Author: k

The world is very, very small.
Just because we don’t do business
right now
doesn’t mean we won’t do business
tomorrow.

So how we say no
is important.

Last week,
I knew I was going to receive
a ‘no.’
The recruiter I was working with
knew I was going to receive
a ‘no.’

The client decided
that rather than give us
that simple ‘no’,
he’d ask for a reduction in rates
of 75%.

That isn’t a ‘no.’
That’s an insult,
a deliberate insult.

It not only colored
our impression of this person
but of his entire organization,
a supposedly professional organization
that I belong to
(yes, I’m a customer).

Have the balls to say no
but say it in a professional way.

I went to a seminar on Saturday.

For about an hour
(of the 6 hour presentation),
the paid speaker fiddled
with her high tech presentation.
We ended up
not getting through the entire seminar program
because of this delay.

The unfortunate part was that
the video wasn’t needed
to prove her point.

She could have
switched
to a low tech presentation
while her assistant solved
the video problem.

Except she didn’t have a low tech presentation.
She was relying completely
on having video, power, a computer that worked.

Things go wrong.
Always have a low tech alternative.

I attended a writing seminar
yesterday.
There was a side discussion
on books that make the big bestseller lists.

There are a core group of
what industry folks call
‘experienced readers.’
These readers read A LOT.
They are the bread and butter
of any career author.
They buy books every week.

But in order to land
on the major bestseller lists,
capturing the experienced reader
is not enough.

A book has to also appeal
to the less experienced
(i.e. they read less than 5 books a year)
and typically male reader.

To do that requires an easier to read,
simpler, faster paced,
plot driven story.

And often a male author
or… an author using initials rather than names
to sound male
(J.K. Rowling, J.D. Robb, etc.)

I went on an interview this week
and I absolutely knew
I wouldn’t get a job.

I got the definite no
yesterday
but the moment
my gut said I wouldn’t get the job,
I moved on.
There are plenty of maybe opportunities.
There is no use
fighting a highly probable no.

A friend of mine
sent her manuscript to her dream agent.
The agent states
it’ll take 3 months minimum
to get back to her
(that is standard).

Instead of waiting a week
and sending it to another agent
who will take 3 months minimum
to get back to her
(i.e. she’ll still hear back from the dream agent first
if only by a week),
she’s waiting
on, truthfully, a highly probable no.

Take the long shots
but don’t waste time
waiting for the long shots to pay off.
Life is too darn short.