Be the Exception

By W. Terry Whalin

It’s easy to feel lost in the world of book publishing. Experts say there are over a million proposals and manuscripts in circulation at any given time. With the proliferation of self-publishing, there are over 4,500 new books published every day. The average self-published book sells about 200 copies during the lifetime of the book.

With these discouraging statistics how can a writer stand out and be the exception?  Some people are amazed that I’ve written over 60 books for traditional publishers and my writing has appeared in over 50 magazines. It is not because I am one of the best writers in the room. I am one of the most persistent and consistent writers that you will meet. As an editor, I’ve been speaking and attending conferences for years. I will listen to a writer’s pitch, then with sincerity say, “That’s a great idea, write that up and send it to me.”  I’ve learned that if you do what the editor or agent asks, you have put yourself in the top 10% of the people at that conference. Many writers never send their manuscript or proposal or query.  Here’s four simple yet important ways for you to be the exception.

1. Submit your requested material. Your writing and storytelling has to be excellent but it will never be considered if you don’t send it. I still get rejected as a writer but I seize the opportunity and submit my material.
2. Build Your Platform or Presence in the Market. Editors and literary agents are looking for writers who are connected to their readers. I’m not talking about Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. Do you have a direct connection to your readers or fans of your book? Do you have an email list? Are you working to grow this email list and increase your reach? It is one of the greatest tools any writer can start and build. I have more details in this free eBook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author.  Also, I have an inexpensive eBook on list building called The List Building Tycoon.
3. Follow-up and meet their deadlines with editors and agents. Writers are notoriously late on meeting their deadlines. New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins who has also been an editor says only one writer in 100 will meet their deadline. If you deliver quality writing on the deadline, it is a way for you to stand out in the market.
4. Develop habits so you are in the top 10% A recent Pew study showed that 80% of tweets come from about 10% of users. I meet many writers who have a small Twitter following and post something once or twice a week.  I am probably in this top 10% because of my frequency of tweets, the diversity and providing excellent content.  If you create a habit and then execute your plan over and over, you too can be in this top percentage. Your consistent action will move you to the top of the stack.

Your persistent efforts will pay off in the publishing community. If you take consistent action, you can be the exception.

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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 eBook, Straight Talk From the Editor. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Get Connected to Publishing People

By W. Terry Whalin

Within the publishing community, who you know is almost as important as what you know. Yes, it is important to pitch an excellent book proposal or manuscript to the right publisher. As an editor and an author, I also understand people buy (books or manuscripts) from people they know, like and trust. How can you know more publishing people? From my years in publishing, one of the challenges is keeping track of the moving people.

Years ago, one of my six-figure book deals was cancelled because my New York editor had changed companies. My book was orphaned or without an editor directly responsible for my project. It taught me the importance of having a champion within the publishing house for each book.           

How does a new author with no connections, begin to get connected to publishing people? Everyone can use a social network which has over 562 million users: LinkedIn. This network is primarily business related and publishing is a business. To get connected, you need to take several actions:

1.      Rework your LinkedIn profile to show your activity in publishing. Do you write for magazines? Have you published books? Or possibly you have some other explicit publishing role such as leading a local writer’s group. If you have these types of qualifications, then add them to your LinkedIn profile.

2.      Begin to send connection requests to different people in publishing. These people could be book editors, literary agents, magazine editors, authors and many other roles. In some cases you will want to send them a little personalized message with your invitation. In other cases, you simply send out the generic invitation that you want to connect with the person.

For many years, I received LinkedIn invitations and ignored them. I had very few connections on LinkedIn and was not connected. Then I began to look at the background of the person and for most people, I accepted their invitation to connect. My number of connections increased and my public profile says the common “over 500 connections.” The real number of my LinkedIn connections, as of this writing, is over 6,700. These connections are varied with many different roles (mostly within publishing) Here’s the critical reason you want to be connected: when I need to reach someone that I’ve not emailed or called in a long-time, I check their LinkedIn contact information.

While there is a lot of movement within the publishing community, when they change positions or companies or physical location, everyone takes their LinkedIn account with them. This account belongs to the individual and is a way to consistently keep up and reach them.

LinkedIn has a lot of other functions as well but being connected and maintaining those connections is one of the basics and best reasons to consistently use this network.      

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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 Ebook, Straight Talk From the Editor. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Looking For Authors Who “Get It”

By W. Terry Whalin

Editors and agents are blasted with submissions every day. I know because I’ve been one of them for years. Authors are frustrated receiving form rejection letters with no information or no response at all. To many authors, it is a mystery how their submission is “found” and published.     

For the last five years, I’ve been an acquisitions editor for a New York publisher who receives over 5,000 submissions a year and only publishes about 150 books. Yes there is a selection process for every author and every book. Here’s the encouraging news for authors: every day I’m actively looking for authors. Also I understand every day over 4,500 new books are published. This large number includes the self-published books which may only sell 100 copies during the lifetime of the book. This statistic helps authors understand the massive amount of new material constantly entering the marketplace. It also explains why you as an author have to be promoting and marketing your book. 

How can you get the attention of an editor or agent? I want to give five ways to show you are an author who “gets it.”

1.      Submit an excellent proposal or manuscript. Editors and agents can recognize excellent writing. The old saying is true, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” Every author needs to pour polish and storytelling into their submission. Yes it is easy to reach people via email. Before you hit send, your submission should be excellent. Use my free book proposal checklist at: http://terrylinks.com/bookcheck It works for nonfiction and fiction.

2.      Follow proven author practices. While there is not a bestseller formula for success, there are proven author actions. Every publisher and literary agent is looking for authors with connections or a platform. Pick up my free eBook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author at: http://terrylinks.com/pb

3.      Take action every day to learn more about publishing and build your market connections. Join a writers group or organization and get involved.

4.      Understand the various types of media and do not build your platform on “rented” media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are examples). Start and maintain your own blog and email list to reach your readers.

5.      Diversify your writing business. Write and sell information products. Learn about affiliate income. Write for magazines. Don’t put all of your efforts into one type of writing. As a writer, there are many different possibilities. Get ideas from my first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams at: http://terrylinks.com/JYPD If I can help you, reach out to me. It’s why my personal email is in my Twitter profile.

As an author, I’ve been inside some of the top publishers and literary agencies. Every professional is actively looking for the next bestseller. The path to your success is out there. Take steps every day to show you are an author who “gets it.”

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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 EBook, Straight Talk From the Editor. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Four Ways to Support Other Writers

By W. Terry Whalin

Writing is a solitary profession. Alone we sit at our keyboard and write words—maybe for a magazine or a book or a website. So why would you even want to support other writers?     

Bestselling author, Zig Ziglar said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” As you support other writers, your life will be richer and you will see remarkable and often unexpected results. I’ve been working with writers for many years.

In this article, I want to give you four simple ways to support other writers. While I personally practice these ways, I encourage you to pick one or two which you can do on a regular basis.

1.      Write reviews of any book you read or hear. Depending on the book, it is often hard to get book reviews. It’s why I’ve written over 850 reviews on Amazon. Any book that I read or hear the audiobook, I take a few minutes and write a few sentences of review. As a writer, I’m always reading books and when I finish the book, it doesn’t take much time to write the review but other writers will appreciate your support.

2.      As you read the blog posts from others, make a short yet relevant comment. Sometimes with blogging, you wonder if anyone is reading and your relevant comment will encourage the writer. The key concept is to make a “relevant” comment and tie it to the content of the blog post. I often get unrelated comments for my blog which are never posted and deleted as SPAM.

3.      Use Social media retweets. When you read a solid blog post, magazine article, Facebook post or tweet, pass it onto others. Often there a simple buttons to facilitate this effort but you will help other writers when you pass on this information.

4.      Introduce writers to each other. In the writing world, who you know is often as important as what you know. A simple email introducing a writer to someone else can help that person make the right connection. It could change the direction of their writing life.

As writers, we need each other. Our writing may be in isolation but taking these actions can be a difference maker in the life of other writers.

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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 Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook, his blog and LinkedIn.

Don’t Miss One of the Best Writing Opportunities

By W. Terry Whalin

Many writers struggle to make a living—yet ignore one of the best possible ways to make money: ghostwriting. Some people only want to write their own stories. Yet there are an infinite number of stories for others you can ghostwrite. I’ve seen some writers try it once and give up. Ghostwriting is an honorable way to use your craft to write for others.

The first step is to answer several questions: 1. Are you willing to write stories for others and in their “voice” or style? 2. Have you written these types of stories and where do you get this type of writing experience? One of the best places is in the print magazine area because the form is shorter than a book and you can get a taste of the process without the commitment of a full-length book. If the process works with the other person, then consider doing a full-length book project.

The full details about ghostwriting or collaborative writing are impossible to capture in this short article. I recommend you get a copy of GHOSTWRITING by Cecil Murphey. Cec is one of the most skilled writers in this area with over 140 published books to his credit and a number of New York Times bestselling books. Murphey has tackled this type of writing over and over.

Through a combination of his own personal experience, he takes the mystery away from this area and helps writers learn the value. He gives them a vision for how they too could earn good money but also help others birth stories which would never be written.

Murphey covers the gamut of topics in this well-written book. He defines the terms like book doctor or collaborator or ghostwriter. He goes into ethical concerns and where you find subjects and answers a critical writer question: how do you make money and what do you charge for this service.

I’ve got shelves of how-to writing books and only have one other book on this topic (written years ago). This new book is fresh and engaging. Also, Murphey has tapped his wide network of other ghostwriters for their experiences and added it to enrich his book. The key application points for the reader are distilled at the end of each chapter into a series of bullet points called a Takeaway.

As I read GHOSTWRITING cover to cover, I found myself nodding in agreement at the wisdom in this book. I’ve written more than a dozen books for other people as a collaborator and rarely a ghostwriter. I highly recommend GHOSTWRITING for anyone who wants to learn the inside story about this much-needed area of the writing world. Ghostwriting can be one of your best writing opportunities.

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W. 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 GreatestEvangelist and the book website is at: http://BillyGrahamBio.com His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Terry Blogs about the Writing Life at: www.thewritinglife.ws Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.