Tag: publish

Categories
Book Proposals

When Your Book doesn’t Sell

I used to cringe when I saw the mail or email from one of my publishers. It probably contained a royalty statement and experience told me many of those numbers would begin with a minus (negative balance). I’ve written for many different traditional publishers and have had this experience from a broad spectrum of types of books including how-to, self-help, biographies, gift books and children’s books.

When your book sales are off, it’s a natural tendency to want to blame someone. Maybe my editor has left and my book was orphaned inside the publisher with no champion or advocate. Maybe my publisher didn’t market the book to bookstores. Maybe they changed the title between what was printed in the catalog and what was published. Or _(fill in the blank). I’ve had all of these things happen to my published books. Good publishing involves a cooperative process and working with many different people. Much of this process is outside of the author’s control.

I’ve also learned there are many pro-active steps authors can take to change their situation.

1. Take 100% responsibility for your own success.

In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield makes this the first principle. Over ten years ago, I heard this
principle and adopted it in my publishing efforts.

2. Be active in the promotion and marketing of your book.

As the author, you have the greatest passion for your book—way beyond anyone else including your publisher. The great promoter, PT Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens—nothing.” Consistent promotion of your book is important.

3. Be Generous with your book.

Reviews sell books but many authors have few reviews for their book on Amazon or Goodreads or Barnes & Noble. Give books to people who are willing to write a review. If they’ve never written a review, give them a tool to help them like with this form.

4. Ask for others for help.

“You do not have because you do not ask.”

New Testament, James 4:2-3

If you need endorsements, ask but make it easy for them to say yes (offer to draft it). If you need social media promotion, ask but create possible posts. Here’s an example of a page, I created to help others help me spread the word on my latest book.

5. Take the long view of publishing.

Publishing and promoting a book is more like a marathon than a sprint. With the huge volume of published books, someone has to hear about your book seven to twelve times before they purchase it. What actions can you take every day to give your book this exposure? My Billy Graham book trailer has been seen over 11,500 times in the last five years.

6. No matter what happens in your life, keep going.

In Perennial Seller, New York Times bestselling author Ryan Holiday writes,

“The hard part is not the dream or the idea, it’s the doing.”

If there were a simple formula to create a bestseller, every book would be a bestseller. There are practical actions every author can take. Each part of the publishing process has challenges and as writers your persistence and consistency is critical. As #1 New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins wrote in the foreword of my book, 10 Publishing Myths, “Only one of a hundred writers literally make their deadlines.” If you meet deadlines with quality writing, it’s an easy way to stand out from the crowd. I wrote 10 Publishing Myths to give writers realistic expectations and practical steps every author can take to succeed. Today, you can get the 11th Publishing Myth as a free e-book.

When you point a finger at others because your book is not selling, just
remember: when you extend your pointer finger, four more fingers are bent back
toward you. Take action today.

What actions can you take today to continue to build your sales potential?

Terry Whalin

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your
Success. Check out his free e-book, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His
website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.

Book Proposals That Sell
Categories
Writers Chat

Serious Writer Secrets + Pros & Cons of Publishing

In this conversation, literary agent and award-winning author Cyle Young shares the difference between a writer and an author, the definition of “floating body parts,” and pros and cons of both self-publishing and traditional publishing.

Award-winning author Bethany Jett closes the show with information about Serious Writer, Inc, and their subsidiaries, specifically Serious Writer Academy.

Join us!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. Participants mute their audio and video during the filming, then we open up the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is a fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Facebook Group.

Categories
Magazine and Freelance

Ideas for Getting Info for Your Magazine Article

 

If you’ve never done an interview with someone else, the thought can be frightening.  I want to take away the fright factor and give you some ideas how to get this information and where to begin.

For your first interview, I recommend you use a family member or good friend. These interviews do not happen on the fly. One of the most important steps is to prepare a list of questions ahead of time. With your questions, you can be confident that you will gather information and add spontaneous and follow-up questions during the session.  The skill of interviewing others and asking good questions is something you can develop and improve as you do it over and over. Understand that everyone feels a little awkward the first few times and then like any other skill, it will seem natural and easy.

I’ve been interviewing others for many years—since I started writing sports for my high school newspaper. You can learn the skill of writing quotations from others, asking good questions and gathering the information you will need to write your story.

Sources for Your Magazine Article

Where do you locate experts to interview? Who has the information that you need to write your article?  You can use Google to find experts on a particular topic. Also, understand that many companies have a public relations department or a publicist who is eager for you to interview their experts.  The PR people will work with you if you are writing an article on speculation but they definitely prefer writers who have a definite assignment. You get an assignment with a magazine when you write a a query letter which gets their attention.

These publicists and PR people will be able to provide you with background information, press releases, books and other research material to help you pull together the information for your interview and eventually for your article.

Has this “expert” written a book? Then your best course of action is to set up an interview through their publisher. Call the publisher and ask to speak to someone in publicity. It’s one of the few times I recommend people call the publisher. Tell the publicist about your assignment and ask for background materials (review copies of the books, other articles, etc.). Then ask the publicist to set up your interview and give the person the times when you are available. Wise authors who want to sell books take advantage of these interview possibilities.  You will quote this “expert” and mention their book in the article and get to tap their expertise and quotes for your article. It works as a package and everyone has something to gain from the experience—you, the expert and the publisher.

With increased publishing experience, you can expect to write more on assignment and less on speculation (spec).  Even an assigned piece can sometimes not work out for a particular publication. Maybe the editor sees it and thought the query was a good idea—but the execution is wrong for their publication. I’ve not had this experience often but it does happen. In these cases, the magazine will often pay a “kill fee.” It’s a token payment for the writing work you poured into the article. Believe me, it’s better than nothing but pretty disappointing.

Many years ago, I interviewed Dan Quayle on a magazine cover story. It was a challenge to reach the then-Vice President but the article was perfect—a November cover story during an election year. (This publication doesn’t exist any longer—another common occurrence in the magazine world.) Unfortunately, the Vice President was running late and crammed my 30 to 45 minute scheduled interview into about 15 minutes. My assigned format was a Q & A — which means the interview has to have something worthy of his actual words appearing as the main text of the article. I got nothing but clichés and pat answers in the crammed time frame. I wrote my article, turned it in—even turned in my transcribed interview. It resulted in a kill fee for vast amounts of time and energy.

Just remember, on the road to publication there are many possible junctures where it can fail.  Some are in your control and others are completely outside of your control. You control what you can and you work with the other details. It never gets published until you hold the finished magazine article or book in your hand.

Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor, Whalin has written for more than 50 publications including Christianity Today and Writer’s Digest. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His latest book is Billy Graham, A Biography of America’s Greatest Evangelist and the book website is at: http://BillyGrahamBio.com Watch the short book trailer for Billy Graham at: http://bit.ly/BillyGrahamBT His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/terrywhalin

 

 

Categories
Child's Craft

One Author’s Story

I frequently get asked the question of how I got published. Okay. I’ll tell.

God placed the notion on me to write a book but I had no idea what to write. When an idea of a Children’s devotional came to me I was excited but had no time to write. I worked and had 2 small children. I told the Lord if He wanted me to write, He’d have to help me find the time. I wondered what the Good Lord had in store for me.

He woke me up every morning on my days off before He woke the sun. I made myself a cup of coffee, sat on my couch and hand wrote the whole thing. This was such a precious time with the Lord. Took me 6 months. This was before I had a computer and knew how to use one. Yes, I’m that old.

I took a computer class and learned how to use a Word program since my husband refused to type it up for me. I typed the whole thing and realized I had no idea of how to get it published. I bought a book on how to get published, followed it step by step. It seriously took me two weeks to write my first query letter and longer to perfect my first proposal.

I bought the Children’s Writers Market guide and begin sending out my proposal to publishers and waiting. Back in the day, publishers used to send out rejection letters. When I’d receive one, I’d send my proposal to another publisher. During this waiting period I wrote a bunch of stories that came to mind. I had a whole year’s worth of rejection letters on this one proposal before I received a positive nibble and subsequent contract. I tweaked my final manuscript in the hospital between contractions when I was in labor with my third child. My son’s first outing was to the post office to send off my completed manuscript.

A few things have changed since then. That third child is now in college. We didn’t have the internet back then with all the info at our finger tips like we do today. Publishers have come and gone. Less children’s editors attend conferences than they used to. Independent book stores have practically disappeared and publishers are pursuing less books than previously. EBooks have appeared further dwindling the number of hard copy books. Online bookstores have escalated, self-publishing has skyrocketed, and the media outlets have multiplied. This has all worked together to change the publishing business significantly. But, publishers still need great new manuscripts and the Lord still calls people to write!

It’s our job as writers to supply publishers with great new manuscripts and to do what God has called us to do.

The number of Writers conferences have increased dramatically through the years. I didn’t even find out about Writers Conferences until after my first book was published. I’ve pretty much attended a conference or taught every year since then. The industry changes and attending conferences is one way to stay in the ‘know’. It’s a way to meet with editors and agents and hear what they are looking for. It’s a place to take classes and hone your writing skills. It’s a place to network with authors and learn from them, to meet other writers, and share your writing woes and joys. It’s a great place to offer encouragement to each other and be surrounded by so many others who feel called by the Lord to write. There’s truly nothing like it.

Getting published can be a long sometimes painful process. It’s not for the meek nor thin-skinned souls. But writing is rewarding, rejuvenating, fulfilling. It’s a whole new world, filled with great people, new experiences. If God has placed it on your heart to write, then do your best to be obedient. Vow to give Him your best by learning the craft, and submitting great manuscripts then see what God has in store for you.