Fuel for Author Disappointment

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Running on empty? Not selling as many books as you want to sell? Just like a car needs gas for fuel, authors need to take action to reach readers. Which actions are effective? I’m going to give you some answers below.

First, some background about some situations where I asked these questions. As an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher, Morgan James Publishing, often I speak with authors about their books. One our novelists with a trilogy of books, published his first novel with us about six months ago. Now he's speaking with me about getting a contract for books two and three in his series. Doing my due dilligence, I asked about the sales of his first novel. I learned this book has sold 40 copies in the bookstores. What disappointing news and shows this author did little (if anything) to promote those bookstore sales. The primary way our company makes money is selling books in the bookstores. 

I’m speaking with another author who years ago published his first book with Morgan James. Now he is approaching me about publishing his second book. As a part of my preparation, I asked about his book sales for the first book. During the years his book has been in print, he has sold several hundred books inside the bookstore. Also this author has purchased a couple of hundred additional books. From a publisher viewpoint, these numbers are dismal. Often I tell my authors about the thousands of dollars Morgan James invests in the creation of their books and that to become profitable we need to sell about 4,000 copies. 

Here’s the good news: despite those past sales numbers, we are working with these authors and all our other authors over the long haul. We don’t charge for our marketing training and are still helping authors who we published over 20 years ago. From my work in publishing, I know how different these actions are compared to other publishers. We do it because we understand that if the author takes steady and persistent effort, then the sales of their book can change. As a publisher, Morgan James is focused on the long haul and not a short period.

What to do with Author Disappointment

1. I encouraged both of these authors to get active and tell readers about the benefits of their book. It’s been proven that readers have to hear about the value of your book over and over before they take action (buy it). There are many different ways to show that activity such as blog posts, podcasts, radio, newspaper, live events, etc. Get a copy of John Kremer’s over 700 page book 1001 Ways to Market Your Book. Then read this book and try to execute as many of those ideas as you can.

2. As an acquisitions editor speaking with authors about their book, I’m searching for active authors who understand they have to take consistent action to reach readers and sell books. It is a constant area of my discussion with authors.

3. Another way I handle my author disappointment is to take action to get more of my work into the market. If you have heard any of my podcasts, I often talk about my own season of author disappointment when my books were not selling and how I turned that situation around through taking 100% responsibility for my own success. The process takes consistent and persistent work but is possible and every author can do it.

Finally I encourage you to watch this 55 second Facebook reel from “Starside” author Alex Aster on the impact that social media has had on her career. She tells Drew Barrymore about how she could not find a literary agent or a publisher for her novel. Alex believed in her story and created hundreds of videos on TikTok. Her readers watched and agreed. Now she is publishing her ninth novel.  It’s a remarkable story about her determination, persistence and going directly to the readers with her books. 

What fuel are you using for author disappointment? Let me know in the comments. Whatever you do, don’t quit and keep looking for the right place. I believe your persistence will pay off.

Tweetable:

When you experience author disappointment, what action do you take? This prolific author and editor suggests actions to fuel author disappointment.   (ClickToTweet)

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Last week another podcast recording launched: 

Morgan McCarver (@GodTheArtistBk) and I spoke about publishing myths on God the Artist Podcast. Listen at: https://bit.ly/4ddVwQT

Currently I’m working with my third publisher as an acquisitions editor. During these years, I’ve spoken with many authors about their expectations, dreams and desires for their books. I find many unrealistic expectations. Many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses.

Subscribe to Terry’s Newsletter:

During the last year, once a week I’ve been sending a short free newsletter. Just follow this link to subscribe. When you are added to the newsletter, you will receive a FREE 87-page Ebook which is packed with insights for every writer.

Get these articles on your email: 

Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,800 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

Time To Get Organized

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

With the New Year’s Day coming this week, I'm writing my final article about The Writing Life for this year. The bulk of the publishing community is silent. It’s something I call the Silent Days and I wrote an article about how to thrive during this period (follow the link).  Officially Morgan James Publishing closes for the last two weeks of the year and reopens on Monday, January 5th. I’m still sending a few emails and doing a little work but not my typical effort.

From my perspective, these days are a great time to get organized. In this article, I’m going to show several of the activities that I’m doing and hopefully it will stir you to take action for your writing life. Toward the end of this article, I have information about a FREE live event on January 6th. I hope many of you will attend and take advantage of this opportunity.

Time to Reset

For many years, I’ve read through the Bible from cover to cover. I have at least four different versions of the printed book which I use:

The Daily Walk (the one I’ve read this year)

The Daily Messenge (the one for next year)

The One Year Bible

The Daily Bible in Chronological Order

For each version, I’ve purchased the digital version on my phone because I can make the type bigger for ease of reading. Also when I travel and I’m away from the printed copy, I continue to read my Bible each day. These volumes help me to set the pace and pattern of my day. If you don’t use one of these tools, I highly recommend it to keep you moving forward and connected to the most important book, The Bible.

Also I keep my financial receipts for the year in a box. This time of year I find an empty box and get it labeled and ready for the new year.

Sort, Organize and Throw Away

I have several stacks of print magazines that I will sort through, use and discard. Then I do the same task several shelves of books. Overall I read less last year than the year before (something Goodreads managed to tell me with an email). It moved me to recommit to doing more consistent reading during the coming year.

Reconnect with Friends and Colleagues

The holidays are a great time to reconnect with friends and colleagues. I’ve been doing a bit of that effort this year and hope you will take the time to do it as well.

Make Plans for the New Year

While I don’t make resolutions which are easy to break and not fulfill. Instead I take time to reflect on what happened last year. For example I traveled to and taught at three writer’s conferences. Each one opened up new opportunities in my writing life--and not always in the expected way. For example, at one event I met another faculty member and we recorded a podcast. At another event, I did not bring a single author into Morgan James Publishing (even though I tried and presented contracts to several new authors I met). Instead I met a freelance editor and author who referred an author to me. This referred author did publish her book with Morgan James and it will release this coming year. My lesson for you is to seize whatever opportunities open from a particular event even if not exactly the one you were projecting. 

Podcasts

Throughout this year, I’ve been guesting on various podcasts. The bulk of these podcasts I’ve made through PodMatch which is connected to over 90,000 podcasts. I have booked or recorded over 60 different podcasts which have been downloaded 7,200 times. Each podcast opens a new door of opportunity for others to learn about my work and reach me. One key lesson I’ve learned is I can’t control when the podcaster will launch our recording. What I can control is the stories and answers I give during our time together. Before each podcast, I review my key stories, talking points and websites that I want to mention (no matter what question is asked). Within the writing world, we call this skill media training. If you want to learn more or take a refresher course in this area, I recommend this FREE training with Gayl Murphy (follow the link).

Plan to Attend a Writer’s Conference

Some of my greatest relationships in the publishing world started at a writer’s conference. There are some amazing opportunities at these events. Follow this link for some possibilities. In May 2026, I will be at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. This link contains my speaking schedule.

Boost Your Writing Year on January 6th

I’m speaking at the Publicity Club on Tuesday, January 6th from 5 pm to 6 pm Pacific. I'm teaching on Seven Simple Actions to Boost Your Publishing This Year. The first meeting is free and here’s the Facebook event link with the details. I will be telling some stories but also including an action-packed handout. I hope many of you will attend and get my free resource. 

Throughout my years in publishing, I appreciate the insights and knowledge I’ve gained from others. Here’s a simple truth: knowledge alone is worthless. It’s your consistent and persistent actions that will make the difference in the results of your writing life. Maybe you wanted to write a book or some other goal last year and it did not happen. The year ahead can be different if you take consistent and persistent actions. 

Organized people accomplish more than working in chaos and a mess.Ideas are fleeting so capture them then work to get them accomplished. The image I chose for this article is not my actual desk but hopefully this organized office gives you some ideas and motivation for what your office could be like. Take a little time to get organized and it will pay off for your productivity and accomplishments in the days ahead.

How are you using these days to get organized? What am I missing? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

The slower pace of these days can provide time to get organized according to this prolific author and editor. Get the details and specifics about a free event.  (ClickToTweet)

As I’ve worked in the publishing world for years, I’ve spoken with many authors about their expectations and dreams for their books. I’ve found many of these authors have  unrealistic expectations about what will happen with their published book. Many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help and take actions no matter what the publisher does for your book. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses. 

Subscribe to Terry’s Newsletter:

During the last year, once a week I’ve been sending a short free newsletter. Just follow this link to subscribe. When you are added to the newsletter, you will receive a FREE 87-page Ebook which is packed with insights for every writer.

Get these articles on your email: 

Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,800 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

The Necessity of Continual Experimentation

 

 By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

There is no 1-2-3 formula to become an author--much less a bestselling author. Instead each of us need to continually experiment with different aspects of the process. As we experiment and fail, then try something else, we will find our course of action. The only action which can stop you is if you quit and give up.

To publish a book, there are basically three paths: traditional, self-publishing and hybrid or independent publishing. Each path involves many choices and these choices can lead you forward or into a holding pattern. I’ve spoken with authors who have gotten tired of building their platform, chasing a literary agent and a traditional publishing deal. They have self-published and spent thousands of dollars in this process. These authors have their book on their own website and Amazon--and no where else because of their choices. I encourage you to check out David Hancock, the founder of Morgan James Publishing, and his new book, The Babylon Blueprint for Authors. While it contains some great marketing ideas for your book, it also has 40 pages comparing the three different paths. Use this link to get a free copy.

As writers, we need to continually experiment, research different options, choose some of them and fail. This week I spoke with an author who is weighing his publishing choices. A number of years ago he published a novel with Morgan James Publishing. After my call with him, I looked into the sales of this novel. I learned in the bookstores (our main market), it has sold a little over 200 copies and only four choices over the last year. No wonder he’s talking with me about doing a relaunch on this novel to get it moving forward. 

I gave you these details so you can see (and learn) how within the publishing house we are commuicating with each other. You may have had some situation which prevented you from marketing and promoting your book in the bookstores. Inspite of whatever else is happening in your life, I encourage you to make a little room for continued effort to move readers into the bookstore and get your books. There are thousands of ways so choose one and do it. Also notice the impression these details make on the decision about a subsequent book.

For a number of years, I’ve been speaking with this author about his current nonfiction book. To date, I’ve only received a detailed outline and now he has a draft of his manuscript. I’ve asked for the manuscript and his marketing plan. To get a contract offer from a New York publishing house, takes a great deal of behind-the-scenes work and is a team decision. I can be the champion for the author but the group makes the contract decision. I’m interested to see the book manuscript and marketing plan. The author has to send it to me for the process to continue.

Be Curious

As you continually experiment, I encourage you to be curious and ask questions. Several years ago I listened to the audio book version of Brian Grazer’s A Curious Mind. The book includes fascinating stories like how it took years for the Hollywood community to greenlight and make Splash--which turned into a top grossing film. Grazer encourages his readers to ask good questions and be curious. Over ten years ago, I championed a Morgan James book called The Power of Curosity. I encourage you to locate these books, read them and apply the information into your writing life.  We need to be curious and ask good questions.

Follow Mentors

As writers, we need mentors or people who have found success with their actions. Find these people then follow them, read their books, take their online courses and apply the information into your life. I want to make several suggestions in this area. First, follow my posts on X/Twitter (use the link). Notice I will post articles from some people over and over. These authors are some of my mentors that I follow and learn from them. You will have to experiment to find your mentors and they will likely be different than mine. It's all part of the journey of finding success. 

For example, Armand Morin followed the traces of success to create a 200-million-dollar business, become a bestselling country music artist and an in-demand internationally acclaimed speaker and trainer. You can learn more reading his book, Success Leaves Traces. 

Hire Recommended People

If you need to improve an area of your writing life, ask some of your mentors for a recommendation or do your own research and select someone that you hire. For example, my newsletter needed attention and help. I had several different lists and wanted to merge them together into one list. I didn’t have the time or expertise to learn this skill. Instead I hired an expert and learned from her. The process with my newsletter changes are not finalized or finished. It’s a continual process of learning, experimenting and improving. You will take the same journey with whatever skill you need to gain and adjust.

If You Aren't Making Progress...

Maybe when you read this article, you are stuck and feel like you are not making progress. As I said at the beginning of this piece, it is when you quit that you stop moving forward. Keep pitching in different areas. Continue to learn to write a book proposal and/or a query letter. Also keep making new connections and pitching to other professionals. Like one of my friends told me this week, “To kiss a princess, you have to kiss a lot of frogs.” Your right connection is out there and you will find it if you keep pitching.

Are you continually experimenting? If so, tell me about it in the comments. Or maybe I’m missing something then tell us in the comments.

Tweetable:

According to this prolific author and editor, success in publishing involves the necessity of continual experimentation. Read about the details. (ClickToTweet)

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Last week one more podcast recording launched:

Ed Parcaut (@edparcaut) and I spoke about Busting Publishing Myths and Revealed Secrets for Author Success on Inner Edison Podcast. Listen at: https://bit.ly/49eW9JM 

Every type of publishing has its own complexity, and many parts of the process are outside of anything that an author can control. In addition, from speaking with 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.

Subscribe to Terry’s Newsletter:

During the last year, once a week I’ve been sending a short free newsletter. Just follow this link to subscribe. When you are added to the newsletter, you will receive a FREE 87-page Ebook which is packed with insights for every writer.

Get these articles on your email: 

Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,800 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 Find the Secret Sauce

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Where is the secret sauce for success as an author? Your definition of success will be different from mine but each of us have a level of success that we are eager to achieve with our writing and our books. I’m constantly wondering if I am using all of the possible actions and steps to achieve consistent book sales and success. I’m actively looking for the secret sauce that will propel my book sales. 

Recently I reached out to one of my colleagues at Morgan James Publishing. Along with her husband, she wrote one of our top-selling books which is quite an accomplishment. Morgan James Publishing has been around over 20 years with over 200 bestselling books and over 6,000 titles and 20 million sold books. With each of the numbers in this last sentence, it is not easy to become one of those bestselling titles but this author has found the way into this elite group of authors.

As we spoke I asked what actions they were taking on a consistent basis to sell books. They were booking and recording podcasts, and during those conversations giving value to the listeners and pointing people to their book.While those steps sound simple, I’ve read this book and it is well-written and targeted to a particular business audience. The cover design is excellent and other elements in the creation of the book (foundational). In other words from the beginning this book was positioned for success and something many authors miss in the creative process.

I asked this colleague what they were doing to promote the book. The purpose of my question was to see if I was missing some secret sauce that would help me generate more sales. She affirmed they were booking and appearing on different podcasts using PodMatch and delivering value to the listeners with each appearance. I didn’t learn anything out of the ordinary that they were doing in this area.

Also during my conversation, I quickly ran through some of what I’m doing to tell people about my 10 Publishing Myths book. I’m booking and filming podcasts using PodMatch. I’m blogging and pointing to the book in my consistent, once a week newsletters. I’m also guest blogging on a regular basis. As I’ve been doing for years, I post on social media 12-15 times a day to promote the book and tell people about the benefits. Like my colleague, I continue to offer value to the reader with each exchange. Behind the scenes on PodMatch, I can see my number of downloads have increased to over 3,000 in the last two months and the social reach to over 1,300 (which is a good indicator that people are listening to these podcasts and getting value).

From my conversation, I did not find a secret sauce and in many ways I doubt such a sauce exists. As authors, each of us are on a journey. We need to take our own responsibility for our passion about our book and perservere with consistency. As I’ve written in these articles in the past, there is no exact formula to become a bestseller. In fact, the exact steps are different for every author and every book. 

For every author, there is always more to do but your consistent actions will pay off in the long run. That's why marketing expert John Kremer’s book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books is over 700 pages. It will take continued effort and work to find your path so keep on keeping on.

What steps are you taking for telling others about your book and finding success? Let me know in the comments below and I look forward to learning from your efforts.

New Podcasts:

I enjoyed my conversation with Giuliano Grimaudo (@getmypineapple) on the How to Be a Person Podcast at: https://bit.ly/41cuuVp Learn more about publishing at: http://publishingoffer.com

 

Tweetable:

What is the secret sauce that authors need to find success and sell more books? This prolific author and editor describes his own search, then gives his conclusions. Read the details here.  (ClickToTweet)

rewrite 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.

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

A Different Author Strategy

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Some publishing experts estimate 1,000 new books are published every day. This estimate includes the self-published books and it can be overwhelming when you consider the volume of print material which is entering the world. 

How can an author standout, be different and sell books? In this article, I want to give some strategy ideas and action steps. Upfront, I will tell you each of these methods are not quick and easy. They require effort and work to sell books. 

As you read and study the path of other authors, you need to understand success leaves traces. If you study the details of the success of others, you can discover the path for your own success and sales of your book. First, you have to gather some basics. What type of book are you writing? In general the techniques and path for a children’s book will be different from a novel from a nonfiction self-help book. Each of these types will often follow a different strategy and path to sell their books.

Several years ago I interviewed an author friend who self-published a nonfiction book. In the creation process, he created a book which was well-written with an attractive cover. He crafted the back cover copy and made sure there was a publishing logo on the spine and the barcode on the back was perfect. This friend paid attention to the details as he self-published and produced a book which when placed along side any other book would be accepted. Many people self-publish but they slip on these production details. 

This author targeted book sales to libraries. The American Library Association says there are over 123,000 libraries in the United States. He located a list of these libraries with the phone numbers. For several hours every day, he called the libraries, introduced himself and had a brief pitch for his book. He got the librarian interested in his book, got their name and with their consent, mailed a book with an invoice. It took hours of work and the development of a plan and execution of that plan, but he sold thousands of books in this process.  If you want more of the details, I have this interview in the extra products when you purchase my 10 Publishing Myths book. This strategy to sell books worked for this author and you could learn from his success.

I follow the teaching and stories from book marketing expert John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to MarketYour Book. Recently he made a bold claim encouraging authors to make up to $150,000 before your book is published! The strategy of pre-sales is one every author can learn about and practice.

If you have published or plan to publish a children’s book, then look at the information and actions in this section from John Kremer. As with the other strategies in this article, you can learn and then implement the practices for your books. 

Have you heard of bestselling novelist Terry McMillan who has several movies including Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. As John Kremer said, “Her first novel was published by a large New York publisher, but they didn’t do much with it. This was in 1987. They sent out press releases. They sent out some review copies. But Terry was a first-time novelist, so media didn’t care. Nothing much happened.” How did Terry turn around this experience? John gives the details in the Rule of 3,000. McMillan handwrote personal letters to 3,000 bookstores. It was a huge commitment of time and energy but it got attention and paid off. Few authors would make this sort of effort but it launched a bestselling novelist. Maybe you want to follow this path for your book.

John wrote some additional details saying, “The response was so great that she ended up doing a 39-city book tour. Her efforts gained her plenty of rave reviews for her book as well as two reprintings in six weeks. That’s a major success for a first-time novelist. Her publisher got behind her once they saw that the book was selling, and it was worth reprinting again and again. The key point to this story is not who Terry sent letters to, but how many letters she sent. It’s a numbers game, and what happens with most authors, even though I’ve told them this story many times, is that they ignore this crucial advice. Write a lot of emails.”

One of my Morgan James Publishing authors published a personal story with a tie to the pro-life issue. She mailed 1,000 copies of her book to Crisis Pregnancy Centers around the United States. The effort was a financial and time investment in her book. One of the keys for her success will be the strategy behind it. Did she offer bulk sales to these places and how is she following up on the mailing? Each of these strategies have different details which are important for them to succeed. 

My encouragement is for you to learn about these different author strategies for selling and marketing your book. Try some of them and see if they work for you. If they work, then do it some more. If not, then press on to another one. There is not one path to success but many paths and as an author you have to select the one for you. If there was a single path, every book would be a bestseller. Instead we know some books have dismal sales and others succeed. 

My encouragement is to try a different author strategy to sell your book and keep doing it over and over until you find success. Is there another strategy that you have used to successfully sell books? Let me know in the comments.

 

Tweetable:

There are many different strategies to sell books. This prolific writer and editor gives several specific possibilities in this article. Read 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.

Is It Time for Spring Cleaning?

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

I love the freshness of spring. Baseball season starts. We freshen up our place from the trials of winter and plant flowers for spring along with other activities. The darkness of winter fades and we celebrate the newness of life with new growth and flowers.

As I ask in this article, is it time for spring cleaning? I’ve found that the more I’m organized and block different parts of my schedule, then it increases my productivity and output. As I’ve mentioned in past entries, almost daily books pour into my mailbox. In general, I unpack them and put them on my bookshelf but over the last few weeks the area for this book has filled. As a part of my spring cleaning, I sorted through some books and took a hard look at each one. Do I have the time to read it? I will look at a few pages and see if the writing is going to hold my interest. If “no” is the answer to these questions, then I remove the book from my shelf and get the books ready to go to a good home elsewhere. This book sorting process is a necessity to organize my office several times a year including spring. 

Creating a Pile Doesn’t Work

Like my bookshelves, I do the same evaluation process with the papers on my desk. From my experience, it doesn’t work to take a piece of paper or a stapled article and put it into a pile. Instead I have developed a system to know exactly where I’m keeping that article and why I’m keeping it. 

I admit every author is different in this area. One of the most prolific writers was Ray Bradbury. Recently an article about Bradbury came across my screen with a photo of his office with piles of paperwork. This novelist created a different system for organization which worked for his writing life. My encouragement is for you to create a working system for how you organize your desk, paperwork, books and other tasks so you continue moving forward each day. 

If You Are Stuck in a Rut...

I have a couple of projects which have been stuck on my desk and have not moved--which is a problem if I want them to get published. I’ve been stuck in a rut and proscratating on this work. I suspect you have a pitch or two which is also stuck. Spring cleaning is a great time to plot and take a new course of action. 

First determine what you want to accomplish? Do you want to increase your speaking? Do you want to sell more books? Do you want to publish more magazine articles? To achieve these goals, you have to take action and increase the amount of your pitches. Maybe you want to be on more podcasts or radio shows? These programs can be an effective way to sell more books and don’t require travel or other elements. The key to booking a radio broadcast or a podcast is pitching to the decision maker?  Craft your pitch and even use a pitch template from someone else if you need some ideas. Then get these pitches into the world. 

When you pitch, you will get turned down (rejected). This process happens to all of us including me. As I’ve written in these articles in the past, you are looking for the right fit and this process involves getting a number of rejections before you get acceptance. Learn what you need to do from others, then continually pitch. It sounds simple but takes consistent effort for it to actually happen. 

When You Haven’t Received a Response

Spring is a great time of year to do follow-up work where your pitches went into a black hole without a response. Did the other person receive the pitch? As editors and agents, we lose things and they get stuck in our email and never processed. I encourage you to use the gentle follow-up approach to prod that other person. Many writers are afraid to follow-up then they wonder why nothing is happening. One of the critical steps for every writer is to follow-up. 

Here’s some other ideas and approaches for your spring cleaning:

• Use a current market guide to make new pitches
• Plan to get to a writer’s conference
• Make new connections on LinkedIN 
• Join an online writer’s group and participate

Each of these actions will take effort on your part as a writer but could yield great results. As I’ve written in the past, it will not fly if you don’t try and try on a consistent basis. 

Each of us have the same amount of time or 24 hours. How you use that time will affect your results. Is it time for you to take some spring cleaning actions? Let me know in the comments.

 

Tweetable:

Spring is a great time to get organized and increase your productivity according to this prolific writer and editor. Is it time for your spring cleaning? 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.

Every Writer Is An Entrepreneur

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Within the writing community, there is an age-old discussion about whether a writer needs talent or can learn the skills to be a writer. From my perspective, talent is a God-given ability but the skills and how-to information about craft are elements that each writer can learn. In fact, each writer when you enter this business as you submit or pitch your work, you are forming your own business and entering the world as an entrepreneur.

While I’ve written about the up and down sides of the writing life in these hundreds of entries, in 2008, I compared my life as a writer to a roller coaster. When you submit your work to an editor or agent, your optimism is high as you wait for a response. It is like when you’ve gotten on a roller coaster and that car is climbing the steep area toward the top of the experience. Then when the agent or editor engages with you about your submission, you have the excitement about what could happen with your work as it gets into the marketplace. It’s the same sort of exhileration when you fly down the first steep area of the roller coaster. 

The business aspects of publishing are comparable to the ups and downs of a roller coaster. Last week, I pulled a book from my shelf called The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster. I’ve had this book for several years yet had not read it. Maybe you have a few books like that on your bookshelf.  I also have the audio version of this book. Over several days I listened to the audio while I read the words in the book. I used this method of reading to be fully focused on the contents and absorb as much of it as possible. 

For my life in publishing, I found the stories and the how-to information relevant and practical. In this final entry on the Writing Life for the year, I want to give you the ability to have the same experience. On his website, Darren Hardy offers you this book for only the postage of $6.95. His offer includes more than the hardcover book, but also the audiobook files and other resources such as worksheets for each chapter. 

I highly recommend you take advantage of this offer. Don’t follow my example and leave the unread book on your shelf for several years. Instead I encourage you to find the time to read and listen to this book. Then as you consume this book, apply the lessons to your writing life. The experience will help you understand and succeed with your journey as a writer. 

As you think about your writing life, do you identify with the comparison to a roller coaster? Let me know in the comments below.

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The writing life is like jumping on a roller coaster according to this prolific writer and editor. He says every writer is an entrepreneur and points to a valuable resource as you join the ride. (ClickToTweet)

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Getting to Yes

    

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As a writer, it takes some careful effort to get a yes from an editor or a literary agent. For magazine work, you have to learn how to write a query letter. For a book contract, you have to learn how to write a query letter and a book proposal. Pitching the right person at the right time at the right place is a key part of the process. As I’ve often written in these entries, who you know is almost as important as what you know. 

As an editor, I’m looking for books that Morgan James can publish. Because I’ve been doing this role for about ten years, I know my colleagues are looking for with submissions and authors. As I speak with the authors, I want their submissions to succeed and get a contract offer. This basic desire on my part sometimes forces me to have some difficult conversations with authors.

When I have these conversations, the author has two options. They can listen to my suggestions and make changes until I receive something that will work for the publisher and my colleagues. Or they can discount my suggestion and go elsewhere to publish their book.

Recently I’ve had a series of difficult conversations. It’s part of my role as an editor to diplomatically explain why their book got rejected. If the author is open to it and makes suggested changes, I can go back to my colleagues and try again (but this rarely happens). 

Also this week I had an author with a powerful book and the resources to become a bestseller, return our contract completely rewritten. I dug out the audio recording of a call with this author in late May--which I assume his attorney never heard. I sent back some diplomatic yet stern comments about the contract and how it needed to be lightened with marks for it to actually go forward. I’ve seen such actions in the past and essentially it is a deal killer for that author. I did not write the deal killer words to the powerful author but I did use this language with his writer who sent me the deal in the first place. I’m unsure what will happen in this situation yet I am  hopeful this unknown attorney will rework the red-lined contract. I tell this story so you know each of us are looking for the right fit to publish our books. Either side (the author or the publisher) can walk away. It’s a delicate dance and I use my decades of experience in these issues to advocate for our publishing program--which is different and exceptional. These emails are not easy to write but essential to get to yes and a part of my responsibility from being in this business for a long time.

I went through a season where I worked mostly with authors of adult fiction and nonfiction. These days, I’m also working with a number of children’s authors which have their own unique challenges. My colleagues passed (rejected) a children’s book because the story didn't connect with the illustrations. I had encouraged this author to reach out to an editor for children’s books and get her suggestions and help. The author didn’t do this work and my colleagues picked up on the mis-matched text and illustrations then passed on offering a contract. I could see the rejection was coming but wasn’t able to prevent it which is frustrating.

I’ve written about why word count matters. I continue to get submissions from adult authors who submit books which are massive in length and will not sell unless they cut--divide or cut the current story. I’ve referred these authors to editors who can help them get fresh perspective and the revision they need--but they have to reach out to these editors then be willing to listen to the changes. These actions are hard ones for authors who care about every word in their manuscript. Yet this sort of reality is necessary for them if they want to successfully publish their book.  

To get the author a contract from my colleagues, I often have to ask the right questions and give the right information. During these conversations, I don’t always say or ask the right questions. In fact, I fail as much as I succeed. The longer I’m in the publishing world the better I ask good questions and have the right words. The process isn’t easy for any author or editor. What challenges have you experienced to get a yes? Let me know in the comments below. 

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What does the editor go through to get you a contract? This prolific writer and editor gives specific examples of getting to yes 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.

The Value of Reflection

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Some people attribute this quotation to Mark Twain, “Find a job that you love and you will never work a day in your life.” I have found the truth in this statement as a writer and editor. While there are certainly routine and boring aspects of my work (as in every job), overall I love my life in publishing and spend many hours at my keyboard or on the phone with authors and others. My work is something I love and do every day. 

 

Almost like clockwork, my email and interaction with others drops off from Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day. I've called these days the silent days of publishing and written about them in the past. Instead of cutting back like some, I tend to lean into the work. For example, last week before Christmas, I processed a number of submissions to Morgan James Publishing. In this process, I've located some new authors who are passionate about their writing and want to get their book published. To me, this process of discovery is fun and exciting. Will these authors get book contracts from my colleagues? Until I try it, I never know so I'm pushing their material forward through the process. If they get a contract from my colleagues, will they sign the paperwork and move forward? I never know until it happens and I've learned that it is impossible to predict. I'm only responsible for my part of the process and have leave the rest of it up to others. As the book is produced and enters the market, will it catch the attention of readers and sell? I've learned making books is easy and something many companies can do for writers but selling books is another story. Like many aspects of publishing, the selling of books is outside of my control. I've learned to take my own responsibility for my books and leave the rest of it.

 

In the quiet of these days, I find value in taking a few moments for reflection on the past year and my plans for the future. I've written this article to encourage you to  take some time for reflection and planning for your future.

 

As I think about the last year, what worked and what failed? As you consider the days ahead what changes will you make and do differently? For example, I've found I'm not reading some magazines as much as I did in the past. Recently I cancelled a weekly publication which I have been reading for decades. For my situation, it was a wise decision. What changes like those do you need to make for your writing life? Also consider your habits and routines. Which ones will you continue and which ones do you need to modify or eliminate? How can you foster your curiosity about the world around you? What do you want to learn and how can you take those courses and apply them to your writing life?

 

As you can tell from reading these article, I see the world as filled with opportunity. You need to seize the day and pitch to the right person and open those doors in your writing life. I have great expectations about the days ahead.

 

Do you take time for reflection then making some changes to your life? Let me know your process in the comments below.

 

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This prolific editor and author sees value in reflection about what has worked or failed in the past and what adjustments he will make for the days ahead. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

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