The more I practice, the luckier I get

Warning: this post is rambling:-)


The more I practice, the luckier I get. I'm not sure who first said this, Gary Player or Arnold Palmer, but whoever it was, was right.

When you work in the public eye, most times people see the results when you were successful, not the failures, and certainly not the tasks that you had to do to get from the beginning to the end of the successful venture. We attend a concert and are wowed by our favourite band. What we don't see are the hours and days, even months, it took them to write the music, rehearse it and record it. We don't see them practice for each concert, even though they already know the songs. And that is as it should be.

The same principle applies to other endeavours too: sports, crafts, the arts.. and in my case, writing. Every day I have to take minute steps that eventually result in a finished project. The more I write, the more I send out my written works out to potential publishers, the better my chances of getting published.

So why am I thinking about this? A lot of the time I talk to people who say they want to be writers, and ask me to help/mentor them. And really, I'm happy to share what I've learnt - that's the point of this blog. However, the learner has to be willing to put in the work. You have to be willing to research and write the stories/articles/whatever. You have to be willing to look for potential markets for your work and to deliver your writing within the parameters of their editorial guidelines. You must read to learn from other practitioners of your craft, read works that look like what you want to write, read works that are completely different from what you want to write, so that you can learn from them.

Depending on what writing means to you, you can write what you like and hope some publisher out there likes it too ( and has a market a market for you). Or you can choose a market that closely resembles the writing you want to do and write for them. Either way, you have to write. Regularly. Consistently. Even when you don't feel like it. You have to write, even when you're tired. And you can't give up, even when the results look like crap, and you feel like a lousy writer. You can't give up when the journey feels long and tedious, which usually happens when you work on long projects like books. You can't give up, when some smart fish trash your work.

It's that consistency, that practice, the resilience, that not only helps to improve your writing, it gets you noticed by publishers and readers. It's that persistence, the practice that will eventually see you get lucky.

Another reason I'm thinking about this: after I submitted the first book for the publishing project, I got editorial queries and for a moment there it felt like I'd done a crap job. The scale of the work seemed huge, and I just wanted to lie down and sleep. But I waded through it one day at a time. And now, the queries are almost over and we have dates for the rest of production including printing. And i feel lighter, because I know I will have a product soon. And when people see it, they're not really going to know about the sweat and tears it took to get it done. Some of them will think, "people who did this book are lucky to land assignments like this. I wish I was that lucky." And I guess I'm saying, you can be that lucky. As long as you're willing to do the behind-the-scenes work that will get you there.

The perks of being a workaholic

Right now I can't think of any perks of being a workaholic but I do need to try to convince myself there are some, because I'm buried in work ( a good thing for the self-employed) but it's also exhausting.

I'm still fielding editorial queries ( 7 chapters done, one more to go on one book) and preparing for another manuscript handover, for which I'm ridiculously late in terms of finishing the tasks I need to do before the editors can start working on it. As if that's not enough, one of my authors bailed on me. She says on second thought, what I'm asking for is very difficult and she doesn't think that she will be able to deliver. Deadline is next week or so; so finding a replacement is not something I want to do. I may end up writing the chapter myself. Gah!

The week ( and October) is ending. How was it? Did you accomplish what you wanted to? Are you getting into the festive season mood now? Or is it still full steam ahead for you? Have you started planning for 2012?

Tuesday Update

Had breakfast with Tebogo Khaas of the SMME Forum at Melrose Arch. I haven't seen Tebogo for years - not since I worked fulltime as a journalist. So it was great catching up with him and finding out what he's got planned for the forum.

It's going to take time to implement some of his ids, but I am looking forward to it, because the resources and services that he plans to provide are very interesting. And of course, I hope that How to get quoted in the media will be one of the resources the organisation offers its members.

I'm tired of being out and about though. For the next couple of weeks, I just want to hide out in my cave stay in my office and write and edit and that's it.I'm also preparing for this year's National Novel Writing Month. 

Are you taking part in the annual event? Have you registered yet? Have you started doing the research for the novel, so you're ready to start writing on the 1st November?

A lovely morning to you!

A side-view of the portion of the garden where I'm planting
for summer.

I was awake around 5am as usual, and instead of toddling off to my office (another room in the house), I decided to sleep in a bit.

That's the great thing about working from home - you can start work as early/late as you need to without having to fight traffic to get there.







Today's post is pictures from my garden. Enjoy!



Plantings from my neighbour ( and freelance writer) Michelle Nel are thriving.



The lavender plants came as small cuttings from Michelle's garden

Know your strong points & delegate if you have to

A warm welcome to everyone who found us by way of media@safm. Thank you for coming over to my site and I do hope that you found our ebook - How to get quoted in the media- helpful for generating publicity for your small business or non-profit organisation. If you want to buy the book, please click on the cover of the book on the right.

The interview on with Ashraf on SAFM went well, though I did fluff a few sentences. I tend to see myself as a star-maker, the one who gets others interviewed, not the one who gets interviewed. So I was not in my comfort zone:-).

But Christelle was great, and saved my bacon a few times during the interview. I think if opportunities for other interviews come up, she should do them. While I've done lots of interviews on radio and TV representing non-profit organisations and a few companies, I think in that arena, she is the more skilled one of the two of us ( having worked for SABC as a radio and TV news journalist) and she's much more outgoing. I'd rather hide out in my cave .. ahem.. I meant to say focus on writing and editing, because that's where my strength is.

And I do have a lot of editing to do this week as I'm responding to editorial queries on one of the books I'm doing for the client publishing project. I'm also preparing to hand over another completed book manuscript to a client.

I suppose my media tip for today is: understand what you are best at and then capitalise on it. If you're CEO of a non-profit organisation but you're terrible at public speaking or doing interviews leave you tongue-tied or you're cursed with a bland, monotonous voice, then appoint someone in your organisation as your spokesman. It's better to be represented by someone who does it better rather than doing it yourself but badly. However, make sure that your appointed spokesman has the information he/she needs to speak with authority on the subject.

Anyhoo, have a great week and do leave comments to share your weekend news.

Whoooosh!

Where did October go? It feels to me like only yesterday the month was starting out, and now it's almost over. Gah! I want more days in a year, more hours in a day. Enough to do the tasks I need to do and still have time to sleep, socialise and have some fun.

Anyhoo, today s going went. Was at my desk at 5.30, reading and editing. I'm going slower than I like, especially considering client deadlines, but I will just have to focus and do what I have to do.

The great news is that I've finally cleared off most of the work from my other regular clients, so I can just focus on the publishing project for now. Not that the lull will last:-)

Don't forget to tune in on SAFM at 09h40. Christelle and I will be chatting about How to get quoted in the media.

And while you're in the radio listening mode, also tune in to John Robbie on Monday at 07h40. One of his interview subjects is a client and he's going to talk about being an enterpreneur.

How was your week? What was good, bad or even ugly about it?

Coping strategies when I'm overloaded

A warm welcome to everyone who's visiting this blog by way of Biz-Community, SN-Announce or http://allafrica.com/. Thank you for your interest in my ebook, How to get quoted in the media. I hope that some of the tips in there help you generate a lot of publicity for your organisation or company.

Meanwhile, today I'm sharing my coping strategies when I'm overloaded with work. And yes, as I run a small company pushing very hard to generate business and grow, I've had to apply some of these tips very recently.

1. Take a breather - Ja, I know it sounds counter-productive to take time out when your time is already limited, but I've found that it out helps me to gather my thoughts to get ready for battle.

2. Prioritise your assignments - Usually, by this stage it seems that everything is urgent and it's hard to decide where to start, which can be debilitating. However, there are probably things that can be pushed back by a couple of hours or days or however long you need, if done properly.

3. Ask for help - Is there someone who can handle some of the work you need to do? Can they help without jeopardising the quality of your work?

4. Speak to your client/supervisor/the person who'll strangle you if you don't deliver - From my personal experience, my instinct is to "manage the situation" because
a) It's my job to do the assignment
b) I rationalise that I don't want to bother the client
c) Pride - if you admit there is a problem, then client will wonder about you
But honestly, most clients would rather know that the delivery of their assignment is going to be impacted in some way so they can kick an alternative plan in if they can, instead of blissfully thinking everything is fine when it isn't.

5. Make like Nike - Just do it. Once you calm down, have a plan in place, have other people assisting you and your client knows that you are managing the situation, then keep your head down and work your way down your list of priorities. Stop obssessing about tasks that are way down the line and focus on what needs to get done.

Books, Lousy Internet & A Very Inspiring Story

Many thanks to all the people who have ordered copies of How to get quoted in the media. I hope that you find the book useful and that it will help you to get a lot of publicity for your organisation or business.

Also received an order for print copies of the book. And while it was not a bulk order, it was not for one copy either. Yay!

Yesterday was hectic and I had an unexpected client meeting. Then Vodacom had a big connection problem in the afternoon, so I was offline for the rest of the day and evening. Which sucked. So today I'm trying to catch up with stuff I didn't do yesterday and loads more work I need to do today. Stressful.

I'll leave with a very inspiring article written by David Barnard, CEO of SANGONeT. David recently ran the Sahara Race, which is 250km in 7 days, over the Sahara Desert, carrying your own tent, food and water. And  might I mention that as far as I know, David is not a professional runner. On the surface he seems like just an ordinary guy, working in the non-profit sector, trying to do his bit to help society. But clearly, he had great depths of strength and determination to take part in the race.

I hope David's account of the race inspires you.

Ebook to bring communication consulting clients

How to get quoted in the media has brought us our first client. The organsation was involved in a big fundraising event and had trouble getting media coverage for it. Christelle and I are placing a feature article with a national newspaper (editor already agreed when I queried and piece was completed last night) and a short news story, which is also going into a national daily newspaper. Now to negotiate for a longer-term contract, as we have proven our professional expertise.

And yes, the plan was to make money through book sales, but we're also aware that that kind of "how to" book can also be used as a calling card to attract clients. Christelle will take on the communication consulting clients, while my focus is purely on writing stuff editors want to publish for our clients,  weaning them from the press releases most journos read through quickly and delete.

Lots of work to do today, so I'm going to keep my head down and just wade through the work, do as much as I can.

4 Reasons to turn down an assignment

Photo taken by O. Senne

The hollyhocks in my front garden were growing too tall, so I cut some and stuffed them in a vase. Lovely, isn't it?

The day's routine went well. Did a lot of creative writing this morning (on my UNNAMED WIP), proofed a client document and sent it through, reviewed 3 chapters of a client manuscript. I'll probably finish that job tomorrow.

Two other clients sent work and I had to turn down a third client. Remember my post I am saying NEVER? Well the opportunity to say it came much faster than I thought. I was polite and respectful, but the answer was still NO.

Yes, I am still open to new assignments, new clients. A small business owner is always looking for more work.

And if the requst came from a client I wanted to work with again, or it was a project that I loved, I would have made the time.  Basically,my rejection boils down to the fact that the disruption the work causes in my day is just not worth the money. Too much hurry up; not enough calm for me to hear myself think. And I realise some online writers like working under those conditions, where assignments are bid for now, done now and payment is expected that day. There is very little time to pause for breath and the assumption is that you snooze, you lose money. That's not the kind of work I'm looking for.

And lest you start thinking I am acting like a prima donna, here are my reasons to turn down work (various situations, not just one particular client)

1. The work comes at short notice. Most writers I know plan their day or some even a week. So sending an assignment today and needing it to get done either the same day or the following day disrupts their plans,
even throws their scheduled work and deadlines off.

2. Short deadlines. Some clients want to send you work, get confirmation in a couple of hours that you'll do the job and send the product back the same day. This is especially popular when the client does not believe that a large amount of work is required to do the job. Part of the issue is scheduling ( again) and the assumption that service providers are home waiting for work to come. But my other my other objection is that one needs time to do an assignment properly. When you tell the service provider how long you expect her to take to do the job ( and we're talking a matter of hours, not days or weeks), then you sacrifice quality for speed. Not something I want credited to me, even if there is no byline involved.

3. Scope creep. Sometimes you start out a job doing ABC, and then the client also needs XYZ to get done and there is an assumption that of course you'll do that too. But the terms and conditions are not being revised to fit the new needs identified. Which means that you're doing more work for less money than you should.

4. Pay is too little. 'Nuff said.

My writing process

Kelly Mathee, a South African writer, interviewed me about my writing process for "How to get quoted in the media" and other issues. Check out the post.

Balancing Client Projects & Personal Projects & Other Matters

Today I'm at Riehlife, talking about the balance between doing projects that pay the bills and projects I love and find creatively fulfilling. In the interview with Janet Riehl, I also chat about the ebook, of course! Check out the post.

I'm tired and I know why: I'm getting very little sleep. I'm handling my normal workload and I'm spending a lot of time with baby.  Since Sunday, we have watched Charmed Season 2 (I have the box set), Spy Kids 4 (yuck!), Eragon (average) and The Invisible (why do I always cry when I watch this?).  And no, we're not planning to spend her whole visit watching TV. There's also some socialising  planned and her friend's 13th birthday party involved, which I hear has a DJ and will rock my world. Not a hard thing to do with when a group of  teens, food and loud music are involved..

We've also been watching the doves that usually come into my garden for a meal or two. One of them has decided that he's not afraid of humans anymore. I had my kitchen doors open and he flew in, went to my sink and started rooting in there for food (a good argument to do dishes after a meal:-). I encouraged him to go out and he did, for a moment. Then he came back... and came back again...eventually I had to close the doors or kill the bird  out of sheer frustration and serve it for dinner.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!

Hop on to NY Mafia, where I'm sharing about the 6 Lessons We Learnt Wehen Developing A Media Plan for Our Book, How To Get Quoted In The Media.

Also don't forget to read Part 2 of My Journey To Self-Publishing, where I chat about our decisions whether to just publish an ebook or include a print edition, setting up an online store, the launch and some of our promotional activities. You can read Part 1 of the article here.

Today promises to be a productive, if hectic day. I have a lot of work on the client publishing project that needs to get done, one of my clients gave me a lot of work before going on leave and another had promised to send work this week. And Baby is here, visiting me for a week (very happy news that!). So my time will have to be managed very carefully.

So how's your Monday? What do you hope to achieve this week? 

My journey to self-publishing

Hop onto Rebecca Emrich's blog, Living The Life of Writing, to check out my guest post telling the story of my Journey to self-publishing.

The story is told in two-parts, with the second part to be published tomorrow. Rebecca and I would be happy to answer whatever question you have or engage in further dialogue on the issue. Thanks Rebecca for hosting me.

And have a great weekend everyone!

I am saying NEVER!

I've just finished one of the most frustrating assignments I've done in memory. The client is a really nice person, I think.

But between the "scope creep,"  and my inability to grasp what the client wants ( not sure who's fault was that:-), I wasted a lot of time , and my potential to earn, trying to get the assignment done. And all I can say is, I'm never doing an assignment from this client again. I can't afford the work. Really!

Anyway, the incident got me curious: where do you draw the line about what you would do/not do for money given the opportunity? When would you say NEVER!

Self-publishing is not for losers

Today I'm keeping a low profile, writing my fingers off on client projects and guest-posts to promote the ebook.

Thanks Rebecca for agreeing to to host me as a guest-blogger. BTW, Rebecca is currently asking her readers: Should you self-publish your book?  Please hop over there and share your views with her and her readers.

Self-publishing is not for losers:-)

My answer is: self-publish when it is appropriate for you. There are works that I reserve to submit to mainstream publishers for consideration and works that I choose to self-publish.

However, the important thing for me is not to self-publish a project because mainstream publishers have rejected it and therefore, I self-publish as a last resort. That would mean that self-publishing is somehow... less... and it isn't.  It would mean self-publishing is for projects that other people don't want. Not a good recipe for success, I think.

My criteria is based on whether I believe I can easily find a home for a project [if the hunt for a publisher requires too much research, or if I already communicate with the target market that would buy the product, then I may choose to self-publish.]
Preparing to launch through smashwords

We're also doing a new format for the ebook to publish on smashwords. This is not going to affect the way the PDF book that is one sale, but the publisher has very specific guidelines on how the want the book and I'd really love for it to be released with them too, as they offer ebooks in a variety of formats.

How has your week been so far?

The week so far

The launch of How to get quoted in the media went well. There were no reports of technical problems and I received a few enquiries and a number of phone calls from friends offering their good wishes.

Now the hard work begins, uploading the ebook to various ebook distributor outlets and promoting the book on various online forums.

My plan is to do at least one marketing activity a day. I’ve already created an ebook store on Facebook. Check it out.

BTW, it was very easy to do, so if you have digital products to sell, don’t hesitate to try out the platform. It will be one more place where your works are available to sell.

I'm also promoting the book to romance authors from various publishers internationally.

Yesterday Christelle and I:

1. Pitched our ebook to be reviewed on a national radio station show about small business. The host initially said “No,” but we were persistent in an informative, polite but fun way and eventually he was convinced we do have something useful to say. And yes, even the people who wrote a book on How to get quoted in the media do get rejected by the media.

2. Answered interview questions for Kelly Mathee, who plans to write an article about us and the book. Thank you Kelly. I hope your article gets some people curious.

3. Started reading JA Konrath's ebook entitled "You're the monkey." It's a book about ebook publishing and it's available on his site for free. I don't agree with him on some points ( we can never agree with others 100%) but in my humble opinion, it's a must-read for people who are considering the ebook publishing option.

Of course there was also regular client work to do. And there I’m drowning because there is so much I need to do and 24 hours in a day is not enough and I can’t do without sleep. Huh! Best I get to it.

How's your week going?

How to get quoted in the media is now on sale

Businesses in general, SMMEs, and non-profit organisations in particular, often face the challenge of getting their organisation, cause or product profiled in the media without paying for expensive advertorial or advertisement space.

While buying space will guarantee you a platform to get your message across the way you want to, editorial space in news articles/reports is generally more credible and has more impact.

How to get quoted in the media aims to teach you some tricks of the trade to optimise your media relationships and coverage.

The ebook covers the following subjects:

• How to connect with individual journalists
• How to link your story to recent news developments
• How to write an effective press release
• Strategies to expand your media coverage
• Media Interview Tips

You can also download a sample of the book.