Change Is Hard

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Change is hard and no one (including me) likes to change. Yet change is how we grow, improve and become better every day. In this article for The Writing Life, I encourage you that each of us have resistance to change, then we have to make a decision and finally get a result.

The Resistance

As an author, for my writing life, I have created and used a variety of habits and systems. My goal is to be consistent and to reach new areas of the market and find readers. For example, every day I post 12 to 15 times on social media. I have been doing this pattern for years on three different “rented” platforms (that I do not control). The engagement or feedback from these actions is often minimal. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading them but I continue doing it. About the time I think about stopping someone responds and shows me that people do read these actions.

Since I started my blog in 2004, I have been writing these weekly articles. Because of my consistency, the blog has over 1800 entries and about 400 people receive my new articles on their email. In addition, each week I send a different piece of writing to my newsletter. Through the years, my newsletter has been sporadic and inconsistent. I changed this pattern over a year ago and send it each week. Use this link to subscribe and get a free 87-page Ebook and my newsletter with my gratitude.

Beyond my work as an author, I have my regular work as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. For the last 13 years I’ve been working with authors, hearing about their new books then championing their book to my colleagues. Through this work, I’m hopefully getting a contract that they will possibly sign and return to get their book into the bookstores. This work has it’s own patterns and systems. As with any work, Morgan James has continued to make shifts and changes. With this ebb and flow, some days my work is more successful than others. The bulk of it is in a familiar pattern.

Without going into unnecessary detail, sometimes my acquisitions work has been more successful with authors than others. Several months ago I continued doing the work but went through weeks with no authors completing their contract with Morgan James. Our founder David Hancock reached out to me with some suggestions for some shifts in my actions. In a completely normal fashion, at first I resisted making these changes, but I understand making these changes is important and can lead to improvements in results.

The Decision

I made a number of shifts in this process and began to use different tools in in the procedure. These changes were not easy. The first time I did these procedures, I made some mistakes (nothing fatal). I was committed to making these changes and improvements. Despite being hard, I continued forward.  Many of the decisions in the publishing process are outside of my control. I’ve learned that I can control my actions and my decisions. In that effort, I continue to try and be the best person that I can be for myself and my authors. It’s not a straight forward decision but a journey and a process. 

 

The Result

While the results of my changes are not complete, I can tell you the improvements have made for increasing results. I’m certain there will be additional changes in the future but I’m committed to continuing to do my part (large or small) in this process. In a number of areas, I’m becoming better every day and continue to learn and grow.

What about your journey as a writer or communicator? What resistance do you have to change and how can you decide to become better every day? Let me know in the comments below and I look forward to your feedback.

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Change is Hard. The prolific author and editor explains his resistance, his decision and his result of making changes. Get the detailed actions here.  (ClickToTweet)

Let’s be honest. Publishing is a complex business and much of the process is outside of anything an author can control—no matter how they publish. I I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors realistic expectations  and practical help. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses.

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