A Cautionary Tale About the Media

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 

The media (like Talk Radio) is an important element for authors to reach readers. As a journalist, I've interviewed many bestselling authors and published their stories. As an author, I've been interviewed on numerous radio, magazine and podcast shows. Here's one of the facts for you, I've never paid for any interview or paid to appear on any media program. If someone is charging, then your internal alarm bells or red flag should sound.

 

Because of my years of work in publishing and my activity, I have thousands of connections on LinkedIn. Last week someone invited me to make a connection (a common practice). I looked at this person's profile and accepted the invitation. Almost immediately, this person began to email me about appearing on his radio show, the millions of listeners. He had a slot for me to appear this week and it would only cost me $250 which paid for his producer and other people involved in the broadcast. I responded that I had done numerous interviews and never paid for such an opportunity and I asked him to waive the fee. The timing (the next day) sounded suspicious because from my experience these types of opportunities are booked several weeks ahead.

 

He responded that he could drop the price to $200 and if I returned as a guest (which according to him many people do) it would only be $100. He continued to push for payment and my internal alarm bells were sounding. After several exchanges, I wished him the best and passed on the interview. At that point, he  began to belittle me and my book (more alarm bells). In the end, I blocked this person on LinkedIn so I will not interact with him again. It was a money-making scam and I wanted no part of it.

As I think about it further, anyone can create a LinkedIn profile and this one may have been fake. The person's photo was someone with sunglasses could have been anyone. I'll never know but the alarm bells in my mind were sounding with my exchanges.

 

As authors, we have to use our common sense with such “opportunties” along with our past experience. I've hired publicists who are connected to media opportunities. These professionals read my book, create media kits and book interviews. Their role is a common one within the publishing community. Also they book me on programs where I don't pay for such opportunities to reach their audience.

 

I'm telling you about this experience as a cautionary tale with the hope it will help someone avoid the expense and pain of being scammed. There are many working journalists who have a well-established audience and reputation.  Several years ago, to promote my biography about Billy Graham I flew to Tampa, Florida and appeared on the HomeKeeper's program. You can see my interview here. (The interview begins at about 10:11.) This program reached millions of people and I didn't pay anything to the program for this opportunity.

 

Have you had media experiences where your internal alarm bells sound? Let me know about it in the comments. 

 

Tweetable:

Authors need to use common sense working with the media. This prolific editor and author tells a cautionary tale. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet) 

Are You Missing A Key Element to Publish Your Book? Get the details here. 

Why You Need The "Right" Help

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Earlier this year I wrote about my Frog in the Kettle experience. In a very slow process, my computer and browser continued to grow slower and work poorly. I turned to the Geek Squad and they took over my computer and fixed it. Then a few weeks later, it slowed again and I was back to the same process. I could not understand what was going on and causing continual problems with the use of my computer.

 

Finally I got to the “right” technical person on the Geek Squad. He looked at my situation and realized I needed something additional that I did not have: a firewall. As an individual, I had never thought about needing a firewall but I did to prevent the computer attacks from others. I don't understand why others would want to install malicious material on my computer but it is definitely a part of our world. A few days ago, I had the Geek Squad install this firewall protection.

It's been a few days since I made this change and the experience has transformed my desktop computer (and the firewall helps all of my devices including my phone). My computer is more responsive and I'm getting more done without the frustration of my browser spinning on my screen. I've been doing this long enough to realize I will still have glitches in this process. Overall this change has resulted in less stress and better performance. It happened because I persisted and finally got to the right technician who could help me with my situation.

 

My lesson for you is to stress the importance of asking for help but in addition, you need to find the “right” help for your situation. Keep asking and looking until you find it. As writers, we are on a constant search for answers. We have many choices along the path and you need wisdom and insight to make the right choices in this process.

 

We are looking for the right editor, the right experienced person to guide you in the publishng process, the right marketing effort for your books, the right publisher and even the right topic for your book in the first place. Each of us have numerous choices. in this process. Last year, as an editor, I met a writer who had a well-done nonfiction book which she had professionally edited. I offered her a Morgan James Publishing contract but after numerous emails and conversations, she decided to publish with another company. I wished her well but I knew this other company. This company touts their connection to a well-known publisher but that's not the “whole” truth. In reality, this company is a part of a larger entity which is only online and publishing over 50,000 titles a year. I've met authors who have spent $20,000 with this company (something they will never earn back through book sales)—essentially a scam. My reason for telling you this story is to encourage you to be careful with these choices and get the right help.

 

There is no single best path for each of us in this publishing journey. Every writer has to experiment, fail and keep trying in this process. Let me know about your experiences finding the right help in the comments below.

 

Tweetable:

Every writer needs the “right” help during their publishing journey. This prolific editor and author tells about his experience and gives some ideas for your path. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

 

Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Cheated Authors -- And How To Avoid It

I speak with a number of authors who have great dreams and desires for their book. Recently I began to speak with an author who told me in uncertain terms, that her book was coming out and going to be a bestseller. It sounded fascinating so I asked who was the publisher?

It turns out this author's publisher appears in 17 or 18 different formats and is actually a self-publisher. She had no idea that this company produced over 47,000 titles in 2011–-and it's only increased in the subsequent years. 

Yes I know publishing has changed and you can self-publish. There are many advantages to self-publishing: author control, not waiting on anyone or working with anyone else, etc. There are also many downsides to self-publishing such as: no books in the brick and mortar bookstores and no marketing help (of course unless you pay for it. Just check this article from Publishers Lunch about the numbers of titles produced in 2011.

Inside I groan because I know many of these authors will have their dreams and plans dashed. Yes the company where they publish will make the money and little of that will be returned to the author and they will have a terrible experience.

I received a hardcover book from an author who published with a “Christian” company. I had not closely examined a book from this company in some time so I looked at the book.

First, I can tell there are no plans to sell this book inside a brick and mortar bookstore (despite what the publisher may tell their prospective authors). Why? The back cover has no ISBN or barcode. It's the way retail stores keep track of their inventory and also process books so readers can pay for them. This book had no barcode.

Then I opened it up and began to read the book. This author had a fascinating personal experience story and I believe the book could have been good—but it certainly wasn't in the pages of this book. It was pages of nonsense—I am not exaggerating. No story was in the text and impatient readers are not going to give it much of a chance. You can pick up the book on a table and read a few lines and see what you are getting (or not getting). I was disappointed because I've done a little research and know this author had paid at least $4,000 to “partner” with this publisher in the marketing of her book. 

Let me give you several steps to avoid getting cheated and having a poor publishing experience.

1. Use Google and check out the publisher. You can type “NAME OF COMPANY complaints” and read the first couple of pages which come up. As a caution to this step, I will tell you that every publisher (whether traditional or self-publisher; large or small) has authors who complain. I work for Morgan James Publishing and we have our detractors online because anyone can say anything about anyone online and it hangs around forever—even if untrue. I will often tell authors about these detractors and that the information is not true but using Google is a good way to get start getting some information.

2. Ask to speak to published authors from the company, then follow-up and actually interact with some authors. Why? If the publisher is cheating authors, it will not take you long to hear some of these stories. Will the publisher give you contact information for their authors? 

At Morgan James, we have a list of authors who have given us permission to hand out their contact information and I often send it to prospective authors. Yet I also tell authors to look over our catalog and call anyone in our catalog and ask about their publishing experience with us. It shows we have nothing to hide—but also that we have content, positive, happy authors. The publishers who are cheating authors and simply collecting a paycheck do not want you speaking with their authors.

3. Ask your writer friends. The writing community is open and transparent. You can gain a lot of information just asking other writers. You have to be discerning about the feedback you get from others since some of that feedback could be uneducated and plain wrong. Yet you will gain valuable information using this method.

4. Look for print evidence of success for the company. For example, our books at Morgan James have been on the New York Times list 19 times (five books). I have PDF copies of when our books appeared on the New York Times list that I send to prospective authors. Why? Because it validates that we sell books inside the brick and mortar bookstores (which is the only way I know to get on the New York Times list.)

5. Get some training and during the training get information about different companies. For example, in late October, I will be at Author 101 University in Las Vegas. While Rick Frishman, the publisher at Morgan James, leads this event, it is not a Morgan James event. There will be literary agents and editors from many different publishers. It's a terrific place to get educated from my experience—especially before you spend thousands of dollars with the wrong company.

Thousands of authors are following their hearts with their pocket books and spending large amounts of money with companies that are going to fail them—because these companies are running a business and making money. Yet the dreams of these authors are ultimately dashed because they didn't take the time to do a few web searches, send a few emails and make a few phone calls.