Category: New Business Development

Next week
will mark the release
of the 8th story
under one of my pen names.

I suspect it will be my breakout hit.

Why?

Because I’ve slowly been building
a readership
and it has grown close
to that special level
we call critical mass
(or the tipping point).

Because it is part of
a very high selling series.

Because it is one of my best stories.

Because it taps into
a large under-serviced target market.

All these elements may combine
to give me a breakout hit.

Or it may not.

My breakout story may be
the following story
which, once again,
intentionally combines
many of the same elements.

Breakout hits or products
ARE about luck
but they are also about
combining the same success elements
again and again
until that breakout happens.

Success Magazine
has a great interview with Usher.

He greatly believes in mentorship
and in asking questions.

“You’ve got to ask questions;
you have to be willing to open your mouth.
A quiet baby doesn’t get fed.
There is a ton of information,
opportunity out here;
you’ve got to go after it.
It’s not going to come to you.
Eventually, if you do the right things,
then success will follow you.
But you have to create
a profile in life
that speaks to the individual
you will grow to be,
not just the current situation you’re in.”

I was once a quiet baby.
I’m naturally an introvert.
But you know what I figured out
early on in life?
Quiet people have a tougher time
achieving success.

I wanted success
so
I would force myself
to ask questions.
Now, like any action repeated,
asking questions is a habit.

Don’t be a quiet baby.

Publisher calls for submissions
are very similar to RFP’s
(request for proposals).
There are guidelines set
and every submission should meet
these guidelines.

The idea,
of course,
is that author/vendor provides
the publisher/customer
with an individualized solution.

That’s great for the customer.
Not-so-great for the vendor.

What I try to do
is ensure there is a secondary customer
for every submission.

If one publisher is looking for stories
between 10,000 and 15,000 words
featuring werewolves, vampires, or dragon shifters
and another publisher wants stories
between 12,000 and 20,000 words
featuring vampires, witches, or gargoyles,
I’ll write a story
between 10,000 and 12,000 words
featuring vampires.
If publisher A doesn’t want it,
I’ll then send the story to publisher B.

It takes a little bit more upfront work
to find a secondary customer
for a ‘unique’ product
but it is well worth the work.

Always ask yourself
‘who else could benefit from this product?’
and ensure that you don’t isolate
that other customer.

A buddy of mine
is writing a steamy romance
with a policeman lead.

I asked how she made the handcuff scene fresh.
She made a face
and said she doesn’t have a handcuff scene
because it is such a cliché.

Of course it is a cliché
but it is a cliché
because readers (i.e. customers) expect it.
If she doesn’t address that expectation,
she will disappoint readers
and/or look like she’s a poser in that sub-genre.

To truly know a market,
you should also know the clichés.

Does every company in the industry
talk about freshness?
There’s a reason for that.
It is because freshness is a concern
for customers.

Oh….
and be very, very careful
about making fun of clichés.
Clichés represent a customer need
and many customers will take
ridicule of a cliché personally.

We all know that during brainstorming,
we shouldn’t tell anyone
their ideas suck donkey balls.
That’s the fast track
to a brainstorming shut down.

According to Hazel Wagner,
author of
Power Brainstorming:
Great Idea At Lightning Speed,
we shouldn’t tell anyone
their ideas are wonderful either.

Why?

“If someone says,
‘That is a great idea!’
everyone else in the room
subconsciously compares it
to what they were about to offer
and may choose not to mention it.”

So zip it
until all the ideas,
the good, the bad,
and the strange,
are spat out
and recorded.

That good idea
might flatten a great idea.

In the September/October
The Costco Connection magazine,
entrepreneur turned venture capitalist
Robert Harjavec
talks about his secrets to success.

“Success is the million little things
you do every day.
It’s the way you answer your phone,
how clean your office is,
how shiny your shoes were
when you went to make that presentation.

That’s what makes business hard;
it’s not a one-time thing you do,
but a lot of stuff
that you have to keep doing every day.
But that’s how you build a successful business –
with a million well-considered actions and decisions.”

Yep, the small stuff
REALLY does count.

An author buddy of mine
commented on how she wished she was like me
and be so eager to write every day.

WTH?

I’m not eager to write every day.
I have to force myself
every single freakin’ morning
to sit in that seat
and type.

But I don’t often share that
because readers like to believe in
the ‘magic’ of stories.

You see,
professionals are expected
to make their often difficult jobs
look easy.
That we supposedly know
what we’re doing
can be reassuring to customers.

Unfortunately,
we often forget that with
the proteges we are mentoring,
we should be sharing
that exactly the opposite is true.

If we don’t,
our proteges will believe
they aren’t good enough
or gifted enough.
They won’t realize
that talent isn’t enough,
that talent needs to be paired
with hard work
to pay off in success.

So, yes,
show customers only the magic
but share the inner workings
and the blood, sweat, and tears,
with the people you’re mentoring.

One of my buddies told me yesterday
that she’s too old to start a business.

Another friend told her daughter
she was too young to write a book.
She should gather life experience first.

Age is a bullshit excuse.

I buy products every day.
I don’t know the age of the founders.
I read books every day.
I have no idea how old the authors are.

If you want a goal to be achieved,
why wait for the perfect age?

It takes an average of 10 years
to get a novel published.
If you’re too young today,
in 10 years, you’ll be older.
Same novel, different age.

If you’re too old to start a company now,
tomorrow you’ll be one day older.
When do you plan to achieve this goal?

If you want to do something,
do it.
If you fail due to lack of… something,
figure out how to partner or obtain or…
that something.

Stop making excuses.
Get out there and do.

Dr. Susan L. Reid has a great post
on the too old excuse.

A friend of mine
has been researching for a story
for over six months now.
She tells me about
all the cool facts she’s learned.
She thinks she’s doing something.

She’s not.
She’s preparing to do something.

I’m the opposite.
I’ll do enough research
to know my story premise is possible.
I write the story,
with blanks for research gaps,
and then I fill in the ‘facts’ later,
doing only the research I need
to finish the story.

Researching may be necessary
(or it may not be)
but it is not doing.
Doing is doing.
You only get paid when you ship.

A friend of mine
has ever minute filled with noise.
She always has
either the tv on
or the radio
or…
She is constantly being entertained.

She is also
the least creative person I know.

When I’m plotting
(a story OR to take over the world),
I need quiet.
The tv isn’t on.
I often don’t have any noise.
My brain fills that empty space
with thoughts,
sometimes crazy thoughts.

For many people
(and there are always exceptions),
if you fill every space,
there’s no room to be creative.

If you want to raise problem solvers,
if you want to encourage creativity,
leave some quiet time,
some open spaces.