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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NEXT >> 10 Surefire Ways to Not Suck at Skype or Webcam Interviews

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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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Terry McMillan, New York Times Bestselling Author?

Having just celebrated his 61st birthday at the beginning of September, Phil Hendrie is acting more like a 20-something entrepreneur these days. He’s knee-deep in relaunching The Phil Hendrie Show as a “cartoon” and growing the subscriber base for his recently fully upgraded website philhendrieshow.com.

All on the heels of six years with a syndication service that, by Hendrie’s own admission, did a terrible job of marketing his program. Now, together with a small crew and group of fictitious on-air cohorts, he’s intent on reclaiming his place in terrestrial radio.

As a result, Hendrie has tabled for the moment his pursuit of on-camera acting and voice-over work that had him popping up in 2012 in everything from New Girl to the animated version of Napoleon Dynamite. He’s now on the producer side, getting ready to pitch an animated project developed with a TV series veteran.

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Name: Phil Hendrie
Position: Radio personality, actor, voice-over artist, entrepreneur
Resume: Like so many popular radio personalities, Hendrie has had an itinerant career. He began his radio odyssey as a disc jockey at WBJW 1440 AM in Winter Park, Fla., a suburb of Orlando. Fifteen years and a number of stations later, he decided he didn’t want to spin records anymore. Beginning with a weekend show on L.A.’s KFI 640 AM, he made his way eventually to introducing his first fictional character on air at KVEN-AM in Ventura, Calif., during the Gulf War. Raj Feenan’s vociferous defense of Saddam Hussein inflamed callers and the rest was radio history. Hendrie went national with Premiere Networks in 1999, retired briefly from radio in 2006 to pursue acting full-time and is now back at it. His acting credits include King of the Hill, Team America: World Police and This Is 40.
Birthdate: September 1
Hometown: Arcadia, Calif.
Education: One year at Pasadena City College to earn an English degree
Marital status: Single
Media mentor(s) : None
Best career advice received: “Always prep your show as if you’re not going to get one call.”
Guilty pleasure: Reese’s Miniatures
Last book read: Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, by Joseph Plumb Martin
Twitter handle: @realphilhendrie

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Where do you tape your new radio show?
I’m in a place called Channel Islands Beach, which is close to Ventura [California]. We’re about 40 miles north along the coast from Los Angeles. What I call the land of fog and sea lions, because that’s what we get a whole lot of — fog and sea lions.

I have a studio on the beach, about three blocks from my home, in a leased office. That’s my radio base. We have our studios there, my radio company is headquartered there. It’s a great set up, the new reality, you know?

How big is your crew?
On the air, it’s just me, our technical director and our maintenance engineers. Our technical director, C.J. Wheeler, is at our remote studio, which is in Washington, D.C. We don’t have the capability to automate our commercials yet. I’m working on digitizing our studio, so we can do that, but in the meantime, we use the remote studio in D.C. and then the show is up-linked to the satellite.

There’s also the person who will someday be my partner; right now he’s kind of our operations manager: Alex Cohen. He’s also my stepson. Alex is one of those guys who’s kind of a genius in every area, he’s technical and he knows marketing. He’s my closest adviser on how to move the business forward on all fronts.

“If I get any sense that these are people playing along, they’re gone. As well-meaning as some of those people may be, it always makes for a bad call.”

What is the current format of your show?
The show has changed dramatically, out of necessity. It has evolved from phone callers calling in to talk to a created person that they think is real to what I call a cartoon. The reason for that is that over the years, for a number of reasons, we’ve lost the churn necessary for these callers.

The caller base has dried up, but that’s not because the show concept has dried up. I did a year on weekends on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and we were getting phone calls every weekend. There were no warm bodies out there for the national show because the affiliates that we had basically had no listeners. Basically, the quality of affiliate dropped in the last six years. So that’s one thing that we’re having to build back up. We just got back on in Sacramento, which is huge. We got back on in New York. We need to be on in other markets like Miami and San Diego and Chicago, but we need to be on stations that have good listener bases.

[Now] we’re doing characters interacting with me in a radio play that’s improv-ed, that is a full-on satire of talk radio. I have a panel — Margaret Grey, Bud Dickman and Robert Leonard — all characters I’m doing interchangeably, and they’re all on the air with me and we’re discussing things… And we never get to what we want to discuss, because they’re taking things personally, and people are farting in the studio, and somebody’s got to go to the bathroom. We’re turning the whole thing into one giant clusterf*ck.

And then we bring on guests, which are also characters that I’m doing. Taking the whole thing and turning it into a radio party, with me playing all the characters. The callers will eventually return. We had one actual live caller on Friday — yaaay! — which beat the heck out of the five previous nights. As we get into the right markets, we’re going to pump in more of those calls.

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

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Is there a danger of people eventually all cluing in to what you do? The secret being fully out, so to speak, and not being able to fool callers anymore with your characters?
No. As I said, when I was on KFI for a year starting in 2011, we had phone calls. We had people who knew the act and tried to sneak in, like they do. The talk show caller today may have a little bit more savvy than they used to, but I believe that there is also a large portion of people that are media “un-savvy” because of the Internet that are coming into the game now.

In terms of people knowing my act, yes, more and more people know my act. But nowhere near the number that you would think. And you can become famous, internationally, and people can know your name. But it doesn’t necessarily mean they know exactly what you do.

The honest information here is that we were on the air for six years with a company that did a bad job of supporting our show. From affiliates to sales to everything. We were put on stations that had no listeners. And that station list was not maintained very well. And so on and so forth.

How do you handle callers that are in on the joke, when they call?
If I get any sense that these are people playing along, they’re gone. As well-meaning as some of those people may be, it always makes for a bad call. You’re better off getting rid of those calls. I’ve had that sense ever since we started doing the show 20, 30 years ago. That there are people who want to call up and play along. And they always get hung up on.

What kind of person is signing up to your website at $9.99 per month?
Those are fans. Those are people who totally get the show and love it and want to be a part of it, regardless of the generation. We have a generation of new fans who don’t know about the phone caller aspect as much as they just know that I do all these character voices. Those are stone-cold fans and that is stone-cold money. That’s about as direct as it gets in my business in terms of making revenue.

“There may be a day when radio revenue comes up to digital. But for now, it’s the digital money that’s wagging the dog.”

If you want to be real honest, the radio show is a billboard for the digital business. My subscription business makes really good money. The radio show right now, and for the last six years, has not. Radio just in general is in the sh*tter. So, what can I use my radio show for? Well, I can use it as a billboard for digital, which is exactly what we do. Now there may be a day when radio revenue comes up to digital. But for now, it’s the digital money that’s wagging the dog.

What about the TV-film side; do you have any projects you’re working on for those media?
Yes, I’ve kind of gone in a new direction. I’ve partnered with Angela Frame, she’s an animator and a project manager in the animation world. We have developed an animation narrative show. We have partnered with Starburns Industries in Burbank. We have a fully developed show that we’ve attached a couple of huge names to. I’m not currently at liberty to say who. And we’re now going to go out and pitch it.

This is where I feel my theatrical efforts should be focused. It’s a really good product, a really funny show. One of our executive producers is Justin Roiland, who is a co-creator of Rick and Morty on the Cartoon Network. He’s a great guy. I worked for him on Rick and Morty, I asked him to executive produce for us. So he’s with us.

It’s based upon a world that you know, and it’s well written. And there [are] a lot of options and [opportunities] out there, even the large number of new platforms that are out there for video. Whether it’s Netflix or Hulu or all of these smaller places, there [are] tons of places for content. It’s such a wonderful world out there; anybody who has an idea, who’s creative, you’re in a pretty good place. It’s definitely a seller’s market in terms of creative stuff.

We started writing it back in February. The next step is pitching. It could be a half-hour or more like Paul Scheer’s National Terrorism Strike Force, which I worked on. That’s a 15-minute live show on Adult Swim. It’s pretty interesting the way stuff is being delivered and the ways people are consuming content.

Richard Horgan is co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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

While other Big 6 publishers were reporting losses and massive layoffs, she propelled Grand Central to the #1 spot for trade paperback bestsellers. From discovering Nicholas Sparks to scoring titles from Stephen Colbert, the late Ted Kennedy, Lady Gaga and The Family Corleone, the forthcoming posthumous novel from Mario Puzo, Jamie Raab’s tenure as publisher at GCP reads like a Who’s Who of newsmakers.

Yet, the business of books is changing (or crumbling, depending on who you ask), and this seasoned publisher isn’t oblivious to the effect that the digital revolution is having on her bottom line.

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Name: Jamie Raab
Position: Publisher, Grand Central Publishing; SVP, Hachette Book Group
Resume: After receiving a degree in city planning, got an entry-level position in the publicity department of Ballantine Books. Took a detour into editing for Family Circle, then became senior editor at Warner Books (now Grand Central Publishing). Rose up ranks before being named publisher in 1997.
Birthday: August 6, 1953
Hometown: Elkins Park, Pa.
Education: B.A., University of Pennsylvania. Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Marital status: Single (widow)
Media idol: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, “because they are smart AND entertaining”
Favorite TV show: Downton Abbey
Guilty pleasure: Spending time in the Hudson Valley, movies, yoga
Last book read: The Marriage Plot
Twitter handle: @GrandCentralPub

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Grand Central has done remarkably well in comparison to the other Big 6 publishers. What’s the secret to being a great book publisher today?
It’s a combination of things. Hachette has poured millions of dollars into upgrading our systems, which sometimes helps us do our jobs better. We’re better marketers than many publishers. I think we have some of the best covers; I’m a big believer in the power of a cover. We have a lot of veterans, who understand the unique mentality of this company, and new people in the digital realm. It’s a really nice combination of old and new. And the final thing is you’ve got to pick books really well, because you can hype a book to the ends of the earth, but if people read it and don’t love it, that hype’s not going to take you too far.

There was much ado about the leaked Hachette memo that explained why publishers are still relevant. Some saw that as a real indication that publishers must feel threatened by the new wave of eBook authors. What is your take on that letter?
I agree with absolutely everything in that memo. We’re not just a distribution chain. I do believe curating is important. And I really do believe that we nurture talent by working hard, and we pay advances that offer writers the time and luxury they need to write the book they want to write. The truth is writing and putting a book out into the world is only a small part of it. If, as a writer, you want to spend the time going to the different distribution channels and marketing and doing publicity yourself, that’s less time you have to write. Look, we’re aware that many authors are choosing to e-publish, that they can make money quickly. We know there’s a lot of competition and whenever there’s competition, you’ve got to prove your value.

“The most important thing an author can do is have his or her book in on time.”

The standard Grand Central contract for eBooks for most authors is 25 percent. How is that the best rate when authors can hire their own editor and cover designer and do the bulk of the marketing themselves?
I guess I don’t buy that at all. I wish that people could come in and see what goes on in a publishing house day by day. Some of the books that you think are so-called small books, I’ve got to tell you, we spend a lot of our time meeting about the books, big and small, and making people in-house read them. We have big marketing meetings and small. We’re not just throwing books out there. That’s so far from the truth. Anyone who thinks that, I wish they could be a fly on the wall at least in the house I work for. There is a whole company working for you. We start marketing, in most cases, a year in advance before a book comes out. The most important thing an author can do is have his or her book in on time.

There are a lot of people in this kitchen. We have an infrastructure that we have to support. You still need the editors, production department, marketing resources, and the artist who designs the book. Everyone thinks that there isn’t a lot of manpower involved in putting out an eBook. There’s more to it than most people ever consider.

If you want to make money quickly and put a book out there and price it at 99 cents so that it becomes enticing, I understand! You can build an audience. Some authors are climbing the Amazon list but, when a publisher approaches them, more times than not, they choose to go with a publisher.

Do you see that royalty rate increasing any time soon?
That’s being discussed all the time. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think that as the business changes, that could be one of the things that change too. Some people say that 70-90 percent of all books will be eBooks. Is it somewhere in between? I don’t know. There is certainly going to be enormous growth over the next four to five years, and that’s going to affect everything. For now, people forget that 80 percent of books are print books. An author on his own cannot get his book into bookstores and, if he does, can’t get the attention to display it. The publisher can.

You are credited with discovering Nicholas Sparks who has since written countless New York Times bestsellers. Tell us about that experience and why you were so convinced of his talent.
I was senior editor almost 17 years ago and a manuscript came to me, called The Notebook from a new agent named Theresa Park. It was a very slim book, and I read it quickly and thought, “This is the most moving story.” It was right at the time of Frankfurt [Book Fair], and when my boss came back I said, “You have to read this.” And she loved it too. We pre-empted it for a lot of money. This very new green agent turned out to be a master negotiator. I was a little terrified because of how much we paid for it, but we were just dead set on getting the word out, and we did very successfully. The rest is history.

“Some authors are climbing the Amazon list but, more times than not, they choose to go with a publisher.”

Nicholas Sparks is known to be very loyal, but are you concerned that big authors such as him will opt to keep their eBook rights and publish on their own?
I think about that a lot because I know it’s on authors’ minds. And I think it’s incumbent on every publisher to do a better job than they’ve ever done before — more creative on marketing and eBooks, working in partnership more closely with their authors, keeping them in the loop, publishing more strategically. We have to work harder than ever to prove there’s a lot of value in an editor and publisher and their relationship with an entire publishing house. You can’t underestimate the importance of editing. I have seen books go from mediocre to good and from good to great because of the relationship between the editor and author. Nothing annoys me more than when I hear them say, “Oh, editors don’t edit anymore.” That has never been my experience with the editors on my team. We owe it to the authors to make the books as good as they can be.

You started your career in publicity. What changes have you seen in the number of outlets that are available for reviews?
In many ways, it’s harder than ever. Used to be, you just get someone on a major TV show, and voila! You’d have a hit! It’s more complicated than that now. Social media is becoming really important. It’s a combination of doing everything. There’s so much happening that, to stand out, you just have to try everything. You just have to get the book in front of people in as many ways as you can, because there is a lot of noise out there, and you just have to do everything possible to get noticed. We have digital publicists now who are focused on bloggers, and they’re working very closely with our authors. We’re also sending galleys out through NetGalley and coming up with interesting online promotions. We still advertise, whereas some publishers don’t. It’s always been my theory to have all your ducks in a row.

There are a lot of changes in publishing happening right now, and I can’t say for sure how this will affect the structure of publishing houses in terms of sales departments or publicity and where more resources are going to. I know that we’re doing everything we can to stay ahead of the curve.

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Nicholas Sparks, Bestselling Romance Novelist?

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Jeff Rivera is the author of Forever My Lady (Grand Central) and a GalleyCat contributor.

Carole Radziwill has had one roller-coaster life. She reported from war zones, covered the Menendez murders, interviewed movie stars and produced numerous award-winning stories in more than a decade of working for ABC News. That’s where she met fellow producer Anthony Radziwill, a prince in a line of Polish royals and the nephew of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom she wed in 1994.

Tragedy struck when Anthony died of cancer in August 1999, just three weeks after his cousin, John F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife Carolyn (Radziwill’s best friend) died in a plane crash. Radziwill incorporated that painful summer into her 2005 best-selling memoir, What Remains, a candid account of love and loss.

Radziwill is a full-time author now, with her first novel — a roman à clef titled The Widow’s Guide to Sex & Dating — out today. But reality-TV junkies probably know her best as one of The Real Housewives of New York City, which launches a new season on Bravo next month. So how does she explain jumping on board a show best known for catfights and drunken brawls?

“You have to say yes to what the universe puts in front of you, even if it seems counterintuitive at the time,” she says. “I’ve gotten much more carefree and reckless and wild as I age. I’m the opposite of conventional wisdom.”

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Name: Carole Radziwill
Position: Journalist, author and cast member of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City.
Resume: Started her career at ABC News in 1989 working for Peter Jennings’ documentary unit, reporting from Cambodia, Haiti, India and Israel. Also produced segments for 20/20, Primetime Live and Day One; her work earned three Emmy awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Humanitarian Award and a GLAAD award. Spent four weeks filming with the 101st Airborne Division during the 2001 Afghan War, before leaving the network in 2002 and writing What Remains. Columnist for Glamour magazine, interviewing celebrities and newsmakers such as CNN’s Anderson Cooper, actor Alec Baldwin and rocker Jon Bon Jovi. Joined the RHONY cast in 2012.
Birthdate: Aug. 20
Hometown: Suffern, N.Y.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College; MBA from New York University
Marital status: Widowed
Media mentors: Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer
Best career advice received: Trust your instincts.
Guilty pleasure: Watching bloopers from newscasts, game shows and other programs on YouTube. “It really makes me laugh and puts me in the best mood.”
Last book read: Undisputed Truth, boxer Mike Tyson’s recent autobiography. “When you read the book, you realize there’s a tremendously deep-feeling person under all the Iron Mike façade.”
Twitter handle: @caroleradziwill

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Congratulations on your first novel. Are you nervous about how it will be received, particularly since your memoir spent more than three months on The New York Times best-seller list?

When I was writing the memoir, I thought it would be so much easier to make it up. Then when I started writing this, it was so much harder to write fiction because the only limitation is my imagination. I think fiction says as much about you as a writer — and as a person — as memoir does. So I’m extremely nervous. It’s like giving birth to something that you care about very much, like a little child. But of course… you don’t really get celebrated like you do when you pop out a kid!

Writing your memoir must have brought up a lot of painful memories.

I started writing it four years after the summer of ’99, and maybe I’m romanticizing it now, but I feel like it was a beautiful thing to get that story down on paper. I can look at it and read passages now and smile. It’s true about time — it’s a cliché, but it’s true — that it can heal a lot. This wasn’t emotional in that way, writing Widow’s Guide. I had more laughs doing this.

How much of the novel is based on your own life?

Everyone thinks I’m (the main character) Claire! As a writer, all characters are both real and imagined. There are parts of this person and that person: some friends from high school, and this one date here, another there.

“When I was writing the memoir, I thought it would be so much easier to make it up. Then when I started writing this, it was so much harder to write fiction because the only limitation is my imagination.”

Writers have their real life and their imagination, and sometimes the two just blend. But I’m sure every guy I ever went out with will think he’s the love interest.

There are a lot of dating rules in the book. Do you have your own No. 1 rule when it comes to romantic relationships?

I don’t have that many rules, but I think the No. 1 rule that women should generally abide by is that you can’t have sex with a man until he thinks he’s in love with you. Certainly there are stories of women who’ve slept with their boyfriends on the first date, or second date and they end up getting married. But I guarantee [those men] thought [they] were in love. Men really believe in love at first sight and fate… women are much more practical. I’ve had a couple of boyfriends I knew by the second or third date, they were thinking, ‘I think I’m in love with this girl.’ You know they’re not; they’re in love with the idea.

You said until a man “thinks” he’s in love — not until he actually is in love.

It’s a big distinction. He just has to think he is. Men oftentimes think they are before they actually are. This French philosopher has this [theory] that’s kind of about that. He called it ‘crystallization.’ It’s the moment a man crystalizes a women in his mind as the object of his desire. That’s the moment he thinks he’s in love. Sometimes it happens instantly. I’ve had boyfriends who’ve said, ‘I loved you the minute I met you.’ And you’re like, ‘No, you didn’t, but OK.’ But he definitely believes that he did, and that’s cool. That’s one of the differences between men and women.

This is a busy time for you, with the novel’s release and a new round of Housewives premiering March 11. Did you have to think hard about signing up for another season?

I’ve been working since I was 13, and at the end of the day, I’m a single girl with bills. I tend to look at things as job opportunities, so that’s how I thought of it, and it worked out pretty well the first season.

“When I signed up to do the show, I made a commitment to be honest about my life, what I do and who I am. I thought everyone else made a similar commitment, and it turns out that they didn’t.”

The second time around… it was much more work for me. But I knew I had this book coming out, and it’s not enough to write anymore; you’ve got to hustle. And I thought: It’s a TV show. I’m not thinking about getting married or having a child, something that would really change my life. It’s a TV show and life goes on. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’

What’s the most shocking thing that’s happened to you so far on the show?

Believe me, from a scale of 1 to bat-s*** crazy, this season is bat-s*** crazy. The drama that involves me involved another woman on the show making up a lie about my career, and then trying to sell it as industry gossip. That was an eye-opener for me. I thought: You can’t air that. It’s completely made up. It’s not true. Then to turn to the producers and see them smiling, saying, ‘We’re not looking for the truth. We’re looking for drama.’ And [you realize], wait, this isn’t 60 Minutes.

Was that a huge surprise, after spending so many years behind the camera as a news producer?

It was, and shame on me, because it’s an entertainment program and not a news program. But when I signed up to do the show, I made a commitment to be honest about my life, what I do and who I am. I thought everyone else made a similar commitment, and it turns out that they didn’t. That’s OK — my bad. But there’s gossip and then there’s outright lies. I feel like we’re all in it together in a way, but clearly, there are people who are just looking out for themselves.

Backing up a bit, how did an Emmy-winning journalist end up on reality TV in the first place?

I think journalists are all attracted to spectacle, whether it’s war, politics or cultural phenomenon. I’m also an experience junkie and this was an experience. It’s something I’ll do for a few years, and when I’m 80, I’ll look back and say, ‘Oh, that’s why I did it.’ If it’s the worst thing I ever did in my life, I’m OK with that. But I don’t think it will be.

Heather Salerno is a freelance writer based in the greater New York City area. Follow her on Twitter @heather_salerno.

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Lola Ogunnaike, Freelance Journalist and TV Personality?

Veteran editor Bonnie Fuller is the queen of magazine makeovers: She’s famously reinvented some of the industry’s biggest titles, including Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Star. Most notably, she turned a struggling Us Weekly into a huge newsstand hit, creating the title’s now much-copied rainbow-bright palette, exclamation-point-laden headlines and signature sections like “Stars: They’re Just Like Us!” That achievement earned Fuller both praise and disapproval: Gwyneth Paltrow once called her “the devil” for single-handedly ramping up public interest in celebrities.

Either way, no one can deny that the hard-driving Fuller knows how to attract an audience. Four years ago, she transferred that remarkable skill online, with the launch of entertainment-news website HollywoodLife.com. According to Internet analysis firm comScore, the website’s visitors increased by an impressive 66 percent in the past year.

Fuller herself makes no apologies for being fascinated by the lifestyles of the rich and famous. “Women have been interested in fashion and beauty role models since the dawn of time,” she says. “They paid attention to Queen Elizabeth I’s hair and what Marie Antoinette wore before she got her head cut off… so it’s not a new obsession.”

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Name: Bonnie Fuller
Position: Founding president and editor-in-chief of HollywoodLife.com

Resume: Editor-in-chief of Canadian teen magazine Flare before moving to New York to lead YM, where she grew circulation from 700,000 to over 1.7 million. Established American edition of Marie Claire before being named editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, succeeding the iconic Helen Gurley Brown. Took over Glamour in 1998. Twice named Editor of the Year by Advertising Age for revamping Cosmo and Us Weekly. Served for five years as executive vice president and chief editorial director of American Media Inc., overseeing AMI’s weekly and monthly magazines, including Star, Shape and Men’s Fitness. Launched HollywoodLife in November 2009. Author of The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For the Big Life – The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You’ve Ever Wanted. Contributor to The Huffington Post, the Today show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and others.
Birthdate: Sept. 8, 1956
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Education: Bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto
Marital status: Married with four children
Media mentor: Hearst’s former COO Gilbert Maurer. “He really gave me my first big break.”
Best career advice received: “Have a career and have a big career was my mother’s advice.”
Last book read: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. “I’m in the midst of reading the whole Game of Thrones series. I can’t wait to get home and read a few pages every day. It’s work, too, because we cover Game of Thrones intensely when it’s on, so I’m really getting prepped for next season.”
Guilty pleasure: Chocolate and powder skiing
Twitter handle: @BonnieFuller

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You were well known for transforming women’s magazines and tabloids before being hired to do that at HollywoodLife. What’s your secret to successfully overhauling publications?
My first secret is not being afraid of change. I never was afraid to upend the apple cart if I felt it was necessary. I was always a big reader of the magazines I was editing, so I felt familiar enough with them and knew what I wanted to read… I’ve never been able to read magazines with type that is so dense without subheads, pictures and pull quotes. It’s just too hard on my eyes. Maybe I have bad eyesight! But I’ve never been able to read those magazines. It has to be enticing. It can’t be formidable. So that’s guided me. Plus, I want to be entertained as well as learn things, and my instinct was that other women wanted that too.

You spent your entire career in print before HollywoodLife. Was it difficult to leave that for an all-digital platform?
I was excited about being able to write and report stories in a completely timely fashion. It was actually my decision to leave [American Media]. I wanted to create this women’s destination. I knew what I wanted to do; I just had to find a way to do it. Initially, I looked into raising money and launching my own media company, but it was during the great recession, so that didn’t turn out to be the best time for raising money from investors. Then I met Jay Penske [CEO of PMC, which owns HollywoodLife.com, Deadline.com and other lifestyle websites], who already had a digital content company. He had the name HollywoodLife and needed a concept for it, and I had a concept and knew how to edit. That’s how we partnered up.

“[Jay Penske] had the name HollywoodLife and needed a concept for it, and I had a concept and knew how to edit. That’s how we partnered up.”

What’s the biggest difference for you in editing a web-only outlet?

You get even less sleep. Seriously. You can’t predict when news is going to happen. It doesn’t stop when you leave the office, and it doesn’t stop on the weekends. At HollywoodLife, we put up 70 posts a day. We’re trying to lead news by breaking stories, and we break stories every single day — exclusive stories. When news breaks that’s of interest to our audience, we’re very much at [its] mercy. It’s not like we can go, ‘Oh, we’ll write about that tomorrow.’ We’ve got to write about it now.

There are critics who say our culture is too obsessed with celebrities and gossip. Some even argue that this trend contributes to a dumbing down of the nation’s young women, your site’s target audience. How do you respond to comments like that?

I just sigh. It’s ridiculous. Young women today are brighter and more news-focused than ever, and a large reason is because they are on their digital devices all the time. Yes, they’re interested in big celebrity news, like when Kanye West proposes to Kim Kardashian in a stadium, or when someone they care about like Cory Monteith [of Glee] dies.

But equally, when major news happens in the world, they’re very interested. Election night was huge for us. When we put up the post about Obama becoming president, we got huge traffic. Our third biggest day ever was the Boston bombing. They wanted to know everything about what was happening, and we did a tremendous amount of reporting on it.

Young women today are extremely informed. I don’t think that because they have digital devices and can easily look things up on the Internet makes them any less intelligent than any other generation.

“Young women today are extremely informed. I don’t think that because they have digital devices and can easily look things up on the Internet makes them any less intelligent than any other generation.”

The site just had its four-year anniversary. What’s been the best day on the job so far?
I really love the nights we’re here in the office covering one of those big awards shows. They’re exciting because unexpected things can go on. Nobody expected Miley [Cyrus] to twerk like that at the VMAs! You can’t make this stuff up. It’s fun. Celebrities are doing their thing, and you’re covering a live event, and your audience is completely interacting and appreciating it. That’s a good high.

What advice would you offer to those interested in breaking into celebrity journalism?
The biggest advice would be to have digital skills because I think the world is only going to go more digital and more mobile. Now, I don’t believe magazines are going to go out of business, but even magazines all have growing websites. So if you want to have a long career in this business, you have to be prepared to have those skills. The second thing would be that every rule used in normal journalism should be applied to celebrity journalism. Just because you’re dealing with celebrities and news about celebrities doesn’t mean you don’t apply a high standard. You should apply the same level of quality journalism skills to the topic of celebrity as you would to any other topic.

Heather Salerno is a freelance writer based in the greater New York City area. Follow her on Twitter @heather_salerno.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Jane Pratt, Editor-in-Chief of xojane.com?

You can’t write a nonfiction book proposal overnight. Even if you could, you wouldn’t want to, and here’s why: The preliminary research you do during the proposal-writing process will help you avoid costly mistakes and allow you to hone in on what you really want to write about. The proposal also helps you zero in on your angle and determine what fresh information you have to add to your book’s topic beyond what currently exists in the market. Finally, the finished proposal serves as a roadmap for your writing. Where a novelist has to write her entire novel beforehand, possibly floundering and second-guessing herself, the nonfiction author sells her idea based on the proposal, and begins the writing process armed with a detailed outline.

Although there are entire books and courses designed to teach you how to write a killer book proposal (and you should take advantage of them!) it’s helpful to get a rundown of what the process actually looks like through the eyes of seasoned writers, agents and editors.

Know the essential elements.

There is no one “correct way” to write a book proposal, but the essential elements include your title page, overview, chapter breakdown and sample chapters. The other aspects of the proposal, which are arguably the most important parts, are the competitive title analysis, market analysis and author expertise.

Though the basics are straightforward, the marketing section is where even the strongest writers may start experiencing a block. For this reason, Brian A. Klems, online editor of Writer__?s Digest, blogger, and author recommends starting the proposal-writing process with your sample chapters. “Not only does that give you the sample chapters you need for your proposal, it will also subconsciously give you a better idea of what you’re writing about. You’ll also have a better idea of what you need to do when you go into a bookstore or to Amazon to search out comparable titles.”

Jane Friedman, industry expert and co-founder and editor of Scratch Magazine, suggests beginning with your competitive title analysis “if you’re not sure of the market need or demographic.” She brings up another important point, “I think it’s also helpful to not just consider books as your competition, but also consider websites and free content that’s out there as your competition. If people are regularly going to a website for the type of information you want to put in a book, this can hurt the market for your book.”

Rachelle Gardner, literary agent at Books & Such also emphasizes the importance of market research. “You have to demonstrate that you know your topic inside and out, and are familiar with all the important books on the subject. Going through that process can actually change your whole book proposal.”

“Someone who has a brilliant idea for a book but a nonexistent marketing platform will likely be passed over for a better-known professional with a less brilliant idea.”

So how do you go about your market research? You can peruse Amazon for recently published or very popular titles that are similar to your book, or visit a bricks-and-mortar bookstore and study the titles on the shelf where you imagine your book would appear. Friedman suggests visiting the websites of books similar to yours to request advertising kits that show a book’s demographic target. She also suggests asking a librarian, “‘If someone came to you looking for this type of book, what would you point them to? What are the classics?’ That can give you a different angle, if you’re talking to a librarian who has been at that location for 10 or 20 years.”

Your expertise as an author and your personal marketing plan also play a huge role in your book’s desirability to an agent or publisher. Someone who has a brilliant idea for a book but a nonexistent marketing platform will likely be passed over for a better-known professional with a less brilliant idea. Although a social media following is extremely helpful, it isn’t everything: an expert with regular speaking engagements or a strong presence in his community may have just as much influence as a viral blogger.

Avoid these mistakes.

One thing Klems wishes he’d known ahead of time was that writing the proposal, even after having done most of the research, takes a really long time. “I thought the hard part would be writing the book, and that I’d knock out the proposal in one night. A friend of mine said no, don’t do that___ don’t hand it in, give it a couple of days to sit down and start going over it. This is your one shot, you want to get it as right as possible.” In light of how we writers tend to be perfectionists, however, he adds, “You always feel like you can improve, but at that point, you do have to cut yourself off and say, it’s time for me to put it out there.”

Gardner says, in her experience as an agent, the biggest mistake she sees authors make is having underdeveloped “Overview” and “Competitive Title Analysis” sections. Where extensive research will guard against mistakes in the latter section, you can improve your overview by having other people read it and give you honest feedback. “The overview is what you open up your proposal with, and it can make a huge difference in whether anyone even wants to keep reading,” Gardner says. “It’s very hard to do, and, in many ways, it’s harder than writing your whole book.”

“Though your book may have the potential to reach a wide audience, having a more specific demographic will make you more attractive to a publisher.”

Friedman highlights two mistakes newbie writers make in their book proposals. “One is expressing in the marketing plan that ‘I’m willing to go on Oprah!’ or ‘I’m willing to do book signings!’ It’s like, well, of course, that’s kind of a given that you’d be willing!” Instead, she advises, writers must focus on their existing influence, and what they can control. For example, she says, “‘I have an email list of 1,000 names and I will use it every month after the book release to do X’. Or, ‘I have already appeared at these three venues to speak, and I will pitch [them] to speak again during the year of my book’s release.'”

The other mistake Friedman observes is when writers claim their target demographic is “everyone.” Though your book may have the potential to reach a wide audience, having a more specific demographic, for instance, “moms between ages 24 and 30” or “frat boys between 18 and 21,” will make you more attractive to a publisher.

Make a good first impression.

Gardner compares you and your book proposal to a hopeful businessperson pitching his idea on the hit show, Shark Tank. “When you bring a book proposal to a publisher, you are exactly that person. You’re presenting your business plan and asking for money. So this must be a highly professional, very comprehensive, well-done document.”

It’s true; regardless of your high hopes, that book proposal is all you have to represent your idea, so take plenty of time to write and revise it. However, don’t let the process intimidate you. If your topic has fascinated you for a long time, you may find that when you sit down to write, you’ve actually been crafting your proposal in your head all along. You may have already done a good deal of research in your joy reading, web-surfing or sharing of interesting content on social media. If you’ve published articles or made speeches on your topic, you may be able to use some of that content for your book. Whatever the case, your book proposal is your first impression — and you know what they say about first impressions.

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

@AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> 6 Ways to Effectively Market Your Book

“I’m living my life on hold!” says Anjani Salonen, a recent graduate from Liberty University with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and two solid internships under her belt. “My fiancé is in the same situation: He graduated with an advertising degree, works at a restaurant on the weekends and lives with his parents. We joke that his high school friends who went to work after school now have higher-paying jobs and have bought houses. It’s not really funny — it’s frustrating.”

Another young media professional “on hold,” Haley Veturis, graduated recently from San Diego State University. “No matter how many applications I send in to various media outlets, the outcome is the same — nothing,” she says. “What’s it going to take to stand out? I’ve built up accounts with various social networking sites and have even started writing a news blog. Is there any hope for a young professional in the media industry?”

A slow economy and massive layoffs in the media industry mean that competition is tough for young media professionals hoping to break in or move up. Many of these young people are finding themselves in a “holding pattern.” What should they be doing to break in or stand out? How can they make productive use of situations in which they find themselves on hold?

The bad news is that it is tough out there. The good news is that, despite tough times, some young media professionals are surviving — even thriving.

Best practices in standing out and moving up
Melissa Gullickson is an account executive with MassMedia Corporate Communications, a marketing communications firm in Henderson, Nev. Gullickson says that she is surviving in one of the hardest-hit metro areas in the country: Las Vegas. Her job search began at the end of 2007, and she moved up to an account executive position in mid-2008. Now she helps interview candidates, so she has seen “both sides,” she says. It’s important, says Gullickson, to know exactly what position you’re looking for and exactly what you can bring to the company.

Sarah Daniels, executive editor of JQ International Magazine, a trade publication for the International Jewelry Quorom, agrees. “The unifying feature about the freelancers I hire is that they usually approach me and, off the bat, tell me very specifically: what they can handle (‘available to write profiles, sort through press release or proofread Web content’); exactly when they’re available (‘can conduct international phone interviews after business hours’); how fast they can turn things around (‘am able to meet any deadline date beyond Feb. 19’).”

And, she adds, “If I don’t get back to them right away, the really good ones simply wait a week or two and email me again. Just because I don’t respond doesn’t mean I’m not interested — I’m just busy!”

“Just do something!” is the rallying cry among media professionals who aren’t quite ready to “just give up.” Esther Steinfeld, 25, works in PR and marketing and advises those looking for work in the media industry to “make whatever job they’re doing into a media job.” Instead of waiting for agency jobs to open up, take jobs working in a non-corporate retail store or somewhere you’ll have a little bit of creative freedom.

Whether you’re in sales, grooming dogs or sweeping floors, offer to write press releases, send emails and contact the media regarding the business. You can even try some event marketing. Your boss will probably be grateful for it, and you’ll get some valuable experience in the PR world, which you can put on your resume when things start to pick up again.

“When I finally have a budget to hire again, I’ll be hiring one of my loyal freelancers. The more I use their services, the more I find that I need them.”

“I’ve learned that the best way to learn PR is to do PR, so do it in any way you can during these difficult times,” says Steinfeld.

Kelly Watson, 25, also took a “just do it” approach: Three years ago she landed what she thought was her dream job as the features editor of a local arts and entertainment magazine. After a year of being on a part-time schedule with no promotion, she says, “I realized they were never going to have the money to hire me full-time.” So, she quit to start her own copywriting company.

“I started with zero clients, zero money and zero experience, and ended up making enough to purchase my own home by the end of that first year,” she says. Today, with the declining economy, she admits that things are a bit slow, but she’s not slowing down. “I’m using the downtime to work on a book proposal,” she says. “Just the process of researching the proposal and creating promotional materials has gotten me more work and helped me make more connections in the marketing and writing field.”

Those who find themselves on hold need to reach out and make themselves available, says Daniels. “The people getting the most work from me right now are the jack-of-all-trades, do-anything kind of folks.”

“When I finally have a budget to hire again, I won’t be posting a help wanted ad,” she says. “I’ll be hiring one of my loyal freelancers — the more I use their services, the more I find that I need them.”

How to come out on top
Roberta Matuson is a job search mentor and president of Human Resource Solutions, an HR staffing and recruiting firm, in Northampton, Mass. “This is a great time for media professionals to continue to strengthen their skills,” she says.

“Check your ego at the door and be willing to do whatever tasks are assigned to you,” she advises. “Volunteer to take on those jobs that others are shying away from. These two tactics will position you well as someone who will do whatever it takes to move the team forward.” These are traits, she says, that executives look for when deciding who will get to stay and who will have to go during tough times.

“This is the age of the Internet star — all you need is a computer, creativity, initiative and one idea.”

Lauren Milligan is a career advancement coach, and one of her specialties is helping people create work and opportunities during difficult times. “The best thing that media professionals can do right now is to utilize Web sites, video blogs, YouTube — all technology that is available to them. Conduct ‘man on the street’ interviews or a daily talk show that covers news stories and post these online. Find inspiring stories, funny stories, sad stories… anything that will capture the attention of an audience. I would encourage them to find that unique niche that someone isn’t doing right now and make it their own. This is the age of the Internet star — all you need is a computer, creativity, initiative and one idea.”

That’s exactly what Laryssa Wirstiuk is doing. She’s 23 and has one semester to go before completing her MFA in creative writing. She’ll be in the job market soon and says: “I have no idea how I’m going to find a job.” But, she’s not sitting back waiting either. She’s been putting all of her energies into Too Shy to Stop, an online arts and culture magazine that she founded last year. “My writers and I don’t make any money from this magazine, but it’s great experience for everyone! I manage about 15 young writers who aspire to find media jobs once they graduate. They’re mainly college students studying journalism, communications and writing.

“If I can’t get the media job I want right away, at least I’m still working on the skills I need to advance eventually,” Wirstiuk says.

Laine Cunningham is a publishing industry consultant and owner of her own writing business, Writer’s Resource. Cunningham says: “This business has historically been a tough one. The people who succeed have always been those who don’t give up.” Cunningham offers advice to young professionals in the current climate: One great way to stand out is to apply for awards. Awards are tracked by different media outlets and can generate interest and job offers. Create your own opportunities. Find an Internet-based outlet that is a good target for a weekly column. Internet outlets are hungry for content, and nailing a gig — even if unpaid — can increase exposure and prove that you’re capable and professional. Know your expertise. Stay focused on what you can truly do well.

Christopher Brown, managing editor of AMW.com, the Web site for America’s Most Wanted, says: “The media business may be slow and lots of our compatriots are being downsized, but for media pros, this is an opportunity to shine. By producing great content, continuing to do good work and staying positive in a very challenging time, you’ll set yourself up for success when the economy rebounds.”

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Lin Grensing-Pophal is a freelance business journalist and independent marketing communication consultant.

I’ve wanted to write a book since I was 8. The tidiness of it — 50,000 lovely words printed together on a pristine stack of papers, enveloped in a durable shell labeled with my name — appeals to both my literary and neat-freak sensibilities.

But when you unpack the realities of what goes into the creation of a book, it’s obvious that writing a book is actually the opposite of neat and pristine. Building up your social influence, organizing your ideas and laying the groundwork for your book proposal takes time. And that’s just the beginning: Writers are responsible for promoting their work for about a year following a book’s release.

I spoke to three industry experts, who weighed in on book-writing readiness, offering their tips and truths about what writers can expect in the early stages of the book-proposal process and down the line.

Ask yourself if you’re ready.

“If you want to write a book, you should write a book,” says Brian A. Klems, online editor of Writer’s Digest, blogger and author of Oh Boy, You’re Having a Girl: A Dad’s Survival Guide to Raising Daughters. However, Klems asserts you’ll be “in much better shape” if you’ve been writing for awhile, reading resources for writers and keeping up with the industry.

Rachelle Gardner, literary agent at Books & Such, states that you’re likely ready to write a book when you’ve spent years “thinking about [your topic], studying it, writing about it, both in your personal journals and in public spaces, possibly speaking to audiences about it, getting a degree in it or building a career around it.” Your own expertise is an essential selling point in the eyes of an agent or editor. Gardner adds, “You’re ready to write a book when you know what everyone else is writing about your topic, and you are confident that you have something fresh to add to the conversation.”

Additionally, when your audience demands a book, it’s probably time to bring your book idea to life. “If it’s your first book, then you should really be trying to focus on serving the audience you already have,” says Jane Friedman, co-founder and editor of Scratch Magazine. “Not that everyone needs a ready audience, but I usually say that when people start asking for it, it’s probably time for a book.”

So, ask yourself these three things: Am I a decent writer with some knowledge of the publishing industry? Do I have authority on the subject of my potential book? And, finally, is there an audience for my book? If you can answer “yes” to these, you’re probably ready.

“Writers shouldn’t expect their publishers to handle all the promotion. If you don’t care about your book enough to promote it, who will?”

Research and reflect.

Before you start pounding away at your book proposal, dream a little about your book to get a feel for its purpose — and to determine if you have enough passion for your topic to take it all the way. Klems suggests you ask yourself, ‘Would I read the book I’m going to write?’ It sounds obvious, but writers often get caught up in writing what they’re “supposed” to write (who among us hasn’t wanted to one-up F. Scott Fitzgerald?) rather than what they actually care and know about.

Klems recounts the time he started writing a novel, only to find, “I had an incredible problem with my plot. That’s when I realized I hadn’t done enough research ahead of time. And if I really cared and if I was as into it as much as I needed to be, I would have done that research.” When he finally tried his hand at humor writing, the genre he most enjoyed reading, he landed a book deal.

Gardner emphasizes the importance of leveraging your expertise as you hone in on an idea. “You’ve got to remember that what sells is what people want and need. Deeply analyze the market for books on your subject for what’s not being said. Where is there a hole that you and your knowledge can uniquely fill?”

Finally, a word of caution: making your book debut can solidify your position as an expert on that topic, which can make it difficult for you to branch out into other topics for future books. However, that’s not to say it can’t be done. Friedman, known for her knowledge of all things writing and publishing, published a satire piece and other essays that led to speaking opportunities. She believes “if the quality of what you’re doing is good, most people have some kind of crossover audience. People who come to them aren’t only interested in one thing all the time, so it’s possible.”

Manage your expectations.

Most writers are aware that writing a book is hard work, for potentially little pay. When asked what a writer can expect regarding how long it takes to do the actual writing of both proposal and book, Friedman responds, “it depends on your ability to commit to sitting down a certain amount of time per day or per week to do the writing or research. Some people have blocks, or they lack confidence, or they’re not approaching it with a professional mindset. They let the psychology of it get in the way. If you take away the psychology piece, if you can just sit down and write the thing, you’re probably not looking at more than a year of work.”

“For some, traditionally publishing a book is a stepping stone to more publicity, influence, or an increase in sales. For others, it is a milestone, the crowning achievement that proves you’ve ‘made it’ as a writer.”

Once you’ve written your book, you enter the editing phase. Gardner says, “the editing will be weeks or months of going back and forth and polishing your book, [before] the marketing and promotion phase.” And writers shouldn’t expect their publishers to handle all the promotion. If you don’t care about your book enough to promote it, who will? Gardner reflects, “I know a lot of people who were publishing 15, 20 years ago and they talk about driving around state to state with books in their trunk, going and shaking hands with bookstore owners and getting themselves on the radio. Even in 1995, successful authors were usually budgeting at least 50 percent of their time on the promotion of their books, and the rest on writing activity.”

As for the financial specifics, Klems, Gardner and Friedman all confirm that a typical advance (the money you get to keep upfront, regardless of your book’s sales) for a new writer is usually in the four figures. “It’s not unusual for someone with a really nice following online or some currency to their name to get $20,000 or more,” says Friedman. “However, for someone without as much of a media presence, a typical advance is under $10,000.”

The reason? With brick-and-mortar bookstores vanishing, publishers aren’t willing to risk as much money on new writers as they used to. But there’s a positive aspect to this: Modern publishers may offer greater royalties now than before. Klems says, “So while they may not be paying you as much up front, there’s greater potential on the back end if your book sells well.”

Decide how to publish your book.

For some, traditionally publishing a book is a stepping stone to more publicity, influence, or an increase in sales of a product. For others, it is a milestone, the crowning achievement that proves you’ve “made it” as a writer. As it becomes increasingly simple to self-publish books on digital platforms, it becomes increasingly difficult to get a spot on a traditional publisher’s book schedule — but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible. However, do consider whether traditional publication makes the most sense for your book. Perhaps a blog dedicated to your topic would be ideal, or a series of short digital downloads, or a self-published eBook. Also, if your topic is extremely timely, your information may be irrelevant by the time it hits physical and digital bookstores through a traditional publisher.

One final note: Prepare yourself for the best-case scenario, too. If your first book sells and you find yourself in a multi-book deal, be ready for a rigorous cycle of writing and promoting more books. Gardner works with authors who, while they are working on the marketing and promotion of one book, “they’re in the editorial, back-and-forth process on another, and they’re actually trying to write a third book, all at the same time. That is a big job, and people who are in that space will tell you that their head is spinning a lot of the time, but at the same time, it’s their dream.”

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

@AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Getting Started on Your Nonfiction Book Proposal

Dave Ramsey is the undisputed King of Personal Finance. His empire is built on best-selling books, a nationally syndicated radio show, an uber-popular podcast and ongoing speaking engagements and events that further evangelize his debt-free message. And if you’ve ever had visions of (finally) paying off all your credit cards and student loans, you’ve probably at some point heard his straight-shooter admonition that “If you live like no one else, eventually you can live like no one else.”

But in addition to being one the country’s most-respected authorities on the topic of money, Ramsey has also become an expert on the publishing industry — due largely to the four New York Times best sellers under his belt. He’s since channeled his know-how and resources into Lampo Press, his self-publishing imprint that spawned his own title, EntreLeadership, and two best sellers by former employee Jon Acuff. Here, the media mogul talks about self-publishing versus traditional publishing — and a book he co-wrote with his daughter Rachel.

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Why did you decide to self-publish your first book, Financial Peace?
When we did Financial Peace it was 1992, and it was certainly a different publishing environment than it is now. In those days, it was the Holy Grail to get a publisher, and we weren’t worthy. So nobody would publish us; that is why I did it myself. I went to a printer and had some books printed up, and I carried them home in my car. And then I couldn’t get any bookstores to buy them, so I got some video stores to carry them on their front counter, and I would sell them at speaking events, and I got on a little radio show and eventually we got them into bookstores. Then we issued a second version of it with a couple more chapters and an updated cover. And the total of all of that was about 147,000 copies. At that point, we were able to do a deal with Viking/Penguin and, of course, they were the ones that in 1997 — five years after carrying the books home in the trunk of my car — [helped get it] on The New York Times best-seller list.

Do you regret selling Financial Peace to a publisher?
No; it was just me. I was working out of my living room on a card table, and I didn’t have the PR muscle to get on the Today show or People magazine; they did. I was a [new] author; nobody had ever heard of me. I was on three radio stations when that book came out, and we’re on 533 now. But they did things for me that I did not know how to do. Now, I was overly confident — I thought I could do everything they could do. And we’d sold 100,000-plus copies over five years, but if we sold 263,000 in six weeks like we did with Viking, I couldn’t have handled the cash flow. I couldn’t have handled the billing and the purchasing. I didn’t know how to do that at that level. We were buying 20,000 copies a pop, but if you move a couple hundred thousand copies pretty quickly, that changes the game logistically. So I’m really glad I was with them.

“It’s important that the book is good, that you’ve got something to say and that you’ve said it well. A good friend of mine says that good marketing makes a bad product fail faster.”

What advice do you have for a new author who’s deciding whether they should self-publish or try to find a traditional publisher?
I think you have to have a plan if you’re in the nonfiction world to sell the book, whether you’re self published or you’re working with a publisher. If you’re looking to write a book and hand it to someone, and let someone else do all the work, those days are completely gone in our world, with very, very rare exceptions. So publishers are looking for an author that has a willingness to hustle and has a platform of some kind. How are you going to leverage things you’ve done in the past? How are you going to leverage your PR appearances, your knowledge, your Twitter base, your fan base on Facebook? It may catch fire and hit critical mass after that, but to move the first several hundred thousand copies, you’ve got to plan on doing that. It’s also important that the book is good, that you’ve got something to say and that you’ve said it well. A good friend of mine says that good marketing makes a bad product fail faster.

I think if you’re a new author and you have a really, really good platform, but you don’t have a business that does sales to bookstores and PR and that knows about shipping and billing and accounting and working with distributors, then you probably want a publisher. We happen to be big enough now that we do all of those things. But until you’re that size, you need a really quality publisher to bring the PR to the table and to bring the social-media strategy to the table. And to print the book, and design the book, and deliver the book, and bill the book, and collect the billing, and handle the returns. Just the logistics of a book can be a nightmare — but that’s assuming you’re aiming at a 100,000-plus copies. If you’re doing 5,000 copies, you can do them out of your basement, and you should. Don’t sell your book if you plan on doing 5,000 to 50,000 copies. Just do it on your own.

How did Lampo Press come about? Were you interested in maintaining more of the control and profits from your books?
Well, Lampo Press was, oddly enough, the original name that I published Financial Peace in way back then. But as far as our decision to go self-publishing now, as I said earlier, it’s no disrespect to the publishers, but we do everything they do. We can handle all of the aspects of it. We do outsource some of the distribution, but we’re the publisher and we’re the owner. And we just realized we were doing 99 percent of the marketing, and we were doing 99 percent of the PR, and we were controlling the cover, and we were controlling the look, tone, feel — and we were good at it. It was frustrating to the publisher because they’re used to wanting to do all of that, and we were doing it all. And it was frustrating to us because every time they did something, we didn’t like it. I’m happy with my publishing deals on the books that we’ve done thus far, but I don’t think there’s any question what our team can do with one of our books versus what any major publisher can do, at this stage of our company. Again, we’re in a very unusual, unique situation.

“Don’t sell your book if you plan on doing 5,000 to 50,000 copies. Just do it on your own.”

Smart Money Smart Kids, your book with your daughter, Rachel Cruze, will be released in April. Why co-author with her?
Well, she could have written it herself. She just did an episode of Katie with me, and she’s been a regular on Fox & Friends in the last year. She’s spoken to 300,000 college students, high school students and young mothers’ groups in the last 36 months, so Rachel’s become a personality and a brand in and of herself. We easily could have done it just with her. We decided to do it together for two reasons: One, we thought it would be kinda fun to do a father-daughter thing. And it has been fun. To have the father’s voice and the daughter’s voice in the book communicates the message and the lessons in a really winsome way. From a pure business perspective, we wanted to take the strength of my personal brand and use it to set her personal brand at a higher level by the time this project is over. So it was an intentional, strategic move to have a huge coming-out-into-the-marketplace party. And I can’t think of a better way to have her first book be a New York Times best seller.

You’re well known for your “baby steps” as applied to personal finance. How does that theory apply to the publishing industry?
I think that the question lends itself to the overall [concept] of ‘Just don’t go to market until you’re ready.’ A book is something that you should live with for a little while. I often pick up a book that I lay back down — and sometimes just throw in the trash — that I can tell someone did not spend any time on. There’s no love on the pages. There’s no excellence on the pages that’s due to their passion. Too many things in our go-go world, with the ability to publish stuff instantaneously, are not well thought out. They’re not well written, the outline isn’t there, the research isn’t there. It’s kinda thrown together and you can tell. And so I just encourage people [to] cook it long enough so that it’s gonna taste good. You don’t have to overcook it, but cook it long enough that it tastes good.

Andrea Williams is a freelance writer based in Nashville. Follow her at @AndreaWillWrite

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