Archives: October 2007

This summer, I took a mediabistro class. My writing had been on hold for too long, and I needed to see if I still had it in me. I settled on a memoir course taught by Lizzie Simon, whose book Detour I had read and loved.
One week into class, I realized that writing a memoir was no easy task. The experience was raw and emotional, but I knew I was in safe hands right away. “I want everyone to know that I am not a therapist,” Lizzie told us. “I am a writing coach who will help you in any way I can, but I am not here to diagnose you or judge you. I am here to make you feel safe and be a better writer.”
I had a chance to ask Lizzie about her writing process and what it was like to tackle a difficult subject.
What made you want to write a book about bipolar disorder?
When I was diagnosed at the age of seventeen, there weren’t any books available that came from a youth perspective and that communicated that you could not only survive mental illness, but also lead a healthy life. Mine was the first memoir about bipolar disorder by anyone under forty. I was 23 when I wrote it.

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Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion's Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook's Morin Oluwole, and bitly's Tim Devane. Register now.

Generally we try to keep it clean(ish) here in blogville, but we’re making an exception. mediabistro.com instructor Alan Cross is a writer and producer for the TV pilot Video Shmideo, the all-American tale of adult video store owner Alan Zick. The pilot was a hit at the New York TV Festival, where leading man Ali Farahnakian won Best Actor for his performance. Ali was one of the founding members of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, and owns The People’s Improv Theater (aka The Pit).
The pilot is here. You can also view new episodes on Channel 102. Every month, a lineup of shows submit episodes; a live audience votes to renew some, and the rest get the axe.
Currently, Alan is writing and producing a syndicated radio program for Paul Shaffer from The Late Show with David Letterman.
Alan can help you write funny-clean or funny-dirty. His TV Writing: Sketch Comedy class starts Tuesday, November 6.
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TV Writing: Sketch Comedy – starts Tuesday, November 6 (New York)

Y Combinator‘s Disqus launched today. The form to add your comment below is constructed using Disqus. How do you like it?

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You got your job on mediabistro.com. Now Ed2010 tells you how to get promoted.
EdSchool Presents: Get the Promotion You Deserve
Want to know how you can get your boss to see you in a higher position — maybe even promote you into that spot? Come find out how. Betsy Stephens, health and relationships editor at All You magazine (formerly of Fitness, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan) has been promoted five times in her career. She’ll tell you how you can get out of that assistant editor role.
Part 1 (Nov. 6): What’s Holding You Back?
You could be making career mistakes without even knowing it. Find out what you shouldn’t be doing and how to recover from it if you are.
Part 2 (Nov. 13): 10 Tricks for Getting Ahead
Set yourself apart from the rest of the pack with these 10 simple tips!
Part 3 (Nov. 20): Salary Negotiation and Workshop
Getting a higher title, or even more money, is easy, we’ll tell you what to say and when. You’ll also be able to ask questions about your specific situation in this final session.
When: Tuesdays: November 6, 13 and 20 from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Where: We’ll send you the address when you sign up.
How much: $200
Who it’s for: Assistant editors wanting to move into the associate editor role, or anyone who wants to get ahead!
How to sign up: RSVP REQUIRED. Write to edschool@ed2010.com with the subject line PROMOTION CLASS. Tell us where you work, your position and how long you’ve been working there. You’ll get an email back with the PayPal URL.

Getting your nonfiction book published is hard. Getting it published when it deals with one of the most controversial topics of our time is even harder. Deborah Kanafani never intended to tell her own story. Instead, she set out to tell the story of the wives of Middle Eastern leaders in her upcoming book Unveiled, a first-hand look inside Middle East politics and culture that has already been hailed by critics as a must-read.
As a witness to the peace efforts between Israel and Palestine, Deborah was nervous about writing a book of this magnitude. “[In this book] I am trying to show peace efforts and present the path of peace as opposed to trying to point a finger,” she says.
Deborah also knew that the many years she spent in the Middle East would allow her to present the human — rather than political — side of these often-overlooked women.
“My ex-husband was a high ranking diplomat, and I had spent many years with the wives of leaders, and I thought they had amazing stories to tell. No one knows what the women go through. I decided to tell their stories.”
Like many authors, Deborah struggled with deciding whether to write a nonfiction book or a memoir. “I wanted to write about other people, but the publishers pushed for my own story to be the narrative thread, as an American that the reader could relate to. It was a difficult process — I had to tell many different stories and incorporate various themes.”
Deborah Kanafani will be teaching Nonfiction Book Writing in New York beginning October 25.
– Dorit Feith

Are you sick of election talk yet? As Denis Kucinich would say, hello? With the first primary still 3 months away, we’ve already had 7 Republican debates and 13 Democratic debates. We’re a full 384 days until the election, and we’re already in candidate overload. So what is one to do when the public has already lost interest before the crucial voting begins?
John Neffinger of KNP Communications and the Huffington Post feels your pain. He works with candidates to improve their message and delivery to make them more likeable to the public (a nearly impossible task, we know). He was recently featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and he is also teaching our upcoming workshop Delivering Successful Professional Presentations. If he can make Hillary Clinton more likeable, just imagine what he can do for you. hello?
[Image from Owen’s Photolog and sound file of Kuchinch from Mythtv
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Delivering Successful Professional Presentations – Wednesday, October 24, 6:30-10:30 pm (New York)
Jessica Eule, Assistant Director of Education

With such a tight market in the recruitment world, employers are having a tougher time now than ever to source qualified candidates. According to a questionnaire, Sourcing Today’s Candidate: What’s Working to Attract Top Talent, a survey was conducted among 904 job seekers, where one in four surveyed candidates stated that the main challenge in finding a great position was due to “finding a good job fit” based on the job posting. A poorly written job description may be the deciding factor as to whether or not a job seeker would apply to a great job. So what does “finding a good job fit” mean? There may be several great positions that match a talented candidate but if the job posting does not describe this well, say in a vague or uninteresting manner, it can result in a missed opportunity for recruiters.

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When it comes to perks, google takes the #1 spot on NYTime’s list of “The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.” The company provides free Wi-Fi equipped shuttle buses to the office and also offers free food from several restaurants. What more can you ask for? Of course, benefits in a certain company are not the only reason why someone would want to become employed there: people also look for fairness, teamwork, and education within an organization. It’s just an added bonus to help one determine what makes a good workplace. Check out the article to view other companies with cool gifts that made it on the list.
*Image courtesy of Jupiterimages