A Key to Writing Books That Sell and Sell and Sell
The giant was beside himself. Oh no!’ he cried. ‘Oh mince my maggots! Oh swipe my swoggles!’ ‘What’s the matter?’ Sophie asked. ‘It’s a trogglehumper!’ he shouted. His voice was filled with fury and anguish. ‘Oh, save our solos!’ he cried. ‘Deliver us from weasels! The devil is dancing on my dibbler!’ +++ That little passage from Roald Dahl’s The BFG, which Spielberg recently made into a movie, had my nine-year-old son and me in stitches the other night. And it points up a key to writing books that sell and sell and sell. That key is, in a word, narrative. Examples Let me give you another example. I just finished reading the New York Times bestseller The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It’s a business book. I don’t know if you’re accustomed to thinking of business books as story books, but that is exactly what The Power of Habit is—a story book. It’s just one story after another—and quite good ones too. Stories about how to break bad habits, how to start good ones, how new habits are possible in times of crisis, and so on. Want a third example? Malcolm Gladwell. Everything he’s written is filled with narratives. I’m serious. If you took all the stories out of Blink! or Outliers or The Tipping Point, you’d be left with about five pages. And he uses the same style in his recently released Revisionist History podcast too, which by the way I highly recommend. What’s my point? Tell stories. If you want a chance at writing a book that sells and sells and sells, tell stories. Lots of them. And do interesting things with them. Weave several stories to make a point. Use a story to open a chapter and bring us to a cliffhanger, then break to something else, and come back to that same story to satisfy our appetites. Start each chapter with a great story. What Stories Do Here’s the thing about stories. They take you somewhere. You’re lifted out of wherever you are, and you’re dropped into this really fascinating place. That’s why my son pesters me to no end to read him The BFG. Never mind it’s a half hour past his bedtime. Never mind he’ll be dragging his little rump around the playground tomorrow. Never mind sleep. “Read!” he says to me. That’s what a good story does. You’d rather be in the story than sleep. I know you have something you want people to do. I know you have information that is really important for them to understand. I know you want to change their perspective. I know, I know. But you don’t get to decide how people’s minds work. That’s above your pay grade. So to make them do that thing or get that information or change their perspective, you’ll have to find some good stories to get them there. [Tweet “That’s what a good story does. You’d rather be in the story than sleep.”] A word of caution. Try not to be contrived. Honestly I fall into this trap sometimes. I can end up using stories gratuitously. You get to the end of one of my stories, read the following point, and go, “Um. That story doesn’t really suit that point.” I’m trying to get better at that, and so should you. The Practical Part One last thing. Don’t miss the practical part. Sometimes I read through a book and while I loved it, I’m not sure what to do with it. I’m not sure what action to take. So land the plane. Tell me what to do with what you’re giving me. You can overdo this, of course. Your book can become a workbook. There’s a place for workbooks, but I doubt you want to write a workbook. Still, give me enough practical takeaways that I know how to build your message into my life. Speaking of practical let me give you some story-related questions to ask as you think about your current or upcoming writing project: Is there one overarching story for your whole book? A framing story? What’s the perfect story for each of your planned chapters? Is there a certain category of stories you should focus on, historical or personal or scientific or medical or what have you? If you’re writing memoir, what’s the main story you’re telling? You can’t write about everything that happened in your life, you have to narrow the focus. So what’s the main story? Here’s another practical takeaway. Start capturing your stories. When something terrific happens or when this scene reminds you of that principle, capture it. Use Evernote or a moleskin or a camera. Doesn’t matter. What matters is grabbing the thing so you have it later. They’re worth the trouble, stories. The craft of storytelling and using stories to pull readers through to your larger points—to the information or the perspective or the life change—that’s good honest work. Keep at it.
How an Acquisitions Editor Reviews a Book Proposal
This year I will review well over a hundred book proposals, and my personal goal is to acquire at least fifteen high-quality original books within the year. Just because I present a book in pub board does not mean I’ll acquire it because other publishers will also be pursuing it. Assuming a 50 percent success rate, I need to pick about 30 books to bring to pub board. Other editors may review hundreds of book proposals and have a goal of acquiring more or fewer books, but at least in trade publishing I doubt the math I’ve laid out here changes much from house to house or editor to editor. We review a humongous number of book proposals and try to acquire a fraction of them. So how can a writer make sure their book proposal rises to the top of the stack?… What you’ve just read is the beginning of a guest post I recently wrote for literary agent Maria Ribas of Stonesong. To keep reading, click here.
5 Ways to Get a Publisher’s Attention
Reader David Qaoud recently asked, “I understand that email subscribers are an important part of both platform-building and selling books, but I never hear a specific number from anyone. Generally speaking, how many email subscribers do I need to get a publisher’s attention? 1,000? 10,000?” I’ll answer the question directly first and then offer four more ways to catch a publisher’s eye. 1. Get 10,000 Subscribers The ultimate measure of a platform is this: If a publisher were to send you copies of your book, how many could you sell on the strength of your own platform? If you can move a thousand, that’s okay. If you can move five thousand, that’s solid. If you can move ten thousand, chances are publishers are already interested in talking with you. That’s the beauty of a large platform. Once you have one, you no longer have to hunt for agents and publishers. They’ll come hunting for you. Not a bad goal to have in mind. Inside BookCamp, my mentoring and community hub for writers, we teach you how to grow your email list. Anyone can do it. It just takes the right tactics and some time. 2. Develop a Need-Driven Concept Publishing insiders sometimes refer to name-driven vs. need-driven books. Name-driven books are those driven by a high-profile personality (read: big platform). Need-driven books are those that may not be attached to a big platform but engage a real need that people actually feel and will pay money to address. Obviously a publisher’s dream is to publish books that are both name- and need-driven, but if you don’t have a platform, try to develop a winning concept—that is, to address a need that real people really feel with a fresh title and subtitle. Following are titles of published books with need-driven concepts: How to Win Friends and Influence People How Successful People Think How to Talk So People Will Listen Laugh Out Loud Jokes for Kids How to Make Money in Stocks What to Expect When You’re Expecting His Needs, Her Needs The Fast Metabolism Diet [Tweet “”Develop a Need-Driven Concept” & 4 other ways to a publisher’s attention via editor @ChadRAllen”] 3. Develop a Fresh, Creative Concept Sometimes a concept is so fresh, so innovative and intriguing, that a publisher just can’t pass it up. Here are some examples: Freakonomics Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking Predictably Irrational The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Jesus Calling Start with Why Mind you, many of the examples under ways 2 and 3 above are from authors who do have platforms. In many cases the books they wrote expanded their platforms exponentially. But none of that changes the fact that these concepts likely would have been strong enough to be accepted for publication even without a massive platform. [callout]To access a 4-minute training video I created on developing a great book concept as well as a step-by-step infographic, click here. [/callout] 4. Wow Us with Your Writing in Creative Nonfiction You can wow publishers with your writing in at least two different ways. The first is with a captivating narrative of your own life or someone else’s. Here I’m thinking of memoir, autobiography, biography, personal narrative, or what we call simply narrative nonfiction. To learn how to do this kind of writing, I encourage you to check out the Great Courses class titled “Writing Creative Nonfiction” by Tilar Mazzeo. 5. Wow Us with Your Writing in Other Genres But let’s say you’re writing self-help or Christian living or business or inspirational. How do you wow publishers with your writing in this kind of book? You include a sample with your book proposal that is so magnetic, the reviewers on the publishing committee want to keep reading. The best way I know to do that is with a great story, written in a way that engages the reader’s imagination, and powerful principles that make the reader stop and think. #### There are several ways to get a publisher’s attention. A big platform, which often means 10,000 email subscribers or more, is one way—a way worth pursuing for a lot of writers today. But there are other ways too. Often authors are drawing on more than one of these. The key is to pick the one or two or more that seem to fit your own gifts and aspirations best. Then get after it! [Tweet “5 Ways to Get a Publisher’s Attention via editor @ChadRAllen #askeditor #amwriting”] If you were to pursue just one of these ways to get a publisher’s attention, which one would it be?
The “Smarter Not Harder” Way to Get a Literary Agent
How do I secure a literary agent?” This is an excellent question writers often ask me. Many publishers (including my employer, Baker Publishing Group) are explicit about not accepting submissions unless they come through an agent. So if you’re pursuing traditional publishing, getting an agent is essential. I asked this and some other questions in an interview with publishing pro and literary agent Angela Scheff. Angela has worked in the publishing industry since 2000. For the first ten years she worked as an editor and then associate publisher at Zondervan, a Christian imprint of HarperCollins in Grand Rapids, Michigan, acquiring and editing a variety of well-known authors. For the next five years Angela became a freelancer, working with different Christian publishers, editors, and authors, in addition to focusing on her young family. In 2015 Angela joined The Christopher Ferebee Agency to represent a select number of authors to help bring their voice, passion, and expertise to their readers. You can find her at www.christopherferebee.com. Hi Angela, thanks for being here! First question for you: What are the most significant changes you’ve seen in the industry over the course of your career? Hi Chad, my pleasure! I remember when publishers were able to take more of a risk on new authors. Now, in addition to a fresh idea and stellar writing, authors need to have a platform as well. And it’s no longer assumed that just having a blog and website is enough. Authors need to be interacting regularly with their audience and readers. They need to understand the marketing process and work with the publisher to maximize their reach. The biggest hurdle most writers face is building a platform. What advice do you have for writers who want to build a platform? Start today and do something, no matter how small, every day. Make sure it’s something you enjoy so you’re motivated to keep at it. Remember to stay true to who you are as a person as well as focused on the type of audience you’re hoping to reach in your writing. For example, if you love Instagram and hate Twitter, start there. Or perhaps you’re better at podcasting than blogging. Or maybe you can seek out opportunities to be the expert in your field, whether that’s speaking, writing columns, teaching, etc. You don’t have to be in every social media sphere or do everything. Just focus on the one or two things you can be consistent with and already enjoy. Keep your audience in mind and don’t use it for self-promotion. You need to establish yourself first before you can earn the right to plug your (future) books. Keep networking, being generous with content, saying yes whenever possible, and perfecting your craft. You can’t build a platform overnight, so keep at it. What has it been like to go from working for a publisher to being a literary agent? What are the main similarities and differences? It’s been a fairly smooth transition since the process is the same. As an agent I am still evaluating proposals and choosing which authors to work with. While I’m not creating a presentation to a single publishing team, I am still presenting the author and proposal to a variety of editors at different houses. I’d say the main difference is rejection. An agent hears a lot of rejection while trying to figure out which publisher is the best fit for her author. Here’s a question from a reader: “What is an agent’s role before, during and (especially) after publication?” I will answer based on the best-case scenario: An agent provides feedback on proposals and can help shape it. She will then pitch it to select editors and publishers, with whom she has relationships and who she thinks will best serve the author. She will help the author navigate offers and decide which publishing house is the best fit (which is not always based the highest advance offer) and negotiate the contract details. She will help manage expectations and guide the author through the publishing process, including marketing, PR, and cover discussions. Basically, an agent is the author’s advocate and will be looking out for the author’s best interest. Pretend you’re an aspiring writer who knows her field but does not have contacts in the publishing industry. How would you pursue representation from a literary agent? I would do a TON of research. I’d find all the books that would be my competition and I’d take a look at the copyright and acknowledgments pages and see which agent is representing these authors and find the ones who are mentioned the most. Then I’d find out which books are selling the best and see if there’s a common publishing house that is best serving this genre. I’d cross reference to see if it matches with one of the agents I’ve identified. Then I’d research that particular agent or two and find out what their submission guidelines are or see if they represent someone I already know (assuming I’m active in my field). If they attend conferences, I’d make sure I attend one and try to get a 5-minute meeting. When I have my chance to get in front of them, ideally I would have their client pass along my proposal or submit my proposal based on their guidelines. I’d begin by stating why I thought that particular agent would be a good fit. Then I’d make sure I could clearly articulate my book idea in a sentence or two and then submit the best proposal possible. I know that sounds stalker-ish, but I’d prefer to call it being prepared. Why put in the effort of querying a hundred agents who could care less about the topic I’m writing on? I would want to make the few queries I make count. If you had only one piece of advice for a writer who is just getting started, what would it be? Spend as much time and energy on your proposal as you would your manuscript. Make your proposal
The Writer’s Stress-Free Guide to Meeting with an Acquisitions Editor or Literary Agent
Meeting with an acquisitions editor or literary agent can feel like a mixed blessing. Getting to talk with a publishing pro about your work is obviously a great opportunity. But these meetings often come with severe time limitations, which can make the whole experience very stressful. In this article I’d like to offer five things you can do to remove or reduce the stress of these meetings and maximize their value. 1. Set Reasonable Expectations Wouldn’t it be great if when you sat down with an acquisitions editor, they greeted you warmly, shook your hand, and said something like, “We’ve read your proposal and think it’s perfect. Would you please sign this?” as they present you with a publishing contract? It would be awesome, but that’s not likely to happen. In fact, I would wonder about the editor or publisher if this did happen! Regardless, if you go into this meeting with the expectation that it is going to lead you inexorably to publication, you’re likely to be disappointed. So what is a reasonable expectation for such meetings? . . . To continue reading this guest post for my friends at the “Do a New Thing” blog, click here.
Why a Shorter Book Proposal Is a Better Book Proposal
How long should my book proposal be?” I suspect writers ask this question because they want to know how much work they need to do for a solid chance at a book contract. The good news is often a shorter book proposal is better than a longer one. The bad news is it may take longer to produce a short proposal that’s strong than a long proposal that’s weak. Don’t miss this, though: the extra time is well worth the effort not only because it increases your chances for a contract but because it will make writing the book that much easier and more rewarding. Why Shorter Is Better You may have heard the quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Whether it actually comes from Twain or not doesn’t alter that this statement is getting at something important. Developing clarity takes time, as does writing powerfully. When it comes to written communication, time, clarity, power, and brevity have a symbiotic and reciprocal relationship. If I were to turn that relationship into a mathematical formula, here’s how it would look: Time = Clarity + Power = Brevity So let’s look at how to seize the clarity and power that will help you write a short proposal that has the greatest potential for success. A Tight Need-Driven Concept In the publishing business we sometimes refer to name-driven and need-driven book projects. Name-driven projects are those where we rely more heavily on the author’s platform and brand. Need-driven projects are those where we rely on the fact that the book is meeting a compelling need that actual people really have. Obviously the best situation is for a book to have both a name and a need. So if you have a platform, terrific! Keep growing it the best you can. And if you don’t, it’s time to start thinking about how to get started (here’s a resource for starting). But regardless, the better you’re able to develop a need-driven concept, the more successful you will be. Here’s a short video I did a while back for readers of Michael Hyatt’s blog on how to develop a great book concept. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xARr3JtYnuU [callout] To download the infographic in this video, click here. [/callout] Developing a tight need-driven concept helps you write concisely within your book proposal. How to Write a Short Book Proposal Following is a list of the major elements in a book proposal and how to shorten each one: Title page. This one’s easy. One page for your name and your title and subtitle, which you’ll have if you follow the process in the above video. Pro tip: Include a list of 5 to 8 alternative titles and subtitles on the reverse side of the title page. That makes it longer, I realize, but only one page, and including this list shows the review committee different ways of positioning your book. Throwdown statement. One sentence that distills you and your book to its essence. Example: “A New York Times bestselling author and a CEO of an executive coaching firm team up to deliver an engaging practical guide to help people stop drifting and get the life they want.” This is a possible throwdown statement for the Baker release Living Forward. More about that here. Brief Description. No more than five paragraphs. The idea here is to cast a vision for your book. Along the way we need to know the purpose of your book, intended readership, length, and ETA for the manuscript. If you can get this down to three paragraphs, awesome. Bio. No more than 300 words if at all possible. Tell us who you are and why you’re credible, your major accomplishments, what you’re passionate about, a bit about your family, and that’s it. Chapter synopsis. If there’s one part of the proposal where I see the most waste, it’s here. Shoot for three sentences per chapter description. No more than five. Tell us the main point of each chapter. If it helps, think in terms of point A and point B. Point A is where readers will be when they start the chapter. Point B is where you’re going to take them. In and out. We want a sense of the flow and the book’s architecture. You don’t need a lot of space to provide this, especially if you have a clear sense of what each chapter is doing. Pro Tip: We all expect that your book will morph a bit in the writing process. Marketing section. If there’s any section of the proposal that is exempt from the brevity mandate, it’s this one. This is true mainly because we want to see you brainstorm as many ideas as possible for how to market your book. We want to know every possible angle or network or strategy or initiative. This is the one section where you’re free to go on as long as you like! Writing sample. This is key. I’d rather read an amazingly powerful ten pages than a mediocre twenty. I remember reviewing a proposal where the first eight pages were only okay, but the last ten were so powerful, they made us cry. The author would have been better off dropping the first eight. Don’t make us wade through to your best stuff. Put it right there up front. And remember, your writing sample is the one part of your proposal that we might send into the world. Try to make it sing. I’m hopeful that if you invest the time to write a shorter proposal, it will be that much stronger. And I’m also hopeful it will help you in the writing process. If you take the time to clarify your concept and the content of each planned chapter (even if it changes later), you’ll flounder less as you start writing. You will, I hope, have a sense of momentum that will sustain you to the end. [Tweet “”Why a Shorter Book Proposal
How to Get Publishers to Beg for Your Book
I’ve been reviewing book proposals for well over a decade, and I’ve noticed that for the most part proposals fall into one of two categories. Either publishers fight each other to publish your book, or they don’t give it much attention at all. That’s an oversimplification, but not as much as you might think. For the vast majority of new book proposals, it’s either a feeding frenzy or crickets. Secret Sauce The natural question is: how does a writer get in the feeding frenzy category? How do you get publishers to beg for your book? Rarely does it happen solely on the strength of an author’s writing. It happens more often for books that have compelling concepts. But it happens frequently because of an author’s platform. [Tweet “How to Get Publishers to Beg for Your Book”] Do we sometimes receive proposals from writers with huge platforms and turn them down because the concept is lousy or because the writing is atrocious. Yes, we do. But that is rare, and here’s why. If an author has done the work of building a platform, typically they’ve also done the work of developing a strong concept, and they’ve done at least enough work in the writing department to submit a decent sample. Craft and Platform Not long ago I was at a conference where a successful author encouraged the audience to stop worrying about platform and instead focus on craft. I see where this author is coming from, and it’s true that if you hone your craft as much as this author has, you’ll naturally attract an audience. But my question is, why not work on both? Why not hone your craft and make it easy for people to follow you? Why not develop your writing talent as you gather the email addresses of people who like your content? Why not write, write, write but also build, build, build? That’s my admonition. Focus on craft, absolutely. Do the work. But be smart about it by building your platform at the same time. [Tweet “Focus on craft, absolutely. Do the work. But be smart about it by building your platform at the same time.”] How to Build a Platform The number one way to build a platform is to build a list of email subscribers. And the number one person to listen to on this topic is Bryan Harris. Not only has he built a massive list himself, he’s helped uber successful writers like Jeff Goins and Michael Hyatt grow theirs. When it comes to list-building, Bryan Harris is the guy. Bryan just opened the doors on a course he created called Get 10,000 Subscribers. I’m taking the course myself right now (I’m a platform builder too!), and it’s quite simply the best content available on building an email list. Bryan will help you shave months, even years, off the process of building a large email following. I’ve already begun implementing his strategies, and it’s been a game changer. Registration is open for a limited period of time so register while you can and get started! To learn more, CLICK HERE.
How to Get a Book Deal When You Don’t Have a Platform
When my wife read my blog post about the importance of platform and Google search ranking for writers, she replied, “It makes me sad. I wish platform/Google weren’t so paramount.” She spoke for legions of writers, I expect. “Why can’t I just write a good book?” “I’m a writer, not a marketer. Why do I have to be both?” “Isn’t the publisher supposed to do the marketing?” These are legitimate expressions of frustration with how things usually work in publishing. The vast majority of proposals we (and, I expect, most reputable publishers) approve are indeed from writers who have built a platform. Somehow these authors manage both to write and to build a means of bringing exposure to their writing, and of course the two are not mutually exclusive (especially for bloggers). Exceptions But there are always exceptions. Years ago literary agent Chip MacGregor nailed it during a panel discussion at an Oregon Christian Writers Conference. He said, simply, most good books get published. He may well have been reflecting on the fact that he as an agent hasn’t had much difficulty finding publishing homes for good books. In other words, take heart. If you write a really good book, you’ll likely find a publisher that is willing to publish it. [Tweet “If you write a really good book, you’ll likely find a publisher that is willing to publish it.”] The three things publishers look for are influential platform, great concept, and amazing writing. Without a platform, you’re relying solely on concept and writing. And they have to be good not by your definition but by the definition of those who write the checks. But it is possible to get published without a platform. If you work hard on your craft and emerge from the shadows with an amazing piece of artful prose, believe me, I want to see it. And I may well offer you a contract for it. If this is what you’d like to do, please do. Really. Sometimes we publishing types emphasize platform at the expense of art, and that’s a mistake. So write. We look forward to seeing what you can do. Platform As Shortcut Having said that, before you write platform off completely, let me offer a perspective that might be different from others you’ve encountered. Many writers assume the whole platform thing is in their way. The temptation is to assume that if a publisher were to make a decision based on quality of writing alone, it would be a no-brainer. Of course they’d want to publish my book! I can’t discount this attitude entirely. Again, sometimes a writer without a platform wins a publisher over. It happens, but it’s rare. Why? Because cultivating amazing writing talent is hard. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it. You must. It goes without saying that writing quality is essential to any good book, to say nothing of a sustainable writing career. But because writing well is hard, building a platform is not an obstacle. It is actually a shortcut. Not a shortcut to writing a great book, that will still take just as much time as ever. Building a platform is rather a shortcut to getting a book deal, and once you have a book deal, hopefully you’ll have more time and freedom and motivation to keep honing your writing craft. As much work as it is to build a platform, in our day and age it likely takes less time to build a decent platform than it does to write an awesome book. This may not be true in all cases, but I suspect it’s true in most. Two Paths So if building a platform is just not for you, that’s okay. Write. Hone your craft. Hone it so well you write something we all would be fools to pass up. But if working smarter not harder is of interest, consider starting or growing a blog. That way you can develop your writing talent as you build an audience. [Tweet “How to Get a Book Deal When You Don’t Have a Platform via editor @ChadRAllen”] [reminder]How do you manage the tension between honing your craft and platform building?[/reminder] [callout] My book proposal guidelines have helped countless authors write contract-winning book proposals. I’d be happy to send you a copy. Just click the thumbnail image below:
5 Ways to Impress a Book Publisher in Half a Second
I just noticed something I have been doing habitually for well over ten years. Whenever I review a book proposal, one of the first things I do is Google the author’s name. I do this because a book deal is a business partnership. When we sign an author, we’re excited about the author’s voice and the content. We’re excited about the art! But we’re also excited about the business opportunity–the chance to make a return on our investment. Book deals are business partnerships, which means authors are not only artists but business partners. I Google authors’ names because I want to know something about them. And Google can tell me very quickly–in about half a second, actually–whether to keep my interest alive or walk away forever. [Tweet “Book deals are business partnerships, which means authors are not only artists but business partners.”] Good Results When I Google a writer’s name, what I hope to see at the top of the search results is the author’s blog or website. This tells me the author has an established location online that Google’s search engine considers worthy of top billing. Why does Google consider anything worthy of top billing? Usually because of traffic to and from a website. If your blog/website is first in a Google search for your name, it means that out of all the other possible websites, yours gets the most traffic. Here’s a video from Google that goes into this in fun detail: [youtube id=”BNHR6IQJGZs”] How do you get traffic to your blog/website? Ultimately it’s about producing great content consistently. You saw that coming, but it’s true. The better your content is, and the more consistent, the more likely your site will come up first in a Google search for your name. Not-So-Good Results Here’s what sends me packing. If I Google your name and I can’t find you online, I’m probably done reviewing your proposal. Some exceptions to this rule apply, but generally that’s just the way it is. Too many other authors are willing to do the work of creating a solid online presence that those who don’t are going to have a hard time attracting the interest of a publisher. Another possibility is for an author’s LinkedIn or Facebook profile to come up first. This too sends a bad signal. If I click on your Facebook page and see 1000 likes, again, you just sent me packing. If you have tens of thousands of likes, then I’ll hang in there with you because you are likely using your Facebook page as your central online hub. I’m not sure about the wisdom of this because you’re relying on a platform you don’t own, but a person with tens of thousands of Facebook likes very likely has an audience. 5 Ways to Achieve Top Billing in a Google Search Let’s say you’re just getting started and you want to achieve high ranking in a Google search for your name. Here are the steps I would recommend: Start a blog. Decide how often it is realistic for you to post new content. Commit to posting consistently. Do your best to produce great content every time. Don’t worry if you publish some duds. We’ve all been there, trust me. Make liberal use of links to other blogs. The more networked your site is with other sites, the more Google will favor your posts. Watch your search ranking climb. That’s it. The higher your site ranks on Google, the more interested publishers will be. That’s because high ranking indicates some hard work on your part. And publishers like going into business with hard-working authors. [Tweet “5 Ways to Impress a Book Publisher in Half a Second via editor @ChadRAllen”] [reminder]Go ahead, try it. When you Google your name, what do you see?[/reminder] [callout] My book proposal guidelines have helped countless authors write contract-winning book proposals. I’d be happy to send you a copy. Just click the thumbnail image below:
The Most Important Thing I Learned from Selling My House Might Surprise You
The first thing realtors tell you when you’re preparing your house to go on the market is this: declutter. Not paint or redo the bathroom or update your windows. Get rid of the stuff, they tell you. Why? Because when we’re making what is arguably the most significant purchase of our lives, what we want more than anything is to see the space. [Tweet “When we’re making the most significant purchase of our lives, we want to see the space” via @ChadRAllen”] It’s what we want in our homes, and it’s what we want in our lives. Space. In this post I want to offer 5 ways to simplify and declutter so you can see the space again. 1. Purge Your Calendar Each week look at what’s on your calendar. In addition to clustering items that are like one another (phone calls, for example), ask yourself, “Do I really need to do that this week?” Get rid of the nonessentials. 2. Work from a List Each day ask yourself, “What do I need to accomplish for today to be great?” Write the list and get to it. 3. Clear Your Physical Space Pick up each piece of paper in your workspace. Ask “Can I address this in two minutes or less?” If so do it. If not, place it where you’ll know where to find it and schedule a time in your calendar to address it. 4. Tame the Email Beast Once and for All I’ve been getting my email inbox down to zero just about every day for years. In this post I show you how. 5. Right-Size Your Social Media Time Social media is useful and entertaining. It can also be hugely time-consuming and keep us from accomplishing the things that matter most to us. Set specific times during the day when you are going to engage social media, and put yourself on a timer. If you have an iPhone tell Siri, “Sound an alarm in 15 minutes.” When the alarm sounds, you’re done. Try the app Anti-Social to block yourself from social media for an amount of time you designate. [Tweet “”Tame the Email Beast Once and for All” and other decluttering tips via @ChadRAllen”] [reminder]What can you do to declutter today?[/reminder] [callout]Bonus Content: Need some space for creativity? I’d love to give you my free Creativity Self-Assessment and Action Guide. It’s been a huge help to a lot of creatives. [button href=”https://www.chadrallen.com/getnourishflourish” primary=”true” centered=”true” newwindow=”false”]Download[/button]