I offered the following bits of advice to my audience of editors on how to be the kind of editor writers love.

Introduce yourself to the writer and give the writer a sense of who you are as a person and a writer. Many writers are terrified of editors. If you can show the writer your human side and give the writer a sense of how you like to work, the writer will be more at ease and better able to do her best work for you. 

In the case of a magazine assignment, be as specific as possible about your vision for the story. What key questions should the writer be addressing? What types of sources are preferred? What are the unwritten do's and don'ts at your publication?

Give the writer enough time to write the best possible story for you. Allow her to make contact with those hard-to-pin-down story sources, to think through the best way to tell the story, and to benefit from the changes you suggest during the editing process. 

Help the writer to understand that you both share the same goal: making the story sparkle. Provide feedback about what is working as well as what isn't working. Provide encouragement as well as constructive criticism.

Respect the sanctity of the author-editor relationship. The relationship is based on mutual trust. A writer needs to feel supported by her editor on crucial editorial and contract matters.

If a writer has done an amazing job on a story, let her know. She'll be inspired to want to work with you on an ongoing basis. You'll get first dibs on her best ideas and she'll do that extra bit of research that makes a story great as opposed to merely good because she knows you notice and you care.

Related: 

Respect and Remuneration: Attitudes About Working Conditions in the Canadian Magazine Industry (2009) (.pdf)

I am very excited to be part of Artrepreneur, a day-long workshop series exploring the business side of the art world and featuring presentations from Peterborough and area artists who have "found success through their creativity."

Artrepreneur is being organized by

• Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development, 
• Kawartha Lakes Small Business Enterprise Centre, and 
• Business Advisory Centre Northumberland.

The event takes place at MarketHall, Peterborough, Ontario, on February 7, 2012.

More details: Brochure | Details about all workshops + how to register.

Here are the details about the workshop I will be presenting.

The Savvy Entrepreneur: How to Grow Your Business

The arts sector is hot! It's also extremely competitive. To make your mark, you need to know how to identify your ideal customer, showcase what you have to offer, and form alliances with other arts entrepreneurs. This hands-on workshop will inspire you to come up with creative strategies for marketing your arts business throughout 2012 and beyond. 

Other workshops that will be offered the day include

• Intersections: Where Art Meets Business: Jeffrey Macklin, Jackson Creek Press
• Create Experience with Your Art: Paul Portelli
• Market Readiness: Paul Portelli
• Interactive Lunch: Linda Kash and Paul O'Sullivan

For more information, please call 705-743-0777.

That was Mohamed Abdelfattah, winner of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression 2011 Press Freedom Award, being interviewed on The Current on CBC Radio this morning. 

"We have to honour courage in reporting," he continued. "[In Egypt] we don't feel journalism is about entertainment, lifestyle, gossip news."

* * *

I grew up being strongly influenced by a certain type of journalist -- journalists who were fuelled by a strong sense of social justice and who didn't think their responsibility to the community ended the moment they filed their stories.

I read Michele Landsberg's columns in The Toronto Star; and her book Women and Children first was one of the books I treasured most as a young mother because it combined from-the-trenches essays about what motherhood is really like and a call to action to make the world better for all mothers and all children. A collection of Michele Landsberg's columns (Writings from the Revolution) was recently published by Second Storey Press. I can't wait to read it. (Gloria Steinem has said of Michele Landsberg, "Those who make a revolution and those who write about it are usually two different people. Michele Landsberg is one of the few on earth who is trusted and effective at both. There is no one I respect more in the trenches -- or on the page.")

I was inspired (and in awe) of journalist and author June Callwood and the various causes she championed. Her writing was honest and compassionate and she was passionate about causes ranging from freedom of expression to women's issues to AIDS. At one point, she was arrested for supporting the cause of young activists in Yorkville. She was also passionate about children and babies, once stating in a radio interview: "Most people will do anything to help a child and that's the way the human race is meant to be. We're meant to be a tribe. And when it works, it just makes your heart leap."

* * *

By the time I entered my twenties, I knew I wanted to become a writer. I just didn't know what I wanted to write about. That all changed once I had children. I had a motherlode of material overnight. There was so much I had to say.

My need to communicate with other mothers intensified after I experienced the stillbirth of my second daughter, in 1996. As a grieving mother, I felt betrayed by what mainstream pregnancy books of the day had to say about stillbirth. ("Don't worry, it probably won't happen to you." "It's very rare.") I felt a powerful need to write a new kind of pregnancy book, one that would be honest about all kinds of issues. And once I adopted that tone in my writing (and started having conversations with other parents), my writing career took on a life of its own.

I thought I had found my one-and-only source of material: pregnancy and parenting. I used to worry, in fact, about what I would write about once the children were grown. Would I suffer the writer's equivalent of empty nest syndrome? But then, in 2006, I received a gift (if you want to call it that), courtesy of the Canadian electoral system. I will never lack for writing material again. 

It took me by surprise, at first, this new-found passion for social justice and democracy. I had zoned out politically for much of the 1990s, when I was busy giving birth to a large number of young children in rapid succession. But, now that I think about it, it all makes sense. The parental is political. Who has a greater stake in advocating for the next generation and trying to fix the world than the mothers and the fathers?

If you want to publish a book, potential publishers want you to talk about how active you are on Twitter and Facebook in your book proposal. And promoting your stories via social media sites is becoming every bit as crticial to the success of your career as a journalist as researching and writing those stories in the first place.

Unfortunately, we only have so many hours in the day to devote to the growing number of tasks that fall into the job description of writer. So how can we use our social media time as wisely as possible, as opposed to getting sucked into the vortex of permanent chit-chat and never actually getting any writing done? Here are a few tips, based on what I've learned through the social media school of hard knocks.

Weigh the pros and cons of allowing any of your social media accounts to notify you in real time about messages and posts from friends and followers. Instead, plan to log in to your various social media accounts at certain times of the day. If you're having a great morning writing, the last thing you need is to disrupt that flow because of a Facebook or Twitter alert.

Be honest with yourself when it comes to deciding which types of social media activities are business-building and which types of activities are just for fun. And decide how much time you can afford to spend on either/both.

Don't interpret an increase in follower numbers as evidence that your social media efforts are working. Unless you're been cleaning out your Twitter account on a regular basis with a tool like Twitblock, which looks for spam followers, and/or Just Unfollow, which helps you to identify accounts that have been created and abandoned, there's likely a sizeable gap between your total follower count and your number of truly engaged followers (the number of people you interact with on a regular basis).

Develop a social media style that feels natural to you, that encourages people to interact with you, and that isn't all about spreading content about yourself. The number one mistake that authors (and far too many journalists) make when they first sign up for social media is constantly broadcasting information about themselves. Place information about yourself in your bio and occasionally mention something related to your books/articles, but don't constantly bombard your followers with updates from Amazon.com reader reviews. You will drive your social media audience around the bend -- and away. Repeat after me: it's not all about you....

Find out how you are doing, really. If you'd like to get an objective sense of how you are doing with this social media thing (a more honest opinion than any of your friends will ever give you), you may find a social media metrics tool like Crowdbooster useful. Crowdbooster analyzes data from your Twitter account and your Facebook Pages to let you know which types of tweets and updates are the most effective at engaging your audience. (Data about the number of retweets or shares and the number of people reached is provided for each tweet or update over the past week or month -- or for all time.) As you analyze and think about this data, you can challenge yourself to create even more compelling content. After all, you're a writer.

What you shouldn't do is become obsessed by the numbers. The stats are there to serve a purpose, not to become the sole focus of your energy and your activity. And no social media stat can measure the pleasure your writing just gave to a reader who is enjoying your book on a park bench or the converation your article just sparked at breakfast tables across the country.

The online world still only reaches so far. And no tool can measure everything. It's important to keep that in mind.

Related:

Dempsey Marketing Blog: This is Why I Disabled My Klout Account

At one point during the discussion, Jen Reynolds made what I think was a very important point: writers can't be all things to all people.

If, for example, you want to pursue the corporate spokesperson side of things (a very lucrative way to make a living as a mom blogger), you can't expect to be an editorial contributor to publications such as hers. You have to decide which part of the content creation business has the greatest appeal for you: the advertising side or the editorial side.

It was the first time in a long time I'd heard an editor speak publicly about the once clearly defined boundaries between church (editorial) and state (advertising). And, frankly, it was pretty inspiring. Jen Reynolds is clearly an editor who values the quality of the content that ends up in her magazine and who is willing to safeguard that turf.

That discussion has had me reflecting a lot on my own career as a writer: who I would like to work with and the types of projects I would most like to undertake. One thing I know for sure is that I'll continue to seek out editors like Jen Reynolds who are passionate about the content that finds its way on to the pages of their magazines.

When I was ready to start trying to sell my book Baby Science: How Babies Really Work, I figured out which agent in Canada was doing a brilliant job of selling the type of book I proposed to write and decided to send her what I hoped would be a truly irresistible pitch.

I wrote her a letter describing my book and I enclosed a copy of my book proposal, a box of chocolate letters that spelled out the word "YES," and a note that read, "I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm hoping you'll say, 'Yes.'" 

When I hadn't heard back from the agent within a couple of weeks, I decided it was time to follow up.

When I got her on the phone, I asked her if she had enjoyed the chocolate "YES."

It turned out that agents end up with stacks and stacks of parcels in their offices, and my package had yet to be opened. And as much as she loved my creativity (and as much as she and her colleagues would very much enjoy the chocolate "YES,") she simply wasn't taking on any more first-time authors. 

I approached two more literary agencies (a lovely husband-wife team, who specialized in authors who wrote books for children) and the not-quite-so-lovely agent described in my previous post (the one who implied that mothers weren't qualified to write books about babies). Neither of my pitches resulted in an offer of representation, so I decided to get out there and start sending my book proposal out to publishers. And, as you already know from my previous post, I was able to sell Baby Science on my own.

My next two book projects found me. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Canadian History and The Unofficial Guide to Childcare were projects initiated by publishers, who then went looking for authors to write them. (The Canadian publisher of The Complete Idiot's Guides knew me because I'd pitched a parenting book project to him. And I found out about The Unofficial Guides project via The Professional Writers Association of Canada and pitched myself to the series' publisher and editor as a potential author.)

It was when I was asked to write a second title for the Unofficial Guides series -- The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby -- that I thought I'd try seeking representation from an agent again. I asked the then-publisher of the Unofficial Guides series if she could recommend a good agent. She recommended the late Ed Knappman of New England Publishing Associates (NEPA) Inc. 

I sent Ed a letter introducing myself, telling him why I thought I needed an agent at this point in my career, and spelling out my plans for future books. I wanted him to know that I would generate income for his agency: that I wasn't going to be a one-book author for NEPA. We spoke on the phone, he sent me his agency agreement, I reviewed it, and we agreed to work together.

Ed was an amazing agent. He was by my side during some of the most challenging situations I have ever faced (and ever hope to face) as an author. A few years ago, he announced that he was going to ease into retirement. I had decided at about the same time that it might work well for me to have an agent based in the same country as me. (Ed was in Connecticut and I am in Ontario.) We parted ways professionally, but continued to be friends. And when I received word this past spring that Ed had passed away, I was heartbroken. I learned, from reading his obituary, that he had been a civil rights and social justice activist -- something that made me admire him all the more. I understood why he was so willing to fight long and hard for his authors. 

Many first-time authors find that it can be more difficult to land an agent than it is to land a book publishing contract. You will increase your odds of obtaining representation from an agent if

It's also important to ensure that you approach the right agent -- someone who represents your genre, for example. And you'll want to find someone who is a bonafide agent as opposed to a wannabee or scam artist. (For tips on distinguishing between the good guys and the bad guys, consult the website of the Association of Authors' Representatives.)

And before you sign the agency agreement, make sure you're clear about what you're signing (how much the agency will receive from the proceeds of each of your projects, how revenues will be funnelled to you -- and when, and what will happen in the case of any number of worst case scenarios). The best time to check for a robust exit clause is when you're entering into an agreement, after all.

Ann Douglas is the author of numerous books about pregnancy and parenting, including The Mother of All Pregnancy Books. She is a popular conference speaker on topics related to writing and social media. Her other website is www.having-a-baby.com. 

Tonight on Twitter, some writers were asking me some very nuts-and-bolts questions about my career as a writer, so I thought this would be the perfect time to start answering writing-related questions in this blog. (Sometimes I make things too complicated for myself by trying to think about how I want to tackle something when often the best approach is to simply dive in. So here I go.)

How Did You Get Your First Book Deal?

I ended up with two book deals for totally unrelated projects almost simultaneously, after participating in the Professional Writers' Association of Canada's mentorship program for writers back in the mid-1990s. (I have since mentored writers through that program and now mentor writers privately as well.)

When I was being mentored, I focused on two areas: (1) learning to set priorities for myself in my writing career so that I would have time to pursue the projects I really wanted to do; (2) learning the mechanics of writing a book proposal and sending that proposal out into the world time and time again.

My first book proposal was for my children's book Baby Science. I sent the book proposal for that book out 17 times. It was rejected 15 times in a row. The 16th and 17th responses resulted in offers from book publishers. A fierce bidding war ensued! My advance was -- are you ready? -- a heart-stopping $250. But I was on top of the world.

I put heart and soul into writing that book. And why not? I was able to combine my two passions: books and babies. I took my youngest baby (who was nine months old at the time) to the Canadian Booksellers' Association's annual conference and trade show (now defunct, alas) to launch my book in June of 1998. He threw up in the publisher's booth and I only had one baby wipe with me, but I managed to clean up both him and the booth. That continues, to this day, to be one of my proudest moments as an author.

The book went on to become a Children's Book of the Month Club selection and sold something like 32,000 copies. Not bad for a first book that started out with so many rejections.... 

Oh yes. I must tell you one more story about Baby Science's tortured path to publication. At one point, an agent (who will remain nameless) told me that I was unqualified to write a book about babies because I was a mother; that only a doctor could write such a book.

I didn't waste very much time listening to his advice. I was too busy selling and writing my book.

* * *

I've never been a patient person, so I decided to start developing and shopping around other book proposals while I was waiting for a publisher to make up his/her mind about Baby Science. I wanted to write a book about being a mom with a home-based business ("Parenting in the Home Office"). I never did find a home for this project, but this book proposal opened other kinds of doors for me. The publisher of Prentice-Hall Canada liked my writing style and asked me if I would be interested in taking on a different type of project instead. He had noted from my letter that I had a degree in history from the University of Toronto; and they were looking for someone to write a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Canadian History. This was in early June. The book was due in early August. I had a baby due in mid-September. Drunk on book euphoria (the only thing I could get drunk on at the time), I said yes.

I delivered the book on time. (The baby was 10 days late.) When I received my first carton of books -- the very first books ever with my name on them -- I took one copy out of the box and held it tenderly in my hands. I opened it and breathed in the intoxicating scent of its pages. (The only thing that smells better is a newborn baby's head.) Then I checked it over for typos. (I only found one and I'm relieved to say that, 14 years later, I can no longer remember what it was.)

My husband said, "Congratulations." He knew what this meant to me.

Ann Douglas is the author of 30 books, including, most recently, the second Canadian edition of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books (Wiley Canada, June 2011). She has also contributed to a number of anthologies. She is passionate about parenting, social justice, social media, and writing.

This is the first in an occasional series of questions answered by me about writing and the writing life. If you have a question you would like me to answer, you can either add your question to the comments section below or you can catch up with me on Twitter (where I am @anndouglas).

Next Up: How Did You Get an Agent?

The facilitators for The Writers’ Union of Canada’s 2012 How to be Your Own Publicist Professional Development workshops have been announced:

Ann Douglas is the author of 30 books, including the The Mother of All Pregnancy Books.  She has a blog, two websites, three Facebook Pages, two Twitter accounts, a LinkedIn profile, a Google Plus account, and a Flickr photo-sharing account. She has made her own videos (shared via YouTube) and is an active member of online communities for authors (SheWrites) and book lovers (GoodReads).  Her social media presence is influential enough that she was recruited to serve as a member of the Canadian Red Cross Twitter Team and in times of disaster volunteers her time to help to spread urgent messages via social media.  She is a frequent presenter at social media conferences: she spoke at Canada’s first-ever conference about Twitter and social good (#140conf); at Blissdom Canada (the Canadian offshoot of a successful American conference for women who are bloggers and highly active in social media); and at Magazines Canada’s annual conference (MagNet) on self-promotion for writers.  Ann has also participated in She’sConnected, a conference for the 100 most connected women in social media in Canada.

Elizabeth Ruth is a writer, editor, creative writing instructor and mother living in Toronto. Her first novel, Ten Good Seconds of Silence was a finalist for the Writers' Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca Best First Novel Award and the City of Toronto Book Award. Her critically acclaimed second novel, Smoke, was chosen for the 2007 One Book One Community program. Elizabeth's third novel, The Matador - about a female bullfighter - will be published in fall 2012. Elizabeth has promoted her own books working with large and small publishers, with media, bookstores, festivals, libraries, and book clubs and been successful in securing media coverage, reading and speaking invitations, hosting launch parties, and managing book tours.  She is also well-known for her mentorship of aspiring writers. She teaches at the University of Toronto and through the Humber School for Writers. She has held the position of Writer-In-Residence at the Toronto Public Library and is currently working with NOWW to mentor writers across northern Ontario.

The Writers' Union of Canada acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for this project.

Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada par l’entremise du Fonds du livre du Canada (FLC) pour ce projet.
 

I was stunned. I had considered this other person to be a friend as well as a business associate. To learn, many years after the fact, that the friendship had been entirely one-sided wasn't merely embarrassing. It was humiliating.

I began to second-guess my instincts about people. I also started to question whether I was naive to think that I could build a business based on the quality of my relationships (my modus operandi until that rather devastating episode). 

Lucky for me, social media, with its emphasis on relationship building, became popular before I had the chance to conclude that all was lost on the relationships front. And, in the exciting new world of social media, everything about everything was personal, including the world of business.

I started thinking about this time in my life the other night while I was driving home from Canada's first 140 Conference (a conference which celebrates how relationships can be impacted by social media).

I was thinking about when I'm happiest (when I'm connecting with others in a powerful, highly personal way).

That made me think about what I love most about my work as a writer -- when I'm writing something that captures something that I feel strongly about and that I hope will elicit equally strong feelings in my reader. (When I have the privilege of hearing about how something I've written has affected someone's life, I get a chill. I feel an actual biological sensation. That tells me that I'm doing what I was meant to do -- to use my words to forge connections with others.)

Is that how it works for you? How do you know that you're on the right path -- doing the work that you were meant to do? (Or maybe you're not doing it yet: is a nagging feeling in your gut telling you that you should alter your course in some way?) Has the Internet played a role in allowing you to create connections with others? Has it opened new doors for you? I'd love to hear your stories. I hope you'll blog a response -- or post in the comments below. I'll be writing about these and other related themes in upcoming posts.