June 2011 – Page 3

Testing Criticism

Yesterday,
I received some criticism
on my writing,
so what I did
was send out an email
to my writing buddies,
reiterating the criticism,
and stating that I believe
rectifying this fault would increase sales.

I didn’t hear anything back.
There was silence.
Only the sound of crickets chirping.

Why?

Because my writing buddies AGREED
with this criticism.

I know because,
a couple of months ago,
I received another piece of criticism,
responded the same way,
and the group argued
in defense of my treatment.

If no one disagrees with criticism,
then that means they agree with it.
It is a legitimate concern
and is likely holding back your success.

Overcome this error or fault,
and your chances of moving
to the next level increase.
I find it is the easiest route to a win.

Being Fair

One of the big book resellers
has advertising in their newsletter
available.
There were 5 spots available
for every week.
I know I’d get a positive return
on any advertising I’d do.

But instead of buying up 52 spots.
I bought 12.

Why?

Because I wanted to be ‘fair’
to other authors.

That’s dumb ass thinking,
and VERY feminine thinking.
Most businessmen wouldn’t consider
the ‘feelings’
of competitors.

And it is not like I’m jumping at the multiple spots
on the first second
they were available.
Other authors have had their chance.

Be fair to you and your business first
and THEN consider the feelings
of your competitors.

Eliminating Protégés

Yesterday, I received a
revise and resubmit email
from one of the larger publishers.

With a revise and resubmit,
the editor lists what she’d like fixed
in broad, general terms,
and then offers to look
at the story again
if these revisions are completed.

The work is enormous
and there’s no guarantee of
a publishing contract.

The serious writers suck it up,
rewrite their stories,
and resubmit them.
If the revisions show improvement,
usually the editor will work
with the author.

Many of the writers,
however,
won’t do all that work.
They’ll sub their stories
to other publishers.

Which is fine
because editors don’t want
to mentor writers
they can’t work with.

One of my buddies says
that working on TV and video production
is his dream.
Another buddy does this for a living
and offered to take him on a shoot.
The weekend was rainy and miserable
so the dreamer passed,
claiming he’d wait for a nicer day.

That day never came
because the doer never extended
the offer again.

If you want an achiever as a mentor,
she will likely ‘test’ you
before she works with you.
Expect this,
and when this test comes,
do your damnedest to pass it.

BTW… John Mongillo has a GREAT post
on how he tests prospective sales hires.
Well worth a read.

Who You Know

Ever notice that,
in large companies,
the pool of candidates
for an open position
consists of
internal applicants
and referrals from employees?

There’s a reason for that.

If you are truly interested
in working at a large company,
you WILL know at least one person there
(either directly or through someone else)
and if you really want the position,
you’ll ask that one person
to refer you.

Immediately,
the applicants are weeded down
to people with initiative or people with connections.
Both types of people
can be assets to an organization.

Consider asking for a referral
part of your job application.
Do it
and increase your odds of success.

BTW… if you say you don’t know anyone
at that large company,
that’s bullshit.
I can guarantee that you know someone
who knows someone there.
All you have to do is ask more people.
(your landlord, your bus driver, the grocery store clerk)

The Ramp Up Race

In romance writing,
there are a few key characteristics
that determine success.
One of these
is the number of (quality) stories
an author has released.
The more stories she has,
the more copies she sells
of each story.

It doesn’t matter how quickly
these stories are released.
It doesn’t matter how long
these stories are.
What matters is the number of stories.

So when I launched a new pen name,
I wrote shorter stories
(10,000 words or 40 pages long)
quickly,
releasing at least one story a month.
After a year and a half of publishing,
I now have a healthy readership
and am seen as an established author.

If you wish to ramp up cash flow quickly,
look at what determines sales
in your industry,
and then determine
the easiest sustainable route
to satisfy this characteristic.

Embarrassment Vs Knowledge

One of my loved ones
is going through a messy relationship breakup.
He’s embarrassed about this split
and he doesn’t want to talk about it.

The thing is…
his significant other
has rallied her girls around her.
She’s done her research.
She has all her prep work done.
She can take him
to the financial cleaners
if she wants to.

A writer friend of mine
is working on his first novel.
He is surrounded by writers
but he’s too embarrassed to ask for help
because he’s not quite at their level
(so he feels).

The thing is…
we all asked for help
when we were starting out.
We all continue to ask for help.
We have critique partners and beta readers
and multiple levels of editors.
The myth of the solitary writer
is just that,
a myth.

I can guarantee
that, at this moment,
there’s some knowledge you’re lacking
because you’re too embarrassed to ask.
This lack of knowledge
is hindering your success.

Ask yourself…
Is avoiding a moment of embarrassment
worth compromising your success?

Creating Products People Want

When I first started writing,
I’d write whatever came into my brain.
Although they were great stories
and I marketed the hell out of them,
the thing was…
nobody was interested in reading the stories.

Now,
I write what people want to read.
I write the story my way
(usually with plenty of humor)
but I’ll latch onto the big trends
readers are looking for
(vampires, shifters, etc).

Chris Garrett has a great post
on the four myths of information products.

One is the build it and they will come myth.

The truth?

“Most people create something nobody wants
Out of the people who do
create something,
the next hurdle is getting people to buy it.
The instant success that flies off the shelves
is more dream than reality for most.
While it is possible to create a market
if you have the time and marketing budget,
I find it much easier
to serve a ready-made audience.”

Unless you have unlimited marketing dollars,
consider creating your product
for a market that already exists.

Frontstreet And Stepping Stones

I went to school for accounting.
I used my degree to get my first full time job
and I progressed to other endeavors.
I did business development
and product launches for a while.
Currently I’m in marketing.

Every task, every job
leads you
to a different task or job.
Nothing is permanent,
even when you’re living
what many may call the ‘dream’
because when you achieve
one dream,
another dream emerges.

Some people believe Rapper Frontstreet
is living the dream.
Does he wish to rap forever?
Nope.
He has different dreams for his future.

“In five years,
I see myself so far from rapping.
I see myself acting;
rapping is just a stepping stone for me.
I see myself owning things,
not like a clothing line
or the particular things
that everybody else owns.
I want to own buildings.
I see myself owning a building
in downtown Atlanta right now.
I’m not even gonna say see myself,
I know I’m going to own a building.”

Use the position you have now
as a stepping stone
to achieve your dreams.

Everyone Wants To Be A Norm

Cheers has been off the air
for almost 20 years now.
Ask any 40 something gal
what she remembers about Cheers,
and she likely call out “Norm!”

Norm was a regular guy.
There wasn’t anything special about him.
But when he entered the bar,
everyone would call out “Norm!”
like they missed him,
like the bar hadn’t been the same
without him.

That is how your
customer/employee/anyone else you know
wants to be treated.

They want to be missed
when they are gone.
They want to be greeted warmly
when they return.
They want to be noticed.

They want to be a Norm.

Making Mistakes

My dumb ass boss has the brilliant idea
to dock employees $5
for every mistake made.
It is supposed to be a ‘fun’ bet
to encourage quality.

The thing is…
We’re not making widgets.
We’re playing with ideas,
managing information,
launching new programs.

So what this bet really does
is discourage employees from
trying anything new
and from taking risks.

If you want innovation,
you have to tolerate,
maybe even encourage mistakes.