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. 

Tweetable:

When you see a book with a missing image or some other wrong aspect, do you say something? This prolific author and editor encourages simple actions. Get the details here.  (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take action. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

When You Miss Your Mark

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As writers, we have big goals and dreams. We work at it every day and sometimes we hit it and most often not. What happens when you miss your mark or goal? Do you quit or do you find the courage to continue with new efforts?

 

It's one of the constant tensions in our work. Mistakes happen. Things you want to do, do not get done. Interruptions spring into your day. Or you pitch your heart out and hear nothing. Crickets. Yes it happens to me as well. Your mindset and next action steps when this happens is important.

 

Last week I mentioned the launch of Book Proposals That $ell and how you join my launch team. In this article, I'm going to tell a behind the scenes story that I don't have to tell. I include it here to illustrate an important point for every writer.

Several months ago I rushed through the printing process on this book so I could have copies for a writer's conference. Because of the audience (writers) I sold a number of copies at the event. One of the participants emailed me about some typos in the book. It turns out there were typos and missing words in the first couple of paragraphs. I was chagrined with this news but determined not to ignore it because the details matter and the book had to be right. I reached out to a proofreader who worked through the book and changed a number of things (mostly for consistency). The entire book has re-done. That means the type was completely reflowed into the book so that everything to the best of our ability was fixed before the launch and release date next month.

 

While I was chagrined at the typos, I knew for the life of the book and the readership of the book that it had to be fixed. Yes it cost me extra time and expense. I'll be ordering the revised version of the book to autograph and send with my appreciation to the various authors, literary agents and others who endorsed the book. Revising this error was not easy and took a lot of effort from a number of people but it's important to get it right from the beginning.

 

I wrote about this error and how it was fixed to point out the principle of extreme ownership, which is also the title of a bestselling book that I recently heard.  Fixing these mistakes was a choice. I could have ignored the person who wrote me about the typos. Or I could have learned, fixed and moved forward.  

 

What happens when you miss the mark? Do you ignore it and continue or fix it? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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The Constant Juggling of the Writing Life

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As a writer and editor, my day to day life is a constant series of juggling between long-term priorities and the immediate.

 

Today I am writing a regular newsletter which goes out every week (a recent new assignment for me). I'm working with my authors as an editor at Morgan James Publishing. I'm writing some book reviews (something I do for fun if I read or hear a book). Plus I'm pitching some article ideas and handling other details like incoming emails.

 

It's just a glimpse at my writing life which to some would be stressful but I've tried to learn to roll with the changes and attempt to handle each detail methodically and deliberately (sometimes I succeed better than others). Also I'm constantly working on getting some regular exercise, hydrating with water, monitoring my food intake and diet along with other details called life.

 

What happens when you miss something? I'm keenly aware of the importance of meeting deadlines, showing up at the right time and place and keeping things moving with excellence (all key aspects of being a freelance writer). Yet my actions are not always perfect and at times I miss something. While I strive for perfection, I don't always achieve it.

 

When I do make an error or mistake, there are several key actions that I take:

 

1. I admit the error and apologize. Good communication is always a high priority with me.

 

2. I attempt to correct the mistake or error (if possible—and it is not always possible).

 

3. I resolve to do better in the future. My attitude is a critical aspect of these situations. To feel bad and inadequate will ultimately not move things forward. Instead, I try and move forward—sometimes easier said than done.

 

While to some people outside of publishing, the community seems large. Overall, it is a small group of relationships. Each of us need to maintain, keep and expand these relationships. Your actions and response is an important part of this process. Part of my reputation is people know I'm always eager to do whatever is needed and right.

 

Are you juggling different priorities and balls throughout your day? How do you handle it? What insights do you have for this process? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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An Example of a Missed Opportunity

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Over the holiday break, I have been reading What Are the Odds? by Mike Lindell. You've probably heard of him or at least seen his MyPillow commercials. I do not know Mike Lindell but I enjoyed and recommend his book—yet it is filled with missed opportunities because he self-published it. In this article, I want to point out some of the flaws in this book and missed potential. Why write such an article? I do it so you can learn some of the critical elements in book production. Even if you self-publish your book, you can produce a book that looks exactly like any well-known publisher. To achieve this result will take planning and intentional forethought on your part.

 

Books have standards in how they are put together. If you violate the basics, it will make your book stand out in a negative way instead of helping it succeed in the market. You don't want readers to wonder why you missed some element in the production. Instead you want them to simply accept the book, read it and tell others about it. One of the most difficult things to proofread during production is to notice missing elements. What Are the Odds? is missing a number of standard book items including:

 

No back cover copy. The words on the back cover are sales copy to entice readers. They often include endorsements and other details. Instead What Are the Odds? includes a second holographic image which is different from the cover.

 

No barcode on the back cover. A properly done barcode is important for retailers to effectively use the book. because this book only had a holographic image, it did not have a barcode to help retailers sell the book—a glaring production error in my view.

 

No author name on the spine of the book and instead it included the subtitle. Most books are spine out and the authors name should be on the spine instead of the subtitle.

 

No endorsements. While this book includes a Foreword by Dr. Ben Carson, there are no endorsements inside the book or on the back cover. People buy books because of these endorsements and they are an important missing element.

 

Missing information on the copyright page. While this book includes a copyright page, it includes Bible quotes but no reference to the translation used (normally on this copyright page). Also throughout the book, Lindell includes lyrics from a number of well-known artists and songs. If permission was secured, it is normally pointed out on this copyright page and nothing is said on this page about permissions.

 

No table of contents page. While the book includes divisions and titles for each chapter. There is no table of contents page with numbers to help the reader.

 

No appendix or cross-promotion with MyPillow.  What Are the Odds? includes no advertising or promotion for Mike Lindell's MyPillow company or his foundation for addiction or any number of other things he could have included in a simple appendix. This book does not contain an appendix.

 

I learned about this book because I am a long-time subscriber to Publishers Weekly. Each issue of PW has a front and back cover and the responding inside pages in full color. This space is advertising space that some individual (like Mike Lindell) or a publisher to buy or advertising space. You can learn more details through their media kit (but does not include the prices). When I saw the retail price for this book: Hardcover $39.99 or Softcover $29.99, I looked on my local library to see if I could order the book—which I could. It's how I read the book. Lindell is a Christian and the book is distributed through Broadstreet Publishing.

 

Why Did I Read This Book?

 

I love biographies and have written a number of these types of books. The stories of changed lives always fascinates me. Mike Lindell has a dramatic story and the storytelling in this book is well-done and worthwhile reading. Inside the book a number of interesting sections of full color photos and captions are included. Yet the production problems detract from the reading experience and will frustrate many readers. Some of the missing elements like the missing barcode will frustrate retailers so they will be hesitant to carry the book. What Are the Odds? does have it's own website.

 

I wrote this article as a cautionary tale for authors. No matter how you publish your book (even self-publishing), you need to take charge of these various elements. As the author, it is up to you to make sure you are producing an excellent finished book which will be accepted by the publishing community (bookstore retailers and others). The lack of these critical elements is a huge error—which could have been fixed in production but is hard to fix after the book is produced. I hope it will help each of you seek good counsel and not make these errors.

 

Have you read What Are the Odds?  Did I miss some other missing element? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Learning Curve and Offer

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Last week I launched a book funnel promotion for my 10 Publishing Myths book. I've been working on this funnel for weeks. In late February I attended a three day intense book funnel boot camp. There was a great deal of homework before we attended the boot camp plus each day was long hours of instruction with assignments in the evening. In this process, I'm using many new tools and programs—including my email program.

Part of this training included a sequence of emails to tell people about your book. I carefully worked on this sequence, rewriting it for my book and other details. Got it loaded and checked in my new program. I was preparing to launch it. Then I goofed. Instead of sending four separate emails spaced out over days, I sent all four emails at the same time (whoops). So much for gently leading people and reminding them about my new book. With this error, I messed up the process.

My good news is the sequence of emails worked. I'm selling books (the goal) and even though not perfect, working on retooling other things behind the scenes. I'd love for you to check out my new offer. You get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 and the shipping is FREE. As an additional bonus, you get over $200 in FREE bonuses when you buy my book. Just follow this link to learn more.

Why did I build this book funnel? I've watched other authors be successful with such a program. You sell books in this process. Some of our most successful authors at Morgan James Publishing are using this method and selling books month after month. These books are not just something the author sells but their book funnel is also driving bookstore sales (online and brick and mortar book sales). These authors have some of the top selling books from the publishing house—year after year.

Will it work for my book? I don't know but I'm trying. Each author has a learning curve and challenges in this process. I do and my encouragement to you today is to keep going. Keep trying new techniques to see if they will work for you. If they do, great. If not, then try something else. As you take action, you will move yourself way beyond the authors who do little or nothing.

In summary, if you are an author, here's the basic principles that I am doing:

* Watch and see what is successful for other authors

* Adapt that success for your own book and try it

* For every such change, there is a learning curve and mistakes

* Be forgiving of others and also with yourself, and then keep going forward.

What sort of learning curve are you experiencing? Let me know in the comments below.

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How To Handle A Marketing Mistake

Ever made a marketing goof? Not just a little error but one where hundreds of people instantly see your mistake (but you didn't)? It's one of the realities of publishing: everyone makes mistakes. I've recently started a Colorado chapter of the Nonfiction Authors Association. The NAA has over 13,000 members and is a growing organization. There are no other chapters in Colorado and our first meeting was last month. 

On September 21st, our chapter will have our next meeting and I've scheduled our first speaker, Sandra Lamb. I've known Sandy for many years and she has written a number of nonfiction books and has a recent book, Writing Well for Business Success (St. Martins Press).

The Nonfiction Authors Association uses meetup to promote and organize their meetings. I've been learning how to use this tool. Last week I used meetup and invited over 200 Colorado writers to attend our meeting. Unfortunately the headline (and subject of my invitation read): Please accept my invitation to Sandra E. Lamb Will Speak at Our June 21st meeting. The body of the email clarified the date for the meeting was not June but September 21st. A couple of people responded and called the error to my attention. I corrected it on the website—but the emails had been sent and probably many people didn't open it with my error.

From this marketing mistake, here's what I learned:

1. Acknowledge the mistake. Yes you can deny it and other actions but the best way forward is to acknowledge the error. I quickly fixed it on the meetup page but the emails had been sent and the damage done.

2. Understand it happens to everyone. In the process of learning a new program or a new method, mistakes are made. It is a normal part of the learning curve.

3. Resend the emails then keep going (learn from it). PT Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens! NOTHING.” It is true. Writers can't come to the event that I've organized unless they know about the meeting. I will fix the error and resend the emails so hopefully a number of people come to this session.

While these lessons were key, here's some additional points: Notice my proactive stance with the mistake. I didn't just shrug it but I'm actively continuing to work to get the message out about this meeting. One reaction is to cross it off your list and do nothing. Such a reaction helps no one. If you want to achieve success, you have to face the bumps in the road and keep going.

In the journey of your writing and marketing, you will make mistakes. One of the easiest paths is to give up and stop writing and marketing. It's the action I've seen many writers take. They send out their submission and get a single rejection and assume no one wants it. The writers who get published take a different course of action.

They persevere and continue writing and looking for that right place to get published. They continue growing in their craft and reaching their audience and readers.

I hope many of you have learned something for your own writing and marketing life from my experience. If so, let me know in the comments. If I can help you, reach out to me.

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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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When You Send Out Gibberish

During the last five years, I've written over 1200 entries in The Writing Life. Besides continuing to expand my reach with these entries, I've arranged for readers to receive my writings via email and almost 500 people receive the information through this tool. If you want to subscribe, go to my blog then scroll down and in the right hand sidebar, you can subscribe.

I subscribe to my own writings and each day I look at the email. Imagine my horror when I opened the one for today and it was pure computer gibberish (see the screen shot to see part of what I'm talking about). It was pages of weird stuff which made zero sense.

Because of my work as an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher, Morgan James, I don't have a lot of time for writing these entries. For yesterday's entry, I worked hard at crafting some insight about the publishing world search for excellence. I added links to additional information and (here's my mistake), I included one of my personal photos from my recent trip to Seattle.

For some reason, I could not get the photo uploaded into my blog. I tried resizing it and then I realized that I could copy and paste it into the site. That worked on the actual site, but not on the email version. That email version was entirely garbled and nothing came through to the reader.

The minute I saw the errors, I went into a “fix it” mode. I went to the site where I sent the emails to my readers and arranged to resend this single post—right away. I received the corrected entry in my email. Whew.

I have several lessons from this experience:

1. Every writer makes mistakes. The important skill in my view is to own that mistake then work to resolve it as soon as possible.

2. I handle my own technical issues. I'll admit it is a pain some times and not everything gets done quickly because my focus is elsewhere. Yet there is no one to blame for mistakes or inaction except myself. I know all about outsourcing and how I can hire others—yet I also understand the speed and value of doing something myself (besides the cost savings). I own a number of websites. If something isn't working right or handled properly, it falls back on my own responsibility to correct. I accept that responsibility.

What action steps are you taking if you make a communication mistake? Do you shrug it or work to resolve it right away? These skills are important in the writing community and I hope my transparency helps you.






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