Why I Love the Word: Next

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

When you partially fill a glass, is this glass half full or half empty? Your perspective is going to make a difference what actions you will take in the future. I tend to take the optimistic view of life and see the glass as half full. Is that your perspective?

Let’s face it. Writers hear the word “no” or “no thank you” often. Or they are ghosted with no response. If you are getting published or want to be published, then you need to be actively pitching. If you want to get published in a magazine, read the guidelines, craft a query letter to that editor and pitch. If you want to get a book published, then write a book proposal (your business plan even if you self-publish) and pitch. If you want to get on radio or podcasts, then you must pitch. Depending on your pitching skills and the person who receives you pitch, you get three possible response: yes, send it or no, not a fit or nothing (ghosted). From my years in publishing and being in some of the top editorial and literary offices in the country, from their questions to me, I know each of these professionals is actively reading their mail and email looking for the next bestseller (whether they respond to you or not). My question in this article is: how will you respond to their response to your pitch.

Rejection is a consistent part of the writing life--and for my life as an editor. The search for the right fit is hard. I pitch podcast hosts using PodMatch and do not get a response (ghosted) or turned down. I pitch authors on publishing with Morgan James and sometimes they do it and sometimes they pass on the opportunity. I’ve learned the hard way through getting rejected over and over that I can’t control the other person’s response. I can only control my side of the pitching process and continue moving forward.

There is a forgotten story about one of the bestselling series of books in the English language: Chicken Soup for the Soul. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen were rejected over 160 times in their search for a publisher. They recounted the story of their actions in Mark’s foreword to my Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams book. With each rejection, they could have tucked away their submission and stopped. Instead they looked at each other and said a single word, “Next.” This submission didn’t work and now they are looking for the next opportunity.

 See the hope and action orientation of using that single word: next? I encourage you to adopt this practice as you face rejection in your writing life. 

When you speak or think the word: next, you show:

• your commitment to this project and you will not give up but find the next place for it.
• an affirmation to your belief in the pitch and you will not shove it into a drawer.
• your continued commitment to search for the right fit for your idea and your pitch.
• an affirmation that you believe the world is filled with opportunity and you will continue to lookfor the right one.

As I mentioned earlier, you can’t control the response from any decision maker or gatekeeper or anyone else. You can only control your actions and commitment to continue the journey--in spite of the response.

Now you know why I love and use the word: next. How will you use it in your writing life? Or maybe you use another method to continue moving forward. Let me know in the comments below.

Podcasts:

The Raygacy Show Podcast: I enjoyed speaking with Rayson Choo LIVE about The Publishing Playbook: How to Succeed as an Author at: https://bit.ly/418conm 

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Rejection is a consistent part of our lives as writers. This prolific author and editor tells why he loves the word: Next in this article. (ClickToTweet)

Throughout my years in publishing, I understand many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. As I’ve spoken with many authors, I learned many of them have unrealistic expectations about publishing. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help. Get my decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses. 

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Right Fit: The Search Within Publishing

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

For over seven years, I've been acquiring books for Morgan 
James Publishing. As an acquisitions editor, I have a lot of interesting exchanges wtih authors, editors and literary agents about books. In this article, I'm going to tell you a few stories related to a constant search within publishing: finding the right fit.

If you can't find the right fit for you. You can always self-publish. Last year over 1.6 million new books took this route of self-publishing. One of my writer friends self-published and told me how he spent over $10,000 in the process of creation, editing and launching his book. When I spoke with him, he was wondering if he made the right choice for his book. As an editor, I've heard this story many times from various authors. For many houses if you self published, they will not consider taking it into their publshing house—unless you have huge sales like 100,000 copies. The good news is occasionally at Morgan James we take a self-published book and move it into our books. It does not happen often but it is possible and something to explore if you have gone this route with your book.

I regularly read a number of blogs and online articles. While reading a recent article, I learned a detail buried in the article. This author (also a book editor) was looking for a publishers for her historical novel. Because Morgan James publishes some fiction, I used her website to reached out and suggested she submit to Morgan James. We are looking for clean fiction (no profanity) and 100,000 words or less. This author responded that her story was gritty and over this word count. It was not the right publishing fit for this author.

Recently a Christian author with an unusual proposal approached me. While over the years I've reviewed thousands of submissions, I had never seen a book with this particular topic. From my understanding of the publishing world, I believe it will be a challenge for this author to find the right publishing fit but I liked the concept and wanted to help. As an editor, I went ahead and processed his submission and moved it forward through the process. My colleagues agreed with me that it would be a fit for Morgan James (doesn't always happen—yes my pitches get rejected at times) and we offered this author a contract. He responded that he's looking for a literary agent and a different type of fit. Will he find it? I don't know. He has an opportunity with Morgan James but like several other authors that I've spoken with, he is looking for the right fit.  

This search for the right fit is not just something writers are doing. Literary agents are looking for the right fit. They do not represent every type of book but search in specific categories and types of books they want to represent and place with publishers. Publishers are looking for the right fit. In fact, every person in the process is looking for this right fit. In many ways it is one of the constant factors in the publishing search.

One of the best actions any writer can take to find the right fit is to make sure they have a solid pitch or proposal to send to the editor or literary agent. Often these pitches are missing a critical element. Years ago as a frustrated acquisitions editor, I was not getting the right pitches from writers to be able to convince my colleagues to give them a book contract. I wrote Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets to Speed Your Success. 

This book has over 110 Five Star reviews—and I have all of the remaining print copies—and I've discounted the book from $15 to $8. No matter what you write, you will find valuable information in these pages and be able to use it to improve your pitch and search to find the right fit in the publishing community.

What steps are you taking to find the right fit for your book? Let me know in the comments below.

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