The late Gary Halbert said:
“You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it MOVING!”
Well, here’s how I have applied Halbert’s proactive approach to advancing my writing career — and you can, too. Namely, when you see someone looking for a writer — answer the call.
To my great regret, years ago, I once didn’t. And doors that could have been opened for me remained shut — some for decades.
Here’s what happened….
In the 1980s, publisher Franklin Watts contacted my literary agent. They were looking for writers to write science biographies aimed at young readers.
My agent recommended me. And I shortly got a call from the Franklin Watts editor.
She wanted me to accept a contract from them to write a short bio of Thomas Edison.
But the advance was only $1,000. I thought it was too little, and so I turned it down.
In retrospect, I think my passing on the project was probably an error — for these reasons:
First, it would have been fun to write.
Second, once published, I would have enjoyed having written it.
Third, it could have opened new doors for me — for future writing projects.
Often, when someone is actively searching for a writer, the odds of you getting the job go up a bit — because they have identified themselves as prospects with a clear and immediate need — vs. you contacting them cold out of the blue and pitching an idea to them.
For instance, years ago, T. Chris Martindale responded to an ad in Writer’s Digest from TSR, the gaming company. They were seeking writers for their Endless Quest Fighting book series.
Chris, an unpublished author fresh out of college, fired off a response.
Result: contracts to write 3 books for TSR, which then led to several non-gaming horror novels for other publishers — including the cult classic Nightblood — the cover line for which reads: “A Vietnam veteran they couldn’t kill — against a vampire army that cannot die.”
Years earlier, newspaper reporter Leslie McFarlane responded to a help-wanted ad in Editors and Publisher magazine looking for writers to write adventure novels for boys.
The ad had been placed by Edward Stratemeyer, a prolific “book syndicator” in NJ. (Today Stratemeyer would be called a “book
packager.”)
Under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon, McFarlane wrote 21 books in the Stratemeyer Syndicate’s best-selling Hardy Boys Books series.
In 1981, when I was making $18,000 a year on staff at Westinghouse, another opportunity to write came my way, this one also through a newspaper advertisement — and this time I acted.
A company called Koch Engineering was looking for someone to write trade ads and sales brochure for their industrial equipment. I took the job not only because Koch offered me $27,000 a year, but also to get my writing and marketing career moving forward in these other ways:
First, the Koch job was slightly higher level — so my experience broadened, my responsibilities increased, and I learned new things about my trade.
Second, I was relocated from suburban Glen Burnie, Maryland, to metropolitan NYC, which was at the time the advertising and publishing center of the world.
Third, with close proximity to Madison Avenue ad agencies as well as major NYC publishing houses, I garnered many new clients and contracts to write books.
Also, my boss at Koch Engineering was David Koch, who later gained fame as half of the billionaire Koch brothers. He was also a prominent libertarian.
So as a copywriter, whenever I had potential clients whose businesses leaned toward libertarianism, and there were many, all I had to do was mention David Koch’s name — and I was in like Flynn.
Robert W. Bly is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant with 3 decades of experience in business-to-business, high-tech, and direct marketing. He is the first AXIOMS EXPERT at Kallisti Publishing Inc.
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