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              Months ago I asked my good friend, Louis Kraft, to contribute something to The American Writer.  Life and his hectic writing schedule held up any pieces from him, but he finally wrote something that, I think, will awaken the marketing monster that sleeps way too soundly in each of us.  
                                          

        Louis Kraft became interested in the West in the 1970s; in particular, he became interested in people who didn’t speak the same language but who were able to work out their differences without killing each other. To understand these people and the land they inhabited, he immersed himself in their struggle for survival. In the mid-1980s he began writing and lecturing about them. THE FINAL SHOWDOWN (Walker and Company, 1992) explores racial relations in 1867 Kansas; CUSTER AND THE CHEYENNE: GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER’S WINTER CAMPAIGN ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS (Upton and Sons, 1995) follows Custer’s 1868–1869 winter campaign on the Southern Plains; and GATEWOOD & GERONIMO (University of New Mexico Press, 2000) examines the relationship between the two pre-eminent warriors of the last Apache war. Not finished with Gatewood, Kraft pieced together and edited the lieutenant’s aborted attempt to write about his years walking among the Apaches--LT. CHARLES GATEWOOD & HIS APACHE WARS MEMOIR (2005). Look for the publication of his next book, NED WYNKOOP: WALKING BETWEEN THE RACES (University of Oklahoma Press) in Fall 2010 or Spring 2011.
  
        Over the last seven years, Louis and I have toured his one-man show about Ned Wynkoop around the country.  He works his tail off and acts; I have fun and direct him and the local crew.  Oh, and that photo?  He's not that good looking.  He's expert at Photoshop.

        So, without further doo-doo, here's some simple, sage advice from a writer with a niche who knows how to carve one out.   

                        Who Do You Know?
                                by Louis Kraft

        Hey, fellow writers, this is key: Who do you know? When I was young and foolish--a million years ago--I used to quote Greta Garbo: "I vant to be alone." This doesn't cut it.  Let me repeat that statement: This doesn't cut it. If you want to sell your writing, it is your job to know the people who can help you.

        Who do you know? This cannot be under-emphasized. Who do you know? No matter how much we may despise this short question, I can't tell you how important it is.

        Okay ... you don't know anyone. This is a major problem for most writers. You must figure out who the key people are in the market in which you want to write, and more importantly, how to meet them. Well, if you are like most people, there are no open doors. This means you must find a way to get to them. I write nonfiction that for the most part deals with race relations during the Indian wars period. I am a member of the Western History Association. I have gone to their conventions not to learn but to hang out in the book room with buying editors for about 35 publishing houses. It is my job to be on a first-name basis with them. I need to know what they publish and they need to know what I write (now and in the future). I want an open door to call them at any time, and, more importantly, for them to know who I am when I call.

        Other major organizations include Western Writers of America (fiction and nonfiction), Mystery Writers or America, and Romance Writers of America. If you have a desire to write in these markets/genres, get to their conventions and meet the key people.

        If your writing is mainstream fiction, who are the agents and who are the editors at the publishing houses? How can you get an inside track with them. If you know someone who is an insider, use them. If not, what about a writer whose work you respect and whose work is published by a house you want to use? Can you find the contact information for this writer? I hope so. Next to actors, writers are the biggest suckers in the whole world. I don't mean this to be negative. These people are sensitive and they care. If you find a way to invade a writer's life, don't do it as a mercenary. Instead, do it as a person who is interested in their work. If you do this carefully, you can create a relationship. If you can get to this point, you now have a key player who can make an introduction for you.

        There are no set ways to open doors. You must be creative.