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

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Well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, I continue to be amazed by authors who have not but succeeded in mastering simple laptop competencies I got within the overdue eighties and early nineties, and computer systems have modified plenty because of this. I can understand being 12 months or two behind, but a decade or two behind 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 have ever dealt with or heard approximately from others. They must be highly renovated because they have allowed themselves to fall behind the instances.

Tech Savvy

A poet keeps writing his poems on a typewriter and uses white-out and correction ribbons. He then snail-mails his typed lyrics to numerous print guides, newspapers, and magazines; however, he does not respond. He wonders why. He then asks his buddies to help him submit his lyrics. He says he cannot afford a computer when they advocate he purchase a laptop to submit his lyrics electronically (because nobody desires to retype them). If he wants 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 effectively, the writer has not found out how 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.

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A creator sends emails to ebook 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 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 email it to him; however, she no longer knows how to send an attachment. Rather than ask her teenage granddaughter for assistance, she prints the entire manuscript and emails it to the editor, who then consents to use his red pen and correct 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 ebook. She is not an excellent proofreader and makes mistakes, so the editor can 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 wild book reviewers, retailers, editors, publishers, printers, and all of us to ask for assistance.

If you’re one of these authors, please consider that your lack of PC competencies isn’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 online or explain to you the way we do business. We want 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 that provide facts about the sector 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 interest. Please remember 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 by not being responsible or self-sufficient enough to find a way to do matters for yourself. 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 where it says “Reviews,” then click on wherein it says “Alphabetical through Author.” If your name is Mary Smith, appear below “S” until you find “Smith, Mary.” Now that you’ve found your call, click on it, and you may find your ebook evaluation. Remember something called the Card Catalogue 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 same boat wherein you need to deal with High Maintenance Authors, here are a few other guidelines. When they say they can not discover something on your internet site, send them the hyperlink to where it’s at. If that doesn’t make paintings, I found writing back something like this frequently facilitates: “Gosh…I’m amazed you can not see _____ (whatever 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 back from them both. They determined it and did not bother to thank me, or they don’t know what a cache/history is.

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

 Annoying

When they’ve trouble commencing or analyzing documents, respond: “I suspect you cannot open the report because your computer is too old or your applications are outdated. Most computer systems have a lifespan of about four 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 back and be averse to selling our books and writing careers.

The nice advice I can provide any author is to stay updated with technology. If technology makes you uncomfortable, find someone you can accept as true 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,ws you, and could apprehend what you need. If you do not know everyone, name a neighborhood laptop shop to see whether the workforce there can advocate for 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 would 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 have even 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 to live up-to-date with generation is small funding for such a remarkable payoff. Don’t be afraid to invite assistance when needed; however, ask the right human beings. Find yourself a PC health practitioner, and you and your computer may have top intellectual fitness.