Writing

May 24 2012

Dear Steve*

Something’s bothering me, Steve.

Blog Well Written For You — Close enough. Right?

It’s about your article.

Remember the article that you submitted? You sent it to me. Then, after you didn’t hear back for a couple days, you sent me another note, marked “IMPORTANT.”

Steve, I know there comes a time in every writer’s life when they ask themselves, “am I good enough?” In fact, you might be asking yourself that very question right about now.

But, before I play the heavy and let you know what has been on my mind for the past 13 minutes since you sent that note marked “IMPORTANT,” I’d really like to talk about a few of the reasons why I don’t think your article is going to work for our site.

Maybe this will resonate with you, Steve; or, maybe you and your bloggy friends will continue to reach out to similar sites and hope upon hope that you’ll get the coveted “Article in Exchange for Link” that everyone wants.

Anyway, Steve, here’s why I’m saying no:

1. You Sent Me An Article With No Prior Relationship

This is probably the biggest mistake you made: you told me how great my site was (that’s a given; not that my site is great, but that you’d tell me that it’s great). Then you attached the article and that was that. I can use it if I want, or not.

But I don’t know you.

I’m not going to steal your article, Steve – but I could. And there’s nothing in it for you. And you have devalued your own content by sending it to me and just asking me to use it for nothing.

Build rapport, please. Then ask me if I’d like an article.

2. You Haven’t Sent Me Any Information About You

Steve, Steve, Steve.

If you’ve learned anything it’s that people can find out information about other people online. They use something called “Google.” And, if you don’t give them something to look at when you send them the first ever email…well, then they’ll either find out whatever they can about you using this Google site, or they’ll give up.

Table Stakes, Steve. Give me a link to published work that you’ve already done elsewhere. Or show me your LinkedIn profile. OR…

3. You Didn’t Create An Awesome First Impression

Even an okay first impression would have done okay here.

But the article you sent me had a title that didn’t make any sense at all.

It’s all in the setup – I’d love to have you guest blog on one of my sites, Steve, but now you had me wondering whether you’ve got the chops…and I was wondering this after the very first sentence you wrote.

4. And, About The Article Itself…

Steve, this is where I need to let you know something that maybe you haven’t heard before.

There’s a certain style for web writing: different from writing for a book, different from magazine journalism or for writing for a technical journal.

I, for one, prefer to read things that aren’t written with a heavy focus on words that will get the writing noticed by search engines. Sure, you have to put in some keywords – something you did – but I want to read “engaging copy.” Not copy where every other word looks like something someone would type into the Google search bar.

So, Steve, I’ve Got to Say No.

The door isn’t closed entirely. Maybe if you work on a couple of these things we can talk about your stuff getting on the site.

Maybe.

Regards,

Dave

P.S. This sort of thing DID happen. Just a bit ago. There was an article submitted for the New Frugality site. A site which you should totally check out.

*Steve is not his real name.

Mar 15 2011

You, Best-Selling Author Whose Email Subject Can’t Get “It’s” vs. “Its” Right? You Lost Me.

Get the basics down, author dude
A week ago, I started a kerfuffle on this here page, suggesting, in effect, that “Perfect is Good, Done is Better.”

You can revisit it here: How to Write Good.

I’m not going to backtrack; I still believe that action trumps inaction on the part of the small business owner who is anxious to dive into social media and doesn’t know where to begin.

But, New York Times Best-Selling Authors Should Know Better.

I signed up for a list from a well-known “personality” – their marketing started with a webinar that I missed, followed by another email inviting me to listen to the archive. It was semi-classic marketing: webinar will be filled up, you need to get on the phone lines early to secure a seat. Oh and stay tuned for great things to come.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email, from this same “Best-Selling Author,” with this subject line (truncated so you can’t tell exactly who sent it):

“1st of it’s kind marketing system ready for you”

Mistakes happen, right?

WRONG.

One of the themes from last week’s “How to Write Good” comments centered around trust, higher standards, what we as a (dare I say) content community owe our readership. So, on MY site, well, YES, I cannot STAND typos, wordos, bad grammar, bad punctuation. I do everything in my power to stamp those out.

And, dare I say, New York Times Best-Selling Authors owe us more.

Especially in the subject line of their email – which may have gone out to 100,000 people, I don’t know.

Sadly, it gets worse.

There are trusted names within this email. Names that I am sure have been used with permission. Names that I personally trust. And one of the names is misspelled.

So, I am now questioning a couple things. Such as whether these folks whose names are within the email know what they are getting themselves into. Whether they are sacrificing quality for reach.

Finally, as if to nod to the fact that this “Best-Selling Author” has no respect for our time, the death blow to all respect. (Again, truncated.)

Typos are my gift to you.

My gift to you, Mr. Author Person? An unsubscribe, and a jaundiced eye toward your product.

Oh, and you lost me as a prospect.

Mar 11 2011

The Three Most Important Words in New Media Marketing

What content do you have lying around?
Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose.

There’s a long-standing phrase in the real estate industry:

The three most important words? Location, Location, Location.

Upshot: bad house, great block better than great house, bad block. Or, near the good schools better than far away. Or…

In advertising, back in the day we’d hear that the three most important words were:

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

The Three Most Important Words in New Media Marketing?

Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose.

Content is King. Content you already have on the shelf? The King’s Court. Or a whole bunch of Princes.

Where’s that paper you wrote two years ago? You know, the one you thought would be a good white paper but you weren’t able to do anything with? Should you look it over, see what’s there, share it with your world?

Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose.

That video you did six months ago? The one that was clever, showed your ability to position yourself as a thought leader, led to a few more page views, maybe a couple new contacts?

Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose.

An important thing to realize: it might be new to your audience. It could be old and stale to you, but that’s just because you have seen it a dozen times.

We used to do this as fledgling sportscasters, back in the day. You have to give the same score update every hour for three straight hours in what, for a college student, is a crazy early time of the day. (6 a.m.?) But the people who wake up at 7 and 8 have no clue what happened, and they want you to tell them – and have energy when you do so.

The challenge was to breathe new life into the old story – which can’t be done if you just have a “blow the dust off the old stuff” mentality. So you learned to do that pretty quickly, or you found yourself lower down in the pecking order of fledgling sportscasters.

We are NOT talking about lame “article spinning” programs. Quite the contrary.

Google changes their algorithm all the time, so it’s highly possible that the article spinning program you bought last month will be rendered useless this month.

What we are talking about is either doing more writing yourself to refresh your content, or finding folks you like working with who can write and re-write for you.

In any event, find stuff you have that’s good, and share it again. We’d LOVE to read it.

Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose.

Feb 14 2011

So You Really Wanna Write a Book? Chapter 5 – Robert Rodi

Robert Rodi

This time, we talk to a gentleman who has written several books – the most recent being a charming story about a man and his (agility) dog. Meet Robert Rodi.

Whenever someone asks me for advice on getting published, the first thing I ask is, “Why?” In other words, what is it that’s driving you to seek publication? Do you want to sell a book because it opens a door to a career as a working writer, or do you want to sell a book because you have something you’re compelled to say—a story you urgently need to tell?

If you’re in the former group—the would-be careerist—then approach publication as you would any business endeavor. See what kinds of books are flourishing right now. Find the place where your own interests and expertise intersect with what the market is supporting. Maybe that’s a travel memoir, or a book about diet and weight loss; or it could be a historical novel about an English king. Then figure out what it is that you’ve got to say that sets your take apart from all the others. Work up a synopsis, write a few sample chapters, and then go to literarymarketplace.com and find an agent who has sold similar properties. Send him or her a query email asking for representation; if you get a positive response, send along the proposal and go from there.

Listen to your agent’s advice, and don’t be thin-skinned. He/she is as eager to make a sale as you are.

If you’re in the second group—that is, you’re compelled to tell a certain story, in your own way, on your own terms—then you’ve got a harder road ahead of you. Try to find an agent who has represented other highly personal or idiosyncratic books. There will always be a market for unique stories and distinctive voices, but it may not be an extensive one; a sensitive agent can help you shape and massage your project to find it the largest audience possible.

Some compromise will be necessary; it always is—ask any professional. Your alternative is to self-publish, which is immeasurably more viable an idea than it was twenty, or even ten, years ago. But it comes with a set of drawbacks, not the least of which is promotion; very few self-publishers have the kind of resources available to them that a major publisher’s marketing department can deploy. Just remember, this is your vision and your voice; that’s as much a responsibility as it is a privilege.

Good luck.

Editor’s Note: Robert’s web page is http://robertrodi.com – there you can learn about his book, Dogged Pursuit, and other projects. If you want to join the almost 5,000 others (!) you can follow Dusty the dog on Twitter.

Feb 07 2011

So You Really Wanna Write a Book? Chapter 4 – Marian Schembari

Marian Schembari
We “sat down” with Marian Schembari – intrepid gal that she is, living in New Zealand, and working on online marketing strategies for authors (and others).

Our question: From your perch – marketing and social media “thug” for authors – what are the things that authors have to do differently with their marketing strategy?

The thing authors need to do differently? Actually use social media. You think the Twitterverse/blogosphere/whatever is overrun with authors and publishing hopefuls, but it’s really not. Most folks in publishing avoid the social web like the plague. The thing that will set you apart is to actually use and embrace it. Have a good attitude.

One of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is having a crappy attitude towards social media and this really comes through in their profiles, making readers not want to buy their books. So many authors think it’s “not their job” to take care of the marketing of their book, but guess what? Your publisher is busy with all their other authors and besides the bare bones of marketing/publishing, they’re not going to do shit for you.

If you want to make sure you actually sell your book, take some of the easy marketing into your own hands. Get on Twitter. It’ll help you find that community of readers who’s going to fall in love with your book. Create a Facebook fan page and spread the word. But don’t sit at your desk whining that it’s not your responsibility. The incredible power of social media is that you don’t need to be a marketing expert, you just need to have a passion for your book, be willing to learn the basics and have fun with it!

The second mistake I see too often is blatant self-promotion. While people will start following you on Twitter or become your fan on Facebook because they want to hear more about you, they don’t want to hear you constantly egging them on to buy your stuff.

Don’t know what to share with your fans/followers/readers? They want to hear where your next reading will be or get a link to your latest review, but they’d also much rather know about YOUR favorite authors, top writing tips, bonus info from your book. And, of course, you need to give love to get love. So retweet and engage others in conversation to get the most out of your online presence.