C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

06/28/2010 • 1:28 AM 0

How Not to Network with Business Cards

The publishing conference was great. Sometimes people serve as excellent models. The people who aren’t great models can teach you something, too. When you’re networking, it shouldn’t look like that’s all you are there for. In fact, that won’t work. You’ll just come across as pushy.

One attendee made sure everyone had her business card, but she was wasting her time selling before even trying to connect. I prefer that people ask me for my card and not the other way around. It’s not always inappropriate to offer a card, but if you have no idea how you could help someone through your work, pushing them on people can do more harm than good.

Yes, business cards are still useful. A well-designed electronic business card attached to your email looks great! (www.vistaprint.com)

Sell yourself first. Your product or service always comes second.

I gave out very few cards this weekend, but each person was a quality contact I made an honest connection to.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, writing tips, business cards, networking, publishing, self-promotion

06/09/2010 • 1:51 AM 0

I’m All @Twitter @ Connection

I’m following 92 people at the moment. Some highlights:

@funnyordie (obvious reasons)

@KMWeiland (good stuff on writing)

@5rivers (ditto plus indie pub stuff)

@mental-floss (for the weird facts)

@pattonoswalt (hilarious comic with a fine eye for the absurd)

@Noni_Writes (great quotes from writers etc.,…)

@pennjillette (because he’s Penn Jillette)

@PikeCraig (could be funny professionally)

@RandyTayler (ditto)

@ThatKevinSmith (because he’s Kevin Smith and is funny professionally)

I follow many others, but some don’t tweet enough and a couple tweet too often. I enjoy certain celebrities (like Bill Maher who’s too busy to Tweet much, I guess) but it’s also interesting to see who is following whom. I catch the latest news on Twitter, so that’s useful, too.

To access Twitter from my IPod, I use Twitterific. The interface is easier to bounce around so I can see who has mentioned me, retweet and mark entries I want to return to easily. I’ve set up my Twitter account so posts go to this blog as well. That way, there is always something new on my website and more reasons for visitors to come by more often. The official blog posts are more important, but my Twitter updates through the day add a lot of changing content to this blog, so double plus good.

BONUS About Connection:

Celebrities are cool and all, but it’s the nearby tweetaholics who have more relevance to me and my business in the long-term. Twitter is entertainment first, but it’s useful to know who is doing what in your area. I’ve already run into a couple of people through Twitter who I’d want to talk to if I had a tech problem. As the social interaction grows connections, I hope they’ll be more aware of me and what I do so I can be useful to them in the future as well.

Twitter is fun. It’s also potentially a fun business tool (besides setting your phone to vibrate and tucking it in your underwear.) The key here, as with all networking, is to reach out as the helpful spirit moves you. Be fun, be funny, be you (as long as you isn’t as asshole.) If, in your networking efforts you come across as a greedy selfish clod who’s only out for him or herself, forget it. You’re putting bad energy out there. But if people interest you, that will come across as a positive thing that can pay dividends downstream.

Now go sign up for @pattonoswalt tweets and laugh.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, favorite twitterers, networking, Twitter

06/01/2010 • 11:22 PM 2

The Publishing Revolution will be televised, podcasted, tweeted and POD

Publishers want their authors to have these platforms, and with them an established following before they launch a book. They don’t have the skills, resources or inclination to go viral, but they do expect authors to shoulder that job. A good manuscript isn’t going to be enough for publishers, especially as the tech wave gathers strength. Publishers will be changing their expectations because non-English publishers are leading the charge to a revolutionized industry. They want you to have a website, a platform and a ready-made fan base (for the same reasons Hollywood keeps redoing old but familiar formulae, making movies out of old TV shows with varied success.)

This is not news, but it largely applied to non-fiction writers. Now many publishers are expecting the same electronically interactive wizardry from fiction writers as well. You still have to be a good writer, but your teeth should be straight and you should be comfortable in front of a live studio audience. It’s preferable that you be a gorgeous celebrity, so get to work on that if you haven’t already been interviewed by Regis Philbin.

The best case scenario for non-fiction writers is an area of expertise, a writing track record, a platform (preferably with a lot of speaking engagements to large groups.) The killer outline in their book proposal is a must, but so is a business plan and a business case.

For fiction writers, publishers are going to be looking for many of these elements soon if they aren’t already. In other words, it’s more important than ever that you be ready to do the work of getting the book known. Advances used to be there so the author could eat while he finishes the book. More publishers will expect you to eat bark off trees and use that advance to hire a publicist and do your own tour of the Midwest, thanks very much, possibly in the actual Partridge Family bus.

The economic crunch will mean fewer books. It may also mean better books, but smaller promotional budgets. No matter. Those budgets were barely there unless it was for a book that didn’t need it anyway. (Read: King or Koontz.) As a result, more authors will flee to what smaller publishers who are left, or go DIY.

And what’s next beyond that? A writer friend of mine is writing literary travelogues on his Blackberry. The length of each epistle is determined by the limit of the text message file so it makes for nice uniform chapters. It turns out he’s ahead of his time. Cell phone novels are huge in Japan. They’re typically written on trains ( it’s a commuting culture) by urban young woman from age 15 to 24. Then they are uploaded to websites and followings grow. These romances (featuring lots of sex and violence in fairly simple language) have been picked up by eager publishers who get the cell novels to bookshelves, often at lengths of 300-400 pages. Many of the authors didn’t even consider themselves writers when they started out. Now they’re in bookstores all over Japan. Nobody’s doing something that innovative among the big publishers yet. Look for the phenomenon to catch on in a year or two, and expect it to be reviled by critics who’ll long for the dusty and respectable old days. Meanwhile the kids will eat ’em up.

Self-publishing houses getting more sophisticated. If they are smart–and they’re smaller so they’ll change quicker than the big guns–they’ll work harder to assist authors in promoting themselves. DIY is going huge. Much of publishing promotion has always been DIY since marketing budgets have always been miniscule. The person most interested in selling the author’s books is always the author, anyway. That may mean Do It Yourself marketing, or maybe it means you’ll go whole hog and form your own publishing company with the shipping department organized in your mom’s garage. Or maybe you’ll have no inventory and go Print on Demand in full.

More good news: the short story is coming back. Your audience has a shorter attention span and lots of distractions. They want to read something quick over lunch or on their commute. They’ll take short fiction with them on their MP3 and IPOD. You can serialize your fiction on your nifty new website to keep them coming back for more.

Big changes are coming and if you’re tech-savvy, you might have a good shot over the rest of the herd. If you aren’t tech-savvy, you’ll have to pay to get someone else to do it. Maybe you can teach yourself a bunch of website skills on YouTube.

Another fresh resource: a book on establishing your platform before you send your manuscript is out by the woman behind Writer Mama. It’s called Get Known before the Book Deal by Christian Katz. I recommend you have a look. No sense letting everyone have another advantage over you.

How will you survive the coming Publishing Apocalypse? It’s up to you. Literally.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Rant, Writers, DIY, future of publishng, self-promotion

06/01/2010 • 7:02 PM 0

Publishing Marketability Conundrum

It just occurred to me that I’d be much more successful as a writer if I was more likeable, more stress-resistant, less angry, less paranoid and 26% sexier. Publishers want marketability. From now on, I’m not wearing a slip.

Alternative: forget all of the above and just be less lazy. However, without brain transplant technology, what’s a slacker to do?

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Sorry. Lost it in a Shatnerian way.

Go be prolific.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, writing tips, book, promotion, publicity, writing

05/15/2010 • 4:13 PM 0

Your Book, Publishing Platforms and Cross-pollination

Brainstormed some ideas for a friend last night. He makes films. He’s not an author yet, but he’s in an excellent position to get published and build a media empire. I have every confidence he will be a published author soon after he decides to do it. Here’s why:
1. His films provide excellent material.
2. Book launch + world film premiere = mucho moolaaaah because one medium cross-pollinates the other!
3. He has a background in writing.
4. He’s not shy about going on the road for screenings, signings and presentations.
5. I think he could bring a distinct voice to the material.
6. He has the equipment and know-how to launch websites and a podcast to build his audience.
7. The film tie-in is very attractive to grant institutions, agents and publishers.

I went on and on about my enthusiasm for his publishing potential but it boils down to these seven points plus this:

BONUS

If you want to write a novel, you are better off writing non-fiction first. Non-fiction is more profitable (generally) and is easier to sell. If you’re selling fiction, you need the full manuscript. Do not go to an agent or editor with an idea for a book if you’re a first-time author. They need to see you have the full, complete and polished manuscript. No exceptions.

With non-fiction, you can put together a killer book proposal and synopsis and swing a deal before you officially type “Chapter 1” and begin pulling your hair out. Non-fiction is a different skill set in many ways, but after you’ve got an audience, agents, editors and publishers are much more receptive to the fiction you want to write.

I’m not saying never write fiction first. I’m saying that, in this person’s case, the road to publication will be wider and smoothly paved compared to the goat path most writers find themselves on at the beginning.

DOUBLE BONUS:

Have you got an advantage in a particular niche either through specialized knowledge or unique access? Who is your audience? Can you reach them through networking, association connections, websites, blogs, speaking engagements? Do you have expertise and the credentials to back it up? Are you comfortable speaking in front of an audience?

The potential abounds in many people I know. For instance, I know a professional woman who has a special interest and experience with bullying in the workplace. She’s connected to a community of like-minded people. She’s a non-fiction book proposal away from making her book happen.

More examples: I know an opinionated teacher who uses imaginative approaches to reach his students. Another friend is a SWAT expert who could write an antiterrorism manual (or a terrorism manual, come to think of it.) I know a couple of cops whose fascinating career experiences would make great memoirs. I’m editing a memoir for a lady now who catalogues all the tragedies, events and family foibles into a loving memoir that sees the pain through humor. A great friend of mine travels the world constantly. He’s a font of hilarious travel stories, each tale the length of a Blackberry entry. I know an expert in strategies to deal with mental illness and I’m married to an expert in learning disabilities. Another friend was a casualty of Multiple Sclerosis, overcame it and became an expert on MS and alternative health treatments. My God! There are potential books everywhere!

If you’ve got a special interest, (and who doesn’t?) start working on your platform now. Publishers expect it as part of the business plan for your book.