Education with an Emphasis

No matter the service you offer in the publishing industry, you are a business owner and, therefore, a professional. As a professional, your profession requires education and skill.

When offering editorial services, I find that I regularly educate authors in the difference of a friend reading their work and of myself (a professional with education and experience in the industry who has reviewed numerous manuscripts and seen their success or failure and the reasons behind that outcome).

Though you may have taken classes when you first began to increase your skill level, it is always a good idea to regularly attend classes or conferences to keep your skills up-to-date. You can never know it all, and even if you feel you know everything about your specific skill, your clients will benefit from your learning about other areas within the publishing industry.

Having obtained a master’s degree in publishing, I took courses in book design, copyright, and many other topics that I do not offer services in. Plus, having worked in-house, I was able to see the bigger picture of the publishing process, and where my services fit in the process. And these insights have benefitted my clients because I am more knowledgeable and able to offer additional assistance or advice outside of my provided service.

Having seen the importance of education, I have put a great emphasis on it within NAIWE. We record all webinars and make them available to you on demand. And though the topic of every recording may not be directly related to the services you offer, the knowledge you gained may prove beneficial for your clients when you apply it to their needs.

April Michelle Davis
NAIWE Executive Director

August Webinar: Useful Agreements for the Writer

We wanted to get to know MJ Courchesne (NAIWE's Copyright & Permissions Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

Should a freelancer expect to sign a work-for-hire agreement for each job?

It’s good practice to sign some sort of contract before starting a new job. Whether it’s a work-for-hire or another arrangement is really up to the freelancer. If you’re new to the field, you may wish to sign a work-for-hire to get your name out there and establish your reputation in a certain topic area. If you’re an established writer, you may wish to push for a royalty or another arrangement wherein you maintain your copyright. But either way, a contract between you and your client is good business so that both you and your client understand the full terms of your arrangement from who owns the work to how payments should be made.

This interactive webinar will feature some sample agreements and sources for templates that the writer may find useful during their writing career. What does a work-for-hire generally look like? What should you expect in a standard trade publishing contract? How common are NDAs in the publishing world and why might you need one? How do you format a simple permission request? Who can you reach out to for help when reviewing a contract? Be ready to take notes and bring your questions for this informative session on contracts and agreements.

You can join in this conversation on August 31, at 7 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a webinar on writing agreements and more! The cost for NAIWE members is $10 and $30 for non-members.

To register for this webinar, please visit the NAIWE website.

On-Demand Training: The Power of Story

Guests: NAIWE’s Editorial Expert Barbara McNichol and Guest Andrea Beaulieu

As an author, put yourself in your book through story. As a speaker, put yourself in your presentation through story. Both authors and speakers can open with a story; it adds interest from the start as to why you wrote the book or presentation. Your story is the emotion behind your book or presentation; it touches your audience and is the connection to making a point that you want to be remembered. It is also important to add story as it may make the difference in helping someone else.

Here’s what you can expect to learn in this class:

• A wealth of ideas for telling stories on the page and the stage
• How to express the stories that compelled you to write the books in the first place
• The power of story in fiction and nonfiction
• How to express the emotional why behind your book
• 6 questions to ask yourself to add to the emotion of your stories

 
Barbara McNichol is a nonfiction editor, who works with authors, speakers, and business professionals to add power to their pen through the written word. Barbara wrote Word Trippers: The Ultimate Source for Choosing the Perfect Word When It Really Matters. She offers helpful writing tips weekly and a course to take your writing and editing to the next level: “WordShops: Strengthen Everything You Write.”

Andrea Beaulieu is a coach, consultant, and speaker. She is the author of Ah Ha! 100 Flashes of Insight and Inspiration From Your Authentic Voice and Finding Your Authentic Voice: 7 Practices to Free the Real You and Experience Love, Happiness, and Fulfillment.

It's Worth It

NAIWE prompt: Write about something in your life that is “worth it.”

I’m actually not about to write about something that’s “worth it,” but someone who is.

That would be my husband.

It’s long been my belief that in a marriage, a husband and a wife should each look for ways to serve the other. Now, by “serve,” I don’t mean giving them breakfast in bed every morning or doing every ounce of the housework so that they can watch football on TV. What I mean is that a husband and a wife should do things for each other mutually and be ready to step up when the other is in need.

To read the rest of this article, please visit NAIWE member Suzelle Fiedler's blog.

September Webinar: The Eight Stages of Story

In September, we will be chatting with Greg Smith, NAIWE's Novel Writing Expert, on the very important topic of a pattern to storytelling.

Storytelling is as old as the human race. Over the ages we’ve come to expect a pattern to storytelling. In this webinar, Greg Smith lays out this time-worn pattern. Based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, mythology, psychology, and screenwriting techniques, the “The Eight Stages of the Novel” will help you plot your story before you put pen to paper. This method was used by hundreds of writers at the Agile Writer Workshop. Now you can benefit from their experience.

Greg Smith is a writing coach, editor, and publisher. He founded the Agile Writer Workshop in 2011 with the mission of finding a method to help beginning writers complete a first draft in 6 months. The Agile Writer Method is based on the writings of experts in mythology, screenwriting, psychology, and project management. His seminars on the Agile Writer Method have informed and delighted thousands of writers, scholars, and university students. Agile Writer authors have written over 50 first draft novels and 10 published novels. Greg is a developmental editor for novelists and memoirists. He also coaches authors through the self-publishing maze. Greg runs the popular Agile Readers Book Club where new writers can get a beta read from a dozen or more readers.

The cost for NAIWE members is $10 and $30 for non-members. To register for this webinar, which will be held on September 13 at 8 pm eastern, please visit the NAIWE website.

July's New & Renewing NAIWE Members

Michael Aasted (San Marcos, CA); Chuck Augello (Wharton, NJ); Stephania Biddings (Miami Gardens, FL); Debra Butler (McLean, VA); Margaret Delashmit (Holly Springs, MS); Judy Hagey (Urbandale, IA); David Joel Hernández (Noblesville, IN); Karren Madson (Lafayette, CO); Angelina Misaghi (Santa Monica, CA); Penelope Perkins (Sacramento, CA); Katy Schlomach (New Braunfels, TX); Don Shiffrin (Durham, NC); Chasidy Sisk (New Castle, DE); Lynn Whitmore (Brookhaven, GA).