by Bethany Jett, @BetJett

There is a lot of excellent writing advice. Honestly, I could spend hours curled up on the couch scrolling through agents’ blogs, websites on writing tips, and scanning Pinterest pins on the subject. But there are two “writing” tips that have the ability to either help you excel in this business or crush you if you ignore them.

In fact, these tips are powerful not just in the writing world, but life as well. Your mama, daddy, grandmama, and first grade teacher all said them, and here they are again:

Be on your best behavior. Be easy to work with. The two go hand-in-hand.

So many times the adage “It isn’t what you know, but who you know” comes true. We can climb the corporate ladder, navigate easier book deals, and collaborate because we know someone. As soon as you get a book published or tell your friends that you went to a writers’ conference, people will want to talk to you about writing, because they know you. And because you now know others.

The Christian writing community in particular is pretty small, in terms of comparing it to the general market. You’ll often find the same agents and editors at various conferences all over the country, one reason why attending writers’ conferences annually is beneficial. You build on those connections and deep relationships. The thing is, agents and editors talk…and the last thing we want is our name on their lips in a negative connotation.

1. Be on your best behavior.

At conferences, online, on your blog…it’s sometimes a constant thought we have to keep in our minds. We can’t always say what we want, when we want, even if it’s on our personal social media. Like it or not, our free speech rights still carry consequences.

I made the mistake of posting a political whine on Facebook last week. I’d changed my privacy setting, so I thought only a specific group of people would see it. People who I was pretty sure agreed with me.

I was wrong.

And my Facebook page, which I rarely let enter the political scene became something I didn’t want associated with me. Hard lesson, but because my audience online has nothing to do with politics, and since I wasn’t writing about it in a way that resonated with my audience, I had gone “out of bounds.” I wasn’t on my best behavior with that group of people.

This will look different for all of us. I have several friends who could have posted the same thing and it would have been received much differently. We have to know our audience and we have to behave accordingly.

2. Be easy to work with.

I want to be easy to work with because if two editors are chatting about needing new writers, I want my name to be on the list of “Oh yes! Definitely work with her!” What does this look like in practical terms?

Meet your deadlines.

Such a basic concept but even sending in a document a few hours past midnight means the deadline was missed. *Raises hand sheepishly. I think writers missing deadlines is more common than we think, so being one of the writers who promptly turns in work makes us stand out in a positive way. Check!

Pick your battles.

The quote “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar” comes to mind. When you’re working with a publisher, they will have certain standards or guidelines pertinent to their publishing house. This may include a certain version of Scripture they prefer to use, or types of quotes they want used. Being easy to work with means letting some of their decisions or suggestions ride. If it’s not critical to your storyline, be agreeable. Save your “battle” for something that really matters. It’s much more likely that if you’re easy about the small stuff, they’ll give in on others.

For example, one of my publishers preferred to not use the Oxford comma, which means in a series of three or more items, there wouldn’t be a comma after the second thing listed.

Oxford Comma: She went to the store to buy milk, eggs, and bread.
No Oxford Comma: She went to the store to buy milk, eggs and bread.

I’m a fan of the Oxford Comma, but I didn’t fight them through the book. However, in my dedication to three special friends, I felt strongly that the Oxford Comma was necessary, especially since the last two girls listed were sisters and I wanted them separated by that comma. SO important. 🙂 And if you’re thinking I could have just reordered the girls’ names so it wouldn’t have mattered, that wasn’t an option!

In one of my emails, I politely let my editor know that I understood the publishing house’s policy, had made the corrections as requested, but would they please humor me in only one area of the book?

They did.

I hadn’t asked for much but this was important to me, and probably only to me and the three girls, so the publisher allowed it. I like to think that it was because we’d had a positive editing experience all the way through.

It’s a small world out there…you know the song…and it’s true. We can get extremely far in life by following these two simple little rules. Now if I could only get my kids to catch on…

[reminder]What other ways can we be easy to work with in this industry?[/reminder]

Bethany Jett is an award-winning author of The Cinderella Rule, speaker, ghostwriter, and founder of JETTsetter Ink, a consulting and editing company. She has written for numerous publications, created the My Moments Planner, Serious Writer Companion, and is the founder of Serious Writer Academy and the Build Your Brand Program. Her newest work, Through the Eyes of Hope releases January 2017.

Bethany is a military wife and all-boys-mama who is addicted to suspense novels and all things girly. She writes on living a brilliant life at BethanyJett.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest,  Instagram (new profile), and Twitter.