Writer-Reminders
.... the
weekly ezine for sidetracked writers.
June 9, 2005 -
School's Not Out and Are You Approachable?
Thought for the Week -
School's Not Out and Are You Approachable?
School hasn't ended for the
summer.... Book School is starting again
on June 15th! I've been taking Lynne Klippel's
outstanding Book School class for the past couple
months, and the format is very flexible. You can join in
the weekly teleconference call or call in later to hear
the replay or even just read the detailed notes.
Are you an approachable writer or
author? Hmmmm.... the first time I heard that question,
I wasn't sure. What the heck does it mean to be
approachable?
Scott Ginsberg, that guy with the nametag (who has worn
a nametag continuously for 1682 days since Nov. 2,
2000), has a new book out called The Power of
Approachability. What I love about this book is that it
is one of those books you don't know you need until you
read it.
First, let's talk about the definition of being
approachable (in terms of being a writer or an author).
Scott has put together his Six Power Principles of
Approachability (I added the writer parts in
parentheses):
1. Ready to engage (especially with editors and agents).
2. Accessible and easy to deal with (Can editors and
agents get a hold of you--especially on the internet?
Are you an editor's dream or nightmare?)
3. Available to others (Do you help other writers and
authors?)
4. Friendly and ready to listen and help (Do you try to
make the editor's job easier, and help them even if it
doesn't mean money for you?)
5. Easy to meet, converse or do business with (Some
authors are known for being introverted -- but being an
extrovert may help you sell more books!)
6. Capability of being reached (How easy do you make
connections and find topics of similar interest with
others?)
Then throughout the remainder of the book he teaches you
how to improve each of these areas.
Some of my favorite parts of the book explain how to
deal with those tricky networking situations like:
-- What if you always forget names? (Appendix D)
-- What if you're stuck, and don't know what to talk
about?
-- How do you get out of a conversation with someone
without abandoning them (p. 50)
-- What if you meet someone but they don't have business
cards with them?
-- Should you say, "Do you remember me?" (page 171)
-- What should you do if you see someone you should know
but you can't remember who they are? (p. 84)
Make sure you read to the end because some of the best
parts of the book are at the back. Chapter 9 talks about
Success Sentences(tm) which explains what sentences are
good to use at networking functions and which ones are
not. For example, "Where do you work?" can trip up
people who have been recently laid off but "What are you
working on this week?" is more open-ended and gives them
a way to answer without feeling embarrassed.
If you've struggled with networking and conversing with
strangers, definitely check out The Power of
Approachability by Scott Ginsberg. It will take away
much of your stress (and help you sell more of your
writing!). You can
preview the first three chapters online.
Check out the interview with Scott below to find out
more about his experience with self-publishing.
P.P.S. I'm doing a short,
two-question survey on book marketing. Could you
help me by answering it anonymously? (If you want to
include your email, I'll make sure you are the first to
hear about this new project):
For authors and self-publishers.... What
did you do differently with your second book?
>> Scott, tell us about your new book, The Power of Approachability....
After a year of researching thousands of books, articles and resources on
networking, communication, conversation, first impressions and making
connections, it appeared that nobody addressed the element of "approachability."
Some books said, "Oh and by the way, be sure to smile and be approachable."
(Gee, thanks) But that didn't help people! So I wrote the first book on
approachability and explained not only WHY it was important to communication,
but HOW people could put it to use with various tips, suggestions, practices and
attitudes.
>> You have published both your books. What did you do
differently with the second one?
More peer editors, more rewrites, more pages, more research, more content, but
miraculously, it was completed in LESS time.
>> You used instantpublisher.com to print your book as POD, right? How was
that, and did you like working with them?
Piece of cake. IP is incredible. The whole time when I was working with them I
was like, "These guys are too good to be true...they're cheap, easy and fast.
Something's gotta go wrong soon..."
And I remember when I drove down to Memphis to pick up my books at Instant
Publisher's factory, thinking, "Here we go. I'm gonna take one look at this book
and say 'D*&# it. It sucks. I knew it was too good to be true.'"
But that never happened. When I opened that first box and saw my book, it was
amazing. I spent 30 minutes smelling it on the ride back to my hotel. The book
was as perfect as I would have hoped. Other than the 6 typoes. But hey, success
isn't perfection.
>> Do you have any new tips on book marketing? Sure. The big tip is this: all the pain of writing, editing, rewriting and
reading your book over a period of months or years is smallfry compared to the
work neccessary to market that book. And since the new book has come out, I've
discovered the following five marketing tips to be most effective:
1) A quick, easy shopping cart on your website
2) Creating a Media page on your website
3) Giving free books to lots of people
4) Putting pictures of your books on your business cards (most important
marketing idea I've ever implemented)
5) Don't have a crappy cover. WAY too many books have covers that are terrible.
Make it catchy, funny, interested or different. Because books are absolutely
judged by their covers. I only know this because an editor of a magazine wrote
me a fabulous review because he said, "I judged Scott's book by his cover - and
I loved it."
Find out more about Scott at
http://www.hellomynameisscott.com
Happy organizing! Julie
Like Organized
Writer.com? You'll love the ebook.....
"Julie, I am sending a quick note to thank you for your well measured and extra-ordinary website. You have
a tremendous amount of information at a very reasonable cost. I subscribed to your free site and, for the
first time in forty years of writing, found a planner that works for me.
I felt so guilty for receiving so much information free from your
site that I have now ordered and downloaded the e book. I have found that you have struck a cord among so
many writers regarding procrastination and simple organization. Keep up the good work.
-- Raymond Freeman
M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)
Weekly Checklist
For freelance writers: Use this weekly checklist to find, write and send a query every week of
2005!
Monday
__ Make notes on a new idea.
Tuesday: Accounting Day
__ Post your accounting records.
__ Pay bills.
__ Follow up on outstanding invoices and queries.
Wednesday
__ Find a new market using links below.
Thursday: Errand Day
__ Make copies.
__ Return books to library.
__ Make deposit at bank.
Friday
__ Finish query and submit.
__ Match your query to the market.
Saturday Weekly Review
__ How was this week?
__ What's up next week?
__ Review your Projects list in your planner and check the
status.
__ Jot the next action steps for your projects on next week's
calendar.
__ Backup your computer files.
__ Virus scan your computer.
__ Update windows software at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
__ Update Microsoft(R) office software at http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx
Sunday
__ Relax and enjoy!
__ Do something fun today!
Thanks for visiting Writer-Reminders! If you have comments,
success stories, or suggestions, reply to this message or e-mail
me at :julie@writer-reminders.com
Your privacy is very important to me. Your email address will never be
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Copyright 2002-2005 Finally Organized LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. This
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