As you may know, I do book reviews for SPAWNews. I review only writing/publishing-related books and, of course, those of interest to screenwriters, artists, photographers, as well. (SPAWN is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org. Subscribe to SPAWNews FREE.
Well, yesterday, I was preparing to write a review for a new book for authors and needed to know the price of the book. I could see figures imbedded in the barcode indicating that the book might be either $90.00 or $9.00. But neither sounded right to me. I wanted to be sure.
I visited the publisher’s website and the author’s personal website and could not find a price for this book. In fact, the author’s website, while it heavily advertised and promoted this book, did not even have a way to purchase it. It advised those interested to go to Amazon and a whole list of other online bookstores. The publisher’s website did not even list this book.
So I decided to contact the author. I have her email address in a letter she included with the review copy of the book. Guess what? My email would not go through to her unless I clicked and went to another site where I had to fill out something. No thanks. I’m doing her a favor, why would I want to jump through hoops to do so? I saw a note embedded in this message, however, that said I could fill out the form at her website and my email would go directly to the author. So I went back to the website. I began to fill out the form. It wanted my email address twice, name, company name, address, phone number (phone number???) and on and on. I balked at the idea of including my address and phone number. There was no need for that. So I omitted it. Of course, my message did not go through.
What was the end result of this author’s desire/need to protect herself against unwanted emails? She is not getting a book review for her book. I started to go ahead with the review and just leave off the price—I wasn’t willing to do further research to locate it. But I realized that I was so irritated with this person for her paranoia and the “conditions” she has set up to screen her emails that I knew my frustration would show through in the review. So I shelved it.
Now, I am wondering, how is this person getting orders, how does she personally interact with her readers? I notice that she is promoting other things for sale at her site, how in the world is she making any sales?
I guess this is what would be considered in the corporate world as a “closed door policy.”
Do you have an open door or closed door policy when it comes to your books and services? Do you invite questions and inquiries and then make it easy for folks to reach you? Do you respond to those questions in a timely manner? Maybe this is something you need to evaluate. Most of my clients come to me as strangers. My first introduction to them is via random emails with a question. If I made it difficult for them to get to me, I would miss out, not only on work, but on meeting some wonderful people and being a part of some wonderful book projects.
And then there are people who can’t figure out how to find you. At a writers’ group meeting or workshop, for example, I might hand out a business card, a brochure and handouts with all of my contact information on them and someone will invariably ask, “How can I reach you if I want to discuss my book project?” Well, aside from the fact that each piece of material I give the attendee has my email address, mailing address, website address and, in some cases, my phone number, they can find me in the phone book and by doing a google search using my name, my company name, the titles of my book.
If you have something to sell or a service to provide, make sure that your potential clients and customers can easily locate you. And then pay attention to your spam email, as well as your regular email. Often, email from addresses not recognized by your spam filter will go into your spam box. And sometimes, you receive one from a potential client or customers. They don’t always use an appropriate message in the subject line, either. So don’t count on this being a clue as to whether it is important mail or not.
I’ve come to the place where I, at least occasionally, rely on intuition when I decide whether to delete or open email in my SPAM box. And most of the time, when I choose to open it, it is a question from a writer or hopeful author. And often, this individual becomes a client, student or customer.
Screening your emails to the degree that the author I mentioned earlier does, is like having a business along Main Street and neglecting to keep regular business hours. Don’t do this to your customers and don’t do this to your business. Open your door and keep it open.
Time for a commercial: Have you been to my website, lately? Are you aware that I have a bookstore there, displaying many of my published books? I also post lots of articles on a variety of topics. I offer on-demand, online courses for authors and freelance writers. Check em out at: http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm
I also work with clients in a variety of ways and on a variety of projects: http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html