139 How to Think Like a Business

In this episode, we are going to talk about ways you can be more effective in your marketing, in your approach to the business of publishing and how to stay motivated when you feel like giving up, with special guest, Chad Allen, former editorial director at Baker Books and founder of his own venture helping creative people find their voice and do their art.

How do you help people find their voice and do their art?

Chad: A great metaphor for the creative life is breathing. There’s the inhale and the exhale. The inhale is personal development: being intentional about the books you read, the podcasts you listen to, the relationships you cultivate. That’s nurturing your voice. The exhale is the action, doing the work, executing, showing up whether you want to or not, coming up with a bunch of bad ideas before you come up with a good one. Find your voice, do your art. Take care of yourself, and then do the work regularly.

Jim: Do you find that creative people get into a rut, watching the same shows and listening to the same podcasts? Do you push them to seek out new things?

Chad: Relationships are so important for that. I had lunch today with a friend and we were swapping book recommendations. I don’t think I read a book unless it’s been recommended to me. Being engaged with others on the creative journey helps keep your stimuli pool healthy and vibrant.

Jim: Thomas and I are in a mastermind group together, and I can’t tell you how many times someone mentions something I’ve never heard of that I end up diving into. Community is critical.

How do you do more of the work you love and less of the work you hate?

Jim: One of your most popular blog posts is about doing more of the work you love and less of the work you hate. What’s the crux of it?

Chad: It starts with identifying what you love. For most writers, that’s the creative act itself: character development, plot, getting into the zone. The way to do more of it comes down to four things, which go by the acronym DART. Decision: commit to this for the long haul. Action: do the work, as Steven Pressfield puts it. Relationships: when writers tell me they’re stuck, my advice almost every time is reach out to somebody, because nine times out of ten that does a world of good. And time: you have to manage it well. Get those four practices right and you’ll end up doing more of what you love.

Jim: What about the introverted writer who’s intimidated by reaching out?

Chad: I’m sympathetic to introverts, and I don’t want to push anyone into something that makes them uncomfortable. But there are lower-threat ways to connect. Facebook groups come to mind. They don’t require much, but they can provide genuine connection and a forum to ask the questions you really need answered.

Jim: I run a small four-day intensive writing event, and I’ve seen groups of writers become deeply close online without ever meeting in person. That kind of connection is real.

What’s the heart of your manifesto, “Do Your Art”?

Jim: You wrote a manifesto called Do Your Art: A Manifesto on Rejecting Apathy to Bring Your Best to the World. What’s the heart of it and why did you write it?

Chad: I read a book called The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry  (Affiliate Link) that changed my life. It was the first book I encountered that suggested you could live in a way that maximizes your creative potential, that you could optimize how you live to become your most creative self. That was a light-switch moment for me.

I got more intentional about what I was reading, who I was spending time with, how I was managing my energy. I started asking myself: what’s the one thing I need to do every day just to stay in the game? Even if it’s just writing for 30 minutes, what’s the habit I need to keep repeating until something hits?

After about a year of living that way, I realized it had been genuinely transformative, and I thought others might benefit from it too. Do Your Art is really my shorter riff on Todd Henry’s work, and Todd was generous enough to write an endorsement. It’s a kick in the pants, and sometimes we all need one of those.

What’s the first thing you look at in a book proposal?

Jim: You accepted hundreds of books and rejected thousands at Baker. What’s the first thing you look at in a proposal?

Chad: The first thing I open is the cover page, which usually has the title and subtitle. A dynamic title that captures attention matters. But then I go straight to the author bio. The reason is that the moment an author signs a contract, they’re not just an artist anymore. They’re a business partner. A publisher advances money because they expect to recoup and surpass their investment, so we want to work with authors who can demonstrate they have the network and the hustle to sell copies. The bio tells us what they’ll be like as a business partner. It also tells us what they’ll be like as a person, and both matter because we often have dinner with the authors we publish.

Jim: I never would have guessed that, but it makes complete sense. A bio tells you so much about personality and where someone is headed. It has to capture you.

Listen to our episode on How to Write a Crazy Cool Bio.

What does it take to launch your own business as a creative?

Jim: You’ve been out on your own for three weeks. What’s good, what’s hard, and what can our listeners learn from it?

Chad: The first thing that comes to mind is the importance of getting on the same page as your spouse. You both need to be in this. Ask them: if I wanted to do this, what would have to be true for you to feel comfortable? We had those real conversations and got to a place where we were both ready. Right now I’m still in the honeymoon phase. I walk into my home office at 9 AM wearing shorts, which after years of khakis and button-down shirts is just amazing.

We also did the smart thing of building a bridge rather than making a leap. We saved enough to create a buffer fund, which gives me the freedom to fail. That’s huge. You need the freedom to fail so you can keep figuring out what’s going to work.

Jim: That applies to writers too. How many of us have never sat down with our spouse and said, here’s what I’m trying to do, here’s my plan? I never did that when I started my writing dream, and it probably would have helped.

Chad: Our spouses have the ability to either really motivate us or really dampen our motivation. The fear is that sharing something so precious will invite a response that deflates us. You can be honest about that. Say: I have something to share that feels a little vulnerable, and I hope we can have a constructive conversation about it. Protect it, but bring your spouse into it. Married couples who are aligned on each other’s dreams are in a better position, and it’s something that often gets neglected.

Thomas: In one of our courses we have a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan specifically for your writing. You can present it to your spouse and get their feedback. It’s a great way to get your thoughts on the page.

How do you keep the joy in writing for the long haul?

Jim: You talk about the mindset authors need to sustain the work. How do we keep it from slipping away?

Chad: The whole game is making the writing process sustainable. Stephen King said, “If you can do it for the joy, you can do it forever.” Most of us got into this because it was fun. Roald Dahl used to climb into a sleeping bag in his little writer’s cabin to get as cozy as possible before he started. He was the first to admit that at first you’re just typing, not really writing, and pretty awful stuff comes out. But you start typing, and eventually you do a little writing.

When it stops being fun, you might need a break. Read a really good book. Go for a walk. Writers get so obsessed with traffic and email subscribers and landing a deal that they lose sight of the long game. The people who win are the ones playing the long game. Find something you’re passionate about that you can sustain for a long time, find an audience you can serve for a long time, and show up. When you get tired, take a nap. Sometimes the best work comes right after we’ve given ourselves permission to receive for a while.

What marketing advice do you give authors?

Jim: Statistics show that about 80% of books are sold through word of mouth. But there’s still that 20% that’s marketing. What do you tell authors to focus on?

Chad: It starts with a product that markets itself. Do the work, listen to your audience, tweak it, and get as good as you possibly can at serving the people you’re writing for. That said, I’m not opposed to advertising. Advertising is simply letting the people you’ve envisioned for your book know that it exists. We don’t need to reach everybody, because we didn’t create it for everybody. Marketing is about reaching the right people and inviting them to connect with you.

I can think of no better way to do that than an email list, because you own your email list. You don’t own your Facebook account. Build it not in a salesy way, but as an act of caring for people: here’s what I’m doing, I’m doing it for people like you, would you be willing to stay in touch? People talk about building an email list with grunting and sighing about how hard it is. Really it’s about loving your tribe. Do it for the long haul, do it for the joy, and it will happen. A lucky few go viral, though sometimes that luck backfires. For most of us it just takes time, and that’s okay.

Chad: The world needs your voice. No one else can offer what you have to offer. When you get discouraged and hit something that feels devastating, do what you need to do to take care of yourself, and then get back out there. Keep after it.

Connect With Chad R. Allen

ChadRAllen.com

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This week we get to highlight Eloise Whyte … and while she doesn’t have book to feature, she does have a website that would be well worth your time to check out called, Soul Inspirationz, that specializes in promoting Christian Fiction. New releases, a directory, a community aspect, reviews, and a division of the site which is called the WISP Directory showcases indie and small press titles. http://soulinspirationz.com/