Missed Opportunities

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As writers and others involved in publishing, I believe we live in one of the greatest times in human history. Markus Dohle, the former CEO of Penguin Random House wrote a couple of years ago about books are now enjoying their biggest renaissance since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the fifteenth century. I was on a webinar listening to Dohle where he made this statement and gave his reasons. If you follow the link, you can see a webinar where he talks about the explosion in book publishing around the world.  

In my own life and work, I’m finding great opportunities for my writing and other aspects of my work. Recently I was on a zoom call with a writer and an agent. During this call the writer talked about his new podcast and offered the agent and myself, the opportunity to be on his podcast. I appreciated this offer, made a note and a bit later, followed up with an email. In my email, I pitched my topic which was tied to one of my books. The writer sent a link to his calendar and we recorded the podcast recently. One of these days I will get a notice about when the recording will be published. I’m including this story as an example of how we are surrounded with such opportunities. They can slip through our fingers and never happen--unless we take action and pitch.

As a part of my work at Morgan James Publishing, I get leads of authors who are pitching their work. For anything to happen, I have to craft an email and encourage these authors to submit their work, get into the consideration process and possibly get a Morgan James contract. When I sent this series of emails asking for submissions, some people respond right away and others do not respond. 

A week or so after sending a series of these email requests, one of these writers called me. She looked at our website and was interested in possibly submitting to me. On our website, we clearly say that our process includes a financial commitment from the author to purchase their own books--during the lifetime of their book. Her question to me was a good one, “Do you work with authors who are cash poor and don’t have those funds?”

“Yes,” I responded then told her about a creative way to raise the money. Morgan James Publishing has their own branded version of a program called Publishizer. It’s like a GoFundMe or KickStarter campaign but Publishizer is only for book authors. Here’s an example of one of my authors who raised the funds for her book using Publishizer. As we spoke about it, this author caught the vision of how she could use this tool to raise the funds for publishing and marketing her book. I admit it will take some additional creative effort for the author to create such a campaign, market it, then succeed with it. 

After my call, I followed up and sent this author some detailed information so she could explore the possibilities. Currently I have not heard anything additional from this author. I have not received her submission or anything else to move forward through the Morgan James process. I’m hopeful that she will still send it but if not, it is another missed opportunity. 

Any author can publish their book through Amazon, which is a big customer for Morgan James but only 24% of our overall business. If you publish with Amazon, you are missing 76% of where we sell books, which are being sold in 98% of the bookstores in North America including the brick and mortar bookstores. 

Many authors miss their opportunity when they don’t submit their material. Others miss their opportunity to publish with a traditional publisher and are impatient to get their work into the market. These authors self-publish and essentially eliminate any traditional publisher. The only exceptional authors who don’t get eliminated in this process are the ones who are wildly successful selling their own book like The Shack. Thousands failed yet The Shack succeeded. 

There are many other opportunities that I miss because I didn’t craft a pitch to a radio station or a podcast. Another way I miss opportunities is through a lack of follow-up. In fact, many writers will submit their work and not use the gentle follow-up to get an update on their submission. 

As I’ve written in these articles, a key part of the publishing process is finding the right fit. It is not an easy or simple business. The author has to work to find the right connection and not miss the opportunity.

Several weeks ago, a publicist reached out to me about a new book from Joyce Meyer called The Pathway To Success. She complimented my reviews on Goodreads and asked if I would like to read this book. Yes, I responded with my mailing address and I received the book. I’ve been reading it and learned a great deal. Here’s my review of it. Even for a much published author like Joyce Meyer, she has faced rejection and adversity on the pathway to success. 

Each week, I get rejected. Yes, things that I pitched are not answered (rejection). Contracts that I send to authors are turned down and other events that I try fail. In the face of rejection, I have two choices. I can wallow in my disappointment and quit. Or I can renew my determination and keep knocking on new doors for some additional opportunities. If I stop, it will become a missed opportunity. It’s a strange juxtiposition but I’ve learned failure and success are a part of the journey and necessary if you don’t want to miss an opportunity. 

How do you handle the opportunities that are coming your way? Are you missing them or do you have another strategy? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

As writers, we live in one of the greatest times in human history according to this prolific writer and editor. How are you tackling the missed opportunities around you? Get the details in this article. (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.

Re-Use Your Interviews

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

You may wonder if anyone listens to the radio. Just because you don’t commute or listen to the radio or podcasts, that does not mean large numbers of other people do listen to the radio. If you have any doubts, just read this recent article from the Pew Research Center. Radio can be a powerful medium to tell others about your book or area of expertise.

Recently one of my Morgan James authors was on In the Market with Janet Parshall speaking for an hour about the topic of her book. This radio program has a large audience and is simultaneously broadcast on 700 radio stations. I was thrilled for my author to have such broad exposure for her book. While that one-time broadcast was powerful, what if you could use this interview over and over? 

I called my author and recommended she get the actual audio from the interview, then store it on her own website (so it never disappears or changes). With this additional effort, she can tell others about this interview over and over through social media, her newsletter and other places. Because the interview was live radio, it will sound fresh in a month or a year and attract new readers to her topic and her book. In this article, I’m encouraging you to use such a strategy to continually gain new listeners about your book.  

Let’s take a step back and ask, is the media interviewing you? If so, I applaud your efforts. How do you get these interviews? Do you pitch yourself to producers or did you hire a publicist? Either option is a good one to get connected to these media experts who need fresh material for their radio programs. You can serve these journalists and also reach new people about your book. In these articles, I’ve written about radio interviews before (follow this link). I encourage you to get as much mileage and use out of these intereviews as possible.

I’m conviced every author or would-be author needs to learn about the power of radio. Use this link to learn how Alex Carroll has built a huge following, book sales and business on the radio. 

When it comes to working with the media, don’t be a one and done interview. Instead take some extra actions to get more mileage from your efforts. There are many radio programs and stations looking for you to interview. They simply haven’t gotten the right pitch from you or a publicist. 

Each of us have to be continually pitching our important topic and expertise to get these interviews in the first place, then use them to their fullest potential. Each of us are making choices and need to make the best choice then use our resources with wisdom and consist action. 

What actions are you taking to get media interviews on the radio or podcasts? How are you re-using your resource to get the greatest exposure and mileage from it? Let me know in the comments below. 

My Articles in Other Places. 

In these articles, I often encourage you to publish your book on other blogs and other places. Here’s some of my articles which have been published recently:

Six Reasons to Write Reviews. On Writers on the Move, I give a the details and encourage every writer to be writing reviews. 

Jumpstart Your Magazine Writing. How can you magazine writing and deliver what the editor needs? I give the details in this article. 

Why Are You The Author?   At Almost an author, I write about some aspect of book proposal creation. This article addresses a question every proposal should answer because editors and agents want to know this information.

Tweetable:

Does the media interview you once and you are done? Or do you re-use your interviews? Get ideas to expand the reach of your interviews from this prolific editor and writer. (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.

Anticipate Your Future Actions

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Several months ago, I wrote an article about The Practice of Anticipation.  This article contains different information than the first article and I hope this will help you in your writing life. This process is about taking action today to anticipate the future. It is almost like this photo of a mom helping her child prepare a treat—anticipating your future needs.

 

As you write and work in the publishing community, do you regularly save data, photos and even social media posts, then you will be able to use them in the future? It's something I've been doing for years and call it the practice of anticipation.  When I come across some data, I use it for my current purpose, but I take a couple of extra seconds to save the data in a place and format, I can access it and use it in the future.

 

For example, I've been tracking down some old illustrations in one of my out of print books. I'm in the process of bringing this book back to print (more on that soon). I've purchased the rights to the old book but did not get some of the illustrations in a high resolution format. Through a series of phone calls and emails I met the printer for my old book—and I added the name, address, email and phone for this printer to my address book. I have no idea if I will need this information in the future or not, but I'm preserving it in  an accessible format—just in case.  I take these sorts of actions with emails, phone numbers, addresses, and other bits of information.

 

When I write an article for The Writing Life, at the bottom of the article, I use ClickToTweet to create an easy way for others to share the content. Then I take one more step, I save my ClickToTweet in a text file with tweets. Then I can easily cut and paste this post and use it another time.

 

I also anticipate using images again. Each day I begin my social media posts with an inspirational quote and a photograph. Social media posts gain a lot more exposure if they are more than text but also include a photo. I save these photos in a file on my desktop. When I travel, I copy this file so I can access it on the road. This file also includes the various royalty-free photos I use for my different articles. I can easily access these photos to use in another social media post—because I am anticipating using them again. For my writing life, it is all about being organized enough to save critical information in a format you can easily access it again if needed.

 

Several weeks ago I recorded a podcast with James Schramko in Australia—his episode number 820. I had no idea when this podcast would air but got the notice it had launched (follow the link if you want to watch or hear it.) I have promoted the podcast but also saved the various images and a social media post to use it again in the future. It's all about practicing anticipation.

 

I also anticipate my office supplies. For example, last week I used my last ream of paper for my printer. I ordered another ream of paper. I also used my last black ink cartridge in my printer and ordered more ink. Anticipation is important so when paper or ink need to be replaced, I have already anticipated it and have what I need rather than running to the store or quickly ordering it.

 

Another way to describe this practice of anticipation is taking steps today to prepare for future actions. What actions are you taking today that will help you in the future? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Tweetable:

How do you take action today that will make it easier for you in the future? This prolific editor and author encourages you to anticipate future actions. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

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Sometimes You Have to Push a Little

Sometimes writers need to do some pushing like this baby elephant is pushed.

Several times in these entries, I've written about the power of asking for what you want. I recognize there are relationships where we hesitate to ask. From my experience, if you are professional and straightforward, then you can push past your hesitation and go ahead and ask.

Several weeks ago I noticed one of my authors posted on Facebook about having a meal with a high profile television personality. I knew this author has a forthcoming book to be released next year. I reached out to this author and encouraged him to ask this television personality for an endorsement or foreword for his book. In his initial response, he was reluctant because he had been childhood friends with this person and known her for years. My author was hesitant to ask for this endorsement. I encouraged this author to move forward and ask because of the prominence of this person in the marketplace. He took my advice and I recently heard he had secured this endorsement.

Now with the endorsement in hand, the next question is where it will be placed in the forthcoming book. My encouragement again to the author is to ask for it to be prominent on the front cover. I've had authors gather these endorsements then the publisher puts the words in small type on the back cover with little promotion gain for the author. Once again I pushed this author to ask the publisher to get this endorsement on the front cover. If the author is straightforward and professional with his asking, there is nothing wrong with giving a little self-protecting push in this process.

Some books have endorsements and some do not. Here's what you need to know: your literary agent or your publisher or your publicist doesn't solicit and generate these endorsement. It can happen from those people but it is rare. The bulk of the endorsements come from the author and the author asking people for these endorsements. My encouragement is for you to take action to secure these endorsements because endorsements sell books.

I encourage you to study this article from Jacqueline Marcell about her self-published book. Why? This author had remarkable endorsements from numerous well-known celebrities, business people, athletes and others. How did she get them? Marcell asked—and sometimes she asked over and over to break through and get them. It's a combination of professionalism and perseverance that makes the difference in my view. Yet as the author you have to take action in this area.

Recently I was in Nashville with my Morgan James authors. As an acquisitions editor, I helped these first-time authors get a foreword from a bestselling and recognized author in their field of expertise. During our interaction to get the foreword, this author offered to have these new authors on her forthcoming podcast. The authors reminded me about this generous offer and had not heard any more about it nor had it been scheduled. My immediate encouragement was to give them this author's email and encourage them to follow=up on that offer and book that podcast.

We live in a busy world and the details can get lost in the process without  follow-up. The offer to appear on a podcast may have been done at the spur of the moment and without sending a follow-up reminder, the opportunity may disappear and not happen. As a writer and author, you have to seize all of these opportunities and follow-up. These actions are a key part of this business.

What are you gently pushing on to make it happen? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

As a writer, sometimes you have to push a little for something to happen.Get ideas in this article from an experienced editor. (ClickToTweet)

 

Is Book Publishing Like A Marathon or a Sprint?

Many writers want to publish a book. From my many years in publishing, I find few of them have thought about whether the process of publishing a book is like a sprint (something with a burst of speed) or a marathon (steady and consistent to complete the task). I often see authors who want to sprint to publication or sprint to get a book contract or a bestseller. Reality is that often it takes consistent, hard work to produce anything of excellence—the writing or the marketing. Authors are not overnight successes but instead spend years in the trenches faithfully working to get their work noticed and sold.

This week a young author outside of the U.S. wrote and asked if a decision had been made on his manuscript. It had been less than two weeks since I had corresponded with this author and it took a number of emails until he gave me what I needed to submit his work. I told this author if he wants a “no, thank you” then I could do that right away but if he wants a “yes” with a publishing contract then that takes patience and time.

While there are many keys in book publishing, in this article, I want to emphasize four important areas.

You Need A Great Product

Too many authors want to dash off something and rush it into the marketplace. I've seen it in my own work and the work of others. Haste often makes waste or mistakes. Take the time to write an excellent book or book proposal. The book proposal is your business plan for your book—whether you are writing nonfiction or fiction—whether you are self-publishing or traditional. You need a plan and it is important to build the plan with a great manuscript. The writing has to be excellent. You need others to affirm that excellence before rushing it to the market. 

The devil is in the details. Are all of the details in place for your book before you take it to the marketplace? Does it have a great title? Does it have an attractive cover? Does the first page make me want to turn to the second page? Does the copy on the back cover, draw me to going to the cash register? This week I was a full-color children's book which had no descriptive information on the back cover. Yes it had a barcode and the name of the publisher but nothing to draw me to buy the book. It is a huge omission and lowers the standard for this product. Don't make these basic errors because you are eager to get your book to the market.

You Need to Build an Audience

You've poured a lot of energy and effort into your book. Will you have readers or people who want to read your work—and who are excited about it that they tell others? When someone tells another person about a book, that is called “Word of Mouth.” It is golden when it happens and takes work from the author. As an author you can't lean on your publisher to market your book and build your audience. You have to take your own responsibility for marketing your own book. I understand the reluctance—and I've been there too but I tell every author as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James that they have 80% of the responsibility. Our publishing house will sell the book into the bookstores but all of those books can be returned if the author doesn't promote their book. 

I have much more detail and many more ideas in Platform Building Ideas for Every Author which is free (just use the link). 
   
You Need to Have Patience

The majority of book publishing is not quick. You send your material to editors and agents yet do not get a response or receive a response months after your submission.  The reality is that it takes time to build consensus among colleagues to issue a book contract or to make a contract offer to publish. As a writer you want to follow-up and make sure the editor or agent received your material and everything is in process. But in contrast, you do not want to push because most of the time when you push, you will nudge that professional toward sending you a polite “no thank you.”

Instead of pushing for a decision, you are better to begin another project. Write a one page query letter for a magazine article. Pitch a magazine editor to assign you to become a columnist. Begin a new book project or book proposal. This effort will remove your focus on the project which is under consideration. 

You Need to Have More Than One Project

If you have more than one proposal or one book, you will be less anxious about the submission and be able to shift your focus to the new project or new writing assignment. It will increase your own productivity in the writing world. Recently I was interviewed on this topic of productivity. I encourage you to listen to Productivity in Writing on the Northern Colorado Writers Podcast. It's about a 35 minute session about how to become more productive as a writer.

How do you view book publishing? As a marathon or a sprint? I'd love to have your comments or any other way I can help you with this process. As an acquisitions editor, I'm constantly looking for good books to publish. Don't hesitate to contact me and my work contact information is on the second page of this link.

Listen to This Podcast to Grow Your Writing Life

John Vonhof interviewed me for his podcast Writers On Fire. We were scheduled to go about 45 minutes but actually went almost an hour and a half. John edited the podcast down to a rich 63 minutes. You can listen to it on his site (click the link). On the site you can listen to it there or download it to your computer. 

While I haven't been blogging much lately because of my travel and other responsibilities, it is not far from my radar and intentions. I hope you will use the search tool in the far right column of this blog to look for topics and posts when you have writing questions. There are over 1200 entries in the Writing Life—loads of content.

Thank you in advance for listening to this podcast and I hope it helps you grow your own writing life.
 

Get A Fix On Grammar

Whatever your connection to the writing world, basic grammar skills are important to master. Many people have forgotten but I have a Masters degree in linguistics which means I've spent more hours than I'd like to recall in detailed study of grammar. I'm talking about way beyond simple English grammar but grammar patterns of other languages. For example, one of my courses for my Master's degree was called "The Sentence." Over an entire college semester, we studied various sentence patterns in a sweeping array of languages.

It's not that I am uninterested in grammar. Over the years since I've been in publishing, I've tried a variety of books geared to writers about grammar--and each one has landed in the boring category. Yes I read a few pages of each one then didn't complete them or use them. They sat on my shelf of writing books for a few years then were cleared off to make room for other books.

In my local newspaper, I found a great story about the wildly popular podcast, "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." It turns out Mignon Fogatry is starting her book tour here in Arizona this week for her first book--which naturally bears the same title as her well-known podcast.

I spent a few minutes looking around her podcast which includes transcripts. Also make sure you check out her other website called Behind the Grammar where she talks about other topics like marketing, business and writing.

One of Fogarty's most popular entries is about proofreading--which is an area that many writers can use some help. She's got some great tips that I recommend.

No matter what your skill level as a writer, it's a good idea to continually improve your grammar skills and these links might help you get a fix on grammar skill improvement.