We were lucky to catch up with Margo Dill recently and have shared our conversation below.

Margo, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

If you ask 100 creative people if it’s a risk to share their work, you will most likely receive 100 nods. Sharing any creative piece–whether it’s written, painted, photographed, or designed–is a risk because what people like is so subjective. You can see that on reviews of anything–some people love it, and some people REALLY hate it. So as a writer, it has always been a risk for me to share my writing. But a much bigger risk was when I decided to publish other writers and start my own publishing company. It’s not really a financial risk because with print on demand publishing models and ebooks, there is very little upfront cost. The risk is more emotional–for both myself and my writers. They are putting their trust in me to publish their words, stories, poems, and illustrations in the best way I can–and so it will sell. They want to hold a book they are proud of, and they can share with their families. This takes a lot of work and partnership. And it’s not easy. But I would say the reward of being able to pay authors royalties for their work is amazing. I will continue to do it as long as I can. It brings me a lot of joy, so it is definitely a risk I am glad I took!

Margo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Editor-911 Books grew out of Editor-911 Writer Services–both are active today! I am the publisher and owner of the business. Let’s start with Editor-911 Writer Services: these are services I offer to other writers or fellow writing businesses as a freelancer or consultant. I help both writers for children and adults with novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, articles, and picture books by either providing a content edit or copy editing. I do a bit of writing coaching for people stuck on stories or trying to understand what path to take to publication. I do some writing of my own for others, too, such as articles and interviews for WOW! Women On Writing. It brings me great joy to help other writers tell the best story they can.

Because I liked helping authors so much and I was inspired by my own writing and the conference 20 Books to 50K, I started Editor-911 Books. This is a traditional publishing company–meaning writers do not pay me to publish their books–no editing fees, no design fees, etc. They sign a contract. We work on their book to make it the best we can, and then it sells mostly online but also in some bookstores and libraries, depending on the author! They are paid a royalty for their sales. Currently, there are five authors besides myself under the Editor-911 Books imprints, and the books are for toddlers up through 100 year olds! Our tagline is: “We publish books that readers love but aren’t traditional. We’re outside the box and happy to be here!”

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The best way to build a good reputation in any market is to do what you promise you stated you are going to do. And this actually starts with the promise. You can’t promise people that they are going to sell 100 books a day or top the New York Times Best Seller list. What you can do is share with them best practices, explain what they need to do and how you can help them drive success, and then most importantly–UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR CLIENT or THEIR AUDIENCE wants. You can’t assume that every person and business wants the same thing. It’s so important to listen to people, be empathetic, understand their pain points, and then keep your word by doing what you promise when they hire you. You also build your reputation by continuing your own learning. For example, as a writer and publisher, I work with WOW! Women On Writing as well as read everything they put out because these female writers and authors are current on trends and always working to improve their craft. I learn from them. In turn, I use what I learn when I help other writers–either the writers who pay me for writing services such as editing or the authors who have signed with Editor-911 Books. I think by doing both things: keeping my word and learning my craft (plus proven success by people I’ve worked with), my reputation is pretty good in this business.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The book I read that made all the difference in how I thought about taking chances–You Are a Badass! by Jen Sincero. I recommend this book to everyone–no matter what industry you are in. It’s helpful for both professional and personal reasons. Basically, Jen Sincero is helping readers everywhere believe in themselves again. She also makes you see patterns that you have which make you STOP pursuing success, instead of driving forward. Most of us get in our own way. Her writing is conversational, and she really wants to help readers learn what she did on her path to success. I loved the book and her words of advice so much that I then bought the 365-day calendar, so I could get quotes from the book as reminders of “being a Badass” all year long.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.editor-911.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margodill
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MargoDill.author.editor
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/margodillbalinski
• Other: My individual author site is: https://www.margoldill.com

Image Credits
(Fred Olds picture with the young girl is the credit of Hollis Center Public library)