Why Live Events Are Valuable

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

After a two-year delay because of the pandemic, last week the Evangelical Press Association meetings took place in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While I'm a former board member of the EPA and have worked planning a number of their conventions, I had not been to one of their meetings in 20 years—because I'm mostly in the book world with some continuing magazine work. It was a great experience to return to a live event. In this article, I want to give you some of the distinctions and value of these opportunities.

 

The Give and Take Conversations

 

Whether you are standing around drinking coffee at a break or meeting people around you during a workshop, there is a give and take in the conversation that does not happen on the phone or virtually but does happen at live events. I saw a number of old friends and had the opportunity to get an update, hear about their work, tell them about some of my work and exchange business cards (because this information often changes over the years). A number of these people I had not encountered face to face in years and the exchanges were priceless in my view. As I've often said in this publishing  business, who you know is almost as important as what you know. These types of exchanges happen over and over during these types of events.

 

Meeting and Making New Friends

 

Whether I was sitting at a meal at the event or any other place, these events give the opportunity to get acquainted and learn about each other and exchange business cards. In a publishing world that is often saying “no” or sending a silent rejection (no response), I was one of the few (if not the only book acquisitions editor) at this event. I made a point to often say and show that I am actively looking for new authors and new books. Who knows what will come from it but I was certainly trying in my conversations and actions to open the doors of opportunity.

 

The Opportunity to Teach

 

At the EPA meetings, I taught two workshops—one on social media and a second on book proposals. The first one on social media was a part of the overall conference with a much larger attendance. The second one about book proposals was added to the schedule when the overall event was delayed two years with the pandemic. For each of my handouts and presentations, I appreciated the opportunity to give back to others and provide value from my resources and experience. I also appreciated the opportunity to hear other speakers and workshop leaders. I found great value in attending different workshops during the event.

 

Open to the Unexpected

 

I made a point to introduce myself to several of the main speakers at this event. To my surprise, one of them followed my work on social media and was appreciative of what I do in this area. Until I had this exchange face to face, I had no idea that he was aware of me and my work. I suspect there will be opportunity to work together in the days ahead—particularly if I follow-up (which I will). From attending live events for years, I know the follow-up emails and other connections are some of the most important actions for anyone attending these events.

 

In the next few weeks, I will be attending other events. Follow this link to my schedule and I hope to see you at one of these events and talk face to face.

 

There were many more things which come from these live events but these are a few of the distinctions from these opportunities. What am I missing? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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What Is Your Writer's Legacy

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

This week I learned one of my long-time writer friends, Mark Littleton, died. Mark has written over 98 books that have collectively sold over a million copies. It's just one of the many contributions Mark made to our world. As I look through the listing of his books on Amazon, I noticed the diversity in Mark's books: nonfiction for adults, nonfiction for children, Bible related books, novels and much more. Some of the books are Christian while others are general market books. He also wrote for a wide range of magazines including Reader's Digest and many others.

For over 30 years, Mark and his wife, Jeanette, were the early leaders of the Heart of America Christian Writers Network, a community of writers in and near Kansas City. Also this group has held an annual writers conference. I have been honored to teach at this event several times over the years. It's another part of Mark's legacy: training other writers in the craft of writing. Mark had been ill for months and I had been a part of the multitude praying for him and his family. He was only a few years older than me.

This experience got me thinking about our legacy as writers. It's a truth most of us don't want to think about: every one of us will eventually die. It's a part of our humanity. After we are gone, what are we leaving for others?

Books.  Since 1992, I've written over 60 books with many different publishers. A number of these titles are out of print but still in libraries and sold on the used market around the world. They are a part of the legacy you are creating as an author and will continue after you are no longer on the planet.

Magazine Articles. While not as permanent as books, magazines are not just for that particular issue in print. Many magazines are online and these articles continue to be available and read—long after printed.

Blogs and other Website Information. My blog on The Writing Life has over 1500 searchable entries. It amounts to pages and pages of information which will be available online forever. From the beginning I've been aware of this aspect. Also I have a number of products and domains. Some of these are depend on the renewal of the domain (by hand and not automated) so if not handled they will eventually disappear but are another part of our legacy as writers. 

Social Media Feeds. Some of my author friends have no social media presence. Others (like me) have a large and growing social media presence. I have tweeted 51.8 thousand times since 2008 (as of today). Now that is a lot of information. Don't forget (as some people do), these posts are around forever and never disappear. They show up on search engines. People read them and respond to them—often long after you have posted them. If you are active on social media (and I hope you are), then this is also part of a writer's legacy. 

Personal Teaching at Workshops. For many years, I've been teaching at conferences. While not always, often these workshops are recorded. People purchase the CDs or cassette tapes and listen to them later. Some people listen to these recordings over and over to glean information and insights. I'll be teaching at several conferences this year. I maintain my speaking schedule at this link. For example, I learned this week that I will be teaching a continuing class at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in May (the largest Christian writers Conference in the US) and also
doing a single workshop tied to my new book, 10 Publishing Myths and a workshop with the same name. Each of these workshops is a part of a writer's legacy and will be around for many years. When I teach at these workshops, I work hard at having excellent handouts which contain online resources and links. This information lasts for years.

Each of us have the same amount of time in a day but different times on the planet. I encourage you to live with intention and be taking consistent action in your writing life. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are building a writer's legacy.

Am I missing something which will last longer than your lifetime? Or maybe you have other feedback? Let me know in the comments below.



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The Necessity of Continued Pitching

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Admittedly after years in publishing, I get tired of the continuous pitching. Afterall, I've written for many magazines and publisher, don't the publishing offers just come to me without effort on my part? No. Rarely in my years in this business does someone come to me with a writing project. Yes it has happened in my writing but I recognize the rarity of that occurrence.

One of the realities of the publishing world is the writer has to continually pitch their ideas to get published. For the world of print magazines, you have to either write your article completely then send it to the editor or write a query letter with your idea and get a magazine editor to assign the article. I've written complete articles which never got published and I've written query letters which never got picked up an garnered an assignment. It is part of the risk that every writer takes.

To get on the faculty of a conference or to get a speaking assignment, you have to pitch the directors of the event. These directors get a lot of pitches so sometimes you have to pitch multiple times and multiple possible workshops to get selected. Of necessity the writer has to be crafting new workshops and innovative ideas to get selected and not use the same old ideas that have worked in the past. Last fall I was at a conference and met a writer who I have long admired his work. Yet during the event I overhead another speaker exclaim, “I heard ___ years ago and they gave exactly the same workshop that they gave today.” That is not the reputation I want as a writer and speaker—same old same old. It's why I am continually making new workshops and teaching new sessions.

To get a publishing deal, you have to write a proposal or for fiction a complete manuscript and synopsis, then pitch that material to the right literary agent or right editor. These book pitches involve crafting the right words which are innovative and catch attention. While these book pitches are done through email or mail, the key is they are done through written pitches. As an acquisitions editor, I regularly have unpublished authors who want to get on the phone and pitch their idea. I've heard some amazing phone pitches that do not match the written pitches so those written pitches get rejected. Pitching on the phone can be a complete waste of time. I need the written pitch to convince my colleagues to give you a book contract. It's how the system works within publishing and excellent writing drives everything.

What is your strategy or plan to continually pitch? Do you pitch different things during different seasons? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. 

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Why You Want to Learn From Experts

As we move into spring, there are a number of upcoming writers conferences.  I've been going to conferences for many years and I enjoy learning from different workshops. Yet from experience, I have learned the necessity to check out the credentials of the workshop leaders or speakers. What type of expertise do they have in the topic they are teaching?

There is an old saying in the public speaking arena, if you really want to learn a topic, you need to teach it. While  there is some level of truth in this saying (you learn a great deal as you prepare to  teach it),  there is also the necessity of having a certain level of expertise before you teach a topic.

For example, I often find people who have written one or two novels, will be leading a workshop on a particular aspect of writing fiction. These workshops are the ones I would avoid  because of the lack of qualifications of the instructor. Or in the area of social media, I often see people who call themselves "a social media expert" then I look at their twitter following and see they have less than 500 followers (almost beginners).  I want to learn from many different people, but I also want to learn from people who have exhibited their expertise in the area where they are teaching.

Here's how to check  out this expertise:

1. Read the background of the instructors and keynote speakers.

2. Use Google to search for their names and background

3. Make decisions ahead of the conference based on your research

From my years of attending workshops, I've walked out of a few workshops where the speaker has been unprepared or under qualified. Also I've grown to be more discerning of this issue when I sign up for an online course or take writing training from someone.

Are you discerning about who you learn from with your writing life? What are other qualifications that are important to you when you attend a workshop? Let me know in the comments below.

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