High Maintenance Authors: Authors Need to Be Tech Savvy, or Risk Being Annoying

Well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, I continue to be amazed by authors who have now not but succeeded in mastering simple laptop competencies I mastered within the overdue-Eighties and early Nineties, and computer systems have modified plenty due to the fact then. I can understand being 12 months or two at the back of, but a decade or two in the back for authors is sort of a demise sentence for the sale of their books.

Following are a few, to me largely fantastic, examples of actual life memories of high preservation authors I even have dealt with or heard approximately from others. They have to turn out to be high renovation because they have got allowed themselves to fall behind the instances.

A poet keeps to kind his poems on a typewriter and uses white-out and correction ribbons. He then snails mails his typed poems to numerous print guides-newspapers and magazines; however, he does not respond. He wonders why. He then asks buddies to help him submit his poems. When they advocate he purchase a laptop to submit his poems electronically (because nobody desires to retype them), he says he cannot have the funds for a computer. The truth is, if he desires his poems posted, he cannot afford not to shop for a PC.

An author wants an editor to proofread his work. This creator sends his Word doc manuscript to the editor double-spaced; most effective the writer has in no way found out the way to use the double-spacing function in Word, so on the crease of each line, he has hit return twice. The editor is then pressured to dispose of all the paragraph symbols before he can edit the manuscript.

A creator sends emails to e-book reviewers, editors, or anyone else demanding to speak to a live person each time due to the fact he desires to realize a way to put up his book for assessment or enhancement, even when the commands are genuinely imprinted on the reviewer or editor’s internet site. The creator does now not want to make an effort to study the website (notwithstanding the truth that a cell phone call will take longer).

A writer wants an editor to proofread her manuscript. The editor requests that she ship it as a Word file and e-mail it to him; however, she no longer knows how to ship an attachment. Rather than ask her teenage granddaughter for the assist, she prints the entire manuscript and emails it to the editor, who then consents to use his red pen and make corrections on it. The editor emails the manuscript returned to the author, who then makes the corrections in the Word file-however she finally ends up with several typos in the e-book. She is not an excellent proofreader herself and makes mistakes the editor could no longer correct the document.

A creator desires to post her manuscript to a writer, but she would not recognize how to place a manuscript header. Hence, she writes to her agent repeatedly, asking her easy computer inquiries to assist her in formatting her manuscript. The agent attempts to explain that there’s a Help feature in Word to show her how to do the entirety. Eventually, the agent gives up on seeking to represent this writer.
Trust me; those are all actual life examples. And authors who behave this way will force crazy the book reviewers, retailers, editors, publishers, and printers, and all of us ask for assistance.

If you’re one of these authors, please consider that your lack of PC competencies aren’t the fault, precedence, subject, or responsibility of others. We are not laptop teachers, and we’ve enough to do while not having to get on the cell phone with you and spend an hour attempting to help you figure out how to pay for a provider on-line or explain to you the way we do business. We would really like to spend the time to be pleasant and chat with you for an hour. However, we’ve got dozens, even hundreds of customers. That’s why we’ve websites to provide facts to the sector at large instead of one man or woman at a time. It’s no longer personal that we do not need to speak with you on the telephone or alternate a dozen emails with you. We have lots to do and can not provide you with that personal sort of interest. Please keep in mind that your expectation that we do so makes you a “High Maintenance Author.”

Granted, now and then, a valid query arises when an internet site has a malfunction, or something is not clear. In those instances, an email question is suitable, and in a rare example, even a cell phone name. But normally, you’re wasting your time via not being responsible or self-sufficient enough to find out for yourself a way to do matters. Simultaneously, the instructions are clear or what wishes to be accomplished falls underneath the Computers one zero one category.

For instance, when you need to understand how your ebook review is published, you do not want to send an email asking. Look at the internet site and click on where it says “Reviews,” then click on wherein it says “Alphabetical through Author.” If your name is Mary Smith, then appear below “S” until you find “Smith, Mary.” Now which you’ve found your call, click on it, and you may find your e-book evaluation. Remember something referred to as the Card Catalogue that they used to have in libraries approximately two decades ago? It works like that. It’s alphabetical.

For the ones of you who are in the equal boat wherein you need to deal with High Maintenance Authors, here are a few other guidelines. When they say they can not discover something to your internet site, send them the hyperlink to where it’s at. If that doesn’t make paintings, I discovered writing back something like this frequently facilitates: “Gosh…I’m amazed you can not see _____ (whatever it is they want me to locate). I recommend you clear your cache and history on your computer because it can be inflicting issues for you. Once you do this, I recommend you search again.” This response works-I generally don’t hear returned from them both. They determined it and did not bother to thank me, or they don’t know what a cache/history way.

When they ask you the way to do something on their laptop, respond: “I’m sorry, but I am not a computer tech and likely have a specific PC and software than you. I advise you to contact your neighborhood laptop save or find a computer trainer that will help you.”

When they’ve trouble commencing documents or analyzing them, respond: “I suspect you cannot open the report because your computer is too old or your applications are out-of-date. Most computer systems have a lifespan of about 4 years, so maybe it is time to get a new one, or have someone knowledgeable about computers come over and upgrade your packages.”

Granted, I am expressing some frustration here, and I must admit I get pissed off myself with computers and how applications are always being upgraded, or you need to put in new packages. Technology, however, is a vital evil in many respects, and if we don’t keep up with it, we will fall in the back of, be adverse for selling our books and our writer career.

The nice advice I can provide any author is to live up to date with technology. If technology makes you uncomfortable, find someone you can accept as true with who will come over and set up your PC for you, so you are covered from viruses to replace packages as needed. Find a person you could call or email when you have a hassle who is aware of your laptop and knows you, and could be able to apprehend what you need. If you do not know everyone, name a neighborhood laptop shop to look whether the workforce there can advocate a person. In a manner, it is a bit like going to the medical doctor you want to discover a PC medical doctor. It would help if you had someone who will let you hold a healthy laptop and do regular checkups for you.

You do not be a high maintenance author if you do an ordinary renovation about keeping up with your know-how of computer systems, the Internet, and technology. I even have expressed a few frustrations right here, but I recognize that you feel frustrated as properly if you understand yourself as a High Maintenance Author. Rather than combating and resisting getting to know how an internet site works or the way to use a Word Processing application, realize that technology is your first-class pal these days for purchasing your phrases available in a way that permits human beings to study them because of the era, authors can now reach a global target market 24/7 with little actual effort. Learning how to live up-to-date with generation is small funding for such a remarkable payoff. Don’t be afraid to invite for assist when you need it; however, ask the right human beings. Find yourself a PC health practitioner, and each you and your computer may have top intellectual fitness going ahead.