Category: New Business Development

One of my publishers posted an email
to the authors only loop.
It was stamped confidential and private.

Less than a half hour later,
it was posted on half a dozen blogs
by anonymous sources.
The author responses on this confidential loop
were also posted.

Nothing we say or do
is private or confidential.
As soon as we tell another person,
as soon as we step out of our house,
the information and our actions
becomes public.

Is this right?
Is this fair?
It doesn’t matter
because it is reality.

What does this mean?
Some people will tell you
to be ‘authentic’,
be ‘the true you.’
Yeah, that’s bullsh*t.
The true you has some inappropriate thoughts,
laughs at the wrong jokes,
isn’t the slickest woman after a few drinks.
Showing the true you
will end
with that true you on the costly side
of a nasty lawsuit.

Discretion is now strength.
If you can keep your mouth shut,
you’ll thrive.
Only share what you want to go public.
If it involves another person,
only do what you want the world to see.

Passion is great.
Passion will often push us through
the rough spots,
the times when nothing we’re doing
is working.

But passion alone
doesn’t make anyone successful.
It is usually coupled
with hard work,
experience,
knowledge,
luck
and other elements.

Mary Lai,
Founder of
MARYLAI,
shares

“Well, I think I used to be
more optimistic about telling people
that if they follow their dreams
and passions,
everything will fall into place.

I still believe that,
but you also have to work
really, really hard to make it
and experience is key.”

If you’re starting an endeavor
and all you have is passion,
consider methods
(like partnerships, training, etc)
to obtain more success factors.

I’ve been challenged to fast
(water is fine but no food)
every Monday.
It’s tough
but it has changed
my perspective on life.

The things I think I HAVE to have
(like chocolate),
I can go without.
The little nuisances
become unimportant
when I’m hungry.

Best of all,
it resets my food expectations
to zero.
I’m not eating X
because I always eat X.
I’m not eating at a specific time
because I always eat then.
Without these habits,
my options are unlimited.

I’ve had similar experiences
at the end of contracts,
between schooling
and working full time,
when I moved homes.
There’s a resetting to zero.
My future is all blue sky.
Anything is possible.

If you find yourself
limited by your past,
consider resetting to zero.
Take a day or a week or a year
and temporarily disassociate
from this area of your past.

I recently attended a workshop
with a panel of published writers.
All of them are or have been successful.
I figured I’d hear some solid advice.

And I did.
I also heard some advice
that was inappropriate for my specific situation.

When asked what they do for marketing,
almost everyone said “write the next book.”
They almost all agreed that social media was useless.
That all they have to do
is put their books on the shelf
and they will sell.

Which I guess they do
IF a writer gets their books
on a physical bookstore’s shelves.

If they don’t,
I advise setting aside
a couple hundred hours a month
for marketing.

When listening to advice,
first ask yourself if the advice pertains to your situation.

A digital first writer shouldn’t get marketing advice
from a print first writer.
A solo startup software company
shouldn’t get distribution advice
from a startup software company
partnered with Microsoft.

If your differences would change the outcome,
seek another mentor.

My publisher suggested
I write a 12 novella serial.
I knew if the first novella didn’t sell well,
we’d have 11 more low selling novellas,
a year’s worth of duds.

My publisher had very little risk.
They shelled out money
for a stock art cover
and minimum editing,
set up the eBook only distribution
and waited.
For them, this experiment
has very little downside
and a very large upside.
They have little to lose
and are enthusiastic about it.

For me,
this experiment
has the very real possibility
of killing my brand,
of forcing me to take a new pen name.

I’m investing in marketing,
working my a$$ off to make this
a success.
My publisher isn’t.

When partnering with a larger entity,
remember that their definition of risk
is MUCH different from your definition.
Make the best decision for YOU
and don’t expect them
to be as concerned as you are
about the results.

Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey
recently split,
reportedly over
an interview he did
in which he listed 5 famous women
he’s slept with.

Mariah Carey knows
her soon-to-be ex-husband
has slept with women.
That wasn’t his error.
His error was talking about these women.

Everyone likes to be the first choice,
preferably the only choice.

Employers like to believe
they are their employee’s first choice.
This is why playing job offers
against each other
is a dangerous move.

I write for multiple publishers
but both my publishers
and I
pretend I only write for them.
They pretend
I’m their most important writer.

A good saleswoman
will make a prospect believe
she’s the only person in the room.

A loved one met Bill Clinton
and he said Clinton made him feel
like the most important person
in the world.

Consider treating your customer,
your business partner,
your spouse
as though she or he
is your one and only.

The average person thinks
a writer’s job is to write.
That’s actually a very small portion
of a professional writer’s job.
75% of my time or more
is spent marketing and selling my books.

The average person thinks
an entrepreneur is a business version
of a mad scientist,
working alone in her lab
coming up with the next big thing.
The reality is
an entrepreneur is often a master saleswoman,
selling her ‘next big thing’
to investors, employees, customers, the media.

The conflict is
when we enter a field,
not knowing what the TRUE job is.

I didn’t realize how much marketing
writers must do
and
how little time is spent writing.
Do I want to be a TRUE writer?
Is there a way to change the ratio?
These are questions I’m asking myself.

This ‘surprise’ would have been avoided
if I had asked a professional writer
a decade ago
how her time was allocated.

If you’re interested in a field,
ask a professional in that field
how she spends her time.

One of my most recent releases
is a serial.
Some readers love them.
Some readers hate them.

While promoting this serial,
I’ve been hosting quite a few contests.
The winners can choose
ANY book from my backlist,
serials, series books, standalone books.

What I’ve found is
many serial haters will choose
the first book in a serial.
They’ll then read the book
and post a terrible review,
spewing about how they hate the format.

They deliberately expose themselves
to a product
that won’t satisfy them
so they have a reason to complain.

If this happens with my products,
it also happens with your products.
You won’t ever make
some customers happy
because that’s not what they want.

Many people were shocked
that Robin Williams could be suffering
from extreme depression
and no one knew.
He was all smiles and happiness
for his fans and the camera.

Yesterday, one of my publishers
announced they were having financial difficulties.
Staff, including my editor, were laid off.
I have 16 stories with them
that I’ll likely never get back
and never be paid another cent for.

The sales for the second novella
in my 12 novella serial
also bombed.
That means the next 10 novellas
will have even worse sales.

Last night,
I went to an online party.
I joked.
I teased.
I made readers happy.

Because sad romance readers
don’t buy books.
They also won’t invest in a 12 novella serial
if they think the serial is in trouble.

I’m in a business.
Robin Williams was in a business.
You’re in a business.

Do our clients know the real us?
No, because they don’t WANT to know
the real us.
That’s one of the many reasons
we need family and friends
around us.

Yes, in public,
the show must go on.
In private,
get the help you need.

I was involved in a huge promo event
on Facebook.
A dozen writers were involved.
The organizers had a last minute problem
and the event was delayed by an hour,
throwing everyone’s schedules off.

The readers (attendees) didn’t care.
The writers were split into two groups

One group shrugged off the issue,
adjusted their schedules,
managed the situation.
Sh*t happens.
Often we can’t prevent
this sh*t from happening.

The other group threw a hissy fit,
adding drama to the situation,
yelling at the organizers
and refusing to even consider
a new time slot.

Before this issue,
I didn’t have much interaction
with the other writers.
During and after this issue,
I was grouped in with
the easy going, ‘professional’ writers.
Best selling writers considered me
one of them.
We’d bonded.

Disasters aren’t all bad.
They can be an opportunity to bond
with partners, customers, huge groups of people.
Try to maintain your professionalism.