How to Get Published When No One Will Publish You
by John Long
Me and the Motor Glider
Platform Building and the Unpublished Writer
As I am passionate about the author's responsibility in the area of Self Marketing, here are some tips...
August 6-8, I am teaching at the Philly Christian Writers Conference on my favorite topic, Writer's Direct (Self) Marketing Programs. This morning I was rummaging through some notes and came across a blog by Mike Hyatt, Publisher at Thomas Nelson, where he talks about platforms from his perspective and makes strong points that bear repeating.
Coupled with my belief that a writer in the new century MUST build a direct reader base and to do that well, MUST use all available networking avenues, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject.
There are far more details on my blog,
http://jlongwords.blogspot.com/
...about this but you have to work through the many posts and separate them out as they become rather lengthy and could exasperate you. If you are determined to be successful monetarily and critically in the new economy of publishing you need all the tools available.
NUMBER ONE: START TODAY!
This isn't paint by numbers. The success you experience is all about how responsible you are with contact details. Don't lose a single contact through putting off the little work of keeping records.
Take a pad and list everybody you can think of that has read, commented upon, inquired about, bought, promised to buy, or asked about buying your work.
Get down everything you know about them, including how to reconnect. Do not stop at just one communication avenue. E-mail providers change, people close face-book and twitter accounts all the time. Try to capture name, address, e-mail and/or twitter name, facebook, my space, linked-in names, for everyone.
Try to remember what you ALREADY know about them and write it down. It may be age, regional info, career info, hobbies, sex - male or female, married, kids, whatever. It could be church related info.
It All Counts.
NUMBER TWO: USE IT!
Connect back with intelligent updates, news, available works, even if only electronically available. More people are buying electronic versions of books than ever before and it gets you dialoguing with your readers.
NUMBER THREE: FOLLOW UP
More coming soon...
Peace be on your house, today.
