I started my writing career in the newspaper world. The
deadlines were steep but it was an exciting experience as a writer. We’d have editorial meetings in the morning,
get our story assignments, have an 11 am deadline to write and turn in our story. Then we would read it in the afternoon newspaper.
Magazines are a little slower with working two to six months
ahead on the various issues. As a writer you should understand that December
issues are generally put together in July. You have to plan ahead for such
issues—and the writer has to know about it to pitch appropriate seasonal
stories.
Books are the slowest. Sometimes a book will take 18 to 24
months after it is contracted to get published. As a writer such information
will feed into the planning of your publishing.
For Writers on the Move, I write once a month. I want to
give you an opportunity to help me celebrate an amazing milestone. Billy Graham
will turn 99 on November 7th. For the last six decades, Mr Graham
has been on the list of the most admired men in America. He has mostly disappeared
from the public eye except for rare occasions. I’m encouraging you to wish Mr.
Graham a Happy Birthday and I want to give you some tools and ideas for those
wishes. I’ve prepared a series of social media posts and some images that you
can use at:
Beyond this advanced planning to celebrate Mr. Graham’s
birthday. I’ve been working on the audiobook version of my book. You can hear the retail sample of the book here and even use this link to encourage your
local library to order the book.
If you hear this sample, you will know that it is not my
voice but Andrew L Barnes, an experienced audiobook specialist. As I wrote
about recently here, audiobooks continue to explode in the book world and I’m
happy to announce my book’s availability in audio.
How is advanced planning
affecting your writing? Let me know in the comment section below.
Tweetable:
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W. Terry Whalin is an
acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has
written for more than 50 magazines and published more than 60 books for
traditional publishers including his latest Billy
Graham, A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist. Terry is active
on Twitter and lives in Colorado.
