Why You Must Follow-up

These words could change the course
of your writing career—if you take action and follow-up. I know this is a bold statement but I want to explain why I'm saying it.



During a writers' conference, I meet with many
different writers. I listen to their ideas (pitches), read some of their work
and then respond saying something like, “I love this idea and concept. Please
send it to me.”



At this point in the process, we exchange business
cards and I tell the writer to send the proposal or partial manuscript or all of the manuscript to
my work email address as an attachment. The writer will frequently circle my
email and make a note on their business card. If they have an extra hard copy, I
will take this document home with me. Why? So I can follow-up our conversation
with an email (and sometimes a phone call).



If you respond to this request, then you will be
among the few from the conference who take such action. I understand the
challenges of life. You return home from the event and plunge into your family
and life. All sorts of things pull at your attention and prevent you from
sending the requested manuscript.



Several of the people I met with gave me flash
drives with their submission. Even during the conference, I used these flash
drives and put their work into our internal system at Morgan James
Publishing. Later this week those writers will receive a letter of
acknowledgement in the mail (part of our unusual practice at Morgan James). To
be honest, it does not mean they will receive a contract from the publisher or
be published with the company since there are still a number of other steps to
go before that happens. But they have taken a huge step in the right
direction.



We work with people that we know, like and trust.
This principle is a basic of sound business. It's true that we receive thousands
of submissions and only publish about 150 books a year yet even with the mounds
of material to examine, I am always looking for solid authors to
publish.



Over the next few days, I will be creating and
sending follow-up emails to the people who gave me promising proposals and
submissions and exchanges. I follow-up to encourage the writer to take action
and send me their submission. When they send the requested material
(electronically) then they will keep moving forward in the process and possibly
get their book published. It never happens if they do not follow-up and
take action.



Years ago my first book was published after a
conversation with an editor during a writers'
conference. She encouraged my pitch and asked me to send my manuscript to
her. I made a note about it, went home, wrote the manuscript and sent it. There
were many more steps in the process before my book was published but the ball
began rolling from my follow-up action.



Sometimes authors will follow-up with me many
months after my request. That is OK with me because eventually they took action.
I'm always eager to read their material and keep it moving in the
process.



What follow-up work do you need to do with your
writing? It might be a short email to an editor or literary agent? Maybe
you've sent something and never got a response. Did they receive it? You must
follow-up. Each of us as professionals have many things in motion. Your
follow-up work is critical to the process and why you must follow-up.



Tweetable:



Why you must follow-up. Here's some insights from a much-published editor. (ClickToTweet)