passed this positive information along to my colleagues who are still in the throws of deciding whether to offer a contract or not to this author. 

As editors and agents get increased submissions, even the smallest details like word count can be a reason to reject the author. It takes time to coach or explain to them the reasons for a smaller book. Rather than spend that time with the author (and maybe not succeed), it is easier to pass on it and press on to the next submission. 

As you write your books, are you aware of the importance of the word count? Let me know in the comments below.

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The Details Matter

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Last week I taught a zoom class at a local writer's group. I selected a topic that I've taught before with a prepared handout and solid information. I did not carefully review all the links in my handout before the workshop (a normal part of my practice). Several of the links didn't work and I had to rework my handout after the workshop and upload the corrected handout to my server.  These details matter.

 

I prepared a series of emails and social media campaign. I crafted a social media post and used it a number of times (each with a different image). From my active role on social media, I know that not everyone sees every posting. You need to post at various times and places because you never know who will be reading your work. In my carefully written post, I discovered a single word which was misspelled. I scheduled it in my Hootsuite program to post repeatedly over the next week. While it was time consuming that no one sees, I carefully edited each posting and fixed that single misspelled word. The details matter.

 

One of my writer friends purchased a product that I was promoting several months ago and could not find the place to login and use the program. She sent me a short email about it. Why? She knew I would respond (which I did). The first link I sent her did not work, then I thought of a second link to send her (more email exchanges). The second link worked and she got into her product. The details matter.

 

There is the ever-changing world of technology. Hard coded program that I use the operating system failed and needs to be reworked. Adobe flash stopped at the end of last year and several of my sites are not working properly and need to be revised. The list goes on but it's all part of the writing life—and using what you have in front of you. Not easy but the details matter.

 

Handling these types of details is time consuming and somewhat annoying but part of being a professional writer. As writers, our lives are often filled with mundane tasks like reading and answering email, engagement on social media, even doing social media, answering and returning phone calls and many more such tasks.  I recall what I've heard about elite sports figures and how they practice their craft over and over during days no one sees them or knows about their workouts. Yet such routines feed into their excellent results. It's the same in the world of publishing. The details have to be handled and matter.

 

Are you resisting or mired in details with a writing project or task? Why do the details matter in your work? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Lessons from A Spilled Coffee Pot

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

In my home office, one of my first actions of the day is to turn on my coffee pot and brew some coffee.  Yet today it bubbled and gurgled and spilled.  My coffee pot was a little off kilter and not in the place to catch the coffee so it backed up, spilt and made a general mess.

To prepare for the moment I'll turn on my coffee pot, the day before I add the water, put in the filter and the grounds so it is ready for me to turn it on and brew the coffee.  It has rarely happened but this morning, I had a mess on my hands—and a choice. I could react with anger and disappointment or calmness and just clean the mess. I cleaned up the mess.

I'm writing this story because I see comparisons to my life as a writer and editor. Sometimes there are messes:

-authors don't deliver what they are supposed to deliver to publishers.

-authors deliver late—many authors miss their deadlines and are notoriously date with their manuscript.

-authors that I expect to sign their contract, go in a different direction.

-the books are not selling. If you have purchased books and they are not selling, then this situation can be a mess and disappointing for authors.

-the writing is not working and storytelling is not good and needs rewriting. Yes you are putting words on your page but they are not the right words and basically create a mess.

-your computer isn't working right or you have some other website glitch. 

The potential list is endless. Each time I have choices how I respond—disappointment or calmness and acceptance. I recommend calmness because the results and outcome are much better.

These days are strange with hard economic times for some, sickness and even death for others. Yet our lives as writers and storytellers are important and vital to keep going. It is a choice to stop and do something else. For my life, I know I am called to this work and continue it—the good and the bad.

The Details Matter

Yesterday I needed to call one of my authors and talk about an editorial issue. I took her phone number from her signature—and it did not connect. I double checked the number in other emails—same. I finally looked at her proposal which had a different number. When I tried that number I got an answering machine and left a message. Two numbers were reversed. When I spoke with this author later in the day, I told her about the error in her email signature (which goes out in every email). She appreciated my telling her about this detail. In her next email, it was fixed.

I'm learning every day —important lessons about life and publishing. I hope you are as well. In the comments, let me know some of your lessons.

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How to Fight Publishing Ignorance

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 

Last week I turned in my judging sheets for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. I've been judging this contest once a year for at least five years. The good news is the overall quality of the books I've been seeing are improved. The bad news is that I still receive terrible entries that show publishing ignorance. In many ways I wonder how these books even got produced because they are poor on many different levels. The covers are poor. The interiors are strange. The title of the book does nothing to draw me into the book. The writing is average. The layouts are odd. Yet someone believed in the concept enough to publish it in the first place and then enter it into an awards contest. Each year the judging experience makes me do a bit of head shaking about the publishing ignorance.

 

Successful publishing is not simple. While I've been in this business for many years, I understand it has many twists and turns. Each book and author has to find their own audience and readers. Yes there are some best practices in the process. As you learn and execute these practices, you give your book the best opportunity to succeed and sell in the marketplace. I continue to learn new aspects.

 

Here are some ways to fight publishing ignorance:

 

1. Have high standards for your writing. Excellent writing is the foundation of every book—whether you self-publish or traditional publish. If you can't put it together with excellence yourself, then get some training or hire an outside editor or ghostwriter. If the writing is poor or even starts poorly, it will affect how your book will sell in the marketplace.

 

2. Use an interesting title. The author is the best person to title their book so put some energy toward this aspect. I've titled many of my books which have been traditionally published. If the title is boring, it will not draw readers.

 

3. Have a well-done cover. You've be shocked at the poor book covers I saw in this group of books. We judge books all the time by their covers. It's an important aspect of the publishing process.

 

4. Write an interesting back cover. Several of these books had no back cover (zero). It's a huge mistake because even if you self-publish and speak at an event. People will read the back cover to see what the book is about and make a buying decision. Do you have endorsements from someone well-known. It is work to get these endorsements but anyone can get them with the right efforts.

 

5. The production details matter. Do you have a logo for the publisher on the spine of the book (at the bottom)? Look at the books on your shelf from Random House or Simon and Schuster or HarperCollins—and follow every detail. Many of the barcodes in this batch of books did not have the price of the book built into the barcode. Even if you self-publish, these details matter.

 

6. Keep learning and reading how-to books then applying them to your book. Whether you get these books from your library or buy them used or buy them new or borrow them from a friend, read these books and apply it to your own publishing journey.

 

7. Get to a writers conference and meet professionals. Often it is who you know as much as what you know that will make the tipping point with your publishing. Yes many events have moved to online or been rescheduled but they are still going to happen and are terrific resources.

 

I have probably missed something in this list but it gives you an idea of some solid steps to take to fight publishing ignorance. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

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Small Stuff Matters in Communication

As I work in the publishing community, I'm aware that our business is communication. You may be selling books or your writing or widgets, good communication and handling the small stuff will be key to your success or failure.

Last week I finished listening to actor Rob Lowe's book Love Life. I enjoyed the audio book and heard it cover to cover. As my typical practice, I wrote a few sentences of review on Goodreads and Amazon, then I posted on Twitter about my review. I searched Twitter and saw Rob Lowe's twitter feed and included his twitter name with my tweet. I had no expectations of a response since I have zero connection to Lowe. Yet Rob Lowe also values communication and is using some tool to monitor such tweets. He responded (see this link). This simple response from Lowe garnered over 100 likes and a number of retweets (added exposure for him and for me). The entire process did not take time (for me to write and post my review) nor for Lowe to respond. Yet the communication matters and helped validate the values and details that Lowe wrote about in his book.

As someone who has written for numerous magazines and book publishers, I understand the communication challenges. I've sent many emails and query letters and proposals off to editors with no response or a rejection months later. Now as an acqusitions editor, I have the same challenges of everyone (limited time, lots of responsibility, etc.) Yet I'm committed to consistent communication with my authors and literary agents. 

Does that mean I'm perfect? No, every day much is left undone and there are times where I miss something or don't get a response out. It's one of the reasons that the majority of my day is spent returning calls and responding to emails. Your email or returned text doesn't have to be lengthy—but just a few words like “got it” or “perfect” reassures the sender that you got the message and are doing something about it.

I was speaking with an author who told me the reason she had never written (much less submitted) her book because she has a fear of imperfection and criticism from others in her field. While I understand this author's fears and empathized with her reasons. I also encouraged her to move ahead. No matter what I write, there is always something that can be improved—yet I still work hard on the writing, then push it out into the market. Every book gets criticism because we live in a free society and there are many different opinions. Yet this fact doesn't hold me back from continuing to write and move ahead.

How are you handling the “small stuff” and moving forward?

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The Details of Your Writing Life Are Important

Let me begin with this good news. Every writer can learn the skill of handling the details. Some of us are only focused on the big picture with our writing. We are determined to complete a particular book or magazine article and writing on it every day to meet this goal. Yet the craft of your words and storytelling is important. Are you sending it to the right editor? Are you using the correct spelling of that editor's name? The details matter.

Every Writer Needs This Info

In the last few weeks, I purchased all of the remaining copies of Book Proposals That Sell. With over 130 Five Star reviews and great feedback about this book over the years, I know it has helped many writers to succeed in the world of publishing—no matter what type of book you write. I wrote this book from my passion as a frustrated acquisitions editor to help writers send better submissions. If you don't have a copy, it has never been so inexpensive and available only from me. Follow the link to learn more details.

As a part of this effort, I purchased a website, wrote the words for that website, created special bonuses and have been telling others about this effort through emails, articles and twitter. In the process of setting up this launch, I created five emails on autoresponders. These autoresponders contained the bonus items for those who purchased the book.

Today I received an email from one of these people who purchased Book Proposals That Sell. He had not received these bonus item emails. The email clued me that something was wrong some place in the process. I investigated my shopping cart and learned that I neglected to click one button in one place. From working with computers for years, I've learned one simple truth: the computer only does what you tell it to do.  I had skipped one important detail and no one got their bonus items. Talk about embarrassing!

One by one, I will be sending all five bonus items via email today to each individual.  For anyone who buys the book in the future, I will be watching my shopping cart closely to make sure they are getting these extra messages.

There are several lessons for you from my experience:

1. The details are essential. As writers, you ignore them at your own peril. Your submissions will not hit the target nor get results if you do not work at the details.

2. Listen to your audience. When they tell you something, spring into action or make adjustments.

3. Deliver on your promises. Your word and integrity are important. And if something goes wrong, apologize (everyone is human) and then fix it as soon as possible.

4. Work hard to maintain and keep your relationships. Years ago, I heard John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book say, “Selling books is all about building relationships.” See the truth in this statement?
Whatever you are writing or promoting, the relationship is critical and the details of your writing life are important.

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A Brilliant Yet Flawed Book Campaign

At the recent Mega Book Marketing University in Los Angeles, one of the presentations was about the virtual book tour. If you haven't heard about this new technology from Alex Mandossian, it's brilliant and involves several parts.

First, you create an "Ask page" which gathers questions from anyone who wants to ask you a question during a teleseminar. They gave us the template for this page. Each one is created the same and one of the examples they gave is from an attorney in the Phoenix area, Steven Allen. Steve is promoting his new book, You Can't Take It With You and was attending the event in Los Angeles. They told us about his virtual book tour on March 7th.

I did not make the live book tour but in yesterday's mail I received a personal handwritten card from Steve as a follow-up from our personal meeting along with an invitation to see the replay of his teleseminar. I went to the page, looked around and the link for the teleseminar replay was not on the page. I've written a short note to Steve and encouraged him or his webmaster to fix it. Hopefully by the time you look at this example, the right link will be added to the section that is turning from blue to red.

Then I began to look a bit closer at the handwritten card from Steve. It came from Sendoutcards. I checked that site--and it's another fascinating technology company. For a fee, you can program their system to handwrite cards and mail them out to your list. I wondered how a busy attorney like Steve Allen would be able to handwrite such a card and I found the answer.

My point is these types of book campaigns are only excellent if every part of them works. It does not work to send me to a page so I can listen to the replay of a teleseminar and the link isn't on the page. As I've mentioned repeatedly in these entries, the devil is in the details.

Alex Mandossian has created an amazing set of tools. Through the Ask page, the author gathers questions about the book that his listeners want to hear the answers. These questions shape the content of the teleseminar (and the replay). Here's some of the other books which have toured and more information about it.

No matter what you are doing--Internet, writing a book, writing a magazine article or anything else--you have to check and double check these details to make sure everything is working. And if it is not working, then take immediate steps to fix it. Otherwise you will do brilliant yet flawed work.