by Gus | Oct 30, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books, Marketing Tips - Films
People have often asked me, how have you been able to write so much, citing the more than 50 books and over 20 feature scripts I have written? The answer lies in cultivating your creativity, so you can more quickly come up with ideas, select among them to choose the best ones, and then develop and polish them into the final article, book, or script.
To this end, I have used a variety of techniques for increasing creativity, which anyone can learn and practice until they become second nature. It is important to make these techniques a regular practice, so you don’t have to think about them and simply apply them as needed. When this occurs, the techniques essentially become an intuitive part of you – an automatic response whereby you can generate a lot of new ideas and sense which is right to follow up on, through a kind of inner wisdom or knowing.
For me, the process of developing my intuitive inner creativity began when I took a workshop on tapping into one’s intuition or knowing in the late 1960s after I first came to California. In the workshop, we did a visualization in which we imagined a swirl of energy bubbling up from the ground into our bodies and then imagined another code of energy pouring in through our head. Then, we were told to imagine the two energy streams from the earth, which provided grounding, and from the air, which provided expansion, meeting in the middle of our bodies and streaming out into whatever project we were working on to infuse it with this energy. In my case, I imagined the energy pouring out of my hands as I rushed to the typewriter – yes, we once used typewriters in the pre-computer days – and began to write. So initially, that was the image I brought to my typewriter each day as I worked on writing something, and after a while, I didn’t need to see the image anymore. I would just go to the typewriter and write – an approach I continued to use no matter what technology I used for writing – from typing and handwriting to writing on a computer keyboard.
Another thing I learned early on is the secret of separating the creative process from the editing process. In other words, you just write whatever you are thinking about your subject initially, so you get whatever you want to say down and don’t interrupt the flow of ideas. Then, you go back and review your writing as an editor and do a final edit and polish. Importantly, you don’t try to mix the two processes, or you will slow yourself down. If you are writing for someone else, it is important to explain this process, if you are showing them your first draft to get their input. This way, they understand that there may be numerous typos and grammatical errors because of this initial creative process, but you will correct any errors when you do the final polish.
Initially, when I started writing anything, I used an outline, which I either prepared or an editor or client gave to me. But after a while, I found I generally didn’t need a written outline, since it would automatically be there in my mind, and that increased the speed of the creative process even more. Likewise, as you work with these techniques, you will find that many things you doing rationally at first will become part of the intuitive you, so you can come up with ideas and write even more quickly.
Still another technique I learned early on is the power of visualization. That first workshop on visualization laid the groundwork. But then I continued to go to a series of workshops, most of them at Esalen near Big Sur, which was a big center in the 1960s and 1970s for all kinds of personal growth programs. There I learned about altered states of consciousness, shaman journeying, hypnosis, automatic writing, biofeedback, meditation, and other consciousness techniques. I experienced just about any altered consciousness state as a form of visualization, though the imagery which was used to guide these experiences might differ. For example, on a shaman journey, the workshop leader might lead us on a journey through a forest to gain insight from a wise man at a tree; in hypnosis, the guide might lead us down a tunnel, escalator, or count down of numbers; in meditation, the leader might instruct us to focus on a word, chant a mantra, or clear our minds of all thoughts until we experienced a state of exaltation or inner knowing. But for me the feeling or state of consciousness was much the same, as I tried out different types of imagery, after I started with a question or goal for the session, such as what should I write about in a chapter or script. At times, I also worked with a guide who led me to a place where I saw the answer to my question or a story unfold.
Then, applying these techniques, I looked for insights from whatever I was experiencing or learning about to turn it into a book, article, blog, or script. For example, if something negative happened, I would think about what I could learn from that or how I could turn it into an interesting story. If something in the news caught my attention, I would think about how I might incorporate that into something I was already working on or transform it into a new project.
In sum, I used many techniques to become more creative – techniques which anyone can use. These include increasing your powers of visualization, separating the creative/intuitive and the editorial/ analytical process, transforming a formal outline into an organic one which you can see in your mind, and looking to the experiences and events in your life for ideas on what to write about next.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY
by Gus | Oct 30, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
For many writers, a dream is to be published by the big six, which include Random House, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, The Penguin Group, and Hachette, though recently they have become the big five, since Random House and Penguin merged. They all have multiple imprints and typically pay much bigger advances than you can expect from a smaller publisher.
But is a big publisher the best approach for marketing your book? And will a big publisher actually want to publish your book, if you are not already famous or have a very large following in the social media?
Certainly, it can be great for bragging rights to have a big publisher release your book. But unless the publisher expects it to be a big book with a large promotion budget backing it – which is usually reserved for high profile authors, your book can easily get lost in the many books the big six publish. And as an author you may have to take on much of the promotional burden or expense yourself. Routinely publishers send out review copies, but that may be all they do, except for those books selected for the big book treatment. And even if you do get publicity, that still might not turn your book into a best seller – or result in any better success than with a small publisher.
For example, about ten years ago, Random House published one of my books – Do You Look Like Your Dog? featuring photos of owners who looked like their dogs — through its Broadway imprint as a novelty illustrated book with black and white photos. The publisher’s publicist even got some TV exposure, including two segments on Good Morning America. But even that exposure didn’t save the book from limited sales of about 4000 copies, since it was published as a quick impulse book which anyone could flip through in a few minutes and didn’t have to buy. Thus, even with the biggest of the big publishers behind it, that doesn’t guarantee big sales for a book.
On the other hand, some books can thrive with small and medium sized independent publishers, especially if it’s a niche book with a focused market, such as a self-help book, an inspirational or religious book, or a business book. And often a big publisher will not publish such books from new authors or authors with limited sales in the past, since these publishers only want books with high-profile celebrities and experts.
As for advances, if you do find a big publisher interested in your book, the advances are likely to be higher, since a big publisher has a larger budget. But don’t expect the huge advances paid to the high-profile celebrity authors which can be six or seven figures. Instead, a typical advance for most new or “mid-list” writers is about $5000-20,000, while a smaller publisher will offer less – commonly around $1000-5000. But the royalty rates are commonly around the same for a paperback book (generally 10-15% of net, with the percentage going up with more sales) and about 25-40% for an e-book, though 25% seems to be the common standard. Thus, while the advances may be smaller, if the book does well, you can earn as much being published by a small publisher.
One possible advantage of a smaller or medium sized publisher is that your book may get more attention, simply because the publisher is introducing a smaller number of new books and so is more committed to supporting the sales of each one. Then, too, if yours is a niche book, a publisher with a targeted audience may be well suited to distribute to that market.
Finally, a big consideration is who wants to publish your book. Often, you won’t be able to find a big publisher, if you don’t already have a high-profile platform, a large following, or a history of big sales for previous books. But an independent publisher may be more receptive to publishing your book.
Thus, a good strategy in pitching a book, unless it is a book with limited sales to a limited audience, is to pitch it to both big and smaller independent publishers. Then, first see if a big publisher is interested and what kind of deal they are offering, and if so, weigh your options with any offer from a smaller independent publisher. In either case, the publisher will look to you to do much of the publicity and promotion. Or if a big publisher isn’t interested, you can still work with a small publisher – and though they may be smaller and the advance may be smaller, you can still do quite well – and with some strategic marketing and promotion, you can even sell more books than you would with one of many new books that is introduced by a big publisher but gets lost because the publisher is so big and releasing so many books.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY
by Gus | Oct 30, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
Your personal experiences can provide a wealth of source material for something you can publish, whether as an article or blog, book proposal, chapter, or complete book based on collecting enough experiences together. This approach to writing can be particularly helpful when things go wrong and you have a bad experience, particularly when you feel angry at someone you feel did you wrong. This method of turning a bad experience into something you can write about and publish cannot only be a way to release your feelings of anger or betrayal, so you feel better, but it can contribute to your career as a writer. You use your experience to gain more awareness or promotion for yourself, or to get paid for what you have written, as well.
I used this approach myself after I did some editing work for a publisher who didn’t give me early feedback but asked me to continue writing, and then stopped the job midway and refused to pay me, because the job he stopped wasn’t completed. Though I felt like writing the publisher a letter telling him off, instead I did some research on this publisher, discovered a long history of bad behavior, including suing a few individuals and companies for expressing an opinion about the poor quality of the company’s books. And the information I gleaned was enough for several articles which I published, opening the door to a future book on the key themes in these articles.
A good way to start the process is by writing down your initial observations and reactions to the experience, which can also serve to release any feelings of anger and betrayal you have. You can even write up your bad experience as a letter to the person or company which has offended you. Then don’t send the letter – a technique which psychologists and therapists sometimes recommend to clients to help them release their negative emotions. But beyond writing anything to feel better, think about how you can use this material for an article, blog, book proposal, book, film script, or other popular format that can lead to more promotion for your portfolio as well as money for your work. In fact, publishers often like these inspired by a true story projects, since it provides a promotional hook to help in selling the book or promoting the film.
More specifically, here are some things you can do to contribute to your writing career after you have a bad personal experience.
– Realize that if you were badly treated, many other individuals might have been, too. To find out, do an Internet search by the name of the company or its main officers. You may find a wealth of information about anything the company has done to behave badly. And this research could be the beginning of an investigative piece as well as your triggering an investigation by law enforcement against the company. Then, whatever you write about the company and what happened to you will have even more popular appeal.
– Turn whatever happened to you into an article or blog, though don’t use any names, so you don’t get into legal trouble. And if there’s enough to the story, you can turn this material into a proposal for a book you can pitch to agents or traditional publishers. Or you might write and publish the book yourself; then if you gain interest in the story and yourself, you can turn this book into a better deal with a traditional book publisher.
– Think about how you can build on what happened to turn your story into a novel or script, which you can then sell to a publisher or film producer, or publish yourself. For example, that’s what I did after I worked with a psychiatrist client. He was very difficult to deal with; had a strong sense of what should be in his script even though many scenes and much of his proposed dialogue seemed overly exaggerated and stilted. But he was the client, and though he paid me, he treated me like a secretary he could yell at and insult. So eventually, I wrote whatever he wanted without making any suggestions, like I was merely his typist. But afterwards, I turned this experience into a story about a psychiatrist leading a double life in participating in an underground criminal enterprise – and now this script is under consideration by several producers.
Thus, when bad experiences happen, look on them as the source of ideas you can develop in various directions – and ultimately use to expand your platform or gain money for yourself. By doing so, not only will you release any angry feelings, but you can gain in multiple ways from something you turn around to further your writing career.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY
by Gus | Oct 30, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
Sometimes a big problem for writers is getting paid. Commonly, when writers do work for individual clients, they work on retainers or pay as you go arrangements using PayPal or credit cards. But when you get hired by a company, a usual arrangement is for the company to pay you after the work is completed or in various stages, such as 10-25% up front, and more as you go along or after you finish the project.
Unfortunately, this arrangement of pay after completing some or all of the work can be a problem, if a company decides not to pay for some reason, which may not be justified – say because the company decides to change its direction and no longer wants to use the work, although it asked the writer to do this.
I started thinking about the problem of not getting paid by a company for work done at their direction, when this happened to me. As I experienced myself, often, when a company doesn’t pay, you may feel powerless because you are an individual up against a company, like a David facing a Goliath. In some cases, the situation can feel even more hopeless when the amount is too small to merit hiring a lawyer or pursuing a small claims case. And sometimes you can feel even worse, because the company avoids telling you what’s wrong or makes an excuse you consider unfair and unjust.
For example, I encountered this situation when a small scholarly publisher hired me to edit a very badly written academic book. Like much bad academic writing, it was overly wordy, used long convoluted sentences, and included multiple cites from other researchers in densely packed paragraphs, who repeated the same ideas in different words. After I advised the publisher of my hourly rate and got a budget cap for the project, I began editing the first 15 pages in about 40 minutes and got two more go ahead for the next two hours that I worked on the manuscript. In doing the edit, I sought to streamline the very dense, pedantic, repetitious writing, rather than just correcting the obvious typos and grammatical errors. But then the project went South. Suddenly, the editor who worked for the publisher called to tell me not write anymore and to send him a bill for the hours I already worked. But he didn’t explain what was wrong, only that the company planned to do the rest of the editing in house. After that the publisher was impossible to reach, didn’t return my calls, and sent a letter cancelling an offer to publish one of my books, with a notation to the editor to pay my bill. But soon afterwards, the editor sent me an email stating that the publisher decided not to pay because the project wasn’t completed. However, it wasn’t because the editor asked me to stop doing anything more, after previously asking me to continue writing.
Though the amount of my bill wasn’t much – only about $400, I felt the publisher’s sudden decision to not to pay me without telling me what was wrong or being willing to discuss the matter was unjust and unfair. And later I discovered this company was involved in numerous lawsuits, along with claims they were a vanity publisher disguised as a scholarly press.
But initially, due to the company’s refusal to pay, I felt powerless against a company in another state. However, then I started thinking about what I could do and how many other writers might be in a similar situation after putting in hours, days, or more on a project, only to not be paid for no good reason. For example, one writer friend described working 40 hours a week for 3 months with repeated assurances of being paid at the end of the project. But the promised check for about $20,000 didn’t come, and the company officials were elusive when she tried to contact them. Another writer hired as an advertising and PR consultant was at first paid an initial retainer and agreed to bill the company after that. But after the company hired him for several more hours, it didn’t pay, claiming that his advice didn’t help their sales, though he gave no guarantees.
In such cases, going to small claims court – or the threat of filing – can sometimes get a company to pay to avoid the time and expense of going to court. However, if a company is in another state, it may be difficult to pursue a long-distance small claims case. And even if the company is local, a lawsuit can be a long, tedious process and not worth the effort if the unpaid amount is low.
But there are a number of alternatives, when a publisher or other company isn’t willing to resolve the dispute. Ideally, these alternatives can lead to your getting paid. But even if they don’t, these strategies can enable you to share your experience, so you can warn others about possible problems in dealing with that company. Then, too, you may feel better about what happened when you inform others by writing emails, blogging, or talking, and you may feel some satisfaction from getting justice as the company’s bad behavior becomes known. Sometimes, too, once a company discovers that people are writing and talking about what it did wrong, it can be sufficiently shamed and embarrassed by the publicity, so it decides to do the right thing and pay you what you are owed.
Aside from going to court as a last resort, if it is a viable alternative, here are some things you can do.
1) Report your bad experiences on one of the websites which feature complaints for writers, such as Preditors and Editors http://pred-ed.com. Some writers’ organizations also have a complaint section for members, such as the American Society of Authors and Journalists (ASJA) www.asja.org.
2) If you have followers on the social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you can share your complaints about publishers and other companies there, and others may pass on this information. And normally, you don’t have to worry about a company taking any legal action against you, since the company’s desire to end any bad publicity by paying what they owe is likely to outweigh taking action against someone with a valid complaint, which might result in more bad publicity. Plus if you don’t have much money, which is true for many writers, a lawyer isn’t likely to take the case.
3) Tell the publisher or other company that you are seriously considering legal action, and show you are serious by describing how you have researched the court procedures and penalties the company may experience. You might also point out that once a court case is filed, it becomes a public record, which the company might want to avoid, since it will further sully their reputation.
4) If enough people who haven’t been paid by a company learn about one another through your efforts to share information about your experience, this might lead to a virtual protest through the social media or even a real protest in front of company headquarters.
In short, you have many options to get paid or at least get justice and warn others about dealing with this company.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY
by Gus | Oct 30, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books, Marketing Tips - Films
Besides keeping your query letter short and to the point, having a good subject line, and highlighting our background, PR, and how you plan to support the book, there are certain things to say or not say in your letter. Here are some keys of what to do or not do.
– Describe in brief what the book is about followed by the highlights of the story combined in two or at most three paragraphs with up to 4 or 5 sentences each.
– While you commonly want to leave the reader hanging in the sales copy for a book or poster for a film, you are writing this letter for editors, agents, or producers, who usually want to know what happens. So don’t leave the ending a mystery.
– Include in the subject line a very short statement of what the book or script is about and include its genre or type, such as: “Action/adventure novel (script) about a sea captain who faces down pirates on the high seas.” Avoid using the title itself, especially if a very short title, in the subject line, since the title by itself generally doesn’t indicate what the story is about, such as a book or script called “Montana” or “House in the Trees.”
– Include the title in the first sentence of the body copy, along with the genre and short statement of what the book or script is about, though use different wording from the subject line, such as “MONTANA is an action/suspense thriller about a postmaster who goes missing after the last post office in a small town shuts down, leading to a discovery of hidden secrets and a chase for his killer.” Keep this initial introduction to 1 sentence.
– If relevant, describe how your book or script might have the appeal of other books or films in this genre.
– Instead of starting with “Query…etc.”, start off with the book or scripts genre and/or key selling point, such as another book or script from the author of a previous top seller.
– Keep your description of the story short, highlighting the main characters and plot points. While a more detailed synopsis is commonly about 1 to 1 ½ pages single space (about 400-700 words), this should be at most 2 or 3 paragraphs totaling about 150-200 words. Avoid trying to detail the many twists and turns and characters in the plot. The reader is likely to get lost. If anything important gets left out in condensing the story into 2 to 3 paragraphs, you can later clarify or correct anything when you send in the more detailed synopsis or full manuscript.
– Keep your bio to one paragraph of 5 to 6 sentences, and highlight what is most directly relevant to your book or script, such as previously published novels or books, previously produced scripts, and work that inspired the story. Highlight any publicity you have gotten in the past, any major speaking engagements, and any extensive following in the social media (such as 10,000 or more fans on Facebook and 50,000 or more followers on Twitter. While it might be helpful to include if you are a Ph.D., especially from a prestigious school, don’t list all of your academic credentials, such as getting an M.A. or B.A., and don’t list technical scholarly publications or journals or specialty literary magazines, since this can be a turn-off for editors and agents thinking about a mass market.
– Avoid long explanations about how you how you decided to write this book, how this is your first novel or script, how you have worked with a coach, mentor, or teacher in a class on writing, since this marks you as an amateur.
– Avoid ending with a “thank you for your time in considering this,” since this sounds like begging, rather than submitting a work that may prove very valuable for the editor, agent, or producer.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and as a writer and consultant for The Publishing Connection (www.thepublishingconnection.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
