1st Turning Point

Posted By John Foxjohn on January 11, 2010

John Foxjohn, Author

by John Foxjohn
1st Turning Point Staff Columnist
Copyright © 2010 John Foxjohn

I grew up with a cliché-don’t sweat the small things.  I can’t tell you how many times I heard this when I was growing up.  Then, and as a teenager, I took this to mean that I shouldn’t bog myself down with minute details.  I should attempt to control the major occurrences in school and in life.

As I reflect back on this, I am not real sure who taught me this, or if they were teaching something else, and I drew the wrong conclusions.  It’s not as if I have never drawn a wrong conclusion before.

If I drew a wrong conclusion, or someone taught me this, I wished I or they hadn’t.  This philosophy didn’t hurt much until I decided to leave home and join the army.

Needless to say, the Army was not very fond of my attitude of not worrying about the little things.  As it turned out, they have an opposite approach to life.  They thought soldiers should worry only about the little things, and the big things would take care of themselves.

Unlike my parents or teachers, the Army had a rather unique way of getting the point across and making soldiers volunteer to conform to their way of life.

When I left the army and became a policeman and later a homicide detective, the fact that I needed to pay attention to the minute details came roaring back.  There is an old saying in solving homicides that the investigator can usually find the killer in the small details of the murder book. The murder book is what many law enforcement agencies call the book where investigators keep the mountain of paperwork.

Over my years as a homicide detective, I found this statement true most of the time.

The fact is, a homicide detective cannot overlook the small details, and I owe the army for setting me straight on this.

However, when I reflect back on who taught me that I should disregard the small details, I remember one of my mother’s favorite sayings, “Save your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”

Maybe I have gotten a little smarter over the years, or my mother was smart all along and I didn’t realize it, but it seems to me that this saying means, take care of the little things and you won’t have to worry about the big ones.

I think too many times authors look at the big picture-the book signings, appearances, radio and TV interviews, all the mass market promoting, and forget the minute details that can sometimes pay more dividends even though they cost little or are free.

About six years ago, I taught a class at a writers’ conference and I was signing along with several authors.  One of the authors had purchased a bunch of small finger type handcuffs that appeared real.  These cuffs even came with a small key to go with them.  The only difference between these and real ones, besides the size, the ones the author gave out had a needle attached to it with a clip so people could attach them to collars, ties, that kind of thing.

Of course, being an ex-cop, I had to look at them and she gave me two pair.  I had no idea what I could do with those things and personally thought they were a waste of money to buy them and give to readers.  I believed then and still do that everyone would probably keep those handcuffs because they were cute, but a few days later, they’d have no idea who gave them.

John Foxjohn's handcuffs

I do give things away at signings, but I make sure my name is on it.  If I am going to spend money on promoting, I want people to remember where and who gave it to them.  Personally, I think this is the essence of promoting.

I stuck those cuffs in my coat pocket and basically forgot about them.  I had a signing the next week and when I was setting up, I reached in my pocket and pulled out those cuffs.

My ten-year-old son who was with me loved them and clipped one to his shirt collar.  Now, I am old, but I can be silly, too.  I clipped the other one to the lapel of my coat.

We were early for the signing, set everything up, and my son and I went walking in the mall, just talking.  On the elevator, a woman looked at me and asked if I was in law enforcement.

My son, who is like me in a lot of ways, a smart aleck, told her, “No, the cuffs represented two things.”  Now, most women can’t let a cute little boy and a statement like that go, so she asked him what they represented.  He told her the cuffs represented the fact that I wrote murder mysteries, and he stopped there.  She prodded him for the second thing they represented, and he said, “They get people to ask my dad about them so he can tell them he writes murder mysteries.”

Obviously, my son gets his intelligence from his mother, and I am slow, but not stupid.  Before the poor women could think straight, I had one of my business card magnets in her hand, and she came to the book signing and bought a book.

These cuffs didn’t mean much to me when I got them-one of the little things, but since that time, I haven’t gone to a signing without them on my lapel. As a matter of fact, when I wear a coat anywhere, the cuffs go with me. In my right hand pocket, I carry the magnet cards and as soon as someone asks me about them, I fish out a card, give it to them, and tell them the cuffs represent two things-I write murder mysteries, and it gets people to ask me about them so I can tell them I write murder mysteries.

Hey, I wrote an article not too long ago about copying good things, and this was good-just wished I had come up with it myself.

All of this really came home to me this week.  As it turns out, my mother-in-law is in the hospital and someone needs to stay with her during the daytime.  Please understand, my mother-in-law is my mother, too.  I love her to death.

Since I am one of the few with a great boss, me, I get to do it.

I wore the cuffs to the hospital, and I have given out a ton of magnets.  As a matter of fact, people began to ask how they can get my books, and since I am such a nice person, I began to bring some with me to sell, just to make it easy on them.

I know, I am just too nice for my own good.  Now, many people see those cuffs and know who I am.  They are my calling card.

Thanks goodness for the little things.

Tattered Justice by John Foxjohn Release date: March 2010 Kayla Nugent, a Houston criminal defense attorney, knows money can buy many things, but it can’t buy love or friendship, and it shouldn’t buy justice. When a best-selling romance author is murdered, the politically motivated D.A. charges Kayla’s former best friend with the murder. The decision forces Kayla to face a past that ripped her life to shreds, and defend the one person she’d rather see in jail. The stress of the high profile trial and a client she doesn’t trust hinders Kayla’s developing relationship with Darren Duval, a private detective hired to help her. The people close to Kayla try to convince her not to take the case. Only one insists she drop it—the person trying to kill her.

Categories: Advertising Basics, All authors, Booksignings, Branding, John Foxjohn, Miscellaneous, Name Recognition, Platform Building, Social Networking
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