Monica Valentinelli: Author, Game Designer and Consultant

Posted on July 10, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Using Referrals and Word-of-Mouth to Find Work and More!

When I talked about two free sites to look for places to submit your work, I had also mentioned about the phenomenon that happens when editors come to you for work. (By the way, if you haven’t read the comments on my post about Duotrope and Ralan, take a look. Some new sites added!)

I’d like to talk a little bit about the timing for when this sort of thing occurs. An editor typically doesn’t “find” you right off the bat; referrals take a lot of time based on how build your career and reputation as a writer. I’ve found that if you want those referrals, it’s essential that when you’re putting yourself out there, you maintain a good reputation. I can not say enough how easy it is to ruin your online reputation but, on the flip slide, it’s just as easy to start building a great one.

If you believe, as I do, that we’re all part of a vibrant community of writers and editors then this post is for you. By keeping other writers’ interests at heart through word-of-mouth advertising and referrals, you can maintain your network, build relationships, get referrals for work, attract readers, and a whole lot more!

Personally Refer Other Writers for Jobs

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t commit to a project because you were strapped for time? Has there been a time where you didn’t want to work for a publisher because your style didn’t fit the publication? If you’ve answered “yes” to either of these questions, then perhaps you’ve referred or recommended other writers for your projects. Maybe you’ve handled situations like these in other ways; if you have, why not consider a personal recommendation on another writer’s behalf?

Believe it or not, recommending other writers or speaking highly of someone else’s work is not only a cool thing to do–it helps your career, too! For every writer you recommend or help, that’s another person you may touch base with for future projects. Maybe they’ll help you out; maybe they won’t. In my experiences, there were only a few who were not grateful or gracious, but the majority were thankful and remembered me in the future. They realized that I put myself on the line because I recommended their work (including their ability to make deadlines) to a publisher they may not have had the chance to work with before.

By taking the approach that we are all working within a community (especially on the web), we can help each other, but that help has to start somewhere. This is not to say that there aren’t occasions where you might avoid recommending someone’s work based on its quality or experience level, but even then there are ways to be nice to people.

Email your Network of Writers with Leads

This is something that is sooooooo easy to do. If you take a look at places like Poewar.com’s Writer’s Resource Center, you’ll notice that they often offer a bunch of listings. Does anything strike you as being perfect for your writer friend in Vermont? It literally takes less than a minute to send an email and let your contact know you’re thinking about them. Here you’re killing two birds with one stone: you’re reconnecting with your contact list and providing more than just a friendly “Hello.”

I’ve talked before about the writer’s stigmas about being anti-social and plain weird–by putting yourself out there to other writers you can bridge that gap of loneliness that seems to occur so frequently in our neck of the woods. By emailing job postings or listings, you are taking a little safer approach than a personal recommendation–but it’s the easiest type of thing to do. Over time, you could even ask one of your writer friends to look out for a particular venue if it ever comes up.

For example, I’ve been trying for some time to market my Queen of Crows zombie story to no avail. Every editor loved it, but didn’t want to take the risk because it was too experimental. I might work with other horror writers and directly ask them for recommendations; in exchange I might ask them if there is anything that they might be interested in marketing, too. Or, I could take a more subtle approach and simply network more within a zombie writer’s community to see what I can learn for myself. For example, author DL Snell manages a blog entitled, “DL Snell’s Market Scoops for Writers” that offers free listings for writers.

No matter how you get those listings out there, this is a great way to build community that takes virtually no effort because you’re not creating the content — you’re recommending it.

Don’t Neglect your Reading List

Here’s one that a lot of people seem to miss: as a writer you really should devote some time to reading. Maybe you’ve had trouble getting a writer’s group started, but what about a book club? Short story critiques? What about other people’s blogs or article series?

Well, if you’re trying to get readers sometimes the best place to start is to ask people for suggestions about what they’re interested in. Why? Because if people do read, they tend to read more than one author or publication. By reading other people’s recommendations you have a conversation starter that’s more than something related to politics or the weather. Showing genuine interest builds great listening skills, too. Which is something we can all improve upon.

So there you have a few tips that may one day lead to more sales, more friends, and more relevant publications. It is a less direct route than pounding on your editor’s door to tell them they absolutely have to read your writing because you’re that good, but honestly? Sometimes the best way to get people to read your work? Is to read, recommend and promote other writers.

Related posts:

1. Job hunting? Here’s a Search Engine you Can’t Live Without
2. Promote Your Work with a Book Trailer
3. The Wand in the Word
4. Fun with Writing: Word Etymology
5. Using keywords to sell your work