Deadlines Help Writers

I've always found a deadline helps me get into my chair and get my fingers moving on the keyboard toward the completion of a writing project. In the newspaper business, the deadlines come fast and furious. I would write a story in the morning and it would appear in the afternoon newspaper. Print magazines work on a longer time frame yet also have deadlines to help the writer consistently work on meeting the needs of the publication. Books have a larger number of words and even longer deadlines. It's up to the writer to set the time frame and meet those deadlines.

Writers are notoriously late on meeting their deadlines. As an editor, I've heard almost every excuse from a writer about why they could not meet their book due date. What many authors do not understand is inside the publishing house, the staff is counting on the author to meet that deadline. Dozens of other functions are tied to the arrival of that manuscript.  I used to spend hours in schedule meetings where we talked about our various books and if the authors were on track to meet their deadlines. If an author was going to be late, then we needed to know how late and make adjustments in the other functions (such as the release date for the book, the publicity campaign for the book, the cover design and much more).

I have a number of writing deadlines. Each month for several writer related publications, I send articles. If I don't send my material then the publication does not have what they need.  It's something I plan into my schedule and meet the deadline. Yes I have the rare time when the editor prods me for my material but normally I send it like clockwork.

Do you have deadlines for your writing? If not, can you set one that will help you move forward with your writing project. Many writers set a goal of a daily word count to move forward on a project and complete it on time. Bestselling novelist James Scott Bell talks about the best writing advice that he's ever received—and it's to set a writing word count.

Watch this short video (less than a minute and a half) at:

If you don't use deadlines, then I encourage you to create one for your own writing. If you don't have enough deadlines, then I suggest you approach a magazine about a regular column or article from you. Maybe you write for a publication on an occasional basis and they would be interested in a regular column from you. Or possibly it is a new publication which is just getting started and they need a columnist or a regular contributor. You can use a Writer's Market Guide or the Christian Writer's Market Guide to learn about new publications.

We are surrounded with many opportunities for our writing.  The key is to take action and approach editors with your material or ask if the editor needs your regular contribution.  If you don't ask, you may never have the opportunity. But if you ask and the editor assigns you to write something on a regular basis, then you have a broader opportunity for your writing to get in front of new people.

Seize Your Opportunity

Last week a writer told me about working on her book project for months at a stretch. I asked a few questions about it and learned it had not been published. 

Our correspondence was on my personal email address and not my work email. I seized the opportunity and told her about my work at Morgan James. As an acquisitions editor, I'm actively looking for well-written nonfiction and fiction to champion to our publication board. We receive about 5,000 submissions a year and only publish about 150 to 200 books.

If you look at those numbers, you can see there is a limited opportunity for you to succeed and a 97% chance your material will be rejected.


Yet if I champion your book (that means I promote and pull for it with the publication board), then you “could” get a book contract from Morgan James. One of the exciting aspects of my work is each week I send book contracts to authors and help them through this aspect of the publishing process.


For the writer in my opening paragraph, I moved our interaction from my personal email address to my work email. Then she would have my Morgan James information and it would be clear where she could send her manuscript. I found her response “interesting.” She wrote, “Let me think about it and get back to you.”


It was a fair response and hopefully she will send me her material for consideration. It is not the response, I would encourage you to do as a writer. If you get an opportunity and request from an editor to submit your material, I encourage you to seize it.


You should be aware when you send your material out into the market, you will get rejected. Welcome to publishing because it happens to everyone. I love this article from bestselling novelist James Scott Bell called Rejecting Rejection. He makes four solid points in this short article and it will help you get over rejection and move forward.


To succeed in publishing, you are looking for the right connection at the right time and the right place with the right material. I understand I overused the word “right” in that previous sentence. If you aren't in motion, then that connection will never happen. The old saying is true: you can't sell a manuscript that remains in your desk drawer or in your computer. It only sells when it gets into the right hands.


One of my writer friends wants to find a literary agent. Into his busy schedule, he has researched and located 46 possible agents. He individualized each submission and in early January sent out the submission packages. As of about a month after that submission, he wrote saying he had received 22 responses. Twenty of those responses were rejection. Two agents requested his manuscript and 26 agents had not responded.


I admire the tenacity and persistence of my friend to find the right agent for his novel. He doesn't have it figured out yet he continues to work toward his goal.


Are you seizing opportunity? Are you knocking on new doors or old doors with new material to get the attention of an agent or an editor? If you are working on a book, are you also writing shorter magazine articles and seizing that opportunity to reach an audience?

Yes, You Can

Often I've met writers who are struggling financially. They are looking for a publisher or magazine to publish their work and promptly pay them to solve their mounting bills. Writing can pay but it does not always happen in the way that you presume it will happen. There are many different ways to earn a living in the publishing world.

As a writer, I've discovered many different ways to make money in the publishing world. One of those ways is through advertising other people's products and using an affiliate link. The affiliate industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and is something that any writer can use to supplement their income.

You may have a blog or a website. Have you monetized your website or blog so you have created a revenue stream? Or are you simply putting content online with no expectation that it will make money? If you are wondering, "What is affiliate marketing?" Or "What is Terry talking about?" Then I've got good news for you.

In the last few weeks, I've written a new Ebook called You Can Make Money. A Step-by-step Guide to Passive Income through Affiliate Marketing. This free 30-page Ebook provides the details of how to get started on affiliate marketing. I wrote it and used my own examples and illustrations. I have my own affiliate program at www.TerryInfo.com The program is free to sign up and includes banners and other tools for you to promote my products and earn 50% of the income. I used the Pop up Domination program to make it easy for you to receive this free Ebook. Just go to www.TerryInfo.com and enter your first name and email address. You will immediately receive the free Ebook.

I wrote this new resource to help you understand and use the tools in my affiliate program. The principles in the book are universal and something you can use with many other affiliate programs than mine. I hope you will sign up for my affiliate program then take action and use the tools to make money. Why? Because you will touch people that I will never encounter. You can tell them about my products and lead them to my sales page for the product. If they buy the product, then you will receive an email about it--and I will receive an email about their purchase. After the guarantee period, then you will receive 50% if the income from that purchase.

I believe there is great opportunity--if you take action. Will you?