Are You Using Your Network?

Being successful in the world today comes down to who you know. Getting a job requires having someone on the inside helping to "grease the wheels" so to speak to get the future employers attention. Despite what all of those ads say for sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed, just tossing your application into the mess will not likely yield the results you were hoping for. The same is true in publishing. If you want to have success, you have to utilize your network. I have two questions for you now...

Do you have a network?

Are you using that network if you do?

Let's talk about that first question. If you are just writing your stories at home and maybe just going to a local writing group at your library, then you have no network. Sure, those friends in your critique group may help with line editing, but that is not going to get you anywhere. If all you do is get on the Internet to learn how to do something with your writing, then you are not going anywhere either. To be successful requires getting out of your shell and getting out there among people who know what is going on. 

So how do you do this? You have to join those larger organizations. I know I talked about this earlier when I said to invest in your career. This is one of those times. Those larger groups provide you access to industry professionals, others who have been successful, conferences with "real" people and so forth.

Along the same lines, being around these people get you chatting with others who write the same genres you write. You share ideas and concepts. You talk shop. And who knows, the person sitting next to you at that evening hotel dinner of chicken or salmon may be an agent or an editor who wants to know about your project! What a concept, huh?

Now, let's talk about that second question. Let's assume you are part of that organization. Are you using that network? For so many authors, they simply will not use their network. "I don't want to impose," they say. Or "I don't want to take advantage of them." I hate to break it to you, but you are not imposing.  If they don't want to help, or can't help, they will tell you. But until you ask, you will never know. Here is an example. When I attend conferences, I will almost always be out and about in the lobby of the hotel. I make myself available. I have even gone so far as to challenge people on social media with live feeds to come and talk to me. Most never do. I have even gone to the lunches and just sat down at an empty table early to see if anyone comes over. Most don't. Their comment, "We don't want to interrupt you." Even though I offered. 

Networks are there for a reason. To advance your career. If you are ignoring that network, I hope you enjoy your life where you are at. It might not change a whole lot!

Knowing and Using Your Resources

 We're talking about that wonderful digital world again.

Although we all thought that the digital world would make things easier in many ways, it has now made the work of an author even harder. Sure, we can reach out to editors and agents quicker. Sure we can sign contracts digitally and share work with one another in a matter of seconds. But, with all of these options, were are now finding that to be successful, you have to know a lot of things about a ton of different things. 

Is that really possible? Probably not!

If we really took the time to try to learn all of the different twists and turns of this publishing business, we would not likely get to any of the real publishing "stuff". There is simply too much for a single person to know and learn. For this reason, to be truly successful, authors need to know and use all of the outside resources they can get their hands on.

Now, obviously when you land an agent, that is going to help a lot. The agent now has access to many things the every day authors simply cannot connect with. But even then, authors need to start looking to other resources that might make their lives even easier.

Maybe you are great with knowing how to navigate the basic social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, but what about expanding those avenues? Do you have someone who can guide you on IGTV? How about finding new connections and groups to advertise your books? 

Maybe you see a lot of people with great marketing campaigns and you just are not that savvy when it comes to the artistic side of things? Who can you reach out to?

Even on the writing level - What connections do you have with things such as grammar, world building and so forth?

The key to being successful is the ability to track down these resources, but at the same time, having the initiative to actually reach out to these people. 

So, what are the resources you have found to be the most successful for you? 

Is Your Writing Group Missing Something?

I remember some of the first writing chapters I visited. I really started noticing interesting trends in the groups. There were groups that "had it" and groups that "didn't." There were these amazingly dedicated groups of writers who seemed to be stuck in a rut, On the other hand, there were chapters that seemed to be breeding N Y Times Best selling authors. What was the difference?

The answer is amazingly easy. The chapters doing well were taking advantage of their resources. They were taking advantage of every opportunity to bring in specialists to guide them through the process. Those groups who were struggling were simply trying to do it all on their own. They seemed to think that all it took was a good brain and they could work out the problems on their own.

It isn't going to work that way.

Take some time to look around your writing group. Are they really doing well? Are they making the advancements they said they wanted months or years ago? Are you all writing for the same publisher? This might tell you something!

Bringing in guest speakers is the best way to get that group moving and it doesn't take much! Even if your group want nothing to do with the traditional publishing system, speaking with editors and agents will give you an insight into the process as well as what the entire business looks like.

Now, I get that money always becomes an issue. It doesn't have to be that way. You can do this inexpensively. You just have to think. For example:

• Invite one person every three months. You don't need a panel of 8-10. Keep it simple. That will also give you a chance to worry about expenses.
• Invite locally. There are editors and agents all around the nation. Look around. I have always found it interesting that here in the Seattle area, there are big writing groups and yet, they always look to longer distances to getting the speakers (but then complain about expenses). 
• Online workshops. Using things such as Yahoo groups or even Go-To-Meeting doesn't take much of a set up
• Guest blogging.
• SKYPE! I am a big proponent of this one. Not much of a set-up and it doesn't cost you anything. Just get a laptop and a projector. It's that easy.

The point is, get them going to invite those speakers. Make this your 2016 resolution. I don't care if you aren't the President, VP or Conference Coordinator for your group. You can get the ball rolling.

It is easy!

Reliance On The Internet May Not Be The Right Choice

We all love our computers. We love the connections we make through the Internet and social media. It's awesome. We don't have to spend countless hours as well as our hard-earned money putting together those submission packets to send out to editors and agents. Heck, we don't even need to attend conferences any more. We can get everything from the Internet and do it all from our homes sitting in our bunny slippers.

Ummm, not so fast there! While this image if kicking back with our laptop, drinking coffee and getting all of the information out there sounds great, we might not be getting everything we thought we were.

We have to remember, the power of the computer and the Internet is only as good as the person working on it. If you are not a computer genius, able to sort through all of Internet and information traveling at warp speed, the odds are you are not going to be as "in the know" as you thought you were. There's simply a lot of information out there that doesn't make it to the Internet, and, if and when it does, the opportunity may be lost.

I would also add that, although taking courses, and getting your information sounds appealing, you are also missing out on that human interaction with other authors, and yes, the editors and agents. Attending those conferences in a face-to-face setting is going to offer you so many more chances to learn and grow as an author. These settings will also provide for you opportunities that simply are not there on the Internet.

For example, can you casually be sitting next to an editor during lunch and discuss a book, which turns into an impromptu pitch session, but do this from your house? Nope.

Can you be sitting at home and "over-hear" editors or agents answering questions during a pitch session? You might IF you happen to be in that chat room at that exact time. But you still might not be getting everything.

This is not to say that gaining information and networking through the Internet is a bad thing. But you might want to consider attending those conferences, working with your local writing group and seeing people. You know, they might even say it is OK to wear your bunny slippers if that makes you comfortable!

Do You Really Know Who You Are Submitting To?

I have been seeing a lot of blogs and articles lately about the power of social networking and getting your manuscript in front of editors and agents. While I do believe most of these articles have great intentions, what I find all of them truly missing is a key element to long term success as a writer. These articles never tap into the crucial question of "knowing" who the person is you are submitting your project to.

Several years ago at the RWA Conference in Florida, I, along with several other fantastic agents ran a session called query fest. Not only did we have a chance to talk about writing query letters and discuss what we like or hate in queries, we also had a chance to do a lot of cold reads to let you into our minds. At the end of the session, one writer came over to me to thank me for the session but then she followed it up with an interesting comment. She had been submitting to one of us for some time with projects she truly thought were right. As she listened to us talk, she had now realized why the story was never going to work. It wasn't the query. It wasn't the story. It was the simple fact that she had now had a better understanding of the agent after two hours of listening to us. This was a relationship that would never work.

She had gotten to know the agent better.

I do believe that moving into the digital age like we have, while it does seem to speed things up a bit, creates a huge sense of not knowing the person on the other end of the Internet. We can look up a lot of different pieces of information out there but we never really get to know the person. Think about it. If I get on LinkedIn, Query Tracker, Publishers Marketplace or any number of other sites that have lists of editors and agents, I can quickly search anyone who might be "acquiring" my genre. It doesn't take much. I can get their email, I can get mailing addresses and so forth. The one thing I can't get is learning who this person is.

If you are someone reading to take that plunge and start sending projects out to editors and agents, slow down. Take the time to learn a few things first:

• What is this person's personality?
• How "aggressive" are they when they promote books?
• Where do they like to send projects? Where do they avoid?
• What is their approach to "marketing"?
• Do they like certain genres over other?
• Do they have pet peeves?
• How do they interact with their authors?
• etc.

Following that conversation with that author at Query Fest did get me thinking about something that I have said to numerous authors after that. There are a ton of editors and agents I respect highly. I think they do great work! But, if I had a project to send them of my own, that list would be much shorter. Although I respect and admire the work of some of the agents out there, a working relationship with them would simply not work out. Their approach and my approach wouldn't mesh.

Look, I don't care how "connected" you get out there with your social media and your networking, to truly be successful, you have to take it that additional step and get to know those editors and agents first!

"If You Want To Soar With Eagles, Don't Fly With The Turkeys" - Dr. Keith Bell

I thought I would start today with some thoughts about who writers hang out with. Having a great resource system around you is crucial for the success of any writer. Actually, you can see this if you look at many of the successful writers in the RWA. At first, I was shocked when I saw this but the more you think about it, the more it becomes a reality. Take a look at the rosters of the RWA chapters with those NY Times Best sellers in it. What you will find is that there isn't just one, there are a ton of successful writers in the group. On the reverse side, take a look at what the chapter is producing in terms of their published authors and you will see a ton of other people writing the same style and at the same publisher.

Is it in the water? No! It is the company these writers are working with. It is the feedback they provide one another. Unfortunatlely, you will find the same thing with the chapters that might not have so many writers that are successful (yet, we are about to fix that!). Although the desire to publish might be strong, if there is no successful guidance to assist the writers, then the odds are, the success will be a long way away.

Now, before I go any further, I want to stress that this is not a slam against smaller chapters of the RWA or any comment at all against one group or another. It is simply an observation.

I have mentioned this man before, but Dr. Keith Bell has put together a great book about excellence called 76 Rulese for Outperforming the Competition. Rule 15 is the comment about Eagles and Turkeys. In his case, he simply states "if you hang around with those who don't value excellence, you will dwell in mediocrity." I like this comment and I always stress this with athletes. However, I think this element can also extend to success and not simply competition.

Have you ever noticed that all of the "A" students hang out together in school. No, this is not because they are afraid of being beaten up! They do this because they see a resource in each other. They have found a way to tap into the resources each other person has within their group. It is interesting to also note that the "A" students don't just happen to form randomly, but they seek each other out and form the group. They don't simply wait for luck to stumble across their way.

Writers can and should do the same thing. If you want to succeed, you have to start hanging out with those that can help you out. You may be in a small town without a small writing group. So what, go in search of the excellence. Attend those conferences and find the people you can hang out with and learn how it is done. In other words, find the "Eagles" and learn to soar.

But what about the others in your writing groups? Bring that knowledge back to them. Become the Eagle in the chapter and get the others to fly as well.

I should stress, this takes getting out from behind your computer and talking to people. I should also stress that you can be fooled easily by those that think they have excellence but are just being drawn into a direction that might not be what you want. Stay your course and know what you want. Make it happen for you.

Scott

Why Network?

Writing is a lonely craft. You sit by yourself in a room with the characters swimming in your head and it is just the computer and you. For many writers, they try to do all of this without any help from the outside. We are too conscious of what we have put on the page and we certainly don't want to have someone tell us it is crap.

But networking is CRUCIAL for successful writing. Joining those professional organizations is important to stay in touch with all that is going on in your genre. You hear or editors coming and going. You hear of what they like and don't like. You find out about all the new "stuff".

Now, when you do this, please don't just go out and join every group. Pick and choose carefully. This is especially true with those online chat groups. Some are composed of people who whine and complain and only bring to the group more negative energy. Heck, I know of several professional writers that simply suck all of the good vibes out of the room when they walk in. Those are the groups to avoid. Find the ones that assist. Find the ones you can grow from. And find the ones that might do the work for several.

Just remember to filter all you hear. Take what you need and leave behind the rest.