You Are a Writer (7 page)

A writing career happens iteratively, over time. You don’t need to take a giant leap. You just need to take the next step. Publishing a book begins not with a manuscript, but with a baby step, with practicing in public.

Where do you start? With small, gradual steps. Start a blog. Guest post for a friend’s website. Do a freelance gig
pro bono
. Bit by bit, you are building your portfolio before you go for the Big Kahuna.

This is the only practical way to get published. You might be able to forgo this step if you’re a celebrity or heiress of a tycoon. However, for the rest of us, this will require work — honest blood, sweat, and tears.

Stop waiting for permission and prepare to do the work.
There are no big breaks.
Only tiny drips of effort that lead to waves of momentum.

Walk Before You Run

Before you write a book, you should write a dozen magazine articles. Maybe more.

You should guest post on popular websites and blogs and do radio interviews. You should create a platform (i.e. a blog, a podcast, a newspaper column, etc.) and build an audience now.

You should start generating buzz around the brand of
you
.

All of this is practice for your book — for your career as a writer. The fun part is it’s not practice at all. You’re doing it. You’re writing and publishing your work. When the time comes, publishing a book will be the next logical step.

There are five steps to getting published in magazines and other publications before you take a leap into book publishing. The first is the most important.

Step 1: Get Your Foot in the Door

A lot of writers make a big mistake. They come up with a writing topic that would make a good piece for magazine, newspaper, or website. Then, they spend
way
too much time on the idea without ever getting feedback.

They spend hours or even days writing the article. Then, they try to find someone to publish it. And they fail miserably. Some people call this “freelancing.” I call it stupidity.

This is backwards thinking. It assumes you know your audience better than the publisher does. (Even if you do, this attitude won’t get you very far.) It’s better to start with a few loose ideas and contact the publisher before moving forward with the piece.

The whole point of that initial contact is to get on a publisher’s radar. Relationship and conversation are more important than good ideas and great writing. (At least, at first.) Instead of cold-pitching your ideas to publishers, do something better: Build a relationship.

Before you do that, though, do your homework. Study the publisher’s guidelines. Read sample pitches. Email friends who have gotten their work published. Find out what works and replicate it. You may only get one shot at this. Make it count.

Then, reach out to the editor. Present your ideas in a way that is a clear “win” for the publication. Explain how your piece will be relevant to their readership. Offer samples of other pieces you’ve done. Have something to show them — anything. Just don’t show up empty-handed. This works for a magazine, trade publication, or even a blog.

As it turns out, content is not king. Relationship is. Start making connections with publishers so when the ideas come, they’ll pay attention to your work.

Step 2: Don’t Fall in Love with One Idea

Many friends with book deals tell me the idea they least expected is the one publishers choose to turn into a book. The same has happened when I’ve published articles in magazines, on websites, and in other publications. It even happened with my first book. The publisher picked a topic I never would’ve considered turning into a book.

There is an important lesson here: You don’t get to decide what makes a good idea; the publisher does.

As you build your platform and establish your authority as an author, you will earn the right to decide which ideas are good. However, when you’re just getting started, you don’t get much of a say. It’s best to be “go low” here, to learn and serve your way into influence. Consider this a seasonal discipline; it won’t last forever.

If you have great ideas the world needs to hear, you will eventually get to share them.

Why Your Good Ideas Don’t Matter

If no one will read your article, then it doesn’t matter how good it is — at least not in the realm of publishing. Sometimes, your ideas aren’t as good as you think. Other times, the world just isn’t ready for them.

When approaching publishers, if you stay flexible about what should get published, it will make you a better writer. It will also make you a better salesperson of your ideas.

That’s right.
Pitching is selling
. There’s no other way around it. This doesn’t mean you have to slick your hair back and talk funny. It just means you need to be prepared to make your idea appealing to the publisher.

I mean, you’re asking them to hire you. They’re spending money on you, right? Make it worth their while. Enter their world. Think like
they
think.

The Pitching Process

Before you pitch, gather a few ideas you think are worth publishing. Brainstorm them out, taking notes as you go.

Next, highlight the very best ideas (at least three of them, but no more than ten), and write an interesting headline for each. Under the headlines, write a couple of sentences, describing the potential piece.

Then, try pitching them to several publications or publishers at once, following the appropriate guidelines for each. (You should thoroughly scour a website or magazine for any submission guidelines before ever submitting a piece.)

Make sure you pitch more than one publication. Keeping several irons in the fire will increase the likelihood of at least one getting published. It will also allow you to put a little pressure on a publisher that may be dragging their feet.

There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. In fact, you’ll need a competitive spirit in order to pitch and get your work noticed. Get used to it.

What Every Pitch Needs

If you need help, here’s a quick list of items every pitch needs:

• Personal salutation (use the editor’s name)
  
• Quick introduction of yourself (if this is the first contact)
  
• Samples of your work (article links, document attachments, blog posts — whatever is your best work)
  
• List of ideas with potential titles (scan the publication to get a feel for how they write headlines)
  
• An abstract of each article (2-3 sentences)
  
• Closing with your contact info, including a link to your website/portfolio
  

Want to see how I do it? Following are three samples I’ve used.

Sample #1: First Contact

Hi [First Name],

My name is Jeff Goins, and I wanted to submit an article idea for [MAGAZINE]. The premise is people in their twenties and thirties need to travel the world.

I spent fifteen days last January with a group that is traveling for a year and saw how that’s changing their lives. I’m attaching a press release I wrote to give you an idea of the experience. There are different directions we could take the article, but I think the idea is compelling for your readership.

Some ideas would be to do a Q&A with one of the travelers who just returned from a year abroad and how they are now living life. Or, I could expand upon an article I already wrote for [WEBSITE].

Another option is to make it a general call to action for young Americans to take a year off and find themselves, as so many other cultures do.

Here’s another article I wrote about that: [LINK]. I could expand upon that idea.

Let me know your thoughts. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to start drafting something and send it your way. Just let me know when you’d think of running it.

Thanks for your time,

Jeff Goins

goinswriter.com

Sample #2: Ongoing Relationship

Hey [First Name],

I had an idea for an article for an upcoming issue of [MAGAZINE]: My friend Paul and I traveled around the U.S. for a year after college to play music. We spent a year, living in community, sleeping in people’s homes, and living on nothing but the generosity of strangers.

We communicated with each other regularly, sharing our frustrations and challenges of life and on the road. Sometimes, I think that’s all that kept us sane.

Here are my ideas for the article:

1. A piece we would co-write, sharing highlights from our year on the road.
   
2. A piece about traveling, leading peers, and the importance of long-distance friendship.
   
3. A travelogue of a year on the ride (just written by one of us).
   

What do you think?

Sincerely,

Jeff Goins

goinswriter.com

Sample #3: Guest Blog Post

Hi [First Name]:

I’ve been following your work for a while and really appreciate what you write.

I’m working on a piece that I thought might be fitting for [BLOG]. It’s called, “[ARTICLE TITLE]”. It’s based on something I learned from reading your blog.

The rough draft is below: [300 word article excerpt]

Are you interested in running this? If so, I’d love to develop it some more. If you’d like to see samples of my work, here’s an article on my own blog: [LINK]. And here’s a recent guest post I wrote: [LINK].

Thanks,

Jeff

goinswriter.com

Step 3: Don’t Write the Piece Yet 

If this is your first foray into publishing, there’s something you need to be prepared for. Something you may be dreading. Something you’d rather not do.

You’re going to have to write and rewrite a lot.

For every hundred words I write, I spend about thirty to sixty minutes of editing and rewriting. When I’m pitching publications, I plan for this. I schedule accordingly. You should, too. (Your pace may be different; what’s important is that you set reasonable expectations.)

A piece that runs about 2500 words (the length of a feature magazine article) can take me anywhere from five to twenty-five hours, depending on the amount of work involved and my familiarity with the topic.

When you break it down, earning a few hundred bucks per piece (when you’re spending dozens of hours on it) isn’t really worth the effort.
Good thing writers don’t write for the money.

What’s that? You
are
writing for the money? Well, good luck with that.

If passion isn’t what drives you, you may not have much tolerance for the pain, rejection, and disappointment of the writer’s life. If, however, you write because you have to — because you can’t imagine
not
doing it — then there may be hope for you yet.

If you aren’t prepared for this arduous process, you had better go find an easier way to make a buck. Otherwise, it’ll be a rude awakening when you come in contact with your first picky editor. And trust me, he’s waiting for you. Red pen in hand.

So it really doesn’t make much sense to write the article before you pitch the piece.
Does
it? I mean, you’re going to rewrite it anyway, right?

Might as well get a guarantee they’re going to run the piece first (if you can).

Better yet, get to know the editor’s preferences and style before beginning. It’ll save you a
lot
of work.

Still, you’ll be tempted to do the exact opposite. Excitement over an idea will cause you to jump the gun and start writing.

Avoid this temptation like the plague. It will steal hours, days, and months of your life — if not more.

You will save a lot of time if you focus more on pitching than writing at the initial stages of a piece.

Focus on building relationships with publishers, getting to know editors, and preparing to write the article. It will be worth the effort. Trust me.

Step 4: Be Persistent

Most publishers are bogged down by loads of submissions every day. They don’t have time to remember who I am or what I wrote three weeks ago. But that’s okay.

Because it’s not on
them
to remember; it’s on
me
. If I care about my writing, I need to be the one keeping the piece at the forefront of the publisher’s mind.

So, I do them a favor by following up regularly. I check in, ask if they need anything else, and see if they’re still interested. You should do the same.

There is a relational part of this job of being a writer that you need to embrace — even if you’re the most introverted person in the world. Make email your friend. Find ways to work up the courage to network and introduce yourself to strangers. Depending on your personality, it can be very hard. But it’s also worth the awkwardness and discomfort.

This is one of the secrets to prolific publishing: being connected with the right people at the right time.

It’s not exactly fair and may not be what you signed up for, but it’s how the world works. Learn to live with it. Or stop complaining that your work doesn’t get published.

There is no in-between.

Think of it as the process you follow after interviewing for a job. You want to stay in the mix, and you don’t want to be forgotten. So you check in just to see how things are going.

Same deal here.

How to Follow Up with a Publisher

When expecting to hear back on a submission, checking in weekly (as long as the publisher hasn’t told you not to) is a good way to stay at the forefront of the editor’s mind.

A good way to not be annoying is to ask what they thought and offer to rewrite the piece, if necessary. Be cordial and polite, but don’t apologize, either.