It’s not a natural thing for most creative people to sell their work, but when it
comes time to publish, you have to know something about how to sell.





You have to put in the effort, make the calls, not get beat down by rejection. (It’s
why I love this Alec Baldwin video, and my advice based on it.)




I’m definitely not a salesperson by nature. But it didn’t take long to learn some
basic skills, since my first editorial job depended on convincing salespeople my ideas
were worthwhile.




Most writers need a little help in understanding how to pitch their work effectively,
and I love being the one to help craft and rework that pitch.





This week I’m teaching an online course that offers an extreme makeover on query letters.
You get to submit your 1-page query ahead of time, then you’ll see me (in a live session)
dissect all the queries into good, OK, and needs revamped.




It’s a fun and illuminating process, and you learn the essential principles of selling
the story (fiction) or selling an idea (nonfiction).




My goal is that every writer leave this session with a little salesperson inside who
can kick into high gear when it’s query-writing time.



Go
register here if you have a query letter that needs professional attention. The
session is this Thurday, November 5, at 1p EDT.




Also:

• Read my previous post: 5
  Elements of Query Letters
  
  
• If my online class isn’t for you, try our excellent guide by Wendy Burt-Thomas,  The
  Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters (with specific tips by genre).
• Check Chuck’s agent blog for his Successful
  Queries series.
  
  

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• 

To write
what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people
to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.

—Charles Caleb Colton

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this
state of being.

—A. A. Milne

Publishing is no longer simply a matter of picking worthy manuscripts and putting
them on offer. It is now as important to market books properly, to work with the bookstore
chains to getterms, co-op advertising, and the like. The difficulty is that publishers
who can market are most often not the publishers with worthy lists.

—Olivia Goldsmith

One of the signs of Napoleon’s greatness is the fact that he once had a publisher
shot.

—Siegfried Unseld

Publishers are all cohorts of the devil; there must be a special hell for them somewhere.

—Goethe

As difficult as it is for a writer to find a publisher – admittedly a daunting task
- it is twice as difficult for a publisher to sort through the chaff, select the wheat,
and profitably publish a worthy list.

—Olivia Goldsmith

One should fight like the devil the temptation to think well of editors. They are
all, without exception – at least some of the time, incompetent or crazy.

—John Gardner

If you’ve been following industry chatter, you may have seen some conversations lately
about whether authors need publishers (or vice versa). Plus there’s now a Twitter
tag for the discussion, #publishersmatter




To catch up, you can read these 3 pieces:

Do
Authors Still Need Publishers?


by Mark Coker of Smashwords (e-publishing
service)



What Do
Authors Need?


by Kate Eltham at Queensland Writers Centre (Australia)



Do
Publishers Still Need Authors?


by Guy Gonzalez, my colleague and audience development director for Digital
Book World (My views align closely with Guy’s.)

Aspiring writers and authors can be extremely mistrustful and suspicious of publishers—
creating a group only too eager to join the revolution where writers/authors have
power and publishers become obsolete.




Those who can never get inside the pearly publishing gates feel marginalized and like
they never got the attention they deserve, while those who do break in feel exactly
the same way. As
Daniel Menaker has said:

Many of the most important decisions made in publishing
are made outside the author’s and agent’s specific knowledge. … [Publishing] silently
colludes in trying to ignore the obvious …  that the first printing of your book
will be three thousand copies, that it will not have full-color galleys, that no advertising
or tour is planned, and that it has been assigned to a publicist who up until yesterday
worked in the Xerox department. Why the collusion? Because this is a business fueled
largely by writers’ need for attention, and no one wants to crush any writer’s dreams
before a book is even published. Especially since every now and then they actually
come true.

Today, many authors are left out to sea as soon as the book hits store
shelves, a critical moment in the life of many books. By the time the author realizes
what’s happening, the window of opportunity has vanished—that moment when you can
ensure stores/retailers see the book as a quality and profitable item, leading to
a good model (number of copies per store).




Other authors get turned out by their publishers when their books don’t sell, even
if they could’ve been a quality midlist author with more time and investment. (Most
publishers don’t have the luxury of waiting.)




Obviously neither of these phenomenon help the author OR the publisher.




I wonder if successful publishers of the future will attract quality authors mostly
by …

• the deep reach of their distribution (especially if to a particular audience)
• their editorial/curation prowess and stable of quality authors
• the support and service they provide authors

Publishers have done a poor job, at best, in the support and service role.




How many publishers actively support their authors when it comes to teaching them
online marketing and promotion practices? How many will analyze their authors’ efforts
at platform and branding? How many will give them the education, tools, or resources
they need to be true partners with the publisher? How many will—at the very least—provide
clarity on what the publisher will and will not do for the author, or explicitly convey
their own strengths and weaknesses, so the author goes in eyes wide open?




While publishers of the future need to distinguish themselves by the quality of their
partnerships, the quality of their audience reach (community), and the quality of
their curation, I bet there will be publishers who become known for support and service,
and attract quality authors like bees to honey—and be more successful because of it.




What do you say?

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• 

My partner in crime, The Conductor,
recently forwarded me the following, from an interview
with Lost Producer Damon Lindel:

In today’s film and television industries it
seems like there are far fewer writers willing to take risks for originality’s sake.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers who are passionate about a particular
story, even if it risks not being given a chance by today’s audiences? — Josh G.




As clichéd as it sounds, if you have an original voice and an original idea, then
no matter what anybody says, you have to find a way to tell that story. My only advice
would be you have to exercise patience. I think the freshman mistake is you feel such
passion for something that you need to tell it now, as opposed to saying, "Let me
establish myself, and five years from now when I’m a little bit older, a little bit
wiser, a little bit more experienced, maybe that’s the time to tell that story."




Sometimes you get a present for somebody a month before their birthday and you just
want to give it to them immediately. But timing is everything. So I would say it might
feel like your idea is a hard sell now, but maybe in a couple years the timing will
be right. Whatever you do, don’t give up.

Whenever someone asks for my autograph in my
book, I usually add my 2 biggest pieces of advice:

Perhaps persistence is a type of patience. Persistence adds a level of push, of proactiveness,
of energy. The wrong kind of patience will lull you right into complacency and inactivity
(and waiting to be "discovered").




Yet: Some people are so pig-headed in their persistence that they can’t discern when
it’s time to change course or adapt to changing times.




I recently read about the importance
of context, which applies to writing and publishing more than ever. Some writers
remain blind to issues of context and can’t grow.




Passion persistence best serve people who know how to grow, which Lindel
advises: get wiser and more experienced. I couldn’t agree more.




And that other P word that Lindel uses: Passion.





What crushes the heart: A person with unlimited passion, but lacks the focus or discipline
to do the hard work of realizing the Big Dream she has.




Sometimes, it’s all about who is working hardest, and can devote the most time and
energy to their endeavor, and knock on more doors. Not who’s most talented.




For those who are talented and never gain appropriate recognition, you can blame it
on bad luck, bad timing, and unfairness, but I’d ask myself: Am I working harder than
everyone else?





Photo credit: The Rocketeer

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• 

There’s such a wonderful comment on yesterday’s post that I wanted to bring attention
to it (slightly modified to apply to all genres). Thank you, Banana the Poet (aka
Michele Breton)! Follow her on Twitter or visit
her site.





Simple Checklist for Getting Known, Getting Readers, Building Platform

• Blog your work and gather readers (Michele blogged for three years)
  
  

• Join Twitter (and/or Facebook)
  and make friends with like minded people

• Contribute comment regularly on blogs and sites (like Writer’s
  Digest Poetic Asides prompt challenges)

• Start publishing company (optional, but great route for poets)
  
  

• Release poetry book (possible to accomplish for free and with little or no technical
  expertise, through services like Smashwords, Lulu, Scribd)
  
  

• Format for Kindle and release

• Get onto the Barnes Noble Nook
  system

• Ask hubby to turn my book into an iPhone
  application

What other steps would you add, or have you found to be critical?

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• 

This is a story about an energetic author who deserves an award for truly living by
the adage, "There Are No Rules." In fact, I shall start an honorable group, "There
Are No Rules Crown Club," for people who live up to this moniker, starting with
Al Katkowski.




Al e-mailed me over the summer and suggested that he might be a valuable speaker at our
annual conference in NYC. I agreed, and he spoke about his success in transforming
his book, Question of the Day (self-published),
into an iPhone App that now ranks as one of the Top 25 book apps and has been downloaded
more than 80,000 times.




I asked him to answer some questions that would give you an idea of how you can accomplish
something like this too. You
might also want to read this other article he penned for Teleread.






So at first you were initially skeptical if turning your book into an iPhone app was
a good use of your time and energy. But ultimately you decided to go for it. What
did that process look like, e.g., how long did it take, what resources did you need,
and how much did it cost?




The process of building the first version of the App occurred over a six-week period.
This was with Daniel, who was simultaneously working a 60-plus hour work week, and
had previously committed to other outside work. It needn’t take that long. The work
came in between $500 and $1,000 total, but there is more work to be done [for another
version].




For authors, I would say keep in mind that the improvements I am about to take on
fall further and further away from the presentation of a book, and don’t necessarily
reflect the amount of work that any author needs to take on. However, your App must
"do tricks." This is iPhone, not Kindle—you’re competing with Tetris for attention.
That’s why I wisely got into the Books category [for iPhone apps], and left Entertainment!






What are some practical steps that an author can take to launch their book as a successful
iPhone App?





We’ve been studying this for a long time, listening to experts in the field and watching
what authors and publishers are bold enough to do, and what they are afraid to do.
I recommend putting out two thirds of your content for free, perhaps more. 





The publishing world is currently focused on how to move into the digital domain while
minimizing the threat of piracy. They do need to be addressing this. So the idea of
increasing the release of free content is, well, freaking them out. Yet, it is exactly
what they need to be dealing with.





Free content is part of the glue of "tribes", as Seth
Godin might say. Understanding the true ratio between free content and paid ensures
a healthy, continuous relationship with customers.





Thinking about preparing for the future when it’s already here is like preparing for
a flood when you’re already drowning. They’re doing too little, and it may already
be too late. They’ve begun to release one free book of an author, or of a series,
to promote interest in the rest. What if you’re a first-time author, with only one
book?




Lite versions of apps fall into a great literary tradition: generating enough interest
to facilitate purchasing the next installment. The classic example is "A Tale Of Two
Cities", which was originally published as part of a literary journal, in installments.
Pick it up and pay attention to the end of each chapter, the way things are summed
up. 





I want to recommend three operable models here for the first time, for fiction writers:

1. Release a lite (free) version chapter by chapter. Every
four to six weeks, update your App with a new chapter. There will be a push notification
through the App Store that your book has added a new chapter; iPhone users love updates
of their favorite Apps. Whether your App was pay or not, updates are always free.




Some people don’t update right away. But you can track the amount of updates on a
daily basis to see how many people are actively keep up with your new additions.




After updating the app to Chapter Seven of your ten-chapter book, that’s it. Game
over. Now, at the same time, release your full pay app version for purchase. They
can pay now. 





2. Release a lite (free) version with somewhere between 60% to 80% of the content.Less
than that may engage them, but that amount will really seal the deal. If they like
what they’ve seen, they will pay for the rest. If you give away too much, they may
pick up your book somewhere and check the last five pages for the ending.





3. Have you begun podcasting? I’ve spoken to best-selling authors whose hands
are tied; they are not permitted by their publishers to put out iPhone versions of
their books. One of these is a very well known podcaster.





You can create first-time integrated experiences for your readers. This author should
have been the first to do this, but instead, it could be you. At the top of the page,
a choice in media:

"Chapter 4: Would you like to read, or would you like to be read to?"

We’ve all had to discontinue reading before we’ve felt like it. In this
format, you could offer your reader the option of plugging their iPhone into the car
stereo and reading to them at the point where they had to stop reading on their own. 

What’s been most surprising about the experience?


That major publishing houses are nowhere near me [in the iPhone app rankings]. One
James Patterson book came close for a while. I’m at number 23 today, he’s at 53. We’re
both free. I’m also surprised by the fact that the other apps that are near me are
compendiums, reading apps, etc … no actual print books.





It surprises me that people are impressed that I got the Apple Store event dates.
Again, is anyone even trying? 





The acceleration of Books within the App Store is surprising and even a little shocking.
When I got in in April, there were 3,000 book apps. Check this out: on September 7,
the books category hit the 10,000 mark. On October 7, it hit 12,000, a full 20% growth
in only one month. That’s staggering, and you can’t tell me that people aren’t paying
attention to the potential of books within the iPhone format.






When you spoke at our conference, you said that you weren’t quite ready to be looking
for an agent on the print edition, even though QotD has been downloaded more than
80,000 times, and currently in the Top 25 out of over 12,000 titles in the Book App
category. What benchmark are you waiting for? OR, are you waiting to be approached?




I walked into the conference thinking that I had something going for myself, but that
there were a lot of people in the business who either think nothing of it, aren’t
aware of it, or don’t understand the value of it. These feelings were confirmed and
magnified at the conference. Several respected industry people told me that I have
a huge platform now. I did, in fact, meet up with an agent who was enthused about
what I’m doing. She sees "huge" potential, and doesn’t think that others in the biz
see it that way. We’ll stay in touch, and that’s a good thing.




Industries won’t change until they see money flowing into someone else’s pockets.
If industries can’t create money flow, they will certainly follow it. They are forcing
me to grow. And that is a good thing.  





The next time I update, it will be like tapping over 80,000 people on the shoulder.
They love their apps. They are going to listen. And here’s the kicker: I asked about
a hundred people to download my app. The rest found me. It’s a marketer’s dream. How
can you not see the value in that?




You’ve had some tremendous success without any mainstream or “traditional” assistance
(or that’s my impression?). What advice do you have for others who may be pursuing
an indie path?




The main thing I had to do was to get right with myself, and my answers are based
on that.





First of all, if you need to write and be read, and selling thousands of books is
not a major concern, don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t serious. 





For the rest of us:





People often do things like self-publishing without fully realizing why they did it.
It serves to make them feel good about themselves, temporarily. It is exactly like
when someone you work with or go to school with loses weight. They needed to do it,
it was a lot of work, they feel a feeling of satisfaction and they get a lot of compliments.
After a while, they don’t get compliments and they still have to give up the Twinkies.
Are you kidding? What kind of rip-off is that? A total rip-off! A few weeks later,
the Nordic Track gets parked in the garage. They quit as soon as it stops feeling
good.





I always say, "Know what’s driving you." Why are you doing this, and is that driver
enough to get you through rejections, confusion, boredom and that lost in the woods
"what do I do next" feeling? You need to know, but there will be tough moments when
even the drivers leave the room, and you’ll really want the Twinkies. Starting at
that moment, every little thing you do for your self is a huge victory. The down feeling
will go away, something will turn in your favor, and then  "perseverance" is
not just a word anymore.




So, know your drivers, know that you will change course many times, and be ready to
divorce your naysayer friends in a split second. Some people keep them around as motivation,
but to me, they are poison. You can’t afford the time it will take to figure out why
they give with one hand, and slap with the other. You don’t know why, and they don’t
know why. And they’re not going to stop. They don’t need to change, but your environment
needs to change. You’re doing something much riskier and more difficult than most
of the people people you know. Distance, immediately!





Every day that you recognize that something is off course, and you don’t initiate
work on a solution, you’re blowing it. You may as well quit and start to like working
for somebody else, because you are not being true to yourself, and your babies are
dying. You are killing them with inattention. 





I’m fairly easy going, but I have a pretty big ego. As a creative person, I know that
my ideas are my life blood. I did create Question
Of The Day, but making it into a book was not my idea, and neither was the iPhone
App. My indebtedness to others teaches me a lot.





There will always be a right time to jump from "indie", whether it means hiring staff
and becoming a startup, or going with a publishing house. Your ideas will always be
your own, but you can never achieve as much by yourself as you can with other people.



 



What are your next steps, let’s say in the next year? Do you have any longer range
plans or goals?



Question Of The Day will remain
a free app. Not a "lite" version, but a full version that is free. We are now putting
together a companion pay app, built from suggestions of QotD downloaders. This version
will have twice as many videos, and I am also weighing the possibility of adding half
of the questions from the next book, which is already written. 





We are planning a social networking version, where people who are playing with the
app can locate and communicate with others playing with the app, and play together.
At their option, they will be able to see each other’s location in the world on a
map.





Ultimately, I’d like this to do well enough so that I can put it behind me and focus
entirely on music. In one way or another, I’ll always have something to do with Question
Of The Day, but I have to get back to what I was doing before I got here. Not that
I’m not working on it, but it really needs my full attention. I need to be doing it
all the time, like I was.












–




My indebtedness to Al for sharing these thoughtful, thorough answers (and also thanks
for his enduring patience). And to all iPhone users: Go download that app! (I did,
and it’s wonderful.)




So, for readers, does this raise more questions for you? What do you think the big
surprise is? Let’s hear it in the comments!

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• 

The No. 1 question we get asked at Writer’s Digest is "How do I get my book published?" As
the Brazen Careerist has noted, sometimes people don’t ask the best or most focused
questions if they want a meaningful answer (or if they want to respect the person
they’re requesting information from).




In my online class this Thursday, I’ll be attempting to answer this big-picture question
of how one gets a book published. I hope to provide the fundamentals on what it takes,
and discuss concrete steps to score a book deal. You
can register here for $49.




(Special offer for readers of this blog: If you take this Thursday’s class, I’ll give
you a coupon for $50 off any other online class in November/December, which is a 50%
discount.)




One of the first steps in your journey is identifying where exactly you are on the
publishing path. At the September event in New York City, I categorized writers into
3 broad areas:

• I AM GOD. You think-know-believe you have what it takes to become the next Stephen
  King. This takes quite a bit of ego—enough to sustain you across years of rejection—and
  it also usually takes enthusiasm and energy to keep you going when all other lights
  have gone out. For novelists, having this goal (bestsellerdom) usually means that
  you’re at the top of your game when it comes to storytelling or information.
  
  
• I AM GROWING. Most writers who I meet fall into some version of this. They have manuscripts
  in progress, may not be sure of what they should write, and seek some kind of validation
  that they should continue in their efforts. Rejections can be detrimental if not categorized
  for what they are—part of the business of getting published.
• I AM AN AUTHORITY. This category is especially relevant for authors in nonfiction
  genres who may be recognized experts in a subject matter, or have successful businesses
  or careers that can be successfully expressed in book form.

In my class on Thursday, I’ll talk about next steps no matter what kind of writer
you are, and how to get agents/editors to approach YOU, rather than you begging for
their attention.

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• 

1. Design your own book cover, or better yet, have a loved one do so for you. Bonus
points if that loved one is a child (either young of full-grown), and creates abstract
art.

1.5. Draw your own illustrations or have a loved one do so because they’re
really good with Microsoft Paint.

Books are products that require an industry professional’s attention
and marketing consideration, just like any other consumer product—from Coke to Draino.



2. Tell your editor that you’ve had your family member (who has a really sharp
eye), read your work for errors, and you’re certain it’s good to go. Bonus points
if that family member is a retired high school English teacher.




Editing is about much more than correcting comma placement. Furthermore, all publishers
have their own style guidelines that aren’t known or understood outside the publishing
industry.



3. Tell your publisher that your book is a perfect fit for Starbucks [or any major
retailer], and that it should be sold there.




More than anyone, your publisher wants your book stocked in every possible retail
outlet, and will exploit every single distribution connection it has. It will place
it in any outlet that will make space for books, and even pay money for placement.
Your publisher isn’t lazy or unimaginative; there’s just immense competition.



And a sure-fire way to make an editor cringe:


Remark in an envious way, "So you must read a lot." No, we don’t read. Mostly, we
look for ways to make money and get your book placed at Starbucks, while gently informing
you that your first-born cannot design your cover. Most editors have completely left
pleasure reading behind. (That includes me, except when I’m on vacation.)




To end on a positive note:



6 sure-fire ways to make an editor love you

• Ask questions about the business.
• Ask what you can do to make your book or project or idea more successful.
• Ask about the publisher’s strengths and weaknesses, and where your help can really
  make a difference.
• Share your action plan for marketing and promotion, and ask the publisher for specific
  things where they can meaningfully and realistically help you (usually things you
  know they’ve done to assist other authors).
• Ask for examples or models of what other authors have done that have led to success.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. (Do not hide out, do not point fingers, do
  not blame.)
  
  

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• 

I’m on an inspirational kick this week.




I recently connected on LinkedIn with my very
first boss at F+W.





I always remember the advice he repeated to me that went something like: "Imagine
you’re 80, looking back on the fulfilling, beautiful life you’ve led. Now go do that."




I come across too many people who append a condition to their writing or creative
life. Do you say these things?

• I’ll write when … (waiting for perfect conditions)
  
  
• I’ll write if … (waiting for some thing or someone else to act/decide/validate)

Or maybe something like:

• I’ll never be as good as … (denying the fact each person is unique and has
  something to offer — and ignoring the hard work of self-knowledge and writing practice
  to help identify what makes you unique as a writer)
• I don’t have the patience … (for those who know the time it takes and the difficulties
  involved—but this forgets the preciousness of the journey and only considers the goal)
  
  

And most evil of all:

• When I have enough time (we’re all given the same amount of time in a day,
  but also we don’t know how much time we’re given overall)
  
  

Lately, I’ve come across two quotes from famous folks, echoing my former boss’s sentiment.
Nothing earth-shattering, but still …





Here’s what
Steve Jobs said when he addressed Stanford’s graduating class a few years ago:

… for the past 33 years, I have looked in the
mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would
I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for
too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

And
Seth Godin wrote (around the same timeframe):

The thing is, we still live in a world that’s filled
with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation.
An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and
to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude,
insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.
… You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s
never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best
thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.

Photo
credit: Let Ideas Compete

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• 

In my role at Writer’s Digest I balance
a two key objectives that’s an odd, meta-publishing endeavor:

1. Help aspiring writers succeed in the publishing arena
2. Keep the Writer’s Digest business—as a publishing and/or content business—viable

Because of my position within the publishing industry, I see up-close the effects
of hard economic times, transformational technology, and increased pressure to produce
more with less. Friends lose jobs, businesses fold, we try to follow the cliche "work
smarter, not harder," and remind ourselves of the heartfelt reasons we’re in the business
in the first place.




Here are some recent thoughts from others, from a variety of perspectives:



Daniel Menaker (former Executive Editor-in-Chief of Random House)

I believe that this impending Gutenberg-level shift
in reading culture, along with the economic disasters of the last two years, render
the challenges of present-day hard-copy publishing all the more agonizing, immediate,
and dramatic. At least in the abstract, and especially in this economic climate, most
other professions pose some of the same problems for those who pursue them, no doubt.
But the tectonically opposing demands on publishing — that it simultaneously make
money and serve the tradition of literature — and its highly unpredictable outcomes
and its prominence in the attention of the media have made it a kind of poster adult
for capitalism and the arts in crisis. [click
here for full article]

Guy Gonzalez (F+W community leader behind Digital
Book World)

For all the talk of publishing’s supposedly imminent
demise, there are far too many passionate people working in and around the industry,
at every level, to let that happen. And whether they realize it or not, it doesn’t
matter if they’re working for one of the major publishers or an independent press,
in senior management or as an editor, author or bookseller — there’s a wide and fertile
common ground we all share and it’s best represented by the community we all
serve: the readers.



Ultimately, it’s readers’ changing habits that are driving the
fundamental changes in the publishing industry – everything from the types
of books they’re reading to the formats they prefer reading them in – and
as a result, it’s the current business model of most publishers that’s under
stress, not the community service of publishing itself.

[click
here for full post]

From Mark Barrett at DitchWalk.com

Everyone in the new content pipeline must demonstrate
added value in order to be embraced by both authors and readers. As an author, if
you are not helping me monetize my content in some way, I have no valid business reason
for partnering with you or hiring you. As a reader, if you are not providing me a
service I need at a competitive price I will simply go elsewhere.




… As a writer, questions of cost and profit and revenue are of interest to me because
I now have a direct pipeline to readers. I know I can reduce my costs to something
approaching zero, so the question of most concern to me is how to generate revenue.
I know I need help to monetize my content. I need sites that will host it and promote
it, readers that will recommend it, and publishers who will do the same if I want
to reach the widest possible audience.




I want to make deals with business partners in order to accomplish these goals. I
want to have the money to hire professionals like editors and designers to help me
produce the best work I can. And I want publishers to help me reach the widest market
if that makes sense to both of us. [click
here for full post]

***




I frequently encounter these two groups:

• The writers/authors who read all of this, who do comprehend what’s going on, but seem
  unwilling or unable to adjust their expectations of a publisher or their own responsibility
  for success
• The agents, editors, and other publishing insiders who also comprehend what’s going
  on, yet expect or demand business as usual when it comes to book deals, contracts,
  and other partnerships

There are also the people who say, quite rightly, that writing and publishing a "real"
book is still the big dream, and people will keep chasing that dream no matter how
much we all argue that the book is dead, that times have changed, that no one reads
any more, etc.




Yes, the dream will always remain. As far as I can tell, it has been a dream for more
than a century (The Writer, a competitor to
Writer’s Digest, has been in business for more than 120 years).




But achieving that dream is going to take many more shapes, and look a lot different,
than it did even 5 or 10 years ago.




Most of all, I want YOU to see, really see, what’s possible (now in the future—see The
Art of Possibility), identify what you can achieve, and understand tactics to
get things done.




I’m trying to do these things, too—along with care for the morale of the people I
work with at Writer’s Digest and F+W.




I am reminded of Kenny
Moore’s words:

Morale continues to remain dismal in most companies
and employee surveys reveal three disturbing trends: nobody trusts, workers don’t
believe senior management and employees are too stressed out to care. Problems with
trust, belief and caring. When I lived behind the cloistered walls, we referred to
these dynamics as a crisis of Faith, Hope and Charity. As the Recession continues
to take its toll, the business world is facing a spiritual problem as much as a fiscal
one. Napoleon once said that leaders are dealers in hope.  That sounds like a
sacred quality to me.

Photo credit: benefit
of hindsight