By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As writers and others involved in publishing, I believe we live in one of the greatest times in human history. A couple of years ago, Markus Dohle, the former CEO of Penguin Random House, said books are now enjoying their biggest renaissance since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the fifteenth century. I was on a webinar listening to Dohle where he made this statement. If you follow the link, you can see a webinar where he talks about the explosion in book publishing.

In my own life and work, I’m finding great opportunities for my writing. Recently I was on a zoom call with a writer and an agent. The writer talked about his new podcast and offered the agent and me the opportunity to be on his podcast. I appreciated this offer, made a note and a bit later, followed up with an email. In my email, I pitched my topic which was tied to one of my books. The writer sent a link to his calendar, and we recorded the podcast. This story shows  how we are surrounded with opportunities. They can slip through our fingers and never happen if we don’t take action and pitch.

As a part of my work at Morgan James Publishing, I get leads of authors who are pitching their work. For anything to happen, I must craft an email and encourage these authors to submit their work and possibly get a Morgan James contract. When I sent this series of emails asking for submissions, some people respond right away and others do not respond.

A week or so after sending a series of these email requests, one of these writers called me. She looked at our website and was interested in possibly submitting it to me. On our website, we clearly say that our process includes a financial commitment from the author to purchase their own books–during the lifetime of their book. Her question to me was a good one, “Do you work with authors who are cash poor and don’t have those funds?”

“Yes,” I responded then told her about a creative way to raise the money. Morgan James Publishing has their own branded version of a program called Publishizer. It’s like a GoFundMe or KickStarter campaign but Publishizer is only for book authors. One of my authors has raised over $10,000 using this tool. As we spoke about it, this author caught the vision of how she could use this tool to raise the funds for publishing and marketing her book. I takes some additional creative effort for the author to create such a campaign, market it, then succeed with it.

Any author can publish their book through Amazon, which is a big customer for Morgan James but only 24% of our overall business. If you publish with Amazon, you are missing 76% of where we sell books, which are sold in 98% of the bookstores in North America including the brick and mortar bookstores.

There are three publishing paths to explore: traditional, self-publishing and hybrid or independent publishing. David Hancock, the founder of Morgan James wrote a new book called The Babylon Blueprint for Authors which includes a detailed explanation along with many low costs or no cost marketing ideas. Follow this link for a free copy. Many authors miss their opportunity when they don’t submit their material. Others miss their opportunity to publish with a traditional publisher and are impatient to get their work into the market. These authors decide to  self-publish. Unless their sales numbers are wildly successful (rare), self-publishing eliminates them from a traditional publisher. Neilson-Book scan shows publishers your self-publishing sales numbers. Your sales numbers eliminate most authors from traditional publishers. Sometimes at Morgan James, we will republish a self-published book (opportunity).

I miss many other opportunities because I didn’t craft a pitch to a radio station or a podcast. Another way I miss opportunities is through a lack of follow-up. In fact, many writers will submit their work and not use the gentle follow-up to get an update on their submission. A key part of the publishing process is finding the right fit. It is not an easy or simple business. The author must work to find the right connection.

Opportunities abound but you must explore them. In May, I look forward to seeing many of you at the Blue Ridge conference. Whatever type of writing you are pitching, let’s talk and explore the possibilities. I encourage you to seize the opportunity to talk face to face.

Each week, I get rejected. Yes, things that I pitched are not answered or rejected. Contracts that I send to authors are turned down. In the face of rejection, I have two choices. I can wallow in my disappointment and quit. Or I can renew my determination and keep knocking on new doors for some additional opportunities. If I stop, it will become a missed opportunity. It’s a strange juxtaposition but I’ve learned failure and success are a part of the journey and necessary if you don’t want to miss an opportunity.

How do you handle opportunities? Let me know in the comments below.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com