This past week at SxSW, I went to a panel called From Blog to Book Deal about how (and why) to turn your blog into a published book. (For the record, I have no desire to write a book, I’m just a Pamela Slim groupie and she was the moderator.)
There were some sort of “internet famous” people on the panel, including Guy Kawasaki and Hugh MacLeod. At one point during the talk Kawasaki checked the twitter stream and saw that someone had called him a dick. So he looks out into the audience and asks “where is Jane123*? And why am I a dick?”
A woman in the front row raised her hand (something else for the record: I never would have owned up at that point, I’m way too chicken. Though admittedly I’m probably too chicken to call anyone a dick on twitter in the first place.)
Jane123 replied that it was dick-ish when Kawasaki cut off the literary agent who had been speaking about book proposals. He had jumped in and said that relationships are more important than the perfectly-crafted proposal. And then Hugh MacLeod told the story about how he got his book deal, which basically amounted to making one call to Seth Godin.
I kind of see her point, if you listen to Kawasaki’s examples on the surface. “Knowing Seth Godin” isn’t a very helpful how-to for getting your book published.
But I think there’s a deeper point meant to be extrapolated from the example, and there wasn’t really time to make the connection. The advice is not so much “get to know Seth Godin” specifically, as it is to reach out to people in your field in a genuine way. You never know who the Seth Godin of your subject matter will turn out to be. The point is that the relationships surrounding the work you do are just as essential to your success as the work itself.
If someone were to ask me how I was able to quit my job one day four years ago, and with zero preparation whatsoever launch a successful user interface design firm, I could answer “well, friend A hired me for one project, then friend B hired me for another, and then out of the blue, friend C called me…” Which while technically true, wouldn’t be all that helpful to someone looking to start their own firm.
The truth is, when I worked corporate jobs for other people I was the world’s biggest slacker. Instead of sitting in my cubicle with my nose buried in my monitor, at top-productivity all day long, making my designs better and better, I spent a lot of time hanging out with programmers and shooting the shit.
I felt really crappy about it at the time. Like I didn’t have a very good work ethic (well, I don’t but that’s another story.)
But the thing is, programmers are a pretty transient lot when it comes to employment. By goofing off with lots and lots of co-workers in my industry over the years, I was basically planting seeds at every company they would go on to work for in the future.
So that even now, when a former co-worker is working for a new company and they need a designer, I get a call. Not because I’m a very good designer. I mean, I’m good enough to not embarrass anyone, but not great. They hire me because they like me.
It turns out that goofing off with my co-workers over the years was the single best investment I could have made in my future business. Sure, I could have spent that time honing my design skills and building my portfolio instead–making a ten percent, or even thirty percent, jump in the quality of my work. And I might be a better designer with a better portfolio today. But I would definitely get less jobs.
It would be great if life and business were a completely level playing-field and everyone was judged and rewarded for the merit of their work alone (well, I guess it wouldn’t be great for me…ahem.) The best book proposals would get a book deal. The best designers would get hired the most. But that’s not the case and I think Kawasaki’s advice rings true. We’re all human, and we like working with (and promoting, and publishing) other humans that we like.
(*Obviously not her real twitter ID. )
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So #twue!
Though I don’t know if a level playing field would be so great. Who’s to say who the finest writers, designers, or ball players are?
Level playing fields dumb down the game, IMHO. Navigating the ins and outs of relationships and skill development is part of creating a great life.
Thanks for a thought-provoking read.
I had the floor when the literary agent cut in on me–but that’s my version. And that’s not the point of your post.
My point is not that you need to know Seth Godin, etc. What’s crucial is that Seth Godin, etc need know of you. The example I cited in the panel is that I don’t know Kathy Sierra. I had never met until after the panel. However, I know OF Kathy Sierra.
Hence, if she asked me out of the blue if I knew of a book publisher for a book, I would recommend her to my publisher and others even though I never met her before.
So truly the question is, How does Seth Godin, etc come to know OF you? And the answer to that is you have to write good stuff–which is how I know of Kathy Sierra. If out of the blue Hugh Macleod had asked me to help him find a publisher, I would have done that too even if I had never met him before.
Trust me when I tell you, no matter how great your book proposal, it cannot compare to a Seth Godin, etc saying that someone who writes good stuff is writing a book. Indeed, the goal is to not have to write a proposal because a Seth Godin evangelizes you.
The bottom lines are:
- It’s not who you know, it’s who knows of you.
- Write good shiitake.
Guy
Very, very cool, and should be required reading for… well, everyone, really. Now that the economy has stabilized enough that shitty service providers can’t really stay in business very long, the playing field has become very level. Like you said, we don’t want to hire someone who will embarass us, but good enough is good enough.
I think a lot of it stems from trust. I go to my graphics guy over and over because I know he won’t fuck it up and he is totally hilarious. Are there better designers? Well, “better” is subjective, but probably. Do I care in the slightest? Absolutely not.
We have a relationship and it is a good one. I am not going to risk this relationship ending and going through all manners of torture finding a new person for a relationship that will probably not be as good. Who has the time for that?
Down with meritocracy! Long live slacking off!
Totally agree. Engaging with great people on blogs and Twitter is the best thing I’ve done for my career since I taught myself HTML in 1998.
Even better, it’s just plain fun to be out there mixing it up and talking about ideas with people. SXSW was such a great experience for me because I met people I already had a connection with. Then, once we met, even deeper connections formed.
@Molly, that’s so true. Since there is no objective standard, there can be an infinite number of qualities thrown into the mix. And interpersonal relationships *are* a talent of one kind. It’s something I have to remind myself, to give them the importance they deserve.
@Guy, thanks for the clarification. My question would be don’t you think getting others to know OF you requires more than *just* writing good shiitake? I’m sorry if I misunderstood, but I did think that was part of what you were saying on the panel. Perhaps I let my own experience cloud my interpretation
Oh, and btw I don’t think your interjection was out of turn, and I doubt many others did…it was a spirited discussion with a bunch of strong personalities, which was what made the whole thing so interesting. And I love that you called someone out from twitter, that added a whole new dimension to the event.
@Naomi Hooray! Down with the meritocracy! That’s going to be my new personal slogan. Time for the tyranny to end!
@Nathan Ha! I taught myself html in 1998 also. Good times
You’re right on about connections, at the core it is about pursuing topics and relationships that you *enjoy* cuz it would be pretty obvious if you were saying or doing something just to hook up with someone famous/successful. (Not that I have much experience in this as far as twitter and blogging goes, I’m more thinking of “offline” experiences I’ve had.)
Eileen,
If one writes good stuff, tweets good links, posts good comments in well-known blogs, and is generally willing to grind it out, you will get know. If for no other reason that most people don’t have the fortitude to stick with it.
This vastly improves the odds of getting published. The odds of an across-the-transom book proposal getting bought, I would be, is 1/1,000.
Basically, one has to pay the price. Or one can with the “The Schmoe Way” by Joe Schmoe published by Schmoe Press.
Guy
Guy,
That’s right! The Schmoe Press! ~grin~
Great point about persistence, it’s hard to just show up every day and I really admire those who can do it. (I think Pam Slim said something good about this recently, too)
Thanks so much for stopping by to talk more about this! It was a great panel and I think it could have gone on for another couple hours, easily
One of the best of SxSW in my opinion.
Yay, I’m not alone in being a bit of a corporate slacker, feeling kinda bad about it, but doing it anyway. And now I have the benefit o your hindsight to make me feel a little better about what I might be accomplishing in the process.
Seriously, though — well said and inspiring. Great comments too.
Eileen,
I totally agree!
This is exactly why Kyeli and I skipped out on most of the panels this year at SXSW. To get to connect with lots of cool people. (And to almost get to connect with cool people ten feet away. *grin*)
But it’s interesting; I’m noticing that a lot of the folks I enjoyed hanging out with at SXSW are hanging out here in this thread. And while it’s not the same, it’s still an experience you’re able to share because you were at the panel instead of hanging out with them.
It’s an interesting tradeoff, eh? Maybe it’s kind of like breadth versus depth? Going to panels and blogging about them gets you breadth (lots of shallow-ish connections) and spending lots of time in person with groups of people gets you depth (a small number of deeper connections)?
Uh, why can’t it both/and? You know a lot of people. They know you or know OF you, AND, you do GREAT WORK?
I’m a Pam groupie too! I’m also a children’s book writer and illustrator and agree with Guy.
Getting published is, at least it is for me, a good mix of doing good work and who you know. I sat next to the executive art director for Scholastic at a luncheon. We talked about our kids. A month later I got a call and ended up illustrating a two book series for them.
I also have a highly trafficed website.www.thetoymaker.com. I get two to seven thousand visitors a day. This is a big selling point to publishers who are looking for added “features” from creatives to help sell books. I’m working on two books for Sterling right now.
I agree with Kathryn that you can do both, know a lot of folks AND do great work. But a perfect book proposal or query letter from a stranger isn’t going to beat good work from someone that you know and has a good rep for being sweet to work with. A known person brings a lot of extras to the table, like the ability to meet deadlines, not being a diva, and hopefully not be crazy making.
The world of publishing at least from the kid lit end of it is a crowded field. Everyone and their nephew wants to write a kid’s book. EVERYONE thinks they can write a picture book. Publishers get thousands of unsolicited queries a year. Having friends in the industry helps get work.
Make Toys! PLay More!
Marilyn
First, I found this thread b/c of a tweet from someone I know/trust/like and met via—gasp—the Internet! I know/trust this person b/c, as Guy says (and many, many others, Seth included, have as well), said person continually puts the good shiitake (which I’m totally stealing, with credit) out there.
Second, to address Pace’s rather Gordian dilemma, sometimes you just have to take the powerful sword of your desire to the whole knotty mess. That means sometimes posting, sometimes visiting in person, sometimes going to panels (I went to one and two halves—not the same as two—this year).
Or maybe the better analogy is The Force. Which I think I tweeted or blogged recently. You turn off your machine and let the spirit move you to do what you’re supposed to do next.
Of course, this is contingent on you having done a crapload of prep work on yourself, plus developing good habits, etc. Put in your 10,000 and you won’t worry so much about which bus to chase, you know?
Two more quick notes, because I CANNOT STOP MYSELF (as Pace noted that I noted, “I’m so wordy.”)
Guy, I know the point you were making about Schmoe Press, but I reserve the right to be a Schmoe if I’m doing it for Tufte reasons.
And Kathryn, you can, of course, and that is good to aim for. What you don’t want to do is let the Not Being a Design/Writing/etc. god stop you from doing it, period. All things being equal, people like doing biz with people they know, like and trust. If you’re naturally exceptional, great, but a lot of exceptional people have problems with the working together thing.
God.
Wordy. Q.E.D.
I wrote a post about this “dick” moment as well. I think, and since Guy is reading this, if he were to go back and listen he would find he very much did cut off Ms. Lee. And women, who’ve been cut off by men a LOT, are sensitive about this. Whitney Hess (aka Jane123) had many people come up to her later, all women, and say they agreed. I was one of them. And, in the end, though there were 3 women and 2 men, we heard a lot more from the guys.
Though I know he is very generous in promoting others and I’m a huge fan of his work, I found him abrasive during the keynote and panel. And he refused, then, to let the dick thing go. But hey. That’s just one gal’s opinion and should not be overly sweated.
He’s clearly well loved and followed.
That said, Guy’s point, was excellent and continues to be. We all know this. Relationships are KEY to success but SO IS GREAT WRITING. You can’t have one without the other, particularly if you are wanting to take your blog to the book level. And he’s exemplified this.
I just hope we are all realizing that doing good stuff is about doing good stuff and NOT what you can get in repayment in the end.
Great blog! Now a follower…
@Pace: Totally a trade-off! it’s so funny, when I was selecting panels I looked more at the presenters than the subject matter. So the fact that Pam Slim was leading the panel is what made me go to it. (I’m sort of ashamed I was not really familiar with Guy or Hugh beforehand.) Despite the fact that I have zero interest in writing a book, I knew if she was leading something then it would be an interesting discussion. So in a sense, my attendance at the panel was based on connection (not that I know Pam, but I know of her in general).
@Communicatrix: Word. I mean, personal relationships aren’t going to help you if you can’t bring it when it counts. And while I think I kind of perverted Guy’s main point to suit my own purposes in this post, the deeper truth remains valid. People like to work with people they like. So following the *fun* (people you enjoy, topics you enjoy) is a good practice, even if there is no *immediate* ROI. (yes, I just said ROI, gah! please shoot me.)
@Dating Trooper: Thanks! Corporate slackers unite!
(hey, some people are cut out for it and some aren’t, I sure wasn’t.)
@Kathryn and @Kelly : Oh, of course that’s totally the ideal! Relationships AND great work. It’s just that like Communicatrix says, don’t let not being a god stop you. And, I guess the realization I had personally was not to feel to bad about chatting with people even if it seems on the surface to be “unproductive.” It ended up being very productive for me, down the road. (But if I had done it on purpose to get something out of them? Ugh. It has to be motivated by genuine interest.)
@Marilyn: thanks for the great example!
Thanks so much for the great post Eileen!
I am so glad you attended and shared your perspective. As someone who absolutely was helped in my book proposal process by strong contacts in the blogging and publishing world, I totally agree with Guy that “who knows you” is totally critical.
And there is no way around writing good shitake. Not just because it will make you better known, but because when you are writing things you are passionate about, it is so much more meaningful and enjoyable.
As for the “girl, interrupted” question, I honestly don’t remember as a moderator being uncomfortable with the way the conversation unfolded. In my memory, it was a natural point to jump in. Honestly, I don’t remember if Kate or Guy had the floor at the time. I can’t wait until the podcast version of the panel is posted on the site so we can all recall the actual order of events.
Especially at SXSW, I expect divergent opinions, and chose a panel that could not only provide different perspectives, but enjoyed a bit of challenge.
And as a takeaway, I hope the audience got the point that relationships are a CRITICAL part of book deals these days. To ignore that is to make your entire process so much more difficult.
Thanks again for a great discussion.
-Pam
This is a great post. And the comments very nearly exceed it in greatness. Conversations like this are still the best thing about the interweb. Seriously.
Becoming a “known” is a challenge, but building real relationships (as opposed to Naomi’s Starf**king example) is key. It’s worth the effort if it’s what you want. And if it’s not what you really want, it’s best that you move on anyway.
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