[From the Archive] Professionalism
Look at me, remembering my archive post. This one on Professionalism – because it always bears repeating. Don’t forget, 4/2 and 4/3 (this weekend) Four Winds Renaissance Faire – it’s their Fairy Tale Weekend! Come buy books!
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Writing is all about the “P” words. Patience. Perseverance. Today’s “P” word is Professionalism. No matter what you want to do with your writing: going pro, fandom, fun, whatever. Professionalism is your friend. Sound easy? It’s not. Sound like “Common Sense”? Yeah, you’d think, but common sense is not so common anymore. This means everywhere: conventions, emails, phone calls, letters, home… Let’s face it, we’re all jerks at some point. We all have our level of jerkiness. Some have more than others, and that’s where this sense of professionalism comes into play.
Why is professionalism important? Because it can make or break you as a writer. Publishing is a small world, and genre fiction is even smaller. People talk. The internet spreads stuff like a pandemic virus. If you are a jerk, it’s going far, fast, and it can come back to bite you.
In order to preserve professionalism, here are some “Dos” and “Don’ts”
• DO – be open and honest. Talk with people to necessarily TO them. Let the conversation go back and forth. It may not be ALL ABOUT YOU.
• DO – try to keep things on an even keel. Even if you don’t agree with something, think before you speak. I know that’s not always easy, but …
• DO – turn off your phone before going into a panel – as audience or panelist. Or at least put it on vibrate. And if you forget? And it goes off? Either bounce the call, or, if it’s important TAKE IT OUTSIDE. DO NOT TAKE THE CALL IN THE PANEL.
• DO – Take the high road. If you have problems with someone, suck it up. Be in the room with that person. Do the panels with them – there’s at least six feet of table to separate you. Don’t make the presenter’s life harder by having them juggle personality conflicts – because there will be personality conflicts.
• DON’T – “Be that guy” at the convention that takes over panels or conversations and forces the topic to your book/project/whatever. ESPECIALLY if there’s a Bigger Named Author anywhere near you.
• DON’T – Pick a fight in a convention. If you’re a panelist or an audience person, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. If you are the negative viewpoint to the panel topic, you don’t have to be OVERLY inflammatory about it.
• DON’T – carry on your own conversations during a panel. There’s an agenda, and the rest of the room doesn’t need to know your business. Besides, it’s rude and disruptive.
• DON’T – EVER ANSWER AN EMAIL/PHONE CALL in an emotional state. That never ends well. If you get a bad rejection, let it go. If you have to vent about it online, do it in a SERIOUSLY veiled state so the editor can’t trace it back to you.
• DON’T – spam people you barely know to let them know all your books are coming out when. Especially if you have multiple emails for them. This is hard for me, as well. Especially with social networks being able to crosspost. It’s likely some of your people will get your news multiple times. Be open about it. Apologize. But if it’s a professional contact that you’ve met and/or worked with once or twice? Don’t put them on your list without a way off. Actually, this is a legal point. You HAVE to have a way for people to tell you to go away. It’s the law.
This is all “Golden Rule” stuff. If you don’t like dealing with these people, don’t be one yourself. There’s a fine line between being a good marketer and someone people avoid. You don’t want to be THAT GUY. You want people to read your work. Don’t be a jerk. Be professional.