PubPt: Market Yourself & Books While You're At It

Dear Readers,

I just got back from a really great event given by the Publishing Point (#pubpt) called “Market Yourself! (and books, while you’re at it)” held in the conference room at Simon and Schuster. And I found the place on my first try! However, I did stand across the street in frozen terror for a few moments when I realized that I was entering THE Simon and Schuster. (Yes, I am a dork. Nothing marks a wannabe like an action like that, but I couldn’t help myself.)

Due to excessive planning, I arrived quite a bit early and spent over an hour searching the neighborhood for a coffee shop with free Wifi (there weren’t any—I asked 6 within a 4-block stretch). I finally gave up and just waited in the Metro Café across the street. And at T-1/2 hour, I made my way in.

So of course the guard couldn’t find my name on the list. I was able to convince him to let me in anyway (I swore I had no plans to disrupt the magnificent work of S&S) and after getting up to the 14th floor, I wandered around a bit, not wanting to burst into the wrong room. (Why, oh why, did I arrive a half-hour early? I really thought people would come early to mingle, but alas—this was not the case.)

I was the first one there and waited uncomfortably , feeling like an intruder on the inside workings of the Publishing Point & the wonderful Maggie Hilliard (@MaggieHilliard), Susan Danzinger, and others, for at least 20 minutes until people started to arrive. And there were plenty of people. They encouraged us to tweet during the event but I couldn’t get a Wifi connection (what is it with me and Wifi today?). I didn’t want to mess with my phone and have my notes suffer, so I just turned my phone off and focused on the guest speakers.

After a roll call—I wish I could remember everyone who came but it just went by too fast!—we went over a little bit of what the Publishing Point does. Check out their website: http://publishingpoint.ning.com/ and be sure to sign up for their group on meetup.com to find out! They have lots of useful info to share and you’ll get to learn from the best.

The first speaker was Max Kalehoff (@MaxKalehoff). He’s an expert on developing brands and, whether we like it or not, to get anywhere in publishing we each need to be a brand. So what does that ACTUALLY mean? To explain this, he used a case study about his own company, Clickable. Maybe, to make this easier, I’ll use myself as a case study.

Everyone is selling something. In publishing, we’re selling books or a book idea or a manuscript of a book. Online, we’re basically selling ourselves. The first thing you need to figure out is: What are your goals? Using myself as an example—What I hope to get out of being online is connections. I want to establish myself in the literary community and have all the privileges and responsibilities that come with it. (I’m already on my way with all of my blog readers—you guys are the best!)

Next step: Figure out the core insight into your niche—what is this group missing? Is there a problem that could do with a little fixing? For me, a problem I see is that everyone trying to get into the publishing industry wants to appear perfect and fearless. This makes authors unable to relate to them and the young professionals themselves seem…inhuman. How can an author relate to an agent that isn’t human, that doesn’t convey passion for their work? What’s wrong with showing how eager you are to live your dream? With saying you are nervous on your first day? It may not be a huge problem, but I think the lack of honest, firsthand journeys into the publishing world is a niche that should be filled.

The next step is to question where you can fill in: What can you contribute that they’re missing? What can you do more or be better at than everyone else? In my case, I’ve decided to be completely honest about how hard it is to get into the publishing industry and be embarrassingly personal. I’ll tell you about how I get lost or flub someone’s name or get really excited when I should be cool—because I think sometimes the publishing industry could do with being a little more human. Therefore, I think I can make connections by contributing my personal story—both the wins and losses.

Next step: Establishing outbound connections. This means helping people for nothing. The only thing you need to do is remember to leave your name. I know all you readers are good people, so you already do this the same way I do. Answer questions on other people’s blogs, crit. other people’s manuscripts, be generally helpful. This rule boils down to karma (see @jamieharrington’s blog for a nice post on karma in the publishing world) http://www.totallythebomb.com/friends-getting-theirs.

Then comes the big step: Inbound engagement--setting up your own blog, Twitter, participating in chats, forums. When you do this, be sure to have some sort of theme that you will blog on—it’s very confusing to have someone who talks about random subjects every time they sign on! People want to know what to expect when they come to see your page. Make sure you are reaching out to the people who are interested in your product (product = you! your book! But be careful—if you intend to write several books, calling your blog after one of those books could trap you). For example, the theme of my blog is right across the header—my journey to break into the publishing industry. I share insights that I gain, stumbles that I make, and I hope that others will also share their insights.

The sharing of content is linked with the last step: educational and marketing assets—keep them coming back for more. The second speaker, Stephen Baker (formerly of Business Week) also talked about offering things of value. Don’t talk at, talk with. Be present.

Stephen Baker also discussed his experiences using his blog (TheNumerati.net) and Twitter (@SteveBaker) to promote his book, The Numerati. He also discussed his use of social media and how, at the time he was writing, certain publishing houses were still unsure of how to use this tool, afraid it destroy the mystique of the author. I guess we’ll see how far we’ve come when we find out how much he is allowed to tweet when his next book comes out.

Both speakers said that it’s hard to measure success in blogging since no one knows which numbers to look at, but the idea is to have something show up once you are googled. I absolutely agree with this. I know talking to you all is like preaching to the choir but it can never hurt to hear it again. Having a personality is just as important online as it is offline. I promise, when I seriously consider a manuscript I also seriously consider the author and I know that publishing houses do as well. Seeing someone who is taking their career seriously by promoting themselves is a great sign that they will be committed to promoting their book once it is published.

Almost forgot to mention that I met some really great people there, some employed and some looking for employment. I ran into Elana Roth (@elanaroth) in person—yay!

Whew, that was a long one! Sorry about that, but the event was full of info! I have another great event tonight (different sponsor) so off I go again. I hope you found that helpful and until next time…

In Retrospect

December 24th, 10:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time—I can’t believe a year went by so fast…time to see what we have, time to see.

I know that New Year's Eve is usually the time that people like to look back and evaluate the past year, but the previous line (from the musical Rent, as my fellow Rentheads know) has always inspired me to use Christmas Eve as my yearly marker.
2009 has been a momentous year for me. I’ve finished my undergraduate education, moved away from home, and began pursuing my dream of a career in publishing in New York City! I can certainly say I’ve learned a lot about myself. Most of these lessons have turned out to be pretty applicable to publishing. On this chilly Christmas Eve, I thought I would share of a few of the lessons I’ve been lucky enough to learn from 2009.

You can’t move backward. So move forward. It’s better than standing still.

Sometimes you get the chance to fix your mistakes. And sometimes you don’t.

Great achievements are worth all the effort. No matter how small it looks to someone on the outside, I know how much I’ve accomplished and how much work it took to get here.

Don’t bother networking. Just make new friends—the network will follow.

If you don’t have the confidence, fake it. Eventually, you’ll convince everyone that you’re confident—including yourself.

Publishing as an industry may be competitive, but publishing people are just people.

Choose a path and follow it. If you don’t like it, choose another one.

Listen to advice and wisdom—don’t be afraid to ask for help from people who have been there. Asking for help is not weakness, it’s turning your own weaknesses into strengths. It’s also allowing the wise to make an investment in you. Aren’t you a worthwhile investment?

Love what you do. Passion is contagious.

Whatever struggles I may have, I certainly love what I do. I hope that's still true at this time next year. And every year after that.

Sincerely,

Rayna

Thank the Publishing Gods

Dear Reader,

Sorry, no advice for querying writers tonight. I’m going to share something from my own experience: my first “networking party.”

If I’m going to be completely honest, I have to admit that I almost fainted when Robert told me today that he wasn’t coming with me. Umm…what? Leave me to face a sea of strangers? In a strange place? How do I get there? What do I say? Okay, so I’m not a little kid and I don’t need hand holding. He probably did me a favor—I would have clung to him like a wet blanket. But still, there was that moment…
And the moment after it was scarier. “By the way, don’t forget to mention such-and-such book and such-and-such project. And bring these handouts.” Ugh. How do I work that in a conversation?

I fretted about it all day. And finally, directions in hand (okay, on my cell phone via HopStop) I set out: 433 Park Ave. And I got there okay! Which, if you don’t know me, is a huge step. But there was no door—at least not for 433, just for 435. I walked back and forth along that block for 30 minutes, sure it had to be something I did wrong or a door I wasn’t seeing. And boy did I do something wrong.

It turns out that I didn’t scroll down far enough in the directions on my BlackBerry—it said “433 Park Ave. S.” So this seemed like a good time for panic: I had no idea how to get to this mysterious “S,” or if I would even make it there before the party was over. I didn’t have any idea how to find the right subway and at 5:30pm the chances of getting a cab were about .01%. Here were people that I admired and RSVPed to and I was going to stand them up and let the boss down and embarrass myself and never make any contacts and how can I get a job if I don’t meet anyone…deep breath.

Then the publishing gods smiled upon me. I know it was them because the near-impossible happened: I became one of the golden few to get a taxi in rush hour. I still can’t believe a taxi pulled up and let a passenger out at my feet. I may have looked a bit desperate when I dove into the cab in my power suit (complete with skirt), but it was only because I WAS desperate. Thankfully, that was the end of my bad luck.

The people at Egmont, and their guests, were wonderful. They completely killed my nervous energy right at the door with a personal greeting as though they already knew me—everyone was so friendly! And meeting other interns/hopefuls was a great boost—it’s great to know there are other people out there sharing my journey. Plus, I love talking about books. I had the chance to talk up my client, whose work will be going out sometime next week. I hope that I’m starting a personal relationship with people, not just being a faceless voice on the phone.

I don’t know if I did enough of what I was supposed to do for the agency (promoting our books) but I managed to promote myself and my client. I guess that’s a good start. I even left with ARC in hand: Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff, which I started on the bus home. It came with a personal recommendation from the delightful Elizabeth Law (@EgmontGal), who was just one of the great people I met. A few of the others (whose names I can remember): Sarah Davies (Greenhouse), Miriam Kriss (Irene Goodman), Diana Fox (Fox Literary), and Joanna Stampfel-Volpe (FinePrint).

Perhaps someone will have a position for me? Or…publish my client’s book? If nothing else, I’m really glad I got to meet everyone—I certainly handed out a whole lot of business cards.

Until next week,

Rayna