If Time Challenged, Then Set a Deadline

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Are you feeling time challenged? Does it feel like each day is passing with increasing speed? It’s a feeling I face daily and in this article I want to give you some action steps for your writing life.

We live in one of the greatest times in human history with incredible opportunities and communication tools. Our ability to communicate with each other happens 24 hours a day and seven days a week. As an editor, the submissions pour into my email account every day--even on the weekend. Last Sunday an author emailed me with his submission which was in five attachments. The better submission would combine all of these attachments into a single document. Even though it was the weekend, I opened two or three of them. The email and each attachment was missing the information I needed to get the submission started. These documents did not contain the author’s mailing address nor his phone number. Without this basic information, the submission cannot get entered into our internal system. 

While it is a bit “old school,” Morgan James Publishing acknowledges every submission which enters the system with a letter in the US mail (and emailed if outside the US). Why? This mailing address is needed if later in the process, we are able to issue a contract offer to publish the book. When I noticed this author didn’t have the information, internally I groaned (not the editor reaction that you want to evoke). If this submission was going anywhere to be considered I had to email the author for the information. It was simply one more unnecessary action for an overloaded schedule. 

Yet I sent the email to the author--even on a Sunday morning. Make sure your submission is complete with the requested information. If your submission is not complete and requires another email from that editor, it may not happen--then you wonder why--but you were the cause because you did not include the requested information.

If you select any month or day, I have a series of deadlines to meet. For example, I guest blog for several different places once a month. Each one has a specific deadline and I will list that deadline in the reminder’s section of my phone, then work toward completion. Also I have a number of submissions which I need to process for these authors to receive a publishing contract. It involves setting up a conference call with the author and proposing a time on email then confirming when they respond. During the call, I ask for several specifics which I need from that author before their paperwork can be completed to possibly get them a contract. If the author doesn’t provide these details, I may need to email or call and follow-up or it could simply be dropped because of their lack of response. However it happens, I’m saying that as an editor I have a series of submissions blasting into my email constantly--way more than any single person could possibly process. Each day I keep chipping away at getting it done.

Also I have scheduled trips to conferences where in general I’m away from my email and phone because I’m meeting face to face with authors. Or I’m teaching a workshop or visiting with authors and hearing about their work and pitches during a meal or a coffee break. These interactions happen early in the morning or even late at night. At these events, my natural tendency is to go to my room and be alone (which happens sometimes on overload). Normally I fight those tendencies and instead make a point of being visible and interacting with whoever crosses my path. I see these interactions as divine appointments and have great stories and experiences from those “chance” meetings.

Whenever I face this steady stream of work and feel time challenged, I celebrate my journalism training and experience. As a young newspaper reporter, I worked on The Peru Daily Tribune in an open newsroom. There were no cubicals but an open series of desks with old manual typewriters, noise and even some cigarette smoke. It was in the days before anyone had a cell phone or computer. The managing editor would gather the staff in his office at 7 a.m. for a story meeting. We brainstormed story ideas for the newspaper.

The managing editor would turn to me and say, “Terry, I need an on the street viewpoint article about (some current event).” My task would be to corner someone on the street, ask a few questions along with their contact information. Then get back to the newsroom, type out my story and turn it into my city editor on or before 11 a.m. There was no time for writer’s block or daydreaming about what to write. It forced every reporter into action because we were writing for  daily newpaper. The edited pages were typeset then printed in the afternoon newspaper which hit the street at 3 p.m. My years of experience meeting deadlines helps me continue to make these deadlines.

The first step in your time challenged experience, is to set your own deadlines then meet those deadlines. An easy way for any writer to standout is to meet your deadlines with quality and complete writing. Many writers are notoriously late. As an editor, I’ve worked with writers and their literary agents to set a contract deadline. When that deadline approaches, these writers (or their agent for them) will call and ask for addtional time. Making this extension is Okay but you can standout as a writer if you hit the original deadline or even turn it in a few days early. 

Use scheduling tools is another resource for the time challenged. For example, every week I publish an original article about The Writing Life. Next week I will be teaching at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference with limited time at my computer. To meet my article deadline, I’ve written it ahead of time and scheduled the release.

Beyond awareness and scheduling tools, your awareness that for something to be effective, you have to  accomplish it repeatedly. I’ve been doing this repeatedly with my weekly newsletter to my email list. I’ve also been doing it through my social media scheduling.

As I’ve written in these articles, I post on social media 12 to 15 times every day seven days a week. To be honest, there are times when I don’t want to do the posts at this frequency. Yet I understand that years ago I set up this expectation and schedule. From the engagement and feedback, I know some people read these entries and they are getting used. While  some days I may be tired of it in obedience and discipline I sit each week and do it. You can make a similar decision. 

What steps do you take when you are time challenged? Do you simply shut down and get away from it all? I have some friends who react in that manner as well. Or maybe you have another idea that I’m missing. Let me know in the comments below. Let’s learn from each other.

Tweetable:

When you are time challenged and overwhelmed with work, what steps to you take? Some people shut down and this prolific author and editor encourages you to set and meet deadlines. Read the details here.  (ClickToTweet)

No matter what type of writing you tackle, each one contains its own challenges and complexity. Many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. Through my years in this business, I’ve spoken with many authors, I find 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. 

Get these articles on your email: 

Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,700 entries and one of the top 27 content writers. With this simple form, each week you can get my new articles, encouragement and insights at: https://t.co/W6uU64u6aA

How To Fill Your Empty Calendar

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Like most freelance writers, I have an empty calendar for many days. How do I fill that schedule with productive activity that moves me forward toward my goals? In this article and no matter what you write, I want to give you some ideas about how to fill those blank and empty periods.

 

1. Determine what you want to write or achieve. Do you want to publish in magazines? Do you want to do more speaking? Do you want to write books for others? Do you want to learn about how to write screenplays or do effective Facebook ads? There are many opportunities and you have to determine which one is where you want to go. If you are looking for a list of writing possibilities, then download the first chapter of my book, Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Use this download link (no optin). 

 

2. Focus your planning and energy toward consistent effort to this goal. To achieve it, what do you need to learn? Who do you need to connect with? How can you build those relationships? It will not be overnight but you have to consistently make the effort to achieve this goal.

 

3. As you get responses, fill your calendar with scheduled phone calls or meetings to build your relationships. As I've mentioned in the past on these articles, who you know is just as important as what you know. Your connections can be invaluable in reaching your publishing goals.

 

I don't expect this process to be easy or simple and know will involve hard work and continued effort. Here's what I have learned from decades in this business, if you do the work, you will eventually achieve the results. I recently listened to Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect about where you can achieve big results from making incremental changes. There is a payoff for making these changes with consistency.

 

As I put together my calendar, balance is a key component. I'm not perfect at it but overall there is a mixture between current work, optional work, planning ahead for future work and consistent learning and growth.

 

For this process, I don't use a paper calendar. Instead I keep dates and appointments on my electronic calendar. I made this switch several years ago and it has been a good one because in general I have my phone with me and can keep up with my variety of deadlines.

 

My Personal Philosophy

 

For a number of years, I've been an early riser with no alarm clock. Yes, if I have to get up at 3 am (which happens sometimes to catch an early flight), I use my alarm but otherwise I don't. For me every day is a gift and we are charged to use that gift wisely—whether it be a regular work day or a holiday or the weekends. I have many different activities which fill my day. Some of them are on my calendar as appointments but others are just work activities that I want to get finished. Some of those activities relate to current work while others relate to future work. Some activities are something new that I'm learning. Others are consistent ways I spread the news to others about my work and effort such as marketing efforts. I'm often in a routine which I've created but I consciously work at changing up that routine so it is different and not boring. I believe each of us have a lot to accomplish in a given day—if we celebrate and seize the opportunity.

 

How do you fill your empty calendar? What steps or ideas can you add to what I've said? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Tweetable:

As a freelance writer, how do you fill your empty calendar or schedule? You can gain ideas and action steps from this prolific editor and author. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Does your fiction or nonfiction book have a business plan? Every type of book needs a proposal—even if you self-publish. Get this resource. 

The Jigsaw Puzzle of a Writing Life

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

For each of us, the writing life is like a giant jigsaw puzzle. You try different pieces to see which ones will fit. You have to experiment to find the right combination for you and your writing. One of the online groups where I participate was talking about critique groups this week. Just like your writing, you have to experiment with critique groups to find the right fit for you—the right people with similar worldviews, the right mixture of people and whether it is in person or online or a little of both. Nothing is clear cut and nothing works for every writer. Instead like putting together a puzzle, you have to experiment and try different things to see which ones will work for you.

 

I suspect your schedule for the day is similar to my schedule—mostly blank unless I'm at a conference or event where my schedule is generally filled with meetings and activity. As an editor, I email people and schedule phone meetings. I also make phone calls to follow-up with authors and others but the bulk of my schedule is blank. My day is filled with a variety of activities.

 

This past week I had returned from a writer's conference where I met with many writers about their books. I spent a great deal of time, putting their information into my computer (to make it easy to access) then writing them emails and asking to submit their manuscript. While I encouraged them to send it when we were face to face and I gave them my business card, the email reinforces that I actually want them to send me their material. From doing this work for several years, I understand not every submission will be a good fit for Morgan James. There are many reasons this fit isn't the right one—but I know for certain they can't get into the consideration process if they don't submit their material.  I have had some good exchanges from these emails and expect more material will arrive in the days ahead from my follow-up work.

 

Also I had a zoom call with a journalist in the United Kingdom asking questions about my writing life. This interview was recorded then posted this week on a private group. Sometimes I will pitch a particular podcast or radio station to get this interview. Other times they will approach me and we will schedule the session. The majorty of the time I pitch myself to get these types of opportunities. When they happen, I ask for the recording then save this recording on my own website. Then I can promote the interview over and over on my social media and know the interview is not going to disappear.

 

I have several regular guest blogging assignments. I schedule reminders on my phone to help me to meet the deadlines for each one, which has a slightly different audience and focus. In this process, I will often recycle or slightly rewrite an older article so it can be done in a shorter amount of time than creating it from scratch. 

While each of my days are filled with different activities, there is a balance between immediate deadlines and long-term deadlines. I continue to write books for other people as well as promote my own work. As I've mentioned in these entries, there is always more work to be done. A particualr project will be completed but there are other tasks that need to be done.

 

I use tools like Hootsuite to schedule my social media posts and respond to those posts. Your consistent effort is an important part of the process. Throughout today I will be emailing and calling people as well as writing on different projects. These actions are all part of the jigsaw puzzle of my writing life. What steps are you taking? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Tweetable:

As writers, we piece together the jigsaw puzzle of a writing life. This prolific editor and author gives some specifics about the mixture of short-term and long-term projects in his writing journey. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Does your fiction or nonfiction book have a business plan? Every type of book needs a proposal—even if you self-publish. Get this resource.

Some Keys for Being Active on Social Media

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

For years, I have worked at developing a large social media following—over 200,000 Twitter followers, over 18,000 LinkedIn Connections and over 4,900 Facebook friends. These types of numbers do not happen overnight but are something every author can do—with consistent work. I continue to expand and develop these areas.

In this article, I want to give you several keys for doing your own social media. Yes you can hire others to do social media. 

From my experience no matter how much you train them, they will not do it like you do it. Your passion needs to show through. I have always done my own social media posts.

1. Control Your Social Media Time. It's easy to waste hours on your Facebook feed or Twitter feed or LinkedIn feed. I do go over to these places but my time is controlled and not very long at any time.

2. Have the Mindset Your Social Stream Is Like a Magazine. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn, you notice I have a great deal of variety on my social media streams. Yet everything is focused for people interested in publishing. My mindset when I put together my posts are like I am putting together a print magazine targeted to a particular audience. I will keep you on track with what you are putting out.

3. Work Ahead. I use the paid version of Hootsuite to post consistently throughout each day. The majority of my posts come from other people and each one has an image and a link to more resources, The only exception is the quotation and photo I use to begin each day. In general, once a week I fill out my plans for the entire week and it often takes me about 20 to 30 minutes for this task.

4. Create A Grid for Your Scheduled Posts. No one but me probably knows the pattern of my social media posts. I begin each day with a quotation and a photo of that person. I follow that with a couple of posts to my own material such as a free ebook or a product that I'm selling. These posts are followed by six hours of posts from others—yet to my target audience. I close the day with a couple of personal posts to a blog article or a free resource. You could create a formal grid (I haven't) but I recommend you make a pattern for yourself and then it is automatic and something you do rather than work to create.

A recent Pew Poll has proven that 80% of the tweets on Twitter come from 20% of the people. Because I tweet 12 to 15 times a day, I believe I'm in the 20%.  Here's an extra truth about social media: Not everyone reads every post but people are reading your posts. I can see from the comments and reactions.

These are some of my keys for being active on social media. What are your keys in this area? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Learn some of the keys for being active on social media from this prolific author and editor. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

  

Get Inspiration from Quotations

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Early on in my journalism training, I was taught to look for key quotations. Often these statements would be in the lead of my story or they would drive home the point of my story.  

As writers interviewing other people for the content of a chapter of a book or a magazine article, I encourage you to be looking for these key quotations. They will help you as you craft your stories.

When I read inspirational quotes, I get insights and encouragement. I look for them from many different sources like my own reading of books or blogs or articles online. When I find them, I will often cut and paste them into my social media plans for the future. It's been my pattern for years with my social media feeds for the day: I begin every day with an inspirational quotation and an image.

In the social media world, you can attract more attention, retweets and responses if you include an image. Through the years of my using social media, I have collected images of different people into a file labeled “Twitter Images.” These images are stored alphabetically so when I need one again, it is easy to locate and use again.

Here's an example I saw today:

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”
-- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

I add the image and then save it into my HootSuite. It will begin my day of social media postings on Sunday, May 3, 2020 at 6:05 am. Yes on inspirational quotations, I am way ahead on my postings. I use Hootsuite (the paid version with unlimited posts to schedule—and I take full advantage of this feature and schedule my posts way ahead of time—at least some of them).

I have another reason I'm way ahead on my inspirational quotes. Several weeks ago, I was behind on gathering these inspirational quotations. I learned to use another feature of HootSuite which I had not before. This program stores all my old tweets which number in the thousands. I went back and took the inspirational quotes for a month (at least one year ago so no one would remember) and worked them into my future schedule. I created a pattern of beginning every day with this inspirational quotation. Do you have a pattern or grid for your tweets? I do and it makes it simple to schedule with this grid for certain types of tweets in mind.

Do you get inspiration from quotes? Do you use them and see them on a regular basis in your writing life? Let me know the details in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Inspirational quotes are often seen in articles and online. What do you do with them? Get some ideas from this prolific editor and author. (ClickToTweet)

What Fills Your Daily Schedule?

There is one resource in the possession of everyone: time. Also everyone spends time doing some activity. As you take control of your schedule or time, you can increase (or waste) your day.

As a writer, how to you fill your days? Do you have a plan or schedule? Or is it random and uncontrolled? I work as an acquisitions editor and a writer. I'm grateful for the flexibility of my daily schedule. Yet to some, this empty calendar can be a concern. How do you fill your time?

As an acquisitions editor, I have some writers and literary agents who reach out to me and want to schedule time on the phone or a meeting in person. Other times I attend or speak at a conference and travel away from my office. Yet overall these types of events or meetings are rare to fill my daily schedule.

In this article, I want to give you some of the tools and action steps I take on a regular basis with my life in publishing.  The steps you take will be different but I hope these words will give you some new ideas for your own writing life.

For years I've been active on Twitter and every day I grow my audience on this social media platform with five actions (detailed here and still being done). There has been admittedly hours of time spent in small chunks to achieve this following. It is a regular part of my day whether I am at home or traveling.

Here's some basic principles to help you:

1. Create a system to handle any action you take on regular basis and keep moving forward. For example, if you are writing a book, set a word count goal. This goal can be for the week or even daily. Then consistently write enough words to meet or exceed your goal and you will keep the project moving forward toward completion.

2. Be aware or actively look for tools to help you automate and meet your goals. For example, with my Morgan James Publishing phone calls to authors, I use an application called DialPad. When I call someone using this program, my direct dial New York phone number shows on the recipient's caller ID—even though I live in Colorado. It is a company branding tool that immediately says New York publisher. This tool also keeps a running list of any of my phone calls listing the date and length. It give me a systematic place to keep track of my phone calls. You may or may not use DialPad but find a way to keep track of such information (if it is important to your work).

3. Consistently work on different stages of the work. For example, some of my work is calling authors who have a contract and answering their question.  Another part of my work is processing new submissions to see if they are the right fit for Morgan James and if so, then I champion these authors to my publication board and colleagues. I'm regularly working on brand new authors and also answering email and phone calls from current authors.

My phone has a feature called Reminders. When I have a deadline for my writing or anything else that I need to accomplish, I will often create a reminder. As I use these tools and check off my tasks, I move forward with a productive day.

Your process of filling your schedule with productive activity will be different from mine. Hopefully I have given you some ideas. If you have another tool or tip, please comment below.

Tweetable:

Become more productive. Use three principles from a prolific writer and editor. (Click to Tweet) 

When You Fall Off Your Horse...

…get right back on it. It works with riding horses and it works in the writing world as well. Yes you can choose to walk away from a horse and never get on one again. Yet to become a successful horse handler, you have to return to the saddle, conquer your fears and keep on riding.

It is the same in the writing world. If you want to publish, you have to continue writing. The words don't magically appear on the screen but you have to sit down in your chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and continue to write and tell stories.
Over the last few weeks, I've not been posting articles about The Writing Life. I've missed writing these entries and with this post, I'm getting back on track with them. I've been on the road speaking at two different conferences in Wisconsin and Texas. 

Plus I've been on the phone and emailing different authors about their specific projects with Morgan James Publishing. I'm happy to report that wonderful books are being published through Morgan James and authors are getting their books out into the marketplace. 

In about ten days, I head to Author 101 University in Las Vegas. If you are going to be at this event, then I look forward to seeing you there. If not, I encourage you to begin planning now to attend the next one in Los Angeles in early March 2014. We expect 400 to 500 people at Author 101 and lots of great networking and teaching and learning happens at these events. 

If you've taken a break from your writing and not been published recently, what can you to do start again? First, it's OK not to be writing all the time. Give yourself this permission. When I was not writing, I have been reading different books, attending workshops and taking in information. It's hard to give out day in your writing day after day without filling up with new information. Reading good books can be a critical part of your every day growth plan.

Second, when you have stopped writing, start again. Like the old cowboy who has been bucked off his horse, you dust yourself off, put your fingers on the keyboard and begin writing again. While my work hasn't appeared here, I have been meeting other deadlines such as my column Book Proposal Boot Camp for the Southern Writers Magazine (an excellent bi-monthly publication).

If you quit and walk away from publishing or writing, then that is a valid choice. It is not where I've been living and breathing for over 20 years.

If you have gotten bogged down with writing a long piece of writing such as a novel or nonfiction book, I encourage you to write shorter magazine articles. A change of pace is good for any writer. If you haven't written any magazine articles or need a refresher, I encourage you to read this article that I pulled together on this topic.