W. Terry Whalin's Blog, page 56

The Essence of Simple Customer Service

As an
editor, I make a number of phone calls each day. I also send a great deal of
email. Sometimes it feels like those emails go into a black hole and no one
hears their voice mail or reads their email. I understand that feeling isn't
real but it seems that way from the lack of response.






This
week I had several authors respond to my calls and emails in a refreshing way.
Everyone is busy. We go on vacation and special outings with our family. We step
away from our offices or have some sort of family crisis. Those situations are
understandable.





One of
my authors sent an email saying they were out of town but would get back to me
next week. Another author emailed that she received my message and was going to
respond early next week. These authors sent short emails but let me know they
received my message and were going to be responding to it soon. Can you respond
in this way to let the other person know you received their call or email? To
me, it is simple customer service yet important communication.








Recently I
interviewed Rick Frishman,
publisher at Morgan
James. You can hear our interview and have immediate access to the replay. For
many years, Rick ran one of the largest public relations companies in the U.S.
based in New York City called Planned Television Arts (now called Media
Connect). During the call, Rick pointed out that he answers his own email and
returns his phone calls. He doesn't have an assistant or someone else to do it,
he does it. I identified with what he was saying because I handle it the same
way. I return my phone calls and emails.  Like Rick, I do not have an assistant
handle returning calls or email. I personally do it.






From my
experience, the higher up the chain of command that you reach, often the quicker
the response. Leaders and executives understand the importance of good
communication. The response is often not long and maybe even be a few words—but
you hear from the person almost right away.






The
essence of simple customer service is to return calls and respond to emails.
It's almost a lost art in our world—but if you practice it, you will stand out
and be the exception—and noticed. 




What actions in returning calls and answering
your emails can you take today?

My Diane Pitts' Interview -- Part 2

Several days ago, I told you about when Diane Huff
Pitts interviewed me.  She divided the interview into two parts and here's link to the first
portion.



In the second portion, I tackle different questions—some of it
is familiar but other topics I've not written about before. Here are the
questions:



Writers' Conferences











HC (High Cotton): I was introduced
to your writing through the Heroes of the Faith series, and later we met at Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference. What advice do you
give attendees regarding preparation for writers conferences?



Brick and Mortar
Bookstores



HC: Are
bookstores (brick and mortar) on the way out? What are your views on the
industry today?









Why Build a Platform and
Social Media Presence?



HC: Everyone
wants to write, but few understand the demand for social presence and building
platform. Describe your approach.



Your Free Online
Resources











HC: You offer
free resources like Straight Talk from the Editor. What can writers
learn from this resource and others you’ve provided?



Your Long-term
Plans



HC: You are
known as someone who has a plan. A long term and a daily plan. What will Terry
Whalin be doing in five years?



Use this link to go to Diane's blog and read my answers to
these questions. I hope you gain a lot of information and insight from reading
my answers. 

Propel Your Writing Forward This Fall

Monday is Labor Day and the official end to
summer.  Do you want to move your writing to a new level of excellence and
achievement? I want to give you five ways to propel your writing
forward.



Attend A Writer's
Conference









Thousands of submissions sit on the desk of editors
and agents across the country. Which ones get moved forward and attention?
Publishing is like any other business—and I've mentioned this before—it is
connected to who you know as much as what you know. Yes, your writing has to be
excellent and compelling but you can cut years off the process of
getting published, if you know the right person. I did not exaggerate with that
word years in the last sentence.



How do you find that right person to publish your
material? It's almost impossible to do it just sitting at your computer. You
need to get to a writers' conference and meet the right people. I understand
your possible reluctance. Many writers are introvert and not eager to speak with
people. You will need to step out of your comfort zone and make the effort to
meet others. You can prepare by making some business cards with your photo,
phone number, email and website. Then bring those cards to a
conference.



Last week I booked my airline ticket and reserved
my hotel room for Author 101 University next month in Los Angeles. This event is
held twice a year and it is different from your typical writer's conference. The
focus is entirely on different ways to market and sell your book. The faculty
comes with diverse skills to help you in any area of writing. You will have
many opportunties to talk with each of them—including me but you have to take
action: register for the conference, reserve your hotel room and make plans to
attend. To give you incentive, use this coupon code when you register and save
$100: TERRY plus you can bring a friend for free. Now that is a bargain
for every writer.







To learn more about Author 101 University, catch this free
interview I did last month with Morgan James Publisher and founder of Author 101  Rick Frishman.
The interview is now on replay and you will have instant access to the
recording. Plus you can get the free Ebook, The Top Twenty Author
Mistakes (and learn a great deal from reading this resource).



There are many great conferences. From my years in
this business, I encourage you to make plans to attend  Author 101 University
which is an excellent choice.



Join A Critique Group



If you have never been in a critique group or don't
know how to find one, read this article. The necessity to write something for each
meeting will move your writing forward and the feedback from others (outside of
your family) will help you have more confidence in your writing and improve your
writing skill. You can meet online or in person. I believe in person is much
more profitable and better but I've heard of writers using either method
effectively. The key is to take action and form a group or join a group already
in progress.



Find An Accountability
Partner



Who knows about your writing and cares about it
that is in your immediate circle of friends or family? Can you speak with this
person and ask them to hold you accountable for your writing and moving forward?
It is a simple conversation but can be significant to gain someone else who
knows about what you want to accomplish and move forward with your
writing.



Set A Consistent Writing
Goal



I've interviewed more than 150 bestselling authors.
One habit which is consistent with these authors is a consistent writing goal.
You can have a daily or weekly amount of words that you are going to produce.
Keep that goal on a little post-it or in front of you so you regularly tackle it
and hit it. Make sure you set something realistic that you can actually
accomplish.  You will be shocked at how this consistent effort of writing will
move your writing goals forward.



Form A New Habit



Finally I encourage you to take a hard look at your
writing life and what you want to achieve. Is there a new habit you can add to
your life which will help you achieve that goal? For example, if you write
romance books, then you need to be regularly reading that genre. If you want to
write magazine articles, then you need to be reading magazines. Fit this new
habit into your life and it will move your writing forward.



These five ideas are nothing new and maybe you've
heard them before. The key is to take consistent action and not let another
month pass before you are moving forward with your writing life. Let me know how
it is going and be encouraged.

Terry Whalin Writes a Billy Graham biography . . .Twice!

Recently my friend Diane Huff Pitts interviewed me about my
Billy Graham book and a number of other great topics. The interview is located
at this
link.



I'm letting you know about it in this article so you can click
over and read my interview. She is publishing it in two parts. 



Just to give you
a taste of what it contains, here's her questions:





About my Billy Graham Biography


HC (High Cotton): Terry, what instigated the
Billy Graham biography? What has to happen to get a book like this sanctioned by
someone so famous?





Faith Impacts Whalin’s Work


HC: In “Two Words That Changed My Life” you introduce
visitors to your initial faith walk. How has faith impacted your job in the
publishing world?





Networking and Educating Writers


HC: Was there anything in your writing career that gave you
a heart for championing new writers?



My answers form the article. Hope you enjoy it and learn as I'm
learning.
 

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.

Find A Job That You Love

For
over three years, I've worked for Morgan James Publishing. I love my job—admittedly not every
detail but I love the process of finding the right author and good books. It is
a constant search and rewarding to interact with authors.




Recently
one of my authors felt like quitting and not completing their book. From my
experience, all of us feel like that at one time or another. I know I have
wanted to quit the writing process. I emailed her with some ideas how to get it
done—and then I went on to something else in my work day. My words had impact
and about a week ago, this author emailed again saying she had finished her
book. It was exciting to receive that email!






If you
are considering a career change or looking for a new position, the classic book
which instantly comes to mind is What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles. This book
has sold over 10 million copies. I knew about this book but I had never read it.
Now I wish I had turned to this book several years ago when I went through my
own intense job search.




During
my job search,I followed seasoned advice and treated my unemployment like a job.
Every day I spent a considerable amount of time working at my job search. I
created an excellent resume, searched job boards for appropriate positions and
filled out many applications. I did it day after day and week after week—with no
response and no calls for interviews or even consideration. Yet I persisted in
looking and speaking with my publishing network. Nothing happened.




Looking
back at that time in my life, I believe the publishing world was changing and
numerous publishers were downsizing and cutting back on staff. Downsizing alone
sent many people into the job market and my qualifications didn't stack up when
compared to others. I could have used the wisdom in What Color Is Your Parachute?
The book is updated and revised every year.




In the
last few weeks, I was offered a review copy of What Color Is Your Parachute? 2016 I'm not looking to change
jobs but wanted to see what this well-known book contained. I read the review
copy and discovered this book is packed with insights and lessons — no matter
whether you are not thinking about changing jobs or searching.




For
example in a section called You Are Not As Powerless as You Think, Bolles
writes, “So it is, that in any situation you find yourself, no matter how
overwhelmed you may feel, no matter how much you may feel you're at the mercy of
huge forces that are beyond your control, some part of it is within
your control: maybe 2%, 5%, who knows? There is always something you
can work on. Something that is within your power. And often, changing that
little bit results in changing the whole lot. Maybe not as dramatic a change as
Mary (in the previous paragraph); but change nonetheless.” (Page
47)






As part
of Bolles' training he attended an Episcopal seminary and in the appendix
includes a large section about how to find your mission in life. Every reader
can personally profit from working through some of the checklists and
information in this book.




I
conclude this article with my review of the book for Amazon and Goodreads:




Valuable
Insight -- Whether You are Searching for A Job or Not




No job
lasts forever--whether we admit it to ourselves or not. This classic book
(updated each year) is loaded with encouragement and insight for every reader.
The step-by-step insights are valuable to any reader at any place in the job
market.




I loved
what Bolles said in the first chapter, "In today's world, he or she who gets
hired is not necessarily the one who can do that job best; but, the one who
knows the most about how to get hired. If you can learn new advanced job-hunting
skills you can not only survive. You can thrive." (Page 14)




This
book is packed with ideas and action steps for every reader. I highly recommend
it.

A Golden Opportunity--If You Take Action

It is
an old saying, “To win the lottery, you have to buy a ticket.” It is impossible
for you to win if you don't enter the drawing.  In life and the publishing
world, it is the same sort of action. If you don't submit your proposal or
manuscript to an agent or an editor, then it is hard for you to get a publishing
contract and have your book published.



From my
years in publishing, I've learned sometimes golden opportunities (if you seize
them) can change your life. I'm about to offer you such an opportunity so please
keep reading.



I have
created a special event on Tuesday,  August 25th.  I know it is short notice.
Have
you heard of Rick Frishman, our publisher at Morgan James?



To
refresh your memory, Rick Frishman is the founder of one of the largest PR firms
in the U.S. Planned Television Arts (now called Media Connect). Also Rick is the
host of the popular writers conference Author 101
University, which will be held
October 22, 23 and 24th in Los Angeles. I will also be attending this remarkable
event.



Maybe
you're wondering if you need to go to a writers' conference. Rick is an expert
at these conferences. Now is a great time to jump into the book market and learn
from Rick.





Why am
I telling you this? I'm
telling you this because I've convinced Rick Frishman to go on the hotseat for
my questions during a LIVE 70-minute telewebcast on Tuesday, August
25th!




Here's My Small Request 





Rather
than have the "content" come out of Rick's head (or my head) for the August 25,
2015 telewebcast at 6 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST, I decided to let you ask
Rick a question. 



Sound
fair?





So, if
you could ask Rick Frishman ANY question you wanted about attending a writers
conference like Author 101 University, what would your question
be?





Here's
your chance to ask Rick directly and get registered for our call on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 (starts promptly according to www.Time.gov). Click
the link below:





http://writersconf101.com





 Get Rick Frishman's FREE Special Report 








You
will receive a FREE copy of Rick Frishman's special report, The Top
Twenty Author Mistakes that Rick wrote with Robyn Freedman Spizman. 




It's FREE  if you ask a question and register for this Telewebcast.





Click
the link below:





http://writersconf101.com





After
your question gets submitted, you'll find out how to get phone access and
webcast access to Rick and myself for our LIVE telewebcast, August 25,
2015.




Your
Golden Opportunity During Our Call





Rick
has agreed to give away several registrations for Author 101
University during
our live call. Each of these tickets is worth almost $400. You can be one of the winners. 





1) You
must register for the call. Even if you don't have a question, then mark "no
question" Then


2)
You must be listening to the LIVE call in order to be one of the winners. Just
winning this registration could be a life-changing moment for your
writing.





What
are you waiting for? Use the link below:





http://writersconf101.com




Golden
opportunities are rare. I hope you will take action and register for Tuesday's
event. Hope to hear you on the call and speak with you soon.

Why I "Fish" Every Day

It takes great
practiced skill to fish successfully. While some people fish for a hobby, the
seasoned fisherman knows he has to fish many times to gain skill and also to
catch fish.




To be honest,
it has been years since I've been fishing but I “fish” every day. A fisherman
puts his line into the water and is positioned to catch a fish. I put quotations
around the word “fish” in the headline since I'm using fish for the word
networking or connections. You have to be in the market talking and connecting
with others every day to make a difference with your writing. Yes you
need to craft an excellent book and good storytelling. I always encourage
writers to learn that skill but you need something more than good writing. You
need the right connection.




Much of
publishing (and any business) is a matter of making the right connection with
the right person at the right time at the right place. You can't make that
connection working alone in your office at your computer or curled up with your
legal pad writing your story.




What steps are
you taking today to “fish” or network with others? It begins with your goals for
your writing. Do you want to sell more books? Do you want a traditional
publishing deal or are you going to self-publish? Do you want to build your
platform or group of readers? Do you want more
people to know who you are and what you ar doing? Then you have to make a
conscious effort every day to reach out and touch other
people.




Some of us
reach out to others through Twitter. I've
mentioned how I follow 800 new people every
day—people within my target market of publishing.
It does not consume lots of time but the consistent effort is important to my
constant expansion of this tool.




Also I dig
into my network of friends and connections. I pick up the phone and call people
leaving little messages or connecting with them for a few minutes. Yesterday I
spoke with several literary agent
friends. Why? Because these agents represent numerous authors who they want to
get published.  Those agents need to be reminded that I'm constantly looking for
great authors to publish through Morgan
James. Our publishing program will not be right
for every one of their authors. Yet it will be perfect for some of them. I'm
looking for the right author—every day.




I have authors
who have submitted their manuscripts and I'm scheduling calls with them to see
if Morgan James is the right fit for
these authors. I spend a great deal of time on the phone and answering my email
but it's part of my daily work. Your daily work will be different but are you
working every day at expanding your connections? I hope so.




I think about
activity in the past which has been productive for me. For example, I've made
terrific connections speaking at conferences. I'd like to do more
speaking next year. It will not happen if I don't take any action. Instead, I'm
making a list of conferences where I'd like to speak and conscious of who runs
these conferences. Can I fill a need for this event with a workshop or keynote?
There are numerous conferences and events where I can help others—but I have to
be proactive to get on their radar.




I'm eager to
continue to promote my Billy Graham and
Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams
books (as well as other books that I've written or been involved with). Can I
book a radio show or podcast or do a guest blog post or some other event to get
in front of a new audience? The answer is yes but from my experience it does not
happen without my initiative (sometimes but rarely). Most of the time these
opportunities come through proactive pitching and follow-up work.
Are you building this type of fishing into your daily schedule?




Throughout
today I will be emailing and calling people. You have to have a line in the
water to catch fish. What steps are you taking? 

Is It Worth Buying Twitter Followers?

You don't have to be on twitter
long before you see the ads and messages to buy followers. Maybe you have been
stuck at 1,000 or 2,000 followers on Twitter.  It can be tempting to purchase
followers and instantly boost your numbers. Should you buy
followers?




In the publishing community, your
social media numbers are public record. In a few minutes, any editor or literary agent can check
your twitter numbers. Then they can make a decision whether the information in
your proposal or pitch is real
or exaggerated. Marketing departments in publishing houses are looking for
authors with a large reach and social media connections.




I've recently seen a number of
bloggers and social media experts tell their audience to never buy followers. To
them it is a big no-no. I understand their reasoning and the encouragement for
people to naturally grow their followers. In this article, I want to take a
contrarian position and give you some ideas why you should buy
followers.




First I want to tell you that
I've purchased followers—not 10,000 or 20,000 at one time—but I have done it
several times. Have you looked at my twitter followers
(currently over 152,000). Why would I need to buy followers since I have more
followers than social media guru Joel Comm? Several months ago, Joel released the third edition
of his terrific book, Twitter
Power 3.0 from Wiley.









I've been on twitter for many
years (since 2009) and my number of followers has been growing. I didn't
instantly get to these numbers. I love to experiment with different techniques
to see if it will increase my followers. One of the aspects that I've tried is
to purchase followers. 




Before I did it, several people warned me that I will be kicked
off Twitter. It's possible but did not happen. Others contended these followers
are fake and not “following” my tweets or information. That is maybe true but
buying followers is a way to instantly boost your number of followers. This
boost can impress new people who follow you and also others who are looking at
your work to possibly purchase your books or even publish your
work.




I did not spend a lot of money to
buy followers. I've seen these ads and costs to purchase followers. They are
outrageous and nothing that I would do or recommend. Here's the details of how I
added followers. I went to Fiverr and searched for “twitter followers”  You will see
pages of ads and possible vendors who will add a certain number of followers for
$5.  I have no idea how they fulfill their promise to add new followers—but I
know they do it and have experienced it several times with different
vendors.




For a minute, let's think about
this service. Your twitter following is stuck at 1,000 or 3,000 and you want to
increase them.  Would it help your credibility or presence to go from 1,000 to
3,000 followers or 3,000 to 5,000 followers in 24 hours? I believe it would and
for a minimum cost. I'm not advocating that you go overboard with this
technique.  Yet buying twitter followers could help you in the platform building process
or building your presence in today's marketplace.




If you use this technique in
moderation, it is not the no-no, never do it that others advocate.  Have you
ever purchased followers? Did it help you or hurt? Let me know in the comments
below.

When Hitting a Roadblock, Experiment

For my social media efforts, I've written about using a tool called Refollow. Every day for the last several years, I've been increasing my followers using this tool. It takes me less than five minutes to follow 800 new followers.



It's significant that the people I'm following are not just anyone. They are followers in my target readers of publishing or writing. This targeting is a huge part (plus my continued valuable content in my tweets) as to why my followers continue to grow.







Sometimes when I use refollow, it will suddenly stop and I will get the message that I've reached the maximum followers which twitter allows and this will reset tomorrow.  Often in the past when I receive this rare message, I will close the window for refollow and use it again the next day.



I've learned through experimentation that if I wait for at least 30 minutes, I can return to refollow and select more people to follow and it will begin to work again. Just giving it this break from use, the tool will restart and I will be able to follow more people—so I can reach my selected limit of 800 new people a day.







Recently a reader wrote asking what to do because they had followed the maximum number of people which twitter allowed. My question in response: are these new people you have followed responding and following you back? If not, then you need to use a free tool like Manage Flitter to unfollow those people. Then you can replace the people you have unfollowed with new followers.  Manage Flitter is a valuable tool to remove people who are not responding. Then you can add new ones.



Some people wonder how I've written the volume of books or magazine articles or even these articles on The Writing Life (over 1200). The answer whether increasing your twitter followers, writing your next book or book proposal or magazine article, is simple: do it consistently every day. Many people want to write a bestseller or rocket to the top of some ranking yet they are not putting in this regular consistent effort.



I've been using Refollow for several years and I reap results from that effort all the time. Some people contact me about marketing their book or finding a literary agent or getting published or any number of other things. I faithfully respond to their questions, send them to valuable resources and help them. In response, they sign up for my email list, buy my products and books and publish their books with Morgan James or take my membership course on book proposals, receive these articles on the Writing Life, tell their friends about my work and much more.



The key point is to keep experimenting, trying new things and growing.  Each of us run into roadblocks—like Refollow hearing from twitter that I've followed the maximum people for today. Through experimenting, I found a way around the limit.



Each of us have challenges and roadblocks, do you accept the roadblock or find a creative solution around it?