Getting Started … Getting Published

There’s a great saying that most of you in sales and marketing probably already know and use: “Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t want to do. And that really holds for getting started getting published. The good news is that today’s technology (e-mail, Internet, etc) make writing and research easier than ever. The bad news is that the best-selling books every year are still on topics of sex, money, or dieting.

So how does a sales and marketing professional get started in the publishing game? You may be surprised by what I suggest as the first step.
Begin by reading books and articles like you want to write.

For me, it was magazines like:
T & D
Fast Company
Selling Power
Association Forum
Training
Presentations

And books like:
Bob Nelson’s books on motivation and employee recognition
Marcus Cunningham’s management guide, First Break All the Rules
Harvey Mackay’s books on networking

This is important because it helps you determine who you’d like to model and learn from, where your own particular strengths are, and where you might be out of your league or uninterested. For example, Jim Collins and his team did a lot of research before Good to Great came to be. Do you want to be a researcher or a storyteller or both?

Know what publishers may be interested—look at your own bookshelf

Davies Black
Berrett Koehler
McGraw Hill
Norton
Health Communications, Inc.
MacMillan
Putnam
Fireside
Warner Business
Irwin
Scribner’s
William Morrow
Jossey Bass/Wiley
Wildcat Canyon Press
Adams Media
Shaplosky books
Simon & Schuster
Viking

Know where you would fit

Business/self help
Business/management
Self help
Career

My particular route

Free articles from local to national (T & D magazine)
Self-published book
ASTD-published book
Major publisher book
Electronic articles—HR.com

Not an overnight success
First article written in 1985

How to get started writing articles

ASK: How many times have people told you that you really know your topic and you should write about it? If you’d like to turn your topic into an article, here are five easy keys to help you get started.

Key #1: Be aware of current events.
This may seem to be an odd first step, but if you’re not aware of what’s going on around you, including what people read, watch on TV, or hear on the radio, you won’t have a topic that grabs immediate attention. Publicists and journalists are masters at following trends. Trends might include what the aging Baby Boomers are doing, how people are adapting to the growing Hispanic work force, how the downturn in the economy is affecting consumers and businesses, or the continual rebirth and renewal of the Internet.

Example: People performance lessons from a Night at the Improv—picked up by hr.com

Key #2. List the things that are easy for you to talk or write about.
What topics are easiest for you to discuss? Think about why—it could be because you absolutely love the topic or have lots of examples of the topic or perhaps it’s something your friends ask your advice about.

When I began writing, my first topics were from either my academic background (listening) or my work to date (training) or my volunteer work to date (networking).

Key #3. Develop 3-8 key points about one of those easy things.
Don’t make lists of 27 or 42 ideas about your topic. There are many ways you can format three to eight points about something that’s easy for you to discuss.

Here are some ideas:

• Four Keys to Success
• Eight Tune up Tips
• Six Mistakes I’d Never Make Again

Key #4. Consider a unique way to package the topic once you have your steps or keys.

Here are some examples:

• Inside information; for example, “What insurance salespeople know about policies that you don’t”
• Steps of a process; for example, “Networking: How to Take a Plunge”
• Acronyms like, “HELP your customers win”(H-E-L-P stand for your points)

Go to a bookstore to see how people repackage same topic over and over and you will not be intimidated by re-working a standard topic.

Key #5. Collect your stories and examples and write them down immediately. If you don’t have stories, perhaps these questions will inspire you.  Refer to the handout.

I could most easily fill a book about my experiences with….