We all have first impressions. We judge situations, people and organizations and we form opinions based on these judgments and impressions. Sometimes, however, we are wrong. And that’s the focus of my blog post today.
I often question SPAWN members who have decided not to renew. I ask them why they have made this decision. And quite often it is because of their misperceptions about what we offer and who we cater to. “Your members are freelance writers who write for a living,” one woman told me. “I’m an author and I need information about marketing my book.”
Oh my gosh, how could she possibly miss the point that the majority of our members are authors and a huge focus for SPAWN is book marketing. Every newsletter we produce and those in our archives have information and resources related to book promotion. Most of the articles posted at our site are for authors who are facing or involved in marketing a book. How could anyone miss this fact?
Several members have told me that they wanted to find a publisher and that SPAWN wasn’t helpful in this endeavor. Some of them were upset because they had made some poor decisions on behalf of their books. We, here at SPAWN, are fully aware of the multitude of decisions an author must make and we know what authors need most in order to do the right thing by their projects: Education, information and resources. And we provide all of these things in many forms in hopes that our members will recognize it as useful and pursue it. Unfortunately, some authors don’t understand that they must be alert to the sources available, participate, get involved and actively pursue the offerings.
Maybe they see the recommendations and warnings, for example, but choose to ignore them. They believe that these are for meant for others—not them. Some authors hope for explicit guidance directing them to their personal pot of gold. They don’t want to sort through the maze of possibilities. They want someone to show them the quick and easy route to publishing success. Their heads are turned by the folks at the first “self-publishing” company (or fulfillment company or agency) who issue them a contract. And, not only do they read what they want to read into the contract, they believe the verbal promises. When things go bad, they figure that SPAWN failed them.
In reality, they failed themselves. If these authors were to backtrack, they may realize that everything—EVERYTHING—they needed in order to experience publishing success, was in-their-face available through SPAWN. Let’s examine what opportunities these members might have missed—in fact, dissed:
• They didn’t even read the free gift book they received when they joined SPAWN.
• They didn’t read some of the books we’ve reviewed for SPAWNews even though they contained information that might have helped them avoid several mistakes.
• They didn’t take the time to read the SPAWN Market Update each month (for members only), nor did they use the nifty search function to seek information in our massive archives.
• When they did read or scan the Market Update, they neglected to heed the warnings and recommendations or to pursue the information we offer.
• They didn’t take seriously the wisdom in any of the articles they happened to read at the website, in SPAWNews or in the SPAWN Market Update.
• When they were uncertain about a company, agency, publisher or distributor, for example, they didn’t bother to check them out using the warning sites we provide.
• They signed contracts based on verbal promises instead of seeking legal advice as we recommend. (We also list low and no cost sites offering legal advice for authors.)
• They didn’t use SPAWNDiscuss (to communicate with other members), nor did they contact the professionals at SPAWN when they had a question or concern about a pending decision. And when they did—and they didn’t like the answer (too much work), they disregarded it and chose to make mistakes, instead.
The fact is, there are no magic potions or wands that will help you to succeed as a published author, a candy maker, a boot repairman, an investor or anything else. In all cases, it takes knowledge in order to make the right decisions and choices. And that’s the piece of the puzzle that is missing for many authors who fail. They just didn’t educate themselves about the industry and their responsibilities within it. They didn’t acknowledge the variety of options or learn the possible consequences of their choices. They joined SPAWN hoping for a quick and sure entrance to publishing success and experienced, instead, heartbreak.
If you have a book in the works or you’re promoting one and you are ready to take advantage of an enormous resource in SPAWN, join now at http://spawn.org Click on “Join SPAWN Now.” If you are a renewing member, click on “Renew Now.” If you’d like to start out slowly and just subscribe to our free monthly SPAWNews (which is separate from the SPAWN Market Update), click on “Free Newsletter.”