Attitude Always Counts

How do you face your writing tasks? Is it just one more thing to be done or is there an attitude of expectancy with real excitement about the opportunity to communicate? Your attitude and approach will make a difference about how you complete the task--whether it comes out as ordinary or extra-ordinary.

While I don't always achieve it, I have tried to take the attitude of an eager learner who wants to constantly grow in my craft and knowledge about publishing or writing or whatever I tackle.

Years ago I supervised a writer as a part of my responsibility. One day I asked him if he ever attended a writers' conference. "Oh, yes," he responded. "I go if they ask me to teach." That wasn't the answer that I was expecting from this person.  Almost anyone will attend a conference if asked to teach or lead a class but do you go to the conference to learn and grow from others at it? It's a different attitude and perspective to take such a learning stance.

At the recent Glorieta Conference, I blocked some time in my schedule to take a session from one of the other teachers.  After the class, I expressed my appreciation for her information and insight. From her response, I could tell she was a bit surprised that I was even there but I learned some things from that session and took notes as she taught it.

In the last few weeks, I've hosted two distinct teleseminars. Both of these teleseminars are now in "replay mode." Askterrywhalin.com is about Writing For The Christian Market and features an interview that I did with Shawn McMullen, editor at The Lookout. This publication is one of the best places for a new writer to break into writing for the Christian market and Shawn explained step-by-step what he needs from writers during the session.  You can go to the page and instead of reaching the confirmation page with the information about the teleseminar, you will reach the replay page, where you can download all or part of the teleseminar or listen to it online.  Then last week I interviewed Susan Driscoll, President and CEO of iUniverse.com at asksusandriscoll.com. Like the first teleseminar, this one is also in replay mode and has great insight about self-publishing.

Take a minute for an attitude check then recommit to learning and growing in your craft. Then practice it day in and day out. You can make a difference.

A Cynic With Hints Of Truth

Steve Weinberg is on a roll with Publishers Weekly. Over the last two months, he had held two of their Soapbox columns with his most recent one, The Reluctant Expert, Being a published author means you can help anyone publish a book…right? He writes, "Those who work for book publishers and booksellers, as well as authors like myself, understand how difficult it is to write, edit and market a compelling volume. Many other people, however, seem to assume that the process is a no-brainer, that surely their book will prove irresistible to everyone."

This article is filled with some great advice that many authors need to process. To write and publish a book is a business but it's not all about the money but about getting your message out into the market. There are many different ways to accomplish those goals as Susan Driscoll told us earlier in the week through iUniverse. At asksusandriscoll.com you can sign in and instead of reaching the page for the interview, you will reach the replay page. Then you can download part or all of the teleseminar and listen to it on your computer or iPod or you can listen to it right on the page.

I was amused with Weinberg's article and the hints of truth which are embedded with a bit of cynicism. For any book to succeed, it is as much about timing as anything. It's been proven repeatedly in these books which had great potential when they were released, yet never realized it. As I've mentioned before, the best scenario is where the author has realistic expectations of what the publisher will and will not do, then actively works to put their own promotion plans into motion. These plans give the book the best possibility and environment for success (however you measure it).

A Democratic Way To Enter Publishing

Last night I interviewed Susan Driscoll, CEO and President of iUniverse which is one of the largest Print On Demand self-publishing companies. During our 90-minutes together, there was an honest tone to the exchange which will resonate with listeners. According to Driscoll, iUniverse publishes around 400 books a month or 4,800 new books a year. She told about the variety of reasons that people want to publish their books. iUniverse provides a democratic way for anyone to enter publishing--whether you have dreams of a bestseller or want to get a single copy of your book to give to your family member.

While obviously Driscoll has a huge interest in the success of the company she leads, I was impressed that repeatedly throughout the exchange, she presented other options for listeners. For example, she encouraged authors to try and get a traditional publisher first, then turn to iUniverse. Also if you have a high volume sales potential, then maybe you want to start with iUniverse then switch to a more traditional self-publishing route. Or if you have a full-color children's book that you want to self-publish, Driscoll said that iUniverse would not be a good place for that type of book. Apparently the POD technology doesn't handle full-color work and she had other recommendations. From her long career in publishing, Driscoll understands that iUniverse isn't for everyone and there are many options on the publishing landscape.

After our teleseminar, I cut the interview into several bite-sized sections and also added links so you can download all of it or part of it. Then listen to it on your iPod or computer. Everyone who registered will receive the replay page link later today. After I set up the replay page, if anyone signed up at asksusandriscoll.com, instead of the confirmation page, they reach the replay page. I hope you will listen to the interview. It contains valuable insight for every writer.

Learn What Your Audience Wants -- Ask

Some times the obvious path isn't the one that a writer will select when they write their book. I met a number of these people last week at the writers conference. Some situation has inspired them to write a book (whether fiction or nonfiction) and they have pursued this dream and written all or part of their book project. Now they are trying to figure out what they perceive as the next step: find a publisher or a literary agent. Yet their project isn't focused on the needs or wants of the audience (their readers). Instead their work was created from inspiration. They never thought to ask the audience what they want, then create a product to meet the need. If you want to create a bunch of material which languishes in your desk drawer or file folder, then take the inspiration method. Instead if you want to write something which will scratch the needs of the audience, then ask them.

One of the valuable results of teleseminars and ask campaigns is the creator learns what the audience wants. Later today I will be interviewing Susan Driscoll, president and CEO of iUniverse in a live teleseminar. If you happen to be reading this post after the event, please go ahead and register as you will be notified of the replay and have the ability to download it to your computer or iPod. I've notified a number of people about this event and iUniverse has used several means to notify the audience about this event. I just checked my askdatabase account which collects and sorts the information for the event and found over 300 questions. It will be impossible to answer these questions during the 90–minute seminar so I will be looking for themes of questions to attempt and answer the majority of the concerns for the audience. Yet from these questions, I know what the audience is expecting and wants from the session. Asking the question has eliminated any doubts or guesswork.

There are many new ways to learn about electronic marketing. If you'd like to see where you are in this area of the market and receive a quick, FREE evaluation, then I'd encourage you to take this Electronic Marketing Survey. It could be one of the most important things you do for your own writing life.

I'm eager to learn about self-publishing and iUniverse later today. I hope to see you there.

Build Your Audience

This past week I had dozens of one on one meetings with writers at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. Each of these writers wanted to pitch their book idea and try to entice me to take their project as their literary agent. A number of them had good ideas which contained merit. The majority of them had some great life experience and knowledge to pour into a book topic. Yet often they lacked any exposure in the marketplace. The majority of them had never been published or written for a magazine or newspaper. Or if they had been published, at times their book idea had no connection to their publishing experience. Everything was done on happenstance rather than a deliberate effort.

Publishers and literary agents don't have the opportunity to help you build your audience and career. Each individual writer has to take charge of that responsibility and build their own audience. It was one of the themes that I repeated to authors over and over. If they love to write about _______, what are they doing to build that audience today and right now? Can they launch a free newsletter? Can they write magazine articles for print publications and Internet magazines? Can they develop a reputation as being the go-to person for such information? The answer is yes to every one of these questions. It will not happen instantly or overnight yet with each step they can increase their attractiveness to publishers and literary agents. Then when they pitch their ideas, it will be something worth serious deliberation and consideration.

Some of those people will have to self-publish their books and demonstrate their market through the sales of that book. I hope you can join me tomorrow night for my live tele-seminar with Susan Driscoll, the president of iUniverse. Sign up and ask your question.

The Seven-Year Difference

Yesterday I mentioned listening to iUniverse CEO Susan Driscoll when she spoke at Mega Book Marketing University 2006 in Florida. During this talk, Susan mentioned the difference that seven years can make in the life of a person. I found it fascinating and tracked down the specifics. She was talking about The Da Vinci Code author, Dan Brown. No matter what you think about the book, it found tremendous success.

Susan encouraged listeners to track down a court transcript where Dan Brown was defending himself against accusations of plagiarism in the London Court (and Brown was successful in his defense). With a little work on Google I located the transcript which is 77 pages.

In the transcript, Brown talks about his journey as a novelist and here's the quote which Susan highlighted for her audience, Dan Brown said, "This was not an easy time financially. I remember that we were forced to literally sell books out of our car at low profile publishing events. The few readers who read Angels & Demons had gone wild for it."

Brown and his wife were traveling to small events and selling books from the back of their car in 2000. What a difference seven years makes in the life of a person. Last year (2006), Brown landed in the tenth spot on the Forbes 100 list of earning an estimated $88 million or up from 12th spot the year before.

Where are you in the process of pursuing your dreams about publication? It is hard work to make the right pitch with the right book proposal. Many people don't put the energy and effort into their proposal to craft the right pitch. Or they send it to the wrong places. Or they give up on the idea too easily. It's a subjective business and you have to tell your story over and over to build enough enthusiasm for it that it succeeds in the marketplace of ideas.

Why is it so difficult? The statistics repeatedly show that each year reading statistics are on the decline. Each year about 190,000 new books are published with millions of backlist books already in print (published in the past seasons or backlist). If you are feeling low, take some of the smaller steps.

Begin to build a newsletter list. Everyone has to start some place so launch a free newsletter and continue building that group of subscribers, feeding them great content on a regular basis. The back issues of my Right Writing News have over 400 pages of how-to information which is free but only available to subscribers. If you don't now what you would write for a newsletter, then go to this link and read every article and follow the advice.

If you are getting rejected, make sure you are building your relationships and learning your craft at writer's conferences. Learn how to craft a basic magazine article or short story. It will take you down the road to achieve your larger dream because you are learning the process and building your publishing credits. I've traveled the country teaching about book proposals. As a home study tool, pick up my new product, Editor Reveals Book Proposal Secrets and listen to it over and over.

Most of all, keep holding on to your dreams and working each day to make a difference. You can do it and if you need the encouragement, consider the seven year difference in Dan Brown’s life--selling books in the back of his car to #10 on the Forbes 100 list.

Soak In The Information

These days I don't spend much time in my car. Because I don't have a long drive to get to my workplace, my time in my car is often limited to a few minutes each day when I drive to my mailbox and return home. That time amounts to about 30 to 45 minutes a day or not much time. I've been in jobs where I've had a much longer commute in the car but even on a short drive, there is an opportunity to soak in information--if you choose to take this path.

I could be listening to the radio, music or something else. Instead, I've been listening to the Mega Book Marketing University 2006 tapes--a conference which I did not attend but I know many of the speakers personally. I've met Susan Driscoll, president of iUniverse on several different occasions but until I reached her presentation at Mega I had never heard her speak to a group. Her insight was fascinating. You can catch some of her information about publishing on her iUniverse blog and I liked this entry about returns (something most book authors never think about but is a critical part of the overall process in traditional publishing).

My idea for you with this entry is to look for short bursts of time when you can soak in some burst of information. For example, follow this link for Mega Book Marketing University 2007 in Los Angeles yet look at the special offers in the top right column. Some of these sessions are several years old yet the insight and information is still valuable--yet substantially discounted. I continue to learn a great deal from these older tapes and hope you will as well.