Thursday, July 18, 2013

On Starting Out as a Writer

If you enjoy this article, visit my Web site: EricThomasWeber.org and connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Academia.edu.

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On Starting Out as a Writer

Dr. Eric Thomas Weber


Photo of a typewriter, just for fun.
I received an inquiry today from Montique Clark on LinkedIn. I had posted about the fact that I've just sent an article to a journal that is very proud of its incredibly high rejection rate. The good thing about this particular publication is that they answer you quite promptly, in general. The reason is that the journal has committed to either answer you very quickly or to give you feedback on your submission. Giving feedback takes time, so that motivates them to say no very quickly to more than 93 percent of submissions. From the author's standpoint, that means it's unlikely to land one's piece there, but why not try? After all, you'll know quickly whether they're not interested. It doesn't hurt them, furthermore, since they're proud of a high rejection rate. If you know that the first great place isn't interested, you can then move on to the next possible outlet, feeling confident that at least you tried.

Montique explained that she's interested in writing and would like some suggestions for getting started. Here are a few thoughts for anyone who is thinking about starting out as a writer. I'm no famous writer, but I've been studying the publishing industry and process and have plans in motion for a career of writing, ideally for wide audiences in time.

For scholars who are looking to land their first publications, the typical advice is excellent: Start with a book review. An incredible number of books are published every year, even though we're told the print industry is on its way out. Given the volume of books released, publishers struggle for attention. One way they get it is by sending free books to outlets that review them. For scholars, that generally means scholarly journals. If you're not too interested in more technical or academic readership, then consider looking to the many publications, often magazines -- which today are becoming "e-zines." Many of them review books that are sent to them and welcome volunteers to read the books and send in carefully written, short reviews. Reviewing books provides a service to the public, that can now choose book purchases with a bit more information in advance. It also gets you a free copy of the book. In addition, it gives you a chance to thinking about your own writing while you review someone else's. Finally, it gives you a very beneficial chance to be published and to start building your track record.

Among scholarly outlets, the journals in one's field are the ones to look to, checking whether they publish reviews and who is the review editor. For general audience or non-academic audience authors, look to the relevant trade magazines related to your interests. Find the stuff you like to read and see whether it includes opportunities to write reviews. If you're having a hard time finding an outlet, go to your library to find the year's Writer's Market book (released by Writer's Digest Books), or spring for it yourself, if your library's copy is old. The book's got a few informative essays, but it's amazing value is that it is like a phone book of writing opportunities. You'll find info about countless outlets for publishing your work, some of which are paid and some of which are not.

This leads me to an important point. If getting paid for your writing is important to you, know that it will take time to get there. I've been paid a little bit for some of my writings, but the vast majority of them have not come with financial compensation. Writing certainly can be a paying occupation. Syndicated authors can make millions of dollars, even if that's mainly the rock-stars of writing. Nevertheless, if you're getting your start as a writer, you need to invest considerable time on the front end, to build your skills, network, and audience, and to hone your voice as a writer. I've heard that a big deal author in my town had to invest in his own writing, self-publishing his first book, which was no real success until his second book was turned into a movie. Be patient, and start writing because you love to do it. If you don't love to write, it's probably best to stop thinking about a career in it (whether "career" refers to lifetime or source of income). I'll come back to ways of getting paid for writing in a moment. For now, though, know that it will take some time to invest in one's writing career.

Another route to getting started as a writer is through letters to the editor. If you start with your local paper, not the New York Times, landing a letter to the editor is pretty easy. They're often quite short too, so that means you can get one done quickly. The nice thing about short pieces like letters to the editor or op-eds is that you can have a first draft done quickly. The challenging and exciting part about writing them, though, is that given how short they are, it doesn't take so much time to go over them 20 or 40 or 50 times. Yes, that many times. Comb over every word. Decide whether you're being as economical as you can be (a practice I'm not exercising in this blog post, to be sure). Write with pith, power, relevance, and sincerity. Pitch a letter to the editor, land a few, and suddenly the editor at a regional newspaper knows your name. Letters to the editor are a great first step comparable to book reviews, though shorter.

Once an editor knows your name, consider that many local or regional newspapers post the contact info for their editors on their Web sites. Give him or her a call. Talk over your interest in writing a  piece for the paper, and pitch -- briefly -- four or five ideas that you might write about. This is vital, since you could otherwise end up spending a lot of time on a piece that a newspaper editor wouldn't find particularly newsworthy. Always think about the gatekeepers and their interests. Consider their interests while you speak to an audience and you'll be on the right track. When an editor gives you no positive feedback, it's time to approach another outlet. Give it time too, and then come back to the first paper with new ideas. If the editor nibbles, he or she will generally look at a draft of your submission on the piece of interest. Know too that it's invigorating to write about a subject that a news editor thinks is interesting and worth reviewing. You'll already have surmounted one of the big challenges.

Once you've got permission to send the editor a piece, comb over your draft 50 times. Yes, 50 times. It's only about 500 words anyway. If you go over it 5 times an hour, you can send it to him in 3 or 4 days, even if you're writing in your spare time. When you've combed through a piece that many times, you'll find your words are carefully chiseled, and ideally they reveal just what you mean on a topic that is both interesting and important to you and to your target audience. Send it in. If it is accepted for publication, make sure to buy a copy or two and to scan it into the computer. Make a digital scrapbook of these pieces, and soon you'll have a track record of writings. A lot of these points pertain to magazine writing also, though some magazines just want to see your submission first. Then again, magazines will often publish book reviews, so look into that first. 

Once you've got a relationship with one or more newspapers, think about making your contributions regularly. What kind of themed column could you put together, contributing once a month or eveyr two weeks in a way that is valued among the people in your audience. Publishers all the time buy syndicated material because they don't have enough local material, or because they need a balance of subject matter. In any case, if you put together a column and publish it regularly, you might find that other papers are interested in publishing the same column. Boom. You've just become a self-syndicated columnist. You're reaching a wide audience and doing so regularly. Now guess who's interested in you. People who like your ability to reach an audience, namely literary agents. They'll help you (and be highly necessary in most cases) to land your book proposal with a major publisher. The publisher, like Random House, Vintage, etc., is interested both in quality work AND in the author's ability to reach an audience. After all, doing so means you can let your loyal audience know about your forthcoming book. They need to know about it and be interested in you in order to be motivated to buy your book.

When you get to that point, you might start making some real money, maybe. It depends on the audience for your book. If people are so interested in it that they invite you to come speak about it, you could earn some money for such efforts. Also, along the way, your newspaper columns might earn you some money, a lot if your pieces start to come out in hundreds of newspapers or more. At the same time, though, if you've made a great impression with a magazine or newspaper, you might find that a salaried position as a writer is even better, more stable, etc. More power to you. There are many ways to get involved and to make writing a career. For a lot of people like me, though, there are ways to align one's work or free-time enjoyment with our passion for writing. In such cases, money's not the object, and the goal is really to participate in our democratic conversation about things that matter to us and to others. 

To my mind, that is the big reason to be a writer. It's to contribute to the public discourse. If you don't speak up, others will. You might not like what you hear. So, either speak up, or your complaints will only be heard by your Facebook friends. There are many ways to become a writer. Going to grad school isn't a typically good one for becoming a widely read author. After all, at one time I heard that the average academic journal article is read by 7 people. The point there is not the same as writing for general audiences, of course, but it is writing nonetheless, and can be joyful. If you want to learn more about writing, check out some of the following books. I will warn you that, sadly, one or two of the books that are valuable for learning about writing careers are themselves poorly written. As strange as that may sound, it is still true that they contain valuable information about what it takes to be a professional writer. 

I am sure that this is much more than what Montique was looking for. Don't worry. I won't mind if people skim this. In a sense, here's another value of writing, such as on blogs like this one: it's often helpful to organize one's ideas just for oneself. To get clear on what we're doing, how, and why is an invaluable benefit of writing. So thank you, Montique, for the opportunity to reflect on getting one's start as a writer. I hope that some of this proves helpful for you and for others. It certainly has gotten me thinking again about strategy and the big picture for my career as a writer.

Resources:

2013 Writer's Markethttp://www.amazon.com/dp/1599635933/

2013 Guide to Literary Agentshttp://www.amazon.com/dp/1599635976/

Get Known before the Book Dealhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/158297554X/

Thinking Like Your Editorhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/0393324613/

From Dissertation to Bookhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/0226288463/

Book Proposals that Sellhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/1932124640/

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Eric Thomas Weber, Ph.D. is associate professor of public policy leadership at the University of Mississippi, representing only his own views in this article. His third book, Democracy and Leadership, will be published in December of 2013. If you enjoy this article, visit my Web site: EricThomasWeber.org and connect with me on TwitterLinkedIn, and Academia.edu.



Friday, July 12, 2013

"Greening Industry and Green Industries in Mississippi," Eric Thomas Weber, From ProBizMS.com, 2012

You can visit my Web site: EricThomasWeber.org and connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Academia.edu

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It has been quite some time since I've posted my writings on my blog. I've been writing for wide outlets over the last year, though less frequently than I have before. The reason is that I had gotten quite behind on a book manuscript that I had to finish up. The book is titled Democracy and Leadership and will be out this  year, I'm happy to report. That said, it's time I get caught up on reposting public writings on my blog.

I post pieces here partly to collect these writings for my online scrapbook, in a sense. More than that, there are many outlets that archive writings, though they let me repost them if I wish. So, rather than let pieces be accessed only behind a paywall, I will continue reposting them here.

Picture of the logo of ProBizMS.com
The piece below came out in 2012, but still speaks to what I've been thinking about potential growth for business in Mississippi and around the country. It came out in ProBizMS.com, the online version of a Mississippi periodical that has now gone wholly digital.

Here's the piece:

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Greening Industry and Green Industries in Mississippi

By Dr. Eric Thomas Weber
First published on 4/8/12 (here)

For quite some time, people have associated environmentally focused efforts with the Democratic Party, and hence with partisan disagreements.  Fortunately today people are coming to see that environmental friendliness generally saves money and is a cause motivating big business development.  Mississippi could benefit from greater understanding of environmentally friendly developments.  There are many opportunities for industry to save money through greening efforts and also for businesses to expand in the areas that service demand for green technologies and energy saving investments.
President Carter put up solar panels on the Whitehouse, which were soon after removed in Reagan’s administration.  Then, Vice President Al Gore came to be well known for his advocacy on environmental issues, to the point that he has been a key spokesman for related movements.  Opposition to environmentally beneficial technologies were often motivated by a desire to keep industry free from excess government imposition.  Plus, religious motivations were at times raised, with the explanation that the Earth was created for mankind’s use.  Human beings have dominion over the Earth, so why not make use of it as we please?
In the last few years, a number of factors have refocused discussions about the environment.  First, rising gas prices have called into question for many the wisdom of driving Hummers, for instance.  I suspect that they might be incredibly fun to drive in obstacle courses, but regular travel would be hugely expensive in one, compared with the great, fuel efficient cars that are taking over the market.  In a Toyota Prius, for example, my family and I can drive to Atlanta, 6 hours away from Oxford, MS, on slightly less than 10 gallons of gas.  With regular driving in the last few years, the fuel efficient car has been fantastic for us.  Whether one feels for environmental considerations or not, people can understand the savings. 
It helps, I think, to note the differences between people’s experiences of environmental forces.  For example, having lived near New York City, then in Atlanta and Nashville, I saw recycling efforts everywhere I have lived.  There are prices associated with landfills.  The farther away are the landfills, the more fuel is spent bringing trash to dumps.  Plus, the slower one fills a dump, the cheaper it is – the more delayed further costs are.  So, recycling in my experience has always had a clear and substantial impact economically on large population centers I have known.  Now that I live in Mississippi, by contrast, land is quite cheap and the motivation for recycling is far weaker here.  Add that to the history of associating the practice with the minority political party in the state and it becomes easier to understand why the recycling movement has only lately caught on in small towns in the state. 
Two developments, one at the national level and the other at the state level, have inspired some changes as well.  Historically strong critics of people like Al Gore, such as Rupert Murdoch, who owns News Corp and thus Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, have come to see the powerful forces of environmental change.  Murdoch saw the spreading wildfires in his native Australia and understood quickly that climates have changed, leading to dangerous conditions for a number of parts of the world.  He wrote a letter called “Duty to the Future,” published on the National Review Online, explaining why his companies were going green.  Beyond Murdoch, Pat Robertson has helped reshape the religious message on the Right about the environment, to recognize the idea that dominion over the Earth is consistent with the demands of stewardship of such a great gift from the Divine.  He made a fun commercial with Reverend Al Sharpton for the sake of seeking common ground about the environment.
The second development is that Mississippians recently experienced significant environmental problems.  People all around were saddened by the photos of wildlife affected by the B.P. oil spill.  Mississippi’s shrimping and coastal tourism industries were deeply affected for some time.  Beyond that, many people who have been quiet about the environment, but who have loved it all along have begun speaking up.  In particular, I am thinking of hunters, who love the outdoors, the beauty of creatures and the connection to the world that capturing your own food can motivate.  In fact, people often forget that the environmental philosopher Aldo Leopold was a hunter. 
A bright conservative student of mine at the University of Mississippi, Elliott Warren, had a number of these connections click.  His love of hunting and the outdoors motivated action and leadership for green initiatives on campus.  He was so driven and successful that he won a Sustainability Leadership Award the next year at the University of Mississippi.  He is centrally responsible for the great program of game-day recycling for football games at the university, which has kept literally tons of waste from going into the ground.  Instead, the new program provides the city of Oxford with materials that it can sell to companies seeking cost-saving recyclables. 
With all of these developments in the background, there are nevertheless those who are skeptical of “green” initiatives, like the one the University of Mississippi signed a few years ago.  However particular people feel about this initiative, there are great examples of substantial savings already at work on campus, and ones that can be emulated in various ways by businesses around the state. 
I work in Odom Hall, which is one of the wings of the building called the Trent Lott Leadership Institute.  I have learned from campus sources that our building in peak hours uses 65 to 70 Kilowatts per hour for its power.  Nearby, the newly built Center for Manufacturing Excellence, a larger building, had solar panels installed on its roof.  The panels do not provide all the power for that building, to be sure, since it is a very large building.  But, they do provide more in peak hours than my building uses in its peak hours.  Those panels produce 80 to 90 Kilowatts per hour in their peak hours.  They generate 8 megawatts per month on average, according to Professor James Vaughn, Director of the Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the university.
Investments in technologies like the panels atop the Center for Manufacturing Excellence may not yet be feasible for widespread use in homes or in smaller businesses around the state, of course.  But, technologies like these are getting cheaper and cheaper to make.  Plus, there are countless efforts that are low in cost to adopt.  A student of mine years ago gave a speech in one of my courses and convinced me to change to compact fluorescent bulbs around the house.  The next month, I saw a drop in my electricity bill from the previous month and in comparison with the year before.  The initial investment was about $150 for all new bulbs.  Many people are using low water usage toilets and shower heads now, for similar reasons.  Better insulation can make a big difference in the summer heat as well, of course, and all of these efforts are small and accessible ways that business can shave costs. 
Those larger institutions that have to do maintenance with some regularity, furthermore, such as the university, which has projects and updates to complete each year, can budget for the long-term benefits of doing things in the smartest way with regard to energy.  Many of these ideas involve small changes, but can make a difference to the bottom line.  Plus, when one makes an effort in this way, we can brag about it to those who will be attracted by the idea.  My favorite Oxford dry cleaner, Rainbow Cleaners, for example, posts notices about the new methods it uses to cut down on waste products and energy use.  Plus, companies that profit from doing what is less responsible, morally speaking, sometimes get hit hard in lawsuits, when the results really hurt people, or in public image at least, which is itself a very expensive thing to clean up once tarnished. 
Beyond the process of making industry “greener,” there is also exciting growth taking place in Mississippi in “green” industries.  Both of these terms, “greening” industry and “green” industries, are worth encouraging.  “Greening industry” is the process of making industries and institutions more energy efficient, which makes for savings in money and from unwanted environmental effects.  It can include cutting costs on public schools and other government buildings as well as in introducing cost saving measures in the private sector.  Next, “green industries” are generally associated with things like electric windmills, fuel efficient cars, and solar panels, but they refer equally, in my view, to the sale of products and services that somehow take advantage of more energy efficient means of production or usage, or of products made from materials that cost less environmentally speaking. 
Green products can be quite simple, not always technical in nature.  When shopping at Walmart, if you have not tried out their great “Reusable Bags,” you have no idea what you are missing.  They cost 50 cents each.  I use these bags everyday for all sorts of reasons, including for carrying my lunch to work or groceries home from the store.  Granted, you have to pay for these once, but they are much more comfortable to carry than everyday plastic bags – given their thick handles – and they hold much more and more robustly, all while being light to carry.  Plus, they are strong, have many uses, and also are made of reusable plastic that would otherwise eventually cost us money to throw in landfills. 
The more sophisticated forms of “green industries” are growing also, and in Mississippi.  Among these are Twin Creaks, Stion, and Soladigm, to name a few.  A former student of mine landed a job right after graduation in 2011 with one of these companies and had only exciting things to report about his experience. 
There are other countries and other states fighting to be at the forefront of business development in green industries.  There are also other states doing more with tax incentives than we do in Mississippi to empower individuals and institutions to green their workplaces.  At the same time, Mississippi has advantages for attracting business and can build on these, including low taxes.  We can also work to take advantage of the recent developments through which people have come to see that “green” is not a partisan issue.  It is at times a matter of cost savings and at others of potential new markets.  We should welcome our new opportunities and think about how we can build on them for cost savings and profit.  Here at the University of Mississippi, where tuition is around $6,000 per year, we can envision energy savings translating into the language of scholarships made possible per month, for example.  When buildings cost thousands of dollars per month to power, the value of alternate energy sources that can offset big institutional costs become easier to imagine and understand.
If you are thinking of moving in the direction of energy cost savings only, there are do-it-yourself options available at places like Home Depot, which has a great guide online about all manner of products that can save money and energy in the long-run.  There are many more of these as public awareness continues to grow.
We can all see that gas prices at best will only rise more slowly even if new sources are found.  It makes a lot of sense for business people to think of long-term investments.  We can save money, and make more too, by thinking about industries that until recently seemed only to be of interest to small numbers of Mississippians.  Today, minds have changed and a culture has set in that recognizes the need and opportunity for growth in green industries and in greening industry.

Dr. Eric Thomas Weber is assistant professor of Public Policy Leadership at the University of Mississippi and author of three books, including Morality, Leadership, and Public Policy (2011) and the forthcoming Democracy and Leadership (2013).  He is expressing only his own point of view here. Follow him on Twitter.com/EricTWeber and visit his Web site at EricThomasWeber.org.
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