If your dream job involves climbing trees 11 stories high and rappelling down waterfalls, you’ll be inspired by Darley Newman, whose profession as a TV host and producer has enabled her to do both these things and more. Newman’s approach to travel is unique: by exploring landscapes on horseback and connecting personally with locals, she reveals hidden corners of the world and advises her audience on how to recreate these experiences in their travels. She’s currently producing three shows: Travels with Darley at AOL On Originals, Travel Like the Locals with Darley on ulive, a Scripps network site, and Equitrekking, her ongoing series that broadcasts on PBS in 82 countries. When she’s not filming or planning her next global adventure, Newman writes for travel pubs and keeps up her website. You may have seen this smart, spirited traveler on your TV screen, so now here’s a backstage glimpse at her “daily grind” — if you can call it that!

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Name: Darley Newman
Position: TV host, writer, producer and entrepreneur
Resume: Host, producer and creator of the Emmy-winning PBS series Equitrekking, which debuted in New Mexico in 2006 and nationally in 2007. Author of the series’ companion travel book, Equitrekking: Travel Adventures on Horseback, published by Chronicle Books in 2008. Recently launched two Web series: Travels with Darley on AOL On Originals and Travel Like the Locals with Darley on ulive.
Birthday: December 21
Hometown: Washington, D.C., but grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Education: The George Washington University
Marital status: Married
Media mentor: Susan Zirinsky, senior executive producer for 48 Hours
Best career advice received: “You’re always going to have to work hard to be a success, even when you’ve ‘made it.'”
Last book read: On the Trail of Genghis Khan by Tim Cope
Twitter handle: @darleynewman

What led you into broadcasting work — and to focus on travel?
I’ve always been a creative type of person. I made movies when I was a kid and made everyone in the neighborhood be in them. I actually went into electronic media at George Washington University in D.C. I worked as a camera person for a summer in South Carolina and for a radio news service doing reporting, so I was kind of doing all things media. I just found that [broadcasting] was a really neat medium to work in and explore because I was always meeting new people and doing something interesting.

And I love traveling. In high school, I studied abroad for a summer in Spain and lived with a family and attempted to learn Spanish. That trip was just so amazing, and it opened my eyes to just how much of the world I didn’t know about. Not only learning a new language, but growing in confidence; everything was eye-opening. After that trip, I just really wanted to see as much of the world as I could.

Do you have a defining moment in your early career when things really got rolling, a big break?
Really, getting our show on PBS and airing nationally was probably a huge turning point. It started because I had what I thought was a great idea, which is “Equitrekking,” or seeing the world with the locals on horseback and getting to these beautiful natural places. I hadn’t really produced an entire show by myself, so I wasn’t sure what to do. But I really searched for an outlet that I thought I could work with and would actually take something from us starting out, and that was a small niche network that’s not even around anymore called Horse TV.

“My dream was I just wanted to get one episode to air nationally, and we started producing more [until] we actually had a series.”

We went to them and they said, “If you can get sponsors, we’ll air it.” So I actually sought out sponsors and was able to get them to do this pilot episode. Then I took that episode and also went to the local PBS station and did a test run, and grew it from there. So it wasn’t like I just started out and it happened all at once; it was step by step. My dream was I just wanted to get one episode to air nationally, and we started producing more [until] we actually had a series.

In your Web series, you connect with locals to find destinations off the beaten path. How does the process work?
It’s really interesting, from doing this over the years, I have a network of fellow travelers. A lot of them are actually writers that travel all the time, some of them are retired and this is what they do, and some people work a 9-to-5 job but always make time to travel. So I do a lot of networking and talking with people through social media, but also through traditional means and through friends, to find these great places to go and then pinpoint locals to work with.

For instance, I’ve been writing a column for Practical Horseman Magazine for the past five years, and my editor there had gone to Botswana. She’d done all these really awesome safaris, and she introduced me to some of the different places she’d been, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, we have to do that trip!” So we filmed two episodes in Botswana and actually went to some places she [hadn’t gone] as well.

What does your work day look like?
Obviously when we’re traveling it’s so hectic because the days are packed. We’re basically filming as long as daylight exists, which when we went to Iceland was a problem because it was during the summer, so it was light 24 hours a day!

For instance, a half-hour episode is usually five days of filming. And then there [are] travel days interspersed or at the beginning or end of that, and depending on how much jet lag we have to deal with, a lot of times we’ll cover a whole state or various parts of a country.

“When we finish filming, we’re reviewing where we’ve filmed and trying to figure out if we need to change anything up to complete the story — because like any show, we’re trying to tell really good stories.”

When we finish filming, we’re off and reviewing where we’ve filmed, and trying to figure out where else we want to go and if we need to change anything up to complete the story — because like any show, we’re trying to tell really good stories. So that’s part of it.

At home, I write. I run various websites, Equitrekking.com is one, and I do writing for a bunch of other publications. Every day is totally different, and that makes it exciting.

Can you tell me about a time when filming got exceptionally hectic?
We were filming in Hawaii, and we had a series of natural disasters that we had to deal with. I was in my first earthquake when we were staying in this house [in Hilo] that was basically made of all screens. And then we had a few more days of filming and a hurricane was coming in. We had to pretty much change our entire schedule. So we ended up leaving that part of the island and going early to Waimea and trying to figure out what to film there. Then we were on a ranch [in Waimea] and there was a wildfire on the neighboring ranch. Another day, we were in the Valley of Kings, which is one of the lowest points on the Big Island, and there was a tsunami warning. We were like, we cannot win on the Big Island! It turned out to be amazing in the end, but it was kind of comical because I felt like everywhere we turned, nature was against us.

So which are your favorite places to visit?
I really liked Jordan. We went and explored the Bedouin Desert and Petra, which is a dream travel destination. And the people we met there were so genuine and welcoming. I actually rode with the Bedouin in the Wadi Rum desert and had an amazing experience.

I loved Turkey, I’ve been back to Cappadocia, we’ve filmed there twice actually, and that’s another place where we just met these amazing local people. One guy in particular who was an expert on history took us around to underground cities. We rode to these small villages that not a lot of tourists visit.

And I love Ireland just because it’s so beautiful and diverse, and it’s accessible, and the people are so nice. That’s definitely a common element to a lot of those places that we really like: we meet these amazing people.

“Pursue something that you love, something you want to spend time on, because you really do have to immerse yourself in what you’re doing to be a success.”

We definitely luck out, but I think people around the world are open to sharing their culture and who they are, and they do take pride in where they live and their history and background. So, if as a traveler, you’re open to learning about those things, I think you’ll find that locals are generally open to sharing that with you.

What’s the scariest thing that’s happened to you on your travels?
I was charged by an elephant — it had me questioning my entire career! We were in the Okavango Delta, which is the largest inland delta in the world. It’s a great place to explore because there’s so much wildlife; it’s pristine and beautiful and very exotic. We were riding horses, which is a good way to travel, because you can go from island to island, pass through water, and really get into the interior part of these places where there are no trails.

We happened upon this one island where there was an elephant who didn’t want us there. He was eating jackal berries or something, and I guess he didn’t want us to get near his stash. So we were crossing over, we were kind of parallel to him, and I was like, ‘I think he’s coming towards us!’ And sure enough, he charged us, but it was a mock charge.

Our guide had said whatever you do, do what I do. And he knew it was a mock charge, so we basically had a standoff for about 15 seconds until the elephant backed off. I was shaking almost to death, and my horse was shaking too, but I had an amazing mount that had been in that situation before, which was lucky, so I was glad I had chosen that horse. It was really close, I mean, like 10 yards or something. It was close!

Is there any advice you’d give to aspiring travel journalists or TV producers?
Take aspects of whatever you do that you really have a passion for, then the work that you produce is going to be something that other people will be drawn to. Just pursue something that you love, something you want to spend time on, because you really do have to immerse yourself, and your life, in what you’re doing to be a success.

Also, working hard, going after what you want and not taking ‘no’ for an answer is so important. It is a big world and there are lots of new opportunities nowadays, and different ways you can get there. You don’t necessarily have to take the traditional route anymore, and I think that is something that everybody should be aware of. If you’re creative, you can find a way to make what you want to do a success, or at least give it a great try.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Get a Travel Channel Show Reviewing Fast Food, Daymon “Daym” Patterson?

In January, I decided this would be my year of professional enrichment. My freelance life was going well, but at times, it felt too cyclical. You could say I’d finally slipped out of a multi-year freelance honeymoon phase to stare down the reality of the daily grind.

I had to remind myself: if I’d wanted a daily grind, I wouldn’t have become a freelancer in the first place. And worse, all of those wonderful long-term goals I’d set were completely unaddressed. What about that book I wanted to write? And the community involvement I craved? And then there was my outdated Facebook page, garnering zero traffic and collecting digital dust.

As you may know, every day as a freelance writer feels like a sprint. If I even let up for one second, I imagine, everything will collapse around me. I won’t get paid. I’ll be late on rent. I’ll have to sit down and have “the talk” with my daughter’s daycare provider and we’ll eat nothing but potatoes for a week straight. These are the fears that trivialize the outdated website and unwritten book.

But early this year, despite the daily grind, I managed to start carving out time to address these enrichment opportunities and design my “ongoing education” as a writer. There are three activities, in my opinion, that you can implement immediately to open doors and fill voids: community engagement, passion projects and keeping your social media presence updated.

Real-life community engagement

Despite the cost-effectiveness and speed of digital communication, I am a believer in the unique value of face-to-face interaction, especially for freelancers and other small business owners. Not only does community involvement fill up your internal social meter, it also brands you as a writer among other professionals.

About two months ago, I joined a coworking group, The Creative Foundry, located in a historic building in my small city. The benefit over the first few days was purely aesthetic: peering out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that face the main drag was certainly more interesting than my home office view of my neighboring apartment.

“Not only does community involvement fill up your internal social meter, it also brands you as a writer among other professionals.”

After a couple of weeks, though, I started making connections. The barista at the coffee shop started recognizing me. I met other coworkers. One quiet morning, when only the owner of the facility and I were there, he made a joke that sparked nearly a half hour of conversation about politics and religion. He introduced me to a young woman who was starting a networking group for small-business creatives. One cocktail hour and two coffee meetings later, I’ve befriended a stable of interesting people — interior designers, a branding expert, a small-business lawyer and other writers — all who inspire me and serve as resources down the line for the growth of my business.

If you’re interested in coworking, try searching “coworking” or “shared work space,” followed by your city. In addition, there’s a global coworking movement called Jelly, which is a less formal meet-up of local freelancers at spaces of their choosing.

Of course, there are other ways to connect. If you need feedback, start a writers’ group or join an existing one. If you need job leads, find (or create) a networking group for creatives. Other outlets, like church, volunteer work, political involvement or nightlife may address any of those needs as well. Just make sure it’s something you’re genuinely interested in, or it will be tough to find the energy to commit.

Finally, when it comes to getting out there in the real world, the key is persistence. Great relationships don’t happen overnight. First you have to show up and then you have to keep showing up, often dozens of times, before you see the return on your investment.

Passion projects

A passion project is something creative you do primarily out of love and, often, it’s something you’re not getting paid for. If you’re like me and have a hard time justifying doing any kind of work for free, opt for a project that you may eventually be able to sell. However, your primary goal should be creative expression rather than income because the commercialization of it can often take away some of the joy.

Here’s an example: A couple of years ago, my sister, who lives 500 miles away from me, lamented over email how her rigorous work schedule and long commute left little room for creativity at the end of the day. We decided to do writing prompts over email for a few days to escape reality and have fun with words.

We ended up with stories and prose poems about a guy who hates his artificial hand, a suicidal man on the run and a conundrum involving acid-spiked orange juice. These weren’t topics that would have grown organically in either of our minds, and they weren’t even distantly related to the work we did on a daily basis (I was writing for parenting blogs and tending to my newborn; she was working as an administrative assistant for a private equity firm).

“Stretching my creative muscles not only hones my writing skills, but it reminds me of the spark that started this whole thing in the first place.”

I mention this example because the content we produced was completely unsalable: there was no way either of us could rationally benefit from this writing in our professional lives. But just opening the floodgates of creative possibilities enriched our daily work. One prompt only took about 15 minutes of my time, but the energy derived from it fueled my blogging and made everything seem more colorful.

If you don’t have a creativity-starved sister who lives 500 miles away to hold you accountable, here are some other ideas for passion projects:

__? A dream journal or photo journal

__? A complementary artistic hobby, like sculpture or knitting

__? Blogging about your favorite hobby

__? Outlining an idea for a book

__? Writing a musical composition

__? Daily haikus

__? Letters to old, new or imaginary friends

Another way to generate ideas for passion projects is to think about the creative activities you pursued as a child, before you were swayed by the promise of a crisp paycheck. My favorites were short-story writing and film editing. Because I don’t have the gadgetry and the time to pursue the film thing, I’m currently jumping back into fiction, and I’ve created a small writers__? critique group to help hold me accountable. Stretching my creative muscles not only hones my writing skills, but it reminds me of the spark that started this whole thing in the first place. Unlike my day-to-day writing, fiction deeply rejuvenates me and restores my intrigue with the world.

Social media

For me, social media has been an invaluable tool for landing freelance gigs, connecting with my audience and seeking out experts for interviews. My social media skills have evolved by intuition: over time, I’ve learned that more likes mean more exposure and writing status updates with a positive spin induces more likes. I’ve learned not to get abrasive with others, for both professional and personal reasons. Basically, all rules that apply in person should apply online. Conduct yourself with integrity, be witty and interesting, and don’t solicit or spam the people who love and admire you.

If you’re also a little baffled on how to maximize your social media experience, pick one outlet to focus on, rather than trying to be omnipresent. So between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and the various blogging platforms — which do you choose? It depends on your existing social media presence, and how you prefer to use each site. Facebook is my hybrid personal and professional social network. My Facebook friends are a mix of people I’ve met over the last 10 years, and I often use it to spread the word about my own writing, but also to share random links from around the Web (and pictures of my family).

“All rules that apply in person should apply online. Conduct yourself with integrity, be witty and interesting, and don’t solicit or spam the people who love and admire you.”

Although I mix business with personal life, it is often advantageous to set up a Facebook page separate from your personal profile. The most obvious difference is the structure and analytics of a business page: there are worlds of data at your fingertips regarding your geographic visibility, who’s reading what, the popularity of other business pages and more. Unlike a personal profile, you can promote your Facebook page with a preset budget. You also have room on a professional page to include a broader array of details about your business. To build an audience for a new page, you can use Facebook to invite your existing connections and email contacts to like your page.

Unlike my hybrid personal and professional profile on Facebook, my Twitter is strictly professional and it’s the main social site I’m focusing my energy on at the moment. I like Twitter because it’s easy to tailor my newsfeed to my particular interests and career goals by following other freelancers and organizations. Those that I follow offer up links that help me generate story ideas, address problems I face as a freelancer, and keep me up to date on the industry in short snippets.

My intention this year is to tweet at least once a day to keep my byline out there — a small, manageable goal. I’m also in the constant process of finding helpful and interesting users or organizations to follow. For example, @WhoPaysWriters and various news sites like @Reuters and @WomensMediaCntr keep me updated on industry news and issues important to me. I also follow publications I hope to write for in the future, like @Salon.

Google+ is especially relevant for writers with its Authorship function, which links the content you write to your Google+ profile (sign up at plus.google.com/authorship). On LinkedIn, consider joining a group designed for writers like LinkEds & Writers.

If you really don’t know where to start, try taking a class on the subject of your desired social media site here on Mediabistro.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Balancing Your Freelance Life with Your Personal Life

The fourth season of weekly interview series In Depth with Graham Bensinger is in full swing. Among this season’s guests: Terrell Owens, the athlete who helped launch the reputation of the 27-year-old host many years prior.

Bensinger started doing an Internet radio talk show from his bedroom while in the 8th grade. But it was his 2005 ESPN interview with Owens that put him on the map; the football player’s controversial remarks made international headlines and led to the athlete being suspended for the rest of the NFL season by the Philadelphia Eagles.

From his St. Louis headquarters, where the sports reporter can be found between traveling to various interview assignments, Bensinger spoke to Mediabistro about the Owens bookend chats and much more. This season, for the first time, In Depth is being shown not only on domestic cable and sports networks, but also on traditional TV stations. The program now employs a full-time staff of 11 and continues to simultaneously air on Yahoo Sports and in many international territories via several international broadcast partners, including Rogers TV in Canada.

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You started off the 2014 Terrell Owens interview with an apology. Why did you begin the conversation that way?
Other than very brief instances in passing, I had not had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Owens during the eight years since the first interview. I wanted to do it in part because I know sometimes people will say one thing in private and then another thing publicly. So I wanted to say to him that I was doing this in the public forum so the viewers of our series could understand why I was apologizing.

The interview that I did with Owens in 2005, in part, provided me with the incentive to create this In Depth series. I created the show myself, signed on all the early interview subjects and sponsors myself, and so on. The purpose behind that was so I could have the opportunity to have a platform where I had complete editorial control. Because whether it [was] the three and a half years I worked for ESPN or the time I worked for NBC Sports after that, I ultimately didn’t have editorial control. And I think the most notable example of that is the 2005 Terrell interview.

“There are instances where you know going into it that you are going to cover sensitive subject matter. And how that’s navigated is something I pay close attention to.”

I sat down with him for an hour-long conversation. We covered everything from his grandmother having Alzheimer’s to encounters growing up to the controversial topics. Those controversial topics made up five minutes of the interview and were all that aired on Sports Center. And I can fully understand from a news perspective why that was. There’s limited time, and that was the most newsworthy content.

But I also understand from T.O.’s perspective, he’s thinking – ‘Crap! I did an hour-long interview with this kid, and for what? Just so I can get some extra headlines?’ And so I felt like I owed him an apology for putting him in a situation where I was interviewing him for a platform [on which] I did not have the ability to fully and adequately profile him.

Another notable interview you’ve done for Season 4 was with Kobe Bryant. How do you land such high-profile guests?
I started putting this series together in March 2009. It took about a year and a half to get it assembled; we launched in September 2010. And as the audience size and distribution of the series has slowly grown, it has without a doubt made it easier to get access to high-level athletes. But it’s still definitely a process. Kobe probably took two years.

It’s also easier to get access to these guys if you’re asking for five, 10, 15 minutes. If you need an hour and a half, two hours or a couple of days, there’s so much more involved in requesting the time. If we’re going to do it, we want to have the best chance to do it right, so I really avoid jumping at the opportunities for 10 or 15 minutes. I’ll always hold off and keep the dialogue going until the athlete and their people feel comfortable to give us an extended amount of time.

For this fourth season, I was really lucky to be able to hire away Jim Rome’s long-time talent producer, Jason Stewart. [He] came over after 15 years with Rome. His relationships are obviously extensive. And although the budget is still really small, we’ve been able to carve out some money to send Jason all over to book the best guests. He’s gone on our behalf to Wimbledon, the Kentucky Derby, Floyd Mayweather’s fight, the Daytona 500, and on and on. He’s constantly traveling and his guest-booking help has kind of enabled me to lessen my day-to-day involvement.

“Coming to the interview as prepared as you can possibly be will separate you from 99.9 percent of the other people out there.”

How do you handle some of your tougher interviews?
There are instances where you know going into it that you are going to cover sensitive subject matter. And how that’s navigated is something I pay close attention to. You want to be fair to the person and how it’s presented, so there’s a fine line there. The Kobe interview, for example, was the first time he opened up about his sexual assault charges. We spoke at length with Ray Lewis about him being charged with the murders of two people a decade ago. We went to New Zealand for the first interview with Tiger Woods’ ex-caddie, Steve Wilson, after Wilson was fired by Tiger. Emotions were running high for that one. Going into these situations, I’m always cognizant of the need to tell the story with the figure’s sensitivity in mind.

What have been some of your favorite interviews so far?
I always really enjoy it when we do an international episode because of the varying cultures and the backgrounds of the athletes — whether it’s going to China to talk to Yao Ming or Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines. Those are all exciting interviews.

I also did one in the Hollywood Hills with Jim Brown at his home. He’s arguably the greatest football player of all time, one of the most socially significant athletes of the past century. This is a guy who retired at the peak of his playing career to pursue acting, helping pave the way for black action stars. He’s created hundreds of black-owned businesses through his foundation. The type of people Brown called friends back in the day were Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Hugh Hefner, Richard Pryor, Jack Nicholson, Frank Sinatra, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Jr. So the stories he has are just unbelievable. He’s also somebody who’s very quick to tell you if you ask a dumb question.

You’ve also interviewed O.J. Simpson several times. How did those opportunities come about?
The first time I interviewed O.J., I was a junior in high school. Right from the start, I made a point of going out to events and meeting players [and] publishers. With O.J., it involved Jim Brown. I would use the proceeds of advertising on my Internet radio show to fund trips. [One time] I went to Washington D.C. to interview Brown, and while I was there I met somebody who was also an agent for Simpson.

I proceeded to call that guy twice a week for a year and a half. And finally one day, I was told that O.J. was scheduled to do an autograph signing in St. Louis, and if I could be there at a certain time, this person would make it happen. And at the last minute, I decided to bring a little hand-held video camera. And lo and behold, a week after the interview, Good Morning America flew me out to talk to Diane Sawyer about [it].

And then a couple of years later, I think because Simpson appreciated how I handled myself post-interview, he [gave] me access really whenever I wanted. Now, looking back on those interviews, I think I admittedly did a very lame job when it comes to asking the difficult questions. If I had another chance to talk to him today, there is a lot I would now ask.

Graham Bensinger’s Keys to Success as an Interviewer:

1. Follow your passion. “I feel very lucky to have found something I was passionate about at an early age. It didn’t even dawn on me at first that [interviewing sports figures] could be a career. It was more of a hobby in high school and just grew from there.”

2. Emulate your idols. In Bensinger’s case, two key influences were fellow St. Louis natives Bob Costas and Joe Buck. “Bob Costas wrote my recommendation letter when I went to Syracuse University, which is his alma mater. Both he and Buck have been very kind to me and obviously I have tremendous respect for both of their abilities and talents.”

3. Do your research. “Between [me] and the producers, we probably do about 100 hours of research for each In Depth guest. Coming to the interview as prepared as you can possibly be will separate you from 99.9 percent of the other people out there.”

Richard Horgan is the co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Jay Mohr, Comedian and Fox Sports Radio Host?

Last fall, John Newlin relocated from San Carlos, Calif., to Manhattan to watch over Livingly Media’s two-year-old New York office. He left behind the business development, finance, engineering and editorial team at Zimbio.com to preside over an East Coast staff that now slightly exceeds that of the company’s West Coast operations.

At the new offices, sales and marketing staff work alongside editorial teams for the company’s two other highly trafficked Web destinations — fashion design site StyleBistro and interior-design site Lonny. The married father of two young children has made his new home in Brooklyn, where his wife — an executive at IBM — works from home.

Newlin jokes that since he neither runs a hedge fund nor works in the legal field, he cannot afford to live in Manhattan proper. During a recent telephone conversation with Mediabistro, the recently transplanted executive talked about overseeing a content network that attracts more than 30 million unique visitors each month.

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Name: John Newlin
Position: VP of content, Livingly Media
Resume: After a few years in LA doing miscellaneous freelance writing, he migrated north to San Francisco and got a job at Imagine Media (now Future Networks). Worked with a Wired editor on what would become Business 2.0, as well as helped launch a pair of major Web networks. Joined Livingly Media (then Zimbio, Inc.) in March of 2008 as its first editor.
Birthdate: September 26
Hometown: San Francisco
Education: BA in English from Lake Forest College
Marital status: Married
Media mentor: Art Cooper
Best career advice received: “Work smart, not hard. But also work hard.”
Guilty pleasure: XBox One
Last book read: The Next 100 Years by George Friedman
Twitter handle: @Newlin4141

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Why did you decide to relocate?
A couple of things. I think bi-coastal management of teams is something that we all underestimate the difficulty of. Despite all the technology we have and how connected we are, with editors you kind of have to be in the same room with them. So I came out here to be closer to the two youngest editorial teams and to try and export some of our California sensibility.

I also very recently moved into a new content role, from editor-in-chief to VP of content, [which] has me doing more outbound content promotion as well as content development. Coming up with awesome new features and seeing those through, and building out partnerships for our extensive photo archive, and so on.

How did you get started in content creation?
After going to college in the Chicago area, I moved to Los Angeles and sold a pilot script to Comedy Central. That did not work out, as the vast majority of pilots tend to do. I spent a couple of years in LA doing freelance writing and then, as the Internet started building up steam, I packed up for San Francisco and got a job with Imagine Media (now Future Networks USA).

I started working on what was later to become Business 2.0 with a former Wired editor. We also worked on a print magazine about the Internet called Net, but the plans for that publication were eventually shelved. It was a time when Red Herring was big. I stuck around Imagine and launched a couple of Web networks for them, IGN and Game Radar.

“This has been an active conversation for the past two years — how to harness the power of these [social] networks. And for us, it’s still pretty much all Facebook.”

IGN was of course sold to Fox in 2005, while Daily Radar was slightly ahead of its time. It had shareability all over it and would have done really well today. I went from there to doing freelance writing for Maxim, Men’s Journal and that crowd of titles, as well as consulted to try and help companies with the difficult challenge of syncing up their print titles with the Web. I joined Livingly Media in March 2008.

How does Livingly tap into social media effectively — and which platform do you use most?
This has been an active conversation for the past two years — how to harness the power of these networks. And for us, it’s still pretty much all Facebook. We have a pretty good relationship with them; [the Facebook] office is in a neighboring California city.

We launched personality quizzes [on Zimbio] in mid-January. From a pop psychology point of view, these quizzes answer the question, “Who am I, really?” If someone takes the “What Star Wars Character Are You?” and gets Han Solo, they think, of course, I’m a space cowboy. And you share that because this is what you’ve been telling people for years — you’re just as cool as Han Solo. So there’s that ego thing. You’re getting the results of the quiz and you’re saying, “Yes! Check it out.” There’s also, I think, a prime kitsch factor to it.

Is part of the appeal of these quizzes the fact that there are no really “bad” or uncool matches?
It depends how you define cool. When we did a J.R. Tolkien character quiz, we found that those who got wizards were way more likely to share their results than those who got, say, hobbits. So there is that to it, but of course, not everyone can be Han Solo. The writing of the quiz has to be done by someone who is very, very familiar with the particular TV show or film franchise.

I get this question a lot about the quizzes — “Are these things real or do you just make them up?” I’m never really sure how to answer. They’re as real as you want them to be and, yes, we make them up. I just heard that Jason Alexander took our Seinfeld quiz and got the Soup Nazi as his answer.

The traffic we started getting for these quizzes was truly unprecedented. And it still is to a large extent. I think we tapped into something at the right time, backed by a robust tech platform. This wave is going to crash eventually. It’s not going to keep growing. However, it’s still, for now, very big.

“The traffic we started getting for these quizzes was truly unprecedented. I think we tapped into something at the right time, backed by a robust tech platform.”

Livingly also has an enormous photo archive (more than 10 million assets). How do you use them across your sites?
It started out on Zimbio. We basically knew that we needed to build a lot of topic pages and we knew that we couldn’t do it manually. So we created some smart technology that builds these photo albums using meta-data and struck our first photo partnership with Getty Images. Most people buy Getty images à la carte. We buy them all.

Anything that an in-house Getty photographer shoots automatically ports to Livingly’s system. And our system will then read the data attached to the photos and put them in the appropriate, separate containers. We use the vast majority of what Getty sends us, showcasing the entertainment and fashion ones mainly. On Zimbio, we also highlight sports and current events.

What we’ve noticed with the massive breadth and depth of the photo archive is that older assets will sometimes suddenly start getting tons and tons of traffic. We built a proprietary real-time analytics tool and because we have this long tail, we will often be the only site that has a lot of photos of a particular B-level celebrity or individual. We will score on Justin Bieber and that kind of thing also, of course, but it’s really these other tiers of photos that are paying off for us.

Are there any plans for a fourth Livingly website?
We’re definitely launching a couple more sites, yes. We’re not sure which one will come next, but it will happen sometime later [in 2014]. It will be in the lifestyles category. Right now, we’re also redesigning Lonny. It was one of the first so-called “digital shelter” sites, offering PDFs of print publications. We’ve since moved away from that format of replicating magazine pages. Because of mobile, we’ve decided to change direction and build the next thing in this shelter category. On mobile phones, Lonny is hard to read. The new Lonny will launch this spring.

Richard Horgan is the editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Bonnie Fuller, Editor-In-Chief of HollywoodLife.com?

“They cannot say that they did not have the means. Our government is supposed to be one of the greatest, but it’s proven to me that, hey, if you don’t have money and you don’t have status, you don’t have the government.”

That’s a quote from the 2009 Academy Award-nominated documentary Trouble the Water about Hurricane Katrina. If those plain-spoken yet profound words don’t spur you to action or compel you to make some changes, the raw, on-the-ground images captured on film will. The critically lauded film’s promotional strategy included a robust online engagement program that was key to galvanizing action and helping spread its message — even though filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal say they didn’t set out to “deliver facts or information,” rather to simply “tell a story.”

Trouble the Water follows the story of Ninth Ward resident and rap star-hopeful Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott as they document the harrowing events that come before and after the storm. The film, directed and produced by Lessin and Deal, did become more than just a story, though. Its website, TroubleTheWaterFilm.com, became a hub of information — a place that gave people something “something to do with that hell-raising energy the audience feels when they leave the theater,” Lessin and Deal say. The documentary duo will be honored at the 28th annual Harry Chapin Media Awards presented by WhyHunger and Mediabistro on September 28. Ahead of the awards ceremony, we caught up with Lessin and Deal via email to find out how they produced the acclaimed documentary and developed an online community around it.
What was your strategy for raising funds to produce Trouble the Water?

Strategy? Initially we didn’t have a strategy, we started making Trouble the Water on an impulse. Kodak donated film stock, friends donated camera equipment, family donated frequent flier miles, and we flew to the central Louisiana city of Alexandria a week after the storm and started shooting. Later, we received grants from the Open Society Institute, the Sundance Documentary Fund, Creative Capital and other documentary funders. And then private investors put up the finishing funds before we premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

You chose a compelling, visceral, and timely subject for your documentary. What advice would you give to others selecting material and interview subjects for their docs?

Trust your instincts, listen carefully, and be impacted by what happens around you. Life takes place outside the narrow lens of the camera, so try to respond to what is going on in the moment, not just what’s in your head or written in a treatment. Let yourself be surprised, and your audience will be, too.

“Because the scale of the tragedy was so immense, our goal was to tell an intimate character-driven story, bringing unheard voices to the screen.”

How did you find the videographer [Kimberly Rivers Roberts] whose footage is featured?

When we set out for the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina, we wanted to make sense of the disaster, not by talking to experts or officials, but to people who were surviving it. Because the scale of the tragedy was so immense, our goal was to tell an intimate character-driven story, bringing unheard voices to the screen. Kimberly and Scott Roberts approached us about 10 days after the levees failed. We were all in Central Louisiana at a Red Cross Shelter. They were just at the beginning of their post-Katrina journey, and we had just been shut down by the military after filming several days with Louisiana National Guard soldiers returning home from Baghdad. The Roberts were looking to sell their extraordinary POV video which Kimberly shot the day before and the morning of Katrina, and we ultimately used 15 minutes of that footage in the film. But more important than the footage was the Roberts as subjects in front of our cameras: In them, and in their companion Brian Nobles, we found smart, funny, undefeated, indignant and determined survivors struggling to overcome not only Katrina and its aftermath, but also their own troubled pasts. We filmed with them on and off for two years. By sticking close to their journey, we were able to distill so much into one story — the abandonment of the city’s poorest, the incarcerated, and the hospitalized to Katrina’s floodwaters, and the government’s failures well before, during, and after the storm.

Why do you think your film resonated with audiences, especially critics?

The response of audiences and critics to Trouble the Water has been overwhelming, and we are very grateful for the beautiful emails and reviews. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching an audience watch our film. We can’t tell you why audiences like the film, but we can tell you why we do. We set out to tell a story, not to deliver facts or information, and we tried to craft a film that was experiential — rather than just describing an experience, we hoped to give the audience the feeling they were experiencing it first-hand. We didn’t want to make the kind of film that told you where it was going before you go there. Perhaps it surprised audiences, because it was such an intimate story, because we didn’t include, “Heck of a job, Brownie,” as people would expect in a film about Katrina to do, perhaps because the characters we focused on were not the Katrina survivors we saw profiled on the nightly news.

“Our online approach is less about promoting the film and making sales (that we leave to the distributors), and more about sharing new information and giving people something to do with that hell-raising energy the audience feels when they leave the theater.”

We think the film continues to resonate five years after the hurricane because Trouble the Water is not just about Katrina — it’s a film about navigating through hard times, through storms big and small, natural and man-made, and these are hard times for so many right now. We suspect that is why the film has reached well beyond the art house crowd and the festival circuit. The Bush Administrations and the conservative right led this country into some very, very dark times over the past three decades. They dismantled social services, gutted environmental protections, deregulated the markets, exempted the U.S. from international laws, and we are all experiencing the tragic consequences of those policies now. It makes sense that a film like Trouble the Water has appealed to audiences and critics alike.

Is there any difference between marketing a fiction film versus a nonfiction film online?

We’ve never marketed a fiction film online, so we can’t answer that question. But we worked hard to build a Web presence as part of our online engagement program, centered on our website. In addition to posting constantly updated news and reviews, a regularly updated blog, and background information about the making of the film, the website gives visitors opportunities to take direct action. One campaign generated nearly 30,000 letters to congress asking lawmakers to take action to create green jobs and sustainably redevelop the Gulf Coast. That campaign was developed with the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign, Oxfam America, the RFK Center for Human Rights, and other partners who blasted their lists, as well, directing letter-writers to our online action page.

When did you realize your online marketing efforts were paying off?

Our online approach is less about promoting the film and making sales (that we leave to the distributors), and more about sharing new information and giving people something to do with that hell-raising energy the audience feels when they leave the theater. A great thing about online engagement is that it can be measured in numbers with tools built into the website, or with free tools like Google Analytics. So we know there have been over a million page hits on TroubleTheWaterFilm.com, and we know that tens of thousands of people signed up for our email updates, and we know exactly how many of those subscribers have responded to the direct calls for action (more than 25 percent), and so on. If there is a moment where we realized the power of the tool, it was when Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast in 2008. The film was in its first week of release and so was drawing more Web traffic than usual, and that morning we routed 15,000 Web visitors looking to help people forced to evacuate the Gulf Coast to our partner, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, which was providing immediate financial assistance on the ground in that very moment of crisis.

Given that so many filmmakers and studios are taking advantage of social networking, blogging, mobile applications and so on to promote their films now, how can filmmakers continue to distinguish themselves among the media noise?

Here’s what we did beyond the usual film promotion and marketing: Developed an online “Speak Out” campaign that allows anyone to use TroubleTheWaterFilm.com to send a letter/fax directly to their representatives in Congress to demand action along the Gulf Coast; launched the “Share Your Story” campaign to tell stories and involve our audience in content creation; launched an event module for community groups to add their event and use the site as a resource to RSVP, recruit volunteers for the event or follow up with reminders and information; created and circulated an e-zine about the film which contained content, new and old, and links for viewers to take action; and curated and published a variety of underexposed news articles and reports from partner organizations on the website’s news blog and Facebook page.

How important was the interactivity factor (Share your story… Host a screening… on TroubleTheWaterFilm.com) in getting the word out about your film?

The “host a screening” link on TroubleTheWaterFilm.com has brought in thousands of requests to organize community and/or educational screenings of the film — resulting in countless events at museums, places of worship, community centers, high schools, universities, and even the harder to reach “beyond-the-choir” organizations like civic and professional associations and government agencies. The distributor of Trouble the Water has told us that the scope of this institutional interest in a film exceeds anything it has seen in its 20 years as one of the leading distributors of independent films, and they credit the strategic outreach campaign for this.

You seem to have formed some strategic partnerships with other organizations. How important were those relationships in spreading your message?

By partnering with organizations at the forefront of Gulf Coast recovery, or groups leading the debate about social and economic justice, we’ve been able to leverage the film outside the theater to bring more attention to the underlying problems that remain along the Gulf Coast long after the floodwaters receded — the failing schools, record high incarceration, government accountability, and poverty. What happened in Katrina shined a light on the structural problems that give rise to all these problems, and it happens everyday in New Orleans, and it also happens in New York, and in every other community in the country. The partnerships give the audience new ways to get involved to make change.

Deal and Lessin’s Tips for Marketing Your Documentary Online
1. Build a Web presence in addition to a website
2. Harness the time, energy, creativity, thinking, and innovation of your audiences to engage with your content
3. Promote storytelling and involve your audience in content creation
4. Get your audience to take action and create tools that they can share with their networks.

NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Write A Tome For Social Change, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn?

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Jennifer Pullinger is a freelance writer and book and film publicist in Richmond, Va. Visit her at www.JenniferLPullinger.com or @JLPullinger.

Cheryl Brown has navigated the career jungle gym, honing her editorial know-how across both digital and print platforms. She is never one to turn down an interesting opportunity. For example, in addition to her coveted editor-in-chief role at Meredith’s Allrecipes magazine, she’s also a partner at a New York City bar, which gave her “a different perspective on an audience, what people do and what they need.” She even spent the first six months in the trenches, out on the floor — managing, hostessing and dealing with media inquiries. But her full-time baby, the print incarnation of Allrecipes.com, was recently released upon its loyal audience of home cooks. Brown shares her success story, her take on what makes print an enduring and unique art form, and she also serves up some advice for breaking into this competitive market.

Resume: Worked at Gourmet magazine for a decade, starting as an editorial assistant and working her way up to senior editor. Transitioned to managing editor of Disney’s Wondertime magazine, then to digital/editorial director at AOL, overseeing KitchenDaily.com and Slashfood.com. Arrived at Meredith in 2011 to oversee Recipe.com. Transitioned over to Allrecipes in 2013.
Birthdate: “I’m an Aries. Let’s leave it at that!”
Hometown: Westfield, Mass.
Education: Amherst College
Media mentor: “Colleen Curtis, who hired me at AOL. Her creativity and big-picture thinking is off the charts, but what’s really impressive is how she leaped among media platforms — she’s done magazines, newspaper, television and digital — and she’s a rock star because of it.”
Best career advice received: “Colleen Curtis said, when asked if you can tackle a seemingly insurmountable project, ‘don’t ever say no. Instead, say, sure, I can absolutely execute — it would take X, Y and Z resources to make it happen.’ Be upfront about what would be required to pull it off, even if you know those resources are as impossible as the request itself.”
Guilty pleasure: “I’m ashamed to admit I’ve become addicted Candy Crush. So instead of reading the Times or doing something useful or intellectual with my subway ride, I’m playing that damn game.”
Last book read: The Woman Upstairs, by Claire Messud
Twitter handle: @Allrecipes

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Tell me about your food-media background — how did you break in?
When I moved to New York City after college, I intended to go into book publishing. I had a very romantic vision of what that would be like, thanks to a summer internship at David R. Godine Publisher in Boston. Nothing was opening up at any of the big publishing houses, and I was panicking about money, so I took a roving internship at Condé Nast. You get to work at a bunch of titles; they move you around to wherever help is needed. I figured out pretty quickly that fashion and beauty weren’t going to be my thing, but I was enjoying magazine work and an editorial assistant position opened up at Gourmet, and I thought ‘Food and travel, that’s cool.’

How did your decade working at Gourmet shape your career?
Gourmet was really my seminal job that gave me the confidence to move forward with food editing. It taught me how to cook and how to ask questions. When I started recipe editing, it was terrifying because it’s such a foreign, specific world. Recipe editors knew I was pretty green and junior to start, and they would take my questions initially with a grain of salt, like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t know this’ or ‘She doesn’t know that.’

“All media brands want to be on whatever platforms their consumers are using. The Allrecipes.com consumer is clearly digital and mobile savvy, so in this case, print was the missing link.”

So I would take the manuscripts home and I would cook from them. Then I would go in to work the next day, armed with my questions. Being able to tell my editors that, ‘Last night I made X, and I struggled over this direction,’ they took on a whole new respect for me. My understanding of food and cooking and recipe editing went through the roof. For the first time, I really understood what a recipe is supposed to tell you.

People underestimate how challenging it is. Nowadays, you can pop onto YouTube and check how something’s done if you don’t understand it. But when I was at Gourmet, back in the day, it wasn’t that easy. Sometimes explaining something that’s so simple when you see it but trying to say it in words is really challenging.

Describe the unique model of Allrecipes. What’s your mission for the magazine?
Allrecipes is one of the first magazines born out of a website — it’s reverse engineered, so to speak. All media brands want to be on whatever platforms their consumers are using. The Allrecipes.com consumer is clearly digital and mobile savvy, so in this case, print was the missing link. My primary challenge is to bring the Allrecipes.com community to life on the printed page. I have to make sure the conversations, the personalities and the real-life vitality are coming across loud and clear. The second layer is to constantly reinforce the relationship to the site and spotlight all the things that Allrecipes.com is known for, while still bringing in new content. It’s a crazy fun project.

Do you think this web-to-print model will become the standard in the future?
I can’t say whether it’s the future or not, but I do think that all media brands are going to be exploring options like this one. There’s so much talk of being on all platforms, but print is very much an active platform and I think it’s not to be overlooked. The opportunities are different, and the way it serves the consumer is different.

“Print is very much an active platform and I think it’s not to be overlooked. The opportunities are different, and the way it serves the consumer is different.”

It’s so funny, having worked in both mediums. Digital is about utility, about finding what you need right away, getting a lot of ideas and instruction quickly. I think what print speaks to is a little more of — I don’t want to say leisure time, because I don’t think anybody has leisure time these days, but I think magazines bring a curation to the table that other platforms can’t do in the same way. Nobody can do photographs like magazines. Magazines don’t have to be driven by SEO, so they’re able to bring attention to really interesting stories or unusual topics. In my magazine, I call them hidden gem recipes: recipes that maybe don’t have 9 billion page views, but they’re still really good and I think people should know about them.

What career advice would you give to journalists hoping to break into food media?

Don’t be afraid to try something that isn’t part of your intended ‘career plan,’ and don’t avoid jobs or tasks you think are at a level below where you currently are. Some of my most important learning moments came from trying things that had nothing to do with my day-to-day job. For instance, when I switched from print to digital, my world was rocked in a lot of ways. I remember learning to program a website. I sat down and I had no idea how to make it go live, how that even worked. So I was doing entry-level programming and coding that any assistant can do — they were actually all doing it better than me because I was learning. But I have a completely new skill set and career path because I took that chance with digital.

Also, I think it’s always helpful to do tasks that your staff is doing, because then you fully understand what the effort level is and you can be a better manager. But also you really know whether a task is really so difficult that it takes that much time, or if somebody is just not being efficient. You honestly don’t know unless you’ve done it yourself.

And I have to say, in reference to all those stops in my career between Gourmet and Allrecipes, working for a few mass-market brands was a step in a different direction, too. But actually I think those experiences put me in a good place for this position, helped me understand what the average home cook needs and wants, because the truth is Allrecipes is the whole country. It truly is all of America.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> How To Pitch: Food Network Magazine

Toby Daniels is an entrepreneur with a passion for emerging media, technology and open innovation. He is the co-founder and CEO of New York-based Crowdcentric, whose mission is to help people and organizations effectively collaborate and share information in order to create a more open, connected and sustainable world. The company achieves its goals via media conferences, digital marketing and by developing web and mobile products that help businesses thrive in the areas of communication and technology.

Crowdcentric Media, a division of Crowdcentric, runs Social Media Week, a worldwide event that captures, curates and shares ideas, trends and best practices on social media’s impact on business and society. Over the past six years, Social Media Week has expanded to 26 cities around the globe, exploring the cultural and economic impact of social media and gathering more than 6,000 media impressions.

The theme of this year’s Social Media Week, which kicked off in cities, including New York, Milan and Tokyo, on Feb. 17, is “The Future of Now,” a reflection of our always-connected lifestyle.

Mediabistro recently caught up with Daniels to tap into the Crowdcentric philosophy and get a sneak preview of this year’s Social Media Week.

Name: Toby Daniels
Position: CEO and founder of Crowdcentric
Resume: From 2000 to 2009, managing director of Online Creative Communications, a London-based interactive agency. Came to the States in 2006 as a rep for social design firm Mint Digital and soon headed up the company’s U.S. launch, acting as director of business development from 2007 to 2009. Created Social Media Week in 2009 and founded Crowdcentric in 2010. Daniels, a regular contributor to a number of nonprofit organizations, serves on the senior board for CampInteractive, which empowers at-risk, inner-city youth. He’s been featured by CNN.com, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, the BBC, PSFK and Fast Company.
Birthday: Aug. 11, 1976
Hometown: London
Education: University of West London
Marital status: Married
Media mentor(s): Seth Godin
Best career advice received: “Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are. Take a look at my team and you’ll see what I mean,” he said.
Guilty pleasure: Triple IPAs
Last book read: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products, by Leander Kahney
Twitter handle: @TobyD

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What is the Crowdcentric approach to social media?

We believe in a genuine and consistent approach. We approach new platforms not just with interest but also with an understanding that any platform we invest in requires a full investment. You can’t engage halfway; so, each platform receives solid and consistent attention and strategizing for ensuring we’re being respectful to our audiences on it. We also strongly believe in creating something of value. We can’t be there to hear our own voice; it has to be a presence that we know will create something for our community.

Can you describe Crowdcentric’s involvement in crowdfunding initiatives? Where is crowdfunding headed in the future?

We believe crowdfunding is a huge potential for us all. Businesses no longer need to rely upon big banks, but it puts their future into the power of the community. As a collective, we can decide what we want to see succeed. What’s remarkable is that studies show that those invested in crowdfunding tend to be discerning and accurate judges of what will succeed.

“Crowdfunding is a huge potential for us all. Businesses no longer need to rely upon big banks, but it puts their future into the power of the community.”

We believe crowdfunding will expand personal projects. With the further expansion of the JOBS Act, businesses will slowly start to optimize this, engaging their communities in more tangible ways, with rewards consumers care about. This is why we have a host of events during SMW focused on crowdfunding, from looking at crowdsourcing real estate with Prodigy Network to having [filmmaker and actor] Pawan Kumar talk about funding your dreams.

After Social Media Week we will be announcing the launch of new project that will build on the CROWDFUNDx conference we hosted in New York City in July 2013.

What inspired you to create Social Media Week and when did you know it was a success?

I had a simple goal of bringing people together to share ideas for how social media was changing society, business and culture. Inspired by the presidential election in 2008, for which social media played an integral role, I wanted to make the conversation about the societal changes that social media could bring about, as much as the business and cultural implications.

For us, knowing that we have hosted more than 5,000 events in more than 30 cities around the world and brought together more than 100,000 people offline, while reaching millions more online and through social and mobile — that is success. We’ve seen local teams convene government officials in Lagos, Nigeria; musicians and actors in Los Angeles; technology entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley; brand marketers in the UK; and agency heads in Bogota, Colombia, who have connected, engaged and shared their experiences and expertise with the rest of the world.

Content marketing seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. Is it a passing fad or here to stay?

It’s the way forward. With an information abundance, brands need to make their content relevant and crouch their marketing more in what their audience cares about. It’s not just product placement but giving your consumers something they care about. We know it’s the future, which is why we’re working with Percolate for a half-day track specifically on the topic this SMW.

“Communication technology unites us, relays news equally with opinion, transports us to worldwide events and shrinks distances between our relationships.”

Why is building trust and personal relationships with customers increasingly important for today’s social networks?
All relationships are built on trust. Without it, there is not a relationship; it becomes just transactions then. So, whenever you’re engaging with someone, online or off, you must be thinking about the long-term relationship. Zappos is a great example. It’s not about whether they lose money on return shipping. It’s about ensuring their customers feel like they are a part of something important and will always get what they need out of it.

In an interview with SocialTimes, you mentioned emerging trends, such as wearable technology and “the quantified life.” Can you expand on this concept?
Our lives are becoming increasingly digitalized and we can use this to improve our lives. What’s great about wearable tech is that it can allow for tech to get out of the way of our lives, while gathering data. The more we know about our habits, our tendencies, the better we can structure our days, lives for success in relationships, work and health.

What else does Social Media Week have in store for us in the “Future of Now?”
“The Future of Now” is an inclusive theme — all of us are struggling with the appropriate balance in our lives. Communication technology unites us, relays news equally with opinion, transports us to worldwide events and shrinks distances between our relationships. We’re tuning into events that we’ve never before been able to access and witnessing other people’s experiences unfold in real time.

Our latest video really highlights what we’re wanting to discuss at SMW.

Christie Barakat is a freelance writer based in Florence, Italy. Follow her on Twitter @christiebrkt.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Toan Lam, ‘Chief Inspirator’ For Social Activism Site GoInspireGo.com?

A quick perusal of the millions of eBook titles available online can leave an ambitious writer caught between laughter and tears: Although it’s amusing how much dreck is out there, the equally vast number of quality reads can be disheartening to a new self-publisher hoping to break in. How do you know if boarding the eBook train is a good move for your career, or if you’re better off pursuing a traditional book deal? Like most conundrums in this crazy industry, the answer is it depends on your personality, your goals and the type of writing you do.

Before you decide you want to digitally self-publish, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you an entrepreneur?
Self-publishing requires an entrepreneurial spirit: you must be as much a visionary as you are a businessperson. Kim Bookless, a Chicago-based publishing consultant, editor and writer, states that “having a vision of your book’s purpose, your goals for the book and your audience determines the entire publishing strategy.” If you can’t see the big picture, self-publishing may not be for you.

2. Are you a control freak?
One common thread among industry experts regarding the positive side of self-publishing is how it gives you total control. Diana Burrell, co-author of The Renegade Writer and self-pub guru, sums it ups: “I’m a control freak. I love everything about [self-publishing]: Picking out my covers, working with editors. I like having my fingers in all those pies. If you like bringing a whole project together, you will love self-publishing.”

3. Do you have the means to hire a team of professionals to help you?
Whether you’re independently wealthy or you have a killer fundraising strategy, successful self-publishing — the kind that strengthens your career, that is — isn’t cheap.

4. Do you want to make money?
Although there’s no guarantee your eBook will sell, digital self-publishing makes much more sense from a business viewpoint than waiting years to get a book deal with a traditional publisher. Orna Ross, author-publisher and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, says that self-publishers “don’t tend to be the kind of writers who say, ‘I don’t care about money.’ Writing can be about craft, but publishing, while it can be highly creative, must succeed at a business level.”

5. Do you have the time, energy and availability to write and market a book?
Where traditional publishers will handle the end-to-end production of your book, a self-publisher must have the energy and time to oversee every stage himself.

6. What are you true goals?
David Gaugran, indie author and blogger, says, “Writers get so obsessed with finding an agent that representation becomes the goal. They forget that’s just the first hurdle.”

After that, your book gets passed to editors, marketing teams, sales teams and booksellers — and there’s a good chance your book may fail at any of those crossroads. If you need an agent and a traditional publishing house, rather than readers (and yourself) to verify your awesomeness, are you writing for the right reasons? Gaugran urges writers to consider, “why don’t you pick yourself, instead of waiting to be picked?”

“Digital self-publishing makes much more sense from a business viewpoint than waiting years to get a book deal.”

Bring the right people on board.

Just because you may have the means and desire to self-publish, doesn’t mean it’s a foolproof way to boost your writing career. To get that competitive edge, there are a number of pre- and post-publication steps you can take to bring in money and influence with your eBook.

The best decision a writer can make before debuting an eBook is to hire people to help. Burrell explains, “That’s the thing a traditional publisher would do for you, but as a self-publisher, you have to do it yourself.” Your creative team should include a copy editor, proofreader, cover designer, marketing expert, publicist and an attorney.

And although it may be tempting to save money by asking your teenage son to tinker around on Paint and design a cover for you, don’t. “There are certain things only a book designer knows,” says Bookless. “For example, a designer may have gone to art school and may design an awesome-looking cover. But you’re looking at it full-size. It might look terrible on a thumbnail.” If you’re really pressed by budget constraints, Bookless urges you to, if nothing else, invest in an editor first and cover designer as a very close second.

However, Gaugran recommends you self-publish direct, rather than using a self-publishing company. With a self-publishing service, even one born from a large, reputable publisher, “at best, you will lose key aspects like the ability to make quick price changes, and you won’t have live sales reports. At worst, you will get scammed by one of the vanity presses masquerading as a self-publishing company.”

It’s true: because more people are self-publishing, more scams are cropping up. Bookless says, “Depending on the company, they may jack up the printing cost, or they charge more for the book to balance it out. Some of them will try to take a portion of your royalties, or upsell you. I’ve seen people spend $20,000 or more. It’s amazing how many people get taken in by that kind of thing.” Bookless recommends visiting the Preditors and Editors website, Writers Beware or the BBB to check if a company is reputable. Even simply Googling a company name alongside the word “scam” or “ripoff” can help.

“If you need an agent and a traditional publishing house, rather than readers (and yourself) to verify your awesomeness, are you writing for the right reasons?”

Have a marketing strategy.
You should also allow your marketing plan to develop organically, and early. “Think about how you will reach readers as you write your book,” says Ross. “See your marketing as a natural extension of your other writing. Do what you love — it’s much more likely to win your readers than trying to do things for the motive of trying to win readers.”

Once your book is out, your work has just begun. “Get out there, do social media, get a website. You have to do a big push and be prepared to tout your book,” says Burrell. However, she warns, don’t go overboard by spamming your friends, family and followers. “It’s good to let your friends know, but it’s not good to drive them crazy.”

Getting your book noticed in a sea of eBooks may seem challenging, and in some ways, it is. But Burrell offers this encouragement: “There are wonderful, traditionally published books that get overlooked by all the big authors. It’s less likely to happen with self-publishing. If you have a good marketing campaign, you get the books into the hands of readers who can do pre-release reviews — that’s going to help you.” She mentions the algorithms within the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, and how they will push popular books with reviews and word-of-mouth appeal to the top of their rankings so they’ll sell better. “It’s just a very democratic way to sell books,” she says.

The bottom line.

Despite the work and upfront cost involved with digital self-publishing, the verdict among experts is overwhelmingly positive: The eBook is a great way to start, or boost, your career as a writer. Ross states, “I think it is a better for the author to self-publish first. Then when you have established a platform, if you still want to be trade published you can have those conversations with the publisher from a much firmer foundation.”

Gaugran agrees. “There’s no question in my mind that a new writer is better off self-publishing. If you look at the [traditional publishing] package offered to most debut others, they will have to sink or swim on their own. They’re not going to be on the front table at every Barnes & Noble, they’re not going to get a serious push, but they will be handicapped with a high price tag. The writer will be the one that’s expected to reach readers and, if you have to do that, you might as well self-publish and earn 70 percent royalties.”

Finally, Burrell mentions the economical logic of self-publishing for the working writer. “[Traditional publishing] is really not a living wage. However, if you can write quickly and get your books out there, if you’re good at what you do and you’re resonating with people, you can actually make a pretty decent living off your self-published work.” She adds, “it’s like the Wild West out there, and it’s fun, if you’ve got that kind of personality.”

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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I stand outside the lecture hall with my laptop bag while a small crowd gathers in the hallway around me. We’re at the Self-Employment in the Arts Conference in Springfield, Missouri, and we’re waiting for the current session to end so we can file into the classroom for the 1 p.m. session on writing for the web.

This time, I’m not an attendee of this conference. I’m a speaker, and the web writing session is mine.

It’s surreal, especially because I don’t look any more accomplished or knowledgeable than the writers gathering near me at the door. There’s a man with a briefcase. A briefcase, people. I think everyone assumes he’s the speaker. I suddenly regret my rainbow-striped laptop bag.

But when the former session lets out and everyone files in, I take my place at the podium and pull out my note cards. When everyone settles down, I clear my throat and begin. The room is silent except for my voice. By no means am I an expert in public speaking (I’ll need a briefcase for that, I think), but my first professional speaking gig taught me tons about myself and what makes for a good presentation.

Know thy audience.
Maybe it should go without saying, but knowing your audience is essential to both speaking and writing. In the same way you wouldn’t try to sell your 101 Cupcake Recipes book to a gluten-free health fanatic, the success of your speaking gig depends largely on your audience’s needs. Though it’s impossible to make everyone happy, get a feel for your crowd’s energy before you begin. Ask the event coordinator for information on the event, or if it’s a recurring conference, ask about last year’s turnout. Get specifics: How old are the attendees on average? Gender? If it’s a conference, what types of writers are in the crowd? What level? If you’re speaking at a bookstore or college far from home, consider the political and religious affiliations of the geographic area.

“You should give your audience a head’s up about your content early in your speech by weaving your main points into a digestible thesis.”

I asked my audience at the SEA Conference to state their names, type of writing they do, and current profession, and discovered that a third of my audience was made up of students at Evangel University. As a result, I made a mental note to substitute a talking point involving an article I wrote on atheism with an article I wrote on parenting. Not only did I potentially avoid offending a third of my audience, but getting a feel for each person’s writing genre allowed me to tailor other pieces of advice to fit their ambitions. Occasionally referencing specific people in the audience as you talk (“Which applies to you, Joe, since you write fantasy novels!”) makes things cozy and personal. Plus, it keeps people alert.

Have a structured presentation.
As a common courtesy to your audience, I think it’s a good idea to be as transparent as possible about the structure or duration of your speech. For my session, I offered eight practical tips for earning money as a writer for digital publications. I provided handouts listing each of my tips, with a little room under each for notes. Having this structure, and having it out in the open, prevents any misunderstandings about what to expect from your speech.

Of course, not all speaking gigs fare well with list-type formats. Keynote speeches, motivational or humorous speeches often require a little more artfulness, which may be stunted by a rigid “step one, step two.” But you should still give your audience a head’s up about your content early in your speech by weaving your main points into a digestible thesis.

Regarding your use of media and other resources, do what’s comfortable to you. If the thought of all of the variables of setting up a presentation rich with media makes your chest tighten, go low tech. On the other hand, using PowerPoint or video clips or Shakespearean thespians to do dramatic reenactments can ease your nerves, especially if you’re the introverted type who hates having all eyes on you.

“If anything about your talk bores you, cut it or change it. Just like in your writing, you can’t expect someone to be interested in what you’re saying if you’re not.”

Practice… but don’t go overboard.
If you haven’t done a ton of public speaking, your instinct may be to practice over and over, for days on end. While it’s important to rehearse your presentation aloud to uproot and replace awkward phrases, I’ve found that my sweet spot is three or four full rehearsals. Beyond that, I second guess myself, I get bored with my own content and I start panicking over little things like my pronunciation of words.

If anything about your talk bores you, cut it or change it. Just like in your writing, you can’t expect someone to be interested in what you’re saying if you’re not. Finally, the best pointer, and one that you probably remember from Public Speaking 101, is to never write out your speech word for word. Limit yourself to a couple of note cards with bullet points for reference. Usually, if you’ve been invited to speak somewhere, you know your material, so trust yourself. You’re not a fifth grader making a speech on Alexander Hamilton. You’re a professional who’s excited to share her expertise with an eager audience.

Realize you don’t need to have all the answers.
Although I’ve only spoken at one conference, I’ve attended enough literary events to know there’s always going to be one curmudgeon, one audience member who either knows everything or hates everything, including your face. And if you’re the speaker, they’re probably going to ask you something.

My curmudgeon wasn’t terrible, but she sensed my uncertainty on a particular topic — making money on one’s personal blog — and dug deeper. “So how do you make money from blogging, then?” she asked me. I nodded, apparently mulling over the wording of my confident, educated answer, but this is what my internal monologue looked like: Crap. What did I read about blogging for money a month ago? Something about selling a product? Google Ads? Right, growing an audience, platform — ugh…

“Even if the only crowd you ever address is your local writers’ group, knowing what you might face at your first speaking gig can relieve some of the tension you may be feeling.”

“Honestly,” I told her, “I haven’t done it, so I can’t tell you how. I’ve only written for multi-author blogs with budgets big enough to pay writers. I do remember learning that it’s best to write about one specific topic, and update your blog regularly, so you can grow an audience and develop your platform for future books and articles. But there are entire books written on blogging for profit, so I’d look into those.”

The great thing about events like these is that you don’t have to have all the answers. If you really have no idea, I’d suggest you don’t pretend like you do. Most people have pretty good BS detectors and you’ll look arrogant if you completely make something up. Another option is to crowdsource your answer. Not only does this open up the entire room to learn from one another, but it takes the focus, and pressure, off you.

Enjoy the experience.

Embrace any opportunities you have to speak to a group. If you write fiction, you may be asked to read excerpts or make speeches at book-signing events. If you’re a nonfiction writer, you may be invited to speak at gatherings pertinent to your topic of expertise. Book authors are required to speak constantly when they’re on tour. Even freelance article writers often bring in extra income by taking on speaking gigs (plus it’s an excuse to travel, sometimes with expenses paid). Even if the only crowd you ever address is your local writers’ group, knowing what you might face at your first speaking gig can relieve some of the tension you may be feeling.

And when it’s all over, you may surprise yourself. I felt exhilarated by my presentation, convinced for a few moments that public speaking was my calling. And as my audience cleared out, my curmudgeon actually thanked me, as did one of the Evangel students. And another young girl came up, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you. That was interesting but also really practical. I was joking to my friend that I’d need caffeine for this session because the speaker at lunch was really boring, but you kept me awake!”

I’d missed the lunch speaker, so out of curiosity I opened my pamphlet to see who it was. What do you know. It was one of my very own audience members: the man with the briefcase.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter
@AmandaLaymanLow.

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Janet Mock first felt the stirrings of storytelling’s transformative power when she was a young girl in Honolulu stalking literary icons like Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan and Zora Neale Hurston in the Kalihi-Palama Public Library stacks: She knew she needed a notebook to capture the overflow of thoughts and feelings that the words elicited. Years later, after accomplishing her childhood dream of moving to New York and becoming a writer, she gained national and international attention when she shared that she is a transgender woman in a 2011 Marie Claire profile. Mock has since used that spotlight to give greater visibility to the devastating injustices faced by the trans population, availing herself of every opportunity to advocate specifically for young, low-income trans women of color.

Mock believes that the conversations facilitated by storytelling can deeply affect social movements. In 2012, her Twitter campaign #GirlsLikeUs gave trans women an open forum to connect and share their stories. Her recently released memoir, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, is her ultimate act of storytelling thus far. “Creating this work taught me that [I am] enough, that [I] deserve to be heard and affirmed,” she said.

Mock’s recent appearances on Piers Morgan Live and the ensuing contentious debate about Piers Morgan and his show’s language regarding Mock’s trans background are a striking reminder of why she feels it is so important to educate the media and public at large about trans people. In an emailed statement about that incident, Mock told Mediabistro that, “The show framed our conversation with problematic language that showed their lack — and our culture’s lack — of understanding about trans people’s right to define themselves. It’s problematic for media professionals to use terms and words that we do not use to identify ourselves. What we must do is give people the freedom to declare themselves and define themselves.”

Read on for our conversation with Mock about her memoir and her mission.

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Name: Janet Mock
Position: Writer, activist and author
Resume: Started her career at People.com, where she was a staff editor for more than five years. Left to focus on her writing, public speaking and advocacy centered on trans women of color from low-income communities. Has made televised appearances on shows, including Melissa Harris-Perry and Piers Morgan Live, and her commentary has been on BuzzFeed, NPR, Colorlines, The Huffington Post and more. Has received accolades from the ADCOLOR Awards and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, among others. Board member at the Arcus Foundation, a global social justice organization; is an advisor for the media site Youngist; and has served as a consultant on programming for trans youth at New York’s Hetrick-Martin Institute. Her memoir Redefining Realness was published on Feb. 4, 2014, by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster. She is also the founder of the Twitter campaign #GirlsLikeUs, and creator of the Redefining Realness Storygiving Campaign (the initiative to donate copies of her memoir to low-income trans people raised $2,500 in two weeks and garnered 127 book orders) and the user-submitted storysharing project I AM #RedefiningRealness.
Age: 30
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
Education: BA in fashion merchandising from the University of Hawaii at Manoa; MA in magazine journalism from New York University
Marital status: Single
Best career advice received: “I’d say it would be [Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet] Alice Walker. And it’s not necessarily like she told me this directly, but she said, ‘Write all the things that you should have been able to read.'”
Guilty pleasure: The Real Housewives
Last book read: Bone Black by bell hooks
Twitter handle: @JanetMock

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When did you know you wanted to be a writer and a storyteller?
It was in a public library in Honolulu, where I grew up. I remember I was sitting in the stacks and I was trying to look for Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. And [there was] that sense of reflection that not only was I feeling Maya Angelou’s story, but also that sense that there’s so much coming up and welling up in me. And I felt I needed to have a notebook while reading. Because it wasn’t my book… so I couldn’t write in it and I didn’t have money to buy books anyway. But I knew I could get paper and I could start writing my thoughts down… I was in the fifth grade. And I knew that words would be my refuge and words were where I could create a composite of the dreams and the life that I wanted to live, and really write about my reality and bring words to that.

Describe your early journalism career in New York.

At [my] internships a lot of it was in the fashion closet and packing up boxes and writing shipping labels and assisting editors with products. I was like, so I definitely don’t want to work at a women’s fashion magazine. And then I was rescued, I think, by the online world, which was slightly different. It’s not like how it is now.

“It’s problematic for media professionals to use terms and words that we do not use to identify ourselves. What we must do is give people the freedom to declare themselves and define themselves.”

People.com was a stepchild of People magazine, which was the juggernaut. They were creating… the mold and creating what social media is and communicating [immediacy] to readers… And so that’s how my career was. It was sitting in a cubicle. I wasn’t a features editor. I didn’t write long-form pieces that I thought I would be writing. I was writing smaller blurbs, learning to sharpen language, and communicate what readers actually wanted and how to entice them to click on things without sensationalizing.

Storytelling is a common theme in your life. How did you develop your voice to make it adaptable to the different social media platforms that you use it on?
That’s what I learned from working at People.com for more than five years. You just know that people want certain things when they’re looking at certain spaces. Twitter is more about creating small conversations… Facebook is a lot more photos. Instagram is all photos… It’s about creating conversations outside of just getting [people] to click on your story. Because sometimes the conversation will then lead them to the story and to further engage with your work.

[S]ocial media has been a way for me to not only raise the visibility of this marginalized group of women, young trans women, it was also a way for me to get people to understand or at least know someone in their life that’s trans, which oftentimes [is] me. I’m the first trans woman that many people meet through social media. So it’s knowing that that’s not just an interaction in which I’m broadcasting, it’s also an interaction in which I interact with their content through Twitter, through Facebook, through their blogs and YouTube and all of this stuff.

Why and how do you encourage other trans women to share their stories?

It’s not enough for me to tell my story, it’s also [important] to then create spaces for these young women to share their stories. And so that’s why I started the hashtag #GirlsLikeUs. That’s why I started the storysharing platform [I AM #RedefiningRealness] on Tumblr.

And so it’s just constantly creating opportunities for others to share. Not just for me to talk at them, but for them to have a conversation with me. I think that’s where a lot of media platforms get it wrong. They think that you talk at people, and there’s no value in talking at people. There’s a lot of value and growth in conversations and that’s how you can move social movements forward.

“[S]ocial media has been a way for me to not only raise the visibility of young trans women, it was also a way for me to get people to understand or at least know someone in their life that’s trans.”

What has been the most personally gratifying outcome of all of your trans community advocacy work?

I feel like I have those moments every day. For so long I think that trans peoples’ stories have been told by journalists or by other people telling us what our lives look like and then warping that and not telling it in totality. But now, with social media and the tools that come with being able to buy a computer and a couple of free programs online, you can create the content of your own life. And I see that every day online through Twitter, through YouTube. Trans people are telling their own stories. Unfiltered. Away from the gatekeeping of media professionals who have good intentions but oftentimes just want to entice readers with sensationalized stories. Instead, now trans people are creating the record of their lives… I feel like that’s a monumental success.

In October, you spoke on a panel with bell hooks at The Ohio State University, and you realized she had read your entire memoir the night before and even quoted passages from the book during the discussion. Tell us about that experience.

That moment was just surreal for me. Period. I studied bell hooks’ work, I looked at her theory and it’s just shaped me. A book like Feminism Is for Everybody, I read that one first. And then I fell even deeper in love with her when I read Ain’t I a Woman? because so much of that intersected with my sense of womanhood as a young trans woman of color… but then to have her have this transformative experience through my book because she carried my story with her, it was profound for me. It was a great dream enough to just share a space with her…

I hope that the book is what she calls it, a life map for transformation. That it does change minds and it gets people to see trans people and their identities as not something that’s foreign, [but as] something that we’re all striving for. We’re all striving for authenticity and to be loved and affirmed as exactly as who we are, you know. And I think that that would be the ultimate goal for me. [That] someone reading this… would feel transformed and also moved. Not so much to advocate for trans people, but to challenge the media’s and pop culture’s perception of trans people as jokes and punchlines and tragedies. We’re so much more than that. That would be the greatest goal or the greatest dream to be fulfilled with the book.

“We’re all striving for authenticity and to be loved as exactly as who we are. And I think that that would be the ultimate goal for me… that someone reading this would feel transformed and also moved.”

In a recent interview, you mentioned that you had considered being a showrunner. What would your concept for a show be?

For me, it would be kind of like… Living Single or Girlfriends. Something like that. It would definitely be a women-centered show about, maybe like bell hooks says, bringing the margin to center. You know what I mean? Like centering a story of a trans woman, but [so that] her ‘transness’ is not what defines her. I would like to create a show… that really shows the lived experiences of being someone that’s told her womanhood is not real or valid. That would be powerful. But just to have her doing fun stuff. Really living life where everything is not about transness or gender 24 hours a day.

I just think about something like [the web series] Awkward Black Girl. Just creating a show out of nowhere. That would be fun for me. Another dream is to have a conversation series, a space where I sit and hear stories and share conversations with other people, and give space to other stories. Cause at the end of the day that’s what I do. I’m a storyteller, I’m a writer and I would like to find out how to do that in different platforms outside of just the written word.

Do you have any last words of wisdom for the storytellers out there who want to make a positive impact?
Anchor yourself in your own experience and write from that place. And you’ll find your voice. You’ll find out what you want to do. You’ll find your purpose. And I think that everything comes out of that. It’s [about] being able to sit still with yourself and really excavate those parts of yourself that were shut off or silenced or put into the dark a long time ago. I know that when I actually sat down with myself to do that work… that’s when my life began transforming.

Janday Wilson is a storyteller based in the greater New York City area. You can find more of her work at jandaywilson.com.

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