I'm finishing the Project Lifecycles book. Last week, I realized I made several mistakes:
- It was past time to ask for people to write praise quotes.
- I had only asked men to write praise quotes.
Neither of these was a disaster, but they were embarrassing. Especially since Bob Sutton had posted this, and I replied to it last week:
A little advice for authors who are seeking blurbs. Take a look at your list AND at which ones your publisher wants to put on the cover. Is the praise from only white dudes?
If so, make changes.
It isn't hard, you just have to pay attention and keep an eye on your publisher.
— Bob Sutton (@work_matters) November 7, 2023
I'm my own publisher for this book. I only had white dudes.
Oops.
It's even worse, for two reasons. As a feminist, I've tried to promote women's voices. What had I done? NOT that.
Second, I know that Risky Projects Require Diverse Teams. Books are not as risky as other products, but the whole point of blurbs and reviews is to reduce the risk of people ignoring the book. (I was angry the day I wrote Tech Managers: Time to Grow Up and Manage Like Humans, but it's still all too true.)
I acknowledged my mistake and asked for help.
Acknowledge Mistakes As Early As Possible
I could have quietly asked my network for support. But I had just done the same thing Sutton warned about. If, as a feminist, I can fall into this trap, what about the people who don't often think about inclusion?
I was thoughtless and wanted to share the fact that even well-meaning people can be thoughtless. Most of the time, I suspect that the people who can't “find” women to hire or speak at conferences don't know their options. However, our social connections can help us recruit and discover people other than “white dudes.”
That's why I publicly asked for help and was thrilled with the responses.
My Social Connections Offered an Enormous Amount of Help
When we ask for help, we offer a gift to the other person. Until we ask for that help, we have no idea what other people are willing to give.
Here's what I learned.
- My male connections boosted my request, so I could take advantage of their networks, too. They weren't offended by my request because they understood the value of diverse voices.
- Several people (male and female) explained they'd read and received value from my blog posts and my books. (I was thrilled. Too few writers know if anyone reads their work.)
- While some people couldn't offer a pre-release blurb (to go into the front of the book), they were interested in review copies. (I look for reviews these people have written before. I don't tend to offer review copies to people who don't post reviews.)
When other people boost your posts (every platform calls this something different), you gain social proof from their boosts. So not only did my male colleagues offer me direct help, they also offered other people the social proof that I write good books. (Good books are books that appeal to those boosters.)
I did not expect the number of people who boosted my posts, and definitely not the number of people who responded.
I learned a ton.
What I Learned
Some of what I learned:
- My social connections helped me realize what I was missing (female blurb-ers).
- Because leanpub offers me more tools, my old checklist was incorrect. And if I hadn't boosted Sutton's post last week, I might not have realized I needed help.
- People are generous. They boosted my post and offered social proof on my behalf.
I suspect I will continue to learn. And the big idea here is that people like to help.
People like helping because they feel as if they can have a little part in your success. Not a big part, but a little something to get you over that goal line.
My blurb-writers are helping me get over that line. And I would not have found all these people without the help of my connections.
Thank you all. The marketing for this book will be better because of you. I couldn't do it without you.