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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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Michelle Singletary, WaPo Columnist and Finance Guru?

In just a few short years, former Disney Channel star Josh Ackerman (The All New Mickey Mouse Club) has grown his Los Angeles production company, Bodega Pictures, into a fearsome reality TV player. Together with partners Ben Nurick, Justin Daniels and Zachary Werner, Ackerman is responsible for South Beach Tow, currently in its third season on truTV, and the new Food Network series On the Rocks, which debuted Nov. 17.

Bodega has three other reality TV series in development, none of which Ackerman was at liberty to discuss at the time of his telephone interview with Mediabistro. However, he did share some great stories about his decision to move on from acting and how he was able to break into the extremely competitive world of reality TV production.

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How did you first become interested in the production side of the entertainment business?

It actually started when I was on the Mickey Mouse Club. I was always definitely more fascinated with behind-the-scenes versus being in front of the camera. When the director was calling cameras, if I wasn’t in a particular scene, I would be in the director’s booth. I was always so intrigued by how a story comes together. Or how a character resonates on screen. Those sorts of things I found extremely stimulating and engaging, and I always wanted to learn about that.

That’s why I decided to go to NYU film school, whereas a lot of the other kids who were on Mickey Mouse Club with me decided to go in different directions. It was always embedded in me that I needed to get an education. I had been in front of the camera, from when I was 11 till 17. That’s all that I really knew, and getting an education was extremely important to me.

What made you want to switch from being an actor to more of a content creator?

When I graduated from NYU and came back home to LA, I wanted to get back into the acting for a minute. I did that successfully. It took me a minute. I worked briefly as a barback at The Sky Bar, which was extremely humbling and fascinating — because you see the most fascinating characters.

As I started to get back into acting and generating money, I was able to just be an actor. But it just wasn’t stimulating enough for me, on many levels. I tell this story a lot, but as an actor in LA, you drive around to auditions. You can be in your car for hours upon hours, and you sit in these rooms and wait to be seen. At this point, I had started working with a producer in the reality space, just kind of assisting him and learning from him. I was really gravitating towards this.

“I was always more fascinated with behind-the-scenes versus being in front of the camera. If I wasn’t in a particular scene, I would be in the director’s booth.”

I went in for this commercial audition, where I had to wait for an hour and a half. And in front of me, the advertising agency people and the director in the room were basically calling the agents of people who had auditioned before me and booking them. In my head, I was kind of like, “What the hell am I doing? I just wasted three hours of my time, driving to this place.” I just didn’t see a finish line, and I thought to myself, “You know what? You’ve been doing this since you were 10 years old, just auditioning all the time…” And literally, that was it. They wanted me to audition, and I looked at them and I said: “Thank you so much, but I’m done.” They were like, “What the hell did this guy just say?” They were super shocked. But that was it; that was the end of the road for me for acting.

I called my agent, my manager and said, “Guys, thank you. I’m done.” And that was it. I never auditioned again.

How quickly were you able to get something going on the production side?

That’s the thing. With the producer I was working with, literally a week later, I was fortunate enough to be on a call with him, Logo [TV network] was just forming, and we sold a show to them about lesbian surfers. They gave us money to do a casting tape.

Back then, it was a little bit different, because you could still sell reality shows based on a piece of paper maybe, or an idea. They gave us five grand and said, go find these girls. So I scoured California looking for them. I went of Craigslist. I went everywhere, and I found a group of girls.

I went to Best Buy, bought a camera. And instead of making a five-minute casting tape, which is what most people do nowadays, I embedded myself with this group of women and turned in to Logo a 40-minute documentary. And that became Curl Girls [released in 2007]. They gave us money for one episode, and thought it might just be a doc. The episode garnered huge interest on iTunes, and [the network] ended up picking it up for a season.

How quickly did you go from this to forming Bodega Pictures?

One of my current business partners [Ben Nurick] was working for director David O. Russell [American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook] as his main assistant. When Curl Girls got picked up, I called him up and asked him to help me with it. We were friends since freshman year at NYU and had written some stuff together, but hadn’t really pursued it further. And from there, we decided we wanted to start our own thing.

So, we went on Craigslist and got jobs off there, and started to build a name for ourselves. We took what little money that we made — my wife and I had bought a house in the San Fernando Valley — and we spent a few thousand dollars and turned my garage into our office. Another one of my partners, Justin [Daniels], joined us. He was just out of the University of Oregon. It was the three of us at the time. We did exercise videos, a little thing here, a little thing there.

How did you land the truTV series South Beach Tow?

We were fortunate enough to land a brand marketing campaign for a company called Oribe, which is a hair care line. We did these really high-end, sexy videos for them, and we also filmed these artistic director program events that the main hairdresser put on. They put up those event videos on YouTube.

I remember the call, because I was in a Ralphs supermarket. It was an unknown number, so I didn’t pick up. Lo and behold, it was Jennifer Lopez’s company calling because she worked with that hairdresser and she had seen our videos. Her TV department thought we were extremely talented and wanted to sit down with us, so we [met] with their development team and they told us to bring them whatever we had. Then they thought about us possibly doing a documentary on the road about Jennifer, but we didn’t hear anything.

“Reality TV is all about character. If somebody pops off the screen, chances are you probably have something.”

A little time passes and one of my other good buddies from New York [Zachary Werner] moves out, having worked on A&E shows like The First 48 and Manhunters. He joined us, and said that one of his friends from Miami, where he’s from, had just called him up and said, “There’s this family-run tow truck company in South Beach that would be a great show.” So we put some money together and sent Zach down there with a camera.

We shot this tape. We didn’t know what we were getting into, but the cast was unbelievable. That’s one thing I’ll say: Reality TV is all about character. If somebody pops off the screen, chances are you probably have something. These guys were bigger than we expected. We edited the footage, called up Jennifer’s company and told her about the project. Miami is kind of Latin, the family is Latin… We showed it to them and they decided to partner with us on the project. We went in and met with her agents at Endeavor [Production Group]. They told us they could sell the show in a week, and we’re going now into 60 to 70 episodes. Wednesday nights at 10 o’clock.

Moving on to On the Rocks, how did that come to be?

That came to us because, through our lawyer, we were introduced to John Green, who had an idea for a show. He came into our office and pitched us a good show, and although we didn’t think [it] was quite right for us, we responded to him. We thought he was a fascinating character.

Our agents usually introduce us to the networks… and hear what they’re looking for. And one of the things Food Network was looking for was something in the bar space. So we went and shot a pretty straight two-camera thing — what does this guy do and what is the show. He’s traveled the world opening bars and working for huge companies like The Four Seasons.

You can’t fool networks anymore. You can’t, for example, put a bunch of people together who don’t know each other and say they’ve known each other for 20 years. Same goes for today’s audiences; they can sense whether these people really know each other. When we did the pilot for On the Rocks, we learned that he was also amazing with people, and that’s how the show evolved into not only a makeover show, but also kind of a character repair [show], with qualities of intervention.

Justin Ackerman’s tips for reality TV show aspirants:

1. Trust your instincts: “My grandfather was really influential in my life. And he always said, ‘Know when something is done and move on from it.’ So make sure you recognize in your own pursuits when one particular path is no longer productive. I was 27 when I quit acting, and I knew at the time that if I was going to pursue reality TV, documentaries and hopefully film in the future, I needed to go for it.”

2. Recognize an opportunity: “When I [got involved with Curl Girls], I said to myself, ‘This is my chance. This is my opportunity to not have to necessarily start from the bottom and work my way up.’ It’s a rarity that you get the opportunity to prove yourself, so you have to seize those opportunities when they come along.”

3. Be willing to work hard: “Forming Bodega Pictures was one of those stories, where we just said, ‘We want to do it on our own, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make it on our own.’ So we just went balls to the wall and sent out reels for anything that was a possibility.”

Richard Horgan is co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> How to Pitch Your Reality Show Idea

During summers in high school and into college, I worked part-time at a local travel agency. I vividly recall one afternoon flipping through pages of a national travel magazine, reading about faraway places that I’d never heard of, dreaming of visiting them one day. But what I recall even more vividly is the thought that stuck in my mind: “I want to do that. I want to be a travel writer.”

Fast forward 10 years. After graduating from college and trying out a few different jobs, I applied for — and landed! — a full-time travel writing and editing gig with a branch of a national travel organization. Accepting the position was risky — it required my brand new husband and me to move about 15 hours away, at our own expense. It was also risky on the part of my new employer, as I didn’t have travel writing experience, just the passion.

Unfortunately, the travel writing position didn’t pan out the way I had hoped, and I made another career move where writing was still the focus — public relations. Though my career went in another direction, I continued to write and began pitching myself as a part-time freelance travel writer. Editors bit, too — my first freelance assignment was with Women’s Health & Fitness, for which I wrote about learning to surf and rock climb.

Another 10 years or so of part-time freelancing later, I decided to focus more on my travel writing. A year ago, I decided to give up my fulfilling full-time job, working with a terrific group of people whom I respect, to follow my passion into the unknown. Today, I’m writing features regularly for duPont Registry, a lifestyle magazine in Tampa, and GirlsGetaway.com. I also occasionally contribute to the New York Post, Denver Life, Startle.com and more, as well as my own sites, travlingirl.com and newly-launched TheCoolAunt.com.

“I’m passionate about travel, and I love to tell stories that will not only entertain my readers, but teach them a bit, too.”

Here are some things I’ve learned over the years that may be of help to others looking to break into travel writing:

Do what you love. Writing, whatever type you may be doing, should come from the heart. When you’re passionate about the topic, it comes through in your words. I’m passionate about travel, and I love to tell stories that will not only entertain my readers, but teach them a bit, too.

Make valuable connections. Networking continues to be key, as with any profession. I’ve found that travel writers and bloggers are a strong community, and many of us introduce our colleagues to editors we work with if the fit is right. I’ve had the opportunity to write for a large daily newspaper, thanks in large part to a fellow writer I met on a press trip. And don’t forget to use social media for connections. I recently e-introduced myself to a new editor and her publication I’d read about on Twitter and made a few pitches I thought would be a fit — we’re now in conversation about assignments. It’s all about making the right pitch!

Market yourself. Years ago I joined Mediabistro’s Freelance Marketplace, and it paid dividends. Soon after I joined, the editor of an in-flight magazine contacted me via my profile, and I wrote a bi-monthly column for him for four years. I continue to be a member and update my clips regularly. You never know when an editor will be looking for a writer just like you!

Get inside information. I also read Mediabistro’s How To Pitch articles. Not only do I look at the travel-specific magazines, but also the lifestyle titles to find out how travel pieces I have in mind might fit into their books.

At the end of the day, as with all freelance writing, it’s about being innovative and finding unique perspectives on topics that have already been covered, and making the pitch. It’s sometimes scary, nerve-wracking and uncertain. But then again, what great adventure isn’t?

Susan B. Barnes is a freelance writer based in Tampa. Contact her on Twitter @travlin_girl.

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NEXT >> Balancing Your Freelance Life With Your Personal Life

Like me, you probably tuned in to the Olympic ceremonies, wondering how mortals could pull off such an awe-inspiring spectacle. Or perhaps on New Year‘s Eve, clad in pajamas, you’ve rocked out to the music and dizzying aerial views of shivering crowds in Times Square. Maybe you clear your schedule annually to catch the Super Bowl Halftime shows or the exuberant Victoria’s Secret fashion shows.

Regardless of your propensity for live television events, there’s a good chance you’ve tuned in to one (or many) of Hamish Hamilton’s ambitious productions at some point in your life. You have seen the end results, now here’s a peek at the hectic pre-production world of these events — from the perspective of this award-winning live television director and producer.

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Name: Hamish Hamilton
Position: Live event director and producer, Done and Dusted
Resume: His directing career began at the BBC in Scotland, and he has most recently directed the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, 2013 MTV Music Awards and Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show. Next up for him is the 2014 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Hamish is also a Grammy, Emmy and 2013 BAFTA award winner.
Birthdate: April 8, 1966
Hometown: London
Marital status: Married
Media mentor(s): David Mallet, Julia Knowles
Best career advice received: Enjoy the way up, as the way down sucks.
Last book read: Tired of Being Tired, by Jesse Lynn Hanley
Website: DoneAndDusted.com

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How did you become the go-to guy for these huge productions?
I came into the entertainment world as a director at the BBC and became a live event director, which means doing an awful lot of music. As I’ve traveled through my career I’ve stepped sideways, from music to things far from music like the London Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies. I’ve also done theater pieces. But my work usually involves an event that is live in front of a group of people, and sometimes also live on television.

What do your days and weeks typically look like leading up to an event?
I would say the minimum planning period is between six and nine months, but it can be multiple years. The first few months are lots of discussion. It’s so varied; there is no such thing as a kind of a standard show that I do, really, but six months prior we’ll talk about what the show will be, the design, the visuals, the narrative. If you have those down, you can get into more intricate production details like locations, talent, storyline and sets. For example, the Super Bowl took about a year to plan, while the Olympics took about three years.

In the few weeks before a big show it’s almost a 24-hour-a-day thing. So many things have to get decided, discussed, analyzed and executed. I know a lot of people who work in film; their timelines are a lot longer than ours. Sort of like a war of attrition, they go for weeks and weeks, weeks and weeks.

“If you take the timeline of a film and literally turn it on its end — that’s what we do because we have to make a huge number of decisions in a very small space of time.”

But if you take the timeline of a film and literally turn it on its end — that’s what we do because we have to make a huge number of decisions in a very small space of time, more so on rehearsal days, and even more so on event days especially if you’re live. The rehearsal days are intense, long, demanding, physically exhausting, mentally exhausting. You have to make very big decisions quite quickly. I try to get a lot of sleep. It’s crucial to be mentally fit on show day. That said, I normally put in between 14- and 16-hour work days.

Having done so many diverse projects, I’ve learned how to control my energy so that I’ve got enough left for the live shows — the last thing you want is to show up to direct a live show being completely and utterly exhausted. That’s really where you need to make lighting-shot decisions. Genuinely, it sounds ridiculous, but I get B12, I exercise and I relax because I have to; otherwise, I would just be anxious or have negative energy. I try to flip it on its head; I try to be the one on the production who’s smiling and happy and confident.

I think it’s really important to remember I’m blessed to work in this incredible field. I made a conscious decision on the Olympics [that] however unbelievably dark it might get, I wasn’t going to go dark; I was going to remain positive. I was blessed to be directing in my hometown, working for the Oscar winner Danny Boyle, who is a creative genius. He’s unbelievably talented and a wonderful gentleman, but he had some creatively and technically crazy requests.

What happens when something on the production side goes wrong during a show?
We were doing a U2 show in Milan many years ago, and the generators broke down and we lost everything. In that kind of situation, you’ve just got to laugh. What can you do, you know? So we had to get a new generator and hook it up. We lost about 20 minutes and went back to work, fortunately. But what are you going to do?

Then, at the 2013 VMAs we had the most disastrous, monumental technical breakdown 30 minutes before we went on air. The entire stage, which was supposed to rotate 360 degrees, became jammed. We were faced with the very real possibility there would be no show. It was one of those moments that’s kind of a nightmare; something you think isn’t ever going to happen. I just went cold. But you just deal with it. You know, when you have a lot of really great people thinking calmly, out of the box, and working as a team to do something difficult, that’s very important. It’s actually bizarre because a lot of people don’t even notice, the program isn’t usually affected — and we had Miley Cyrus and the twerking incident, which kind of overshadowed everything!

It’s very easy for anyone who works with these live shows to go to a place where you’re snapping at people or you’re being curt or rude. If you’re the best at what you do, you really have to be able to deal with it and hope to just rise to the occasion. A few times on live television I wasn’t smiling, but I don’t think I ever lost my temper. I hope that people would say that I’m reasonably relaxed and controlled in my approach to people.

“As the director of a live show, you have an enormous weight of responsibility on your shoulders to do justice to these amazing performers.”

How do you deal with celebrities behaving badly?
Celebrities always behave badly. People watching modern television insist they want to see celebrities, so we have celebrities, and actually when they misbehave, those are some great television moments. Kanye West standing up on stage [at the VMAs] was like, “What the f*ck’s happening here?” But then you think, “This is f*cking great for the ratings.” And it’s the same with Miley, you go, this is gonna kick off! So, you know, I don’t think you’ll find a live director who would want to do shows where celebrities behave themselves all the time.

What are some of your most memorable directing experiences?
I was directing U2 at their lifetime achievement performance, and I had a tear in my eyes. I’m like, “I can’t believe this is happening.” I had another U2 experience when I went live with this amazing tracking shot, and you can actually see me going, “I f*cking love my job!” screaming like a lunatic. As a young boy I queued to buy U2 records. To be working with them was an unbelievable joy!

I’ve also loved directing Robbie Williams… Peter Gabriel or the Super Bowl — [at first] I didn’t really get it because I’m a Brit, but then I’m thinking, “Wow, this is really f*cking enormous.” The Madonna show [I did] was great, and Beyonce[‘s], that was special — they both taught me a lot, and their excellence propelled me to try to be as good as them. As the director of a live show, you have an enormous weight of responsibility on your shoulders to do justice to these amazing performers, which is really important to me.

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

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Joe Raiola, MAD Senior Editor and John Lennon Tribute Executive Producer?

Tiffany Shlain, vibrant and charming with her bright lipstick and snazzy fedoras, has catapulted her series, The Future Starts Here, to the top of AOL On Originals‘ list of most-watched shows. She talks candidly to the viewer, punctuating her concerns about society with humor and anecdotes from her own life. But Shlain is much more than the onscreen talent: She is an award-winning filmmaker, the founder of the Webby Awards and a popular lecturer and advocate for social change regarding technology and work-life balance.

With her high level of productivity, Shlain seems to squeeze 25 hours out of each day, while deeply enjoying both her work and relaxation time; her whole family completely unplugs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday for a “Technology Shabbat.” Both Shlain’s colorful films and the woman herself are like a tonic to our digitally saturated minds.

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Name: Tiffany Shlain
Position: Filmmaker
Resume: Founder of the Webby Awards, co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Shlain has had four films premiere at Sundance including her 2011 documentary “Connected,” and her films and work have earned 60 awards and distinctions, including the honor of having a spot in the U.S. State Department’s American Film Showcase.
Birthdate: April 8, 1970
Hometown: Mill Valley, Calif.
Education: UC Berkeley
Marital status: Married (for 16 years!)
Media mentor: The actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith
Best career advice received: Elevate the conversation. Use whatever platform is available to trigger societal change.
Last book read: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey. “It talks about daily practices of famous writers and artists throughout history, and what their day and creative process were like.”
Twitter handle: @TiffanyShlain

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How did you discover your passion for filmmaking?
Every Sunday growing up, we would go to the movies, then dinner and ice cream. After, we would sit and wrestle with the ideas [from] the movie. It was very much a part of my upbringing — to use films as triggers for important conversations. But I never thought I could actually be a filmmaker because I was supposed to be a doctor. Everyone in my family was supposed to be a doctor!

When I went to Berkeley, I took this wonderful class, the history of film. I had a great professor, who had this infectious enthusiasm about how technology had changed filmmaking and culture — I was so inspired by her. That’s when I knew I was going to be a filmmaker.

After graduating from Berkeley, I kind of went back and forth between making films and working in technology to pay for my films. At one point, I had been working on a CD-ROM for the musician Sting, and somebody said, “You have to see this thing called the Web.” When I saw the Web I was like, “That’s going to change the world.”

I came back to San Francisco and I was given the opportunity to create the Webby Awards from scratch. They had no budget, and I said, “I know how to do things with no budget! I’m a filmmaker!” So we created the Webby Awards in the early days of the Web, which was very exciting. We used to make a lot of films about how technology was changing our lives, and those films would kick off our show for the Webbys. As soon as the films were able to be shown on the Internet, I wanted to get back to filmmaking combined with the power of the Web to trigger important conversations. So it was kind of full circle from when I was a kid.

“It’s a very exciting time to be a filmmaker. You can make films from your cell phone, you can raise money on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, you can broadcast on YouTube… the world is yours.”

Is the fusion of technology and culture where you primarily get your inspiration for your films?
I think I’m very curious about a lot of things, and usually [my] films are based on something I’m wrestling with, or trying to figure out, or something I hope the larger public will discuss and try to figure out collectively.

You’re a writer, director and you’re on screen — could you tell me about how you do so much, and what your days look like?
By no means do I do it alone. I’ve worked with the same team for years — my favorite part of doing anything is the collaborative aspect of it. I usually write with three or four people and we’re passing scripts back and forth, so that part is really exciting. Doing the AOL series on top of [another] film we’re finishing was really an exercise in efficiency: getting up at five in the morning and writing until seven, being with my kids before they go to school, going to work, working while [my kids are] sleeping.

Right now I’m making a lot of things, but there’s also a period where I do have to travel — for example, the U.S. State Department is sending me to the Middle East to show my films as a cultural ambassador. Every couple months I go to screenings and events.… To be a mom the way I want to be a mom, and to live this wonderful life as a filmmaker, I can only [go to about] 2 percent of the film festivals I’m invited to. When I [do] go, I go for a crazy short amount of time, and in my mind I think, “To do both, that’s what I have to do.”

In your AOL series, you talk about having one day a week when your family unplugs — your “Technology Shabbat.” What’s that like, and does it help you with your work/life balance?
I’m a mother who’s very into being with my kids when they come home from school, but I’m trying to maximize my creative time, which has been a big focus in the last couple of years. I have been so on fire creatively, and I also love being with my kids, so I unplug on the weekends. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more productive… when I really give myself a full break.

There’s a point where I need to do something so I keep a pad of paper and I just write down things I’m worried I’ll forget. It’s almost like I’m emptying my anxiety. Usually, it will be three or four things I’ll write down, and then it goes away, and that whole next day I feel awesome. Time goes very slowly, which is what you want on Saturday. And it’s not like we wait for the sun to absolutely drop before we go back online. I love technology, but everything in moderation.

What career advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers?
There are so many tools available to experiment and play. It’s a very exciting time to be a filmmaker. You can make films from your cell phone, you can raise money on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, you can broadcast on YouTube…the world is yours. Episode five, Participatory Revolution, talks a lot about the opportunities that are available for filmmakers today.

“I feel like the Internet was the tool that the feminist movement always needed.”

I believe good films find their audience. I think really special and unique perspectives always work their way out. That’s what I love about the Web, really amazing stuff floats around and everyone hears about it. You get 20 tweets and emails the same day about the same thing — there are so many ways for people to communicate something exciting.

Any advice for working parents?
Make your own schedule. Or talk to your boss about a more flexible schedule. I think that what the Internet has given our generation is this kind of flexibility to work in new, creative ways that our mothers did not have. I have friends who work for corporations, but most of my friends work from home as consultants or own their own business. I feel like the Internet was the tool that the feminist movement always needed.

With the corporate structure, you’re [still] not going home until 6 p.m. When your kids get to fourth grade, they really need you for homework and emotionally after 3 p.m. So I don’t think that a corporate structure that was built by men, coming home at 6 p.m. or later, works.

I work as much as anybody else but I do it in a creative way. I don’t watch a lot of TV. I do get up early in the morning, and then when my kids get up, I’m with them, I take them to school, I work. I’m with my kids after school, and then I work when they’re sleeping. Collectively it’s the same amount of hours; it’s just different hours than normal. And, two of those days I’m working straight through. But it’s important to have creativity and flexibility with work, for both men and women.

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

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Tracey Edmonds, Award-Winning TV and Film Producer?

I sit, facing my laptop, at a sleek cherrywood desk that was designed and built by my father. I have a green banker’s lamp — a writer’s talisman I had set my heart on at a young age. In front of me, my art: three white squares with handmade paper flowers glued in the middle.

It wasn’t always this simple. I look back four years, when I wallpapered my office with magazine covers and art. I had kept my pet rabbit pen and bird cage nearby, overwhelming the room with a cloud of ammonia. My bird would scream for attention while I tried to focus. The rest of my apartment wasn’t much better — I had too much furniture, too many wall hangings and closets full of untouched stuff.

It’s no wonder I did the majority of my writing at a local caf_?.

My recent conversion to minimalism complements my work as a freelancer. But minimalism, for me, isn’t about challenging myself to see how few things I can possibly hang onto. It’s about rearranging my life around my priorities — a practice that even the hoarders with the largest stash could benefit from.

Adopting a Uniform

The first and easiest thing to minimize was my physical appearance. I love a comfortable, practical pajama as much as the next freelancer, but I’ve found that having a set uniform has two powerful results: First, I don’t waste any time deciding what to wear. I grab one of two black shirts, and one of my two pairs of pants. I don’t have to rifle through hanger after hanger in my closet, because I’ve whittled down my wardrobe to about 20 items — shoes included, gender stereotypes be damned. And because I wear my uniform during work hours, I get the satisfaction of changing into my beloved sweatpants at the end of the day.

“Simplifying personal behaviors, like enjoying one thing at a time and being present for important moments, can serve you personally and professionally.”

The other result of my simplified wardrobe is that I take myself seriously. If those in offices are told to dress for the job they’re striving to have, where does that leave freelancers? We, too, have to dress like the writers we want to become. I don’t envision myself 10 years from now speaking at conferences and promoting my book clad in reindeer print pajamas. Although, then again, that would be kind of awesome. (Will somebody do this, please?)

A Better Balance with My Personal Life

Anyone who works from home knows that it’s difficult to keep personal space separate from work space. I made three major changes to my home environment, each of which has benefited my work life. The first is the most profound: I moved the TV out of the living room. Now, when I’m taking lunch breaks, I sit down at the dining room table and don’t get sucked in to some Full House rerun or episode of Anderson Live. At night, when I’m home with my husband and daughter, we play together in the living room instead of zoning out in front of a movie. This reduction in screen time makes it easier on my eyes and body to sit down in front of the computer, renewed, at the beginning of a work day.

The second change is reducing my kitchen and food supply to its bare essentials — and cleaning up immediately after a meal or snack. Before, I’d dirty up the kitchen all day making coffee, grabbing snacks and fixing lunch. After I picked up my daughter from daycare, I’d be scrambling to keep her entertained while trying to find space on the counter to cut up vegetables. Now, my home is a blank slate when I switch from writer to family mode.

Finally, I cancelled our cell phone contract and replaced it with a land line. Not only are we saving $150 a month, but I don’t get caught up in spontaneous text conversations and the sound quality is much better than my former cell phone.

A Minimalist Mindset

Organizing and getting rid of your stuff does nothing if you neglect the most important environment: your internal one. Simplifying personal behaviors, like enjoying one thing at a time, knowing when to relax and when to work hard, and being present for important moments, can serve you personally and professionally.

This element, for me, is a major work in progress. I inherited Type A tendencies from my parents, who both are constantly moving, improving and achieving. I jolt awake from sleep and immediately start addressing tasks on my mental to-do lists. Even during heavy conversations with my husband, I get up to do dishes. When my husband pointed this out, I stopped, and five minutes later — without realizing it — I was wandering out of the room to start laundry.

Most people have a number of things they’d like to change about themselves, but few make these changes because they are far too complicated or ambitious. I have found that the most effective way to simplify your mind is to choose one thing — the most important thing — and focus on that until it becomes a habit. My first goal was to be fully present when my daughter returned home from daycare. It had been a major source of stress (and irony) that I missed my daughter like crazy during the day, but was so exhausted and overwhelmed at night that I’d ignore her in favor of getting everything cleaned up and ready for the next day.

“It’s a challenge to think small in a world that’s telling you to go big.”

Once I mastered this, I tackled a much larger goal: I quit smoking cigarettes. It was difficult to feel at peace when my body needed a constant influx of chemicals. Despite how grueling the withdrawal period was, I now feel an overarching sense of calm.

When discovering ways to simplify your mind, start with the thing that troubles you the most, or disrupts your life the most. It could be as simple as making room for an old favorite hobby, or cutting out an activity that clutters your schedule. It could mean reducing your caffeine intake or doing jumping jacks throughout your day.

It’s a challenge to think small in a world that’s telling you to go big. It also goes against our nesting nature to get rid of anything that we might just possibly use again in the future. And it is scary to eliminate the physical and mental clutter, to strip our environments and selves down to their essences, because suddenly we’re facing reality — no gimmicks, no bells and whistles. You may not like what you see. But without really examining how you’re spending your time, money and energy, you can’t possibly know how to save your time, money and energy. You don’t need to make a giant leap into full-fledged minimalism, but try stepping back from the madness and making a tiny change to reclaim what you really want out of life. You may be surprised at the results.

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

In the three weeks or so that have elapsed since Shirley Halperin interviewed Justin Bieber for today’s big Hollywood Reporter cover story, all sorts of crazy reports about the singer have circulated. The outlandish items have touched on everything from the identity of the woman who photographed him sleeping and an alleged place of
ill repute in Brazil to some pet-monkey fees still
outstanding in Germany.

With a lead-in like that, Halperin’s cover story is bound to be read by far more than just the usual hardcore Justin Bieber crowd. He’s appeared on a number of other magazine covers this year, including Teen Vogue and Billboard, but the THR feature really sits, more so than the others, in the eye of the Bieber storm.

When we spoke with Halperin, she was getting ready to do a fourth draft of the cover story, something she says is pretty standard for Hollywood Reporter cover assignments. We began by asking how difficult it was to pin down the hard-partying, globe-trotting Bieber.

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Name: Shirley Halperin
Position: Music editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Resume: The two key things to know about Halperin are that she has been writing about music since the mid-1990s and first began working for Janice Min in 2002 at Us Weekly. These two strands have come together beautifully in recent years for Halperin at THR, where she has been responsible since 2010 for many coverage highlights. Halperin is also the author of several books and has previously worked for High Times, Bop, Teen People, Entertainment Weekly and the LA Times.
Birthdate: July 18
Hometown: East Brunswick, N.J.
Education: Rutgers University
Marital status: Married
Media mentor: The late Timothy White (Billboard editor-in-chief from 1991 to 2002)
Best career advice received: Breathe.
Guilty pleasure: Sleep
Last book read: Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
Twitter handle: @shirleyhalperin

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How did the interview with Justin Bieber come about?
This is a story I had been chasing for a long time, five or six months. [His PR team] finally gave us the opportunity, and I think a lot of that is a testament to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s really such a huge get. I did the interview with him in person, just before he left for South America, where all the craziness has happened.

It was definitely a matter of convincing the Bieber camp that this would be a good forum for him, where he could not necessarily defend his actions, but defend his art. I think they knew that they would get a really beautiful-looking cover, a well-written, in-depth fair story. I think all these things came into consideration, but [then it’s about] bugging the camp… and just constantly going, “When are we going to do the cover?”

What’s your sense of Bieber after having spent time with him — is he misunderstood, misrepresented?
That is basically the cover story. Is he misunderstood? Is his camp complicit in any of this? Is this [negative publicity] some sort of attempt to change his image in a radical way? All of these questions are addressed in the piece. And those are the exact same questions that I would have as a casual observer of Bieber. You know, what’s really going on over there? Without giving away too much, I tried to get to the bottom of it.

“It was definitely a matter of convincing the Bieber camp that this would be a good forum for him, where he could not necessarily defend his actions, but defend his art.”

Did anything about Bieber’s physical appearance really surprise you, compared to the last time you interviewed him? [Halperin has also seen Bieber perform at various locations, including a concert in Israel.]

Yes. The tattoos. He’s really covered in tattoos now, and it was a very striking difference from the last time I interviewed him in 2011. At that time, he was just this sweet little kid. I remember that it was such a big deal that we changed his hair style for the cover.

Now, he is covered in tattoos and he just looks like a different person because of that. It’s very striking. And his new movie, which the story is pegged to — it comes out in December — the first scene of the movie is him playing piano, and you just see his arms full of ink. That, more than anything, tells you that this is a different Bieber.

The one challenging thing about writing this piece is that there were so many different ways into it. There were literally six or seven completely different ledes, angles, focuses that I could have done. It was really coming up with the one that was most relevant for right now — that also appealed to Janice and our deputy editorial director, Mark Miller, and was also a really interesting read, [one] that felt exciting. But there were so many different ways to do that.
In the conversations that we’ve had about Min, that’s always what comes up about her. Her intuitive sense of what angle to play at any given time.
She’s so good at it. Reading the temperature of the culture, what people want to talk about, what people want to hear about… What they don’t know yet that they want to talk about. I started working for Janice in 2002 at Us Weekly. So I’ve really seen the magic of Janice Min.

You’ve been covering music for a long time, and you sit in a very privileged position with The Hollywood Reporter today. What has that journey been like for you?
I was at Rutgers and working on the school paper, which I loved. It was a very exciting time musically. It was the early 90s. Grunge, indie rock and everything was happening at the same time. I still remember, very distinctly, where I was when I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time.

After college — I didn’t graduate, I just sort of left — I didn’t want to give journalism up, so I started a fanzine, Smug. It was newsprint. It was only distributed in New York and New Jersey originally, and it was all about music. Our first issue was a little bit more of a think piece. I didn’t know it was called “think piece” at the time; it was about ‘where do you find Paul’s Boutique‘ [and] about the Beastie Boys having such an influence on the suburbs, on these kids and what that meant for the culture [and] the music. I’m sure it was a terrible piece; I haven’t read it since 1995. But it was ambitious and a bit like what I still do today, which is really strange to be able to say.

I did the fanzine for five years. I had also interned for High Times in college and continued there full time [afterward]. I started out as photo editor, then was an editor, then managing editor. Then I went into teen magazine world. I went to work at Bop [at] the height of Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. I covered that whole scene; it was when I first interviewed Justin Timberlake.

“I still remember, very distinctly, where I was when I heard ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ for the first time.”

At what point did you make the move from the East Coast to the West Coast?
[In] 2005. I was covering a concert for Rolling Stone, which is a sister publication to Us. It was a Gram Parsons tribute concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. I remember I was driving back to L.A. on the [Pacific Coast Highway] and it was like, “I want to live here. This is where I belong.” I called my husband and asked him what he thought and he said, “Yup, let’s do it.”

My husband [Thom Monahan] is a music producer. He produces really awesome bands and cool records. When I met him, he was in a band that I loved, called The Pernice Brothers. He’s really thrived out here. He works with Chris Robinson — he’s in Sweden right now working with Peter, Bjorn and John. This whole West Coast thing has been really good for him.

Do you work with freelancers?
Yes, quite a few. I edit all their copy, but otherwise, it’s just me. There’s no other music person at THR. Every original, non-aggregated story that is conceived on the website is coming through me. We don’t really do album reviews. We do write a lot about sales and the business. Billboard is our sister magazine, so it’s amazing that we have all those resources: the charts, the numbers, the data.

We cover the business of music, which is so interesting these days. Not only is the business itself at a time of transition, but music is also everywhere, in movies, in TV shows. We write entire articles about the last song of Breaking Bad. That is an interesting, new way to cover music that I don’t think existed as much when I was coming up in the rock journalism world.

Richard Horgan is co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Ryan Schreiber, Founder and CEO of Pitchfork?

When I quit my day job four years ago to become a freelance writer, I aggressively threw myself into the digital and physical world. I signed on to Elance, Examiner and content farms. I tacked up flyers around town advertising my services, called local businesses asking if they needed my help and proselytized former professors and friends about the array of writing and editing I could do. On the side, I did commissioned artwork and opened an Etsy store to sell my existing paintings.

Despite this lofty expenditure of energy, I had little success. In three months I made $100 on Elance, $30 on Examiner and averaged $30 a day writing content-farm material. In my desperate attempt to do everything, I did nothing — and earned nothing.

Then I honed in, focusing on copyediting, parenting essays and service pieces on writing. Ironically, narrowing my focus broadened my opportunities. Though the sporadic nature and pay of our work as freelancers makes it tempting to cultivate every random idea, here’s my advice: don’t. Specialize first, and branch out within your specialty. Here’s how.

Become an expert

Whether you’re a new freelancer or an established one, you may already gravitate toward a specific subject or two. Focus on a topic you’re truly interested in, and the writing will come naturally. Don’t worry about markets just yet. There are paying markets for every niche, and you’ll land those gigs if your work is strong.

“Though the sporadic nature and pay of our work as freelancers makes it tempting to cultivate every random idea, here’s my advice: don’t.”

Camilla McLaughlin, a real estate writer for more than 20 years, fell into real estate writing from a place of passion. “I have worked with an architect and had my house designed and built. I’ve bought new houses and old houses, so I have those insights___ It just gives me a little background. Once you start writing in a specialty and you do it for awhile, you just start to accumulate a lot of knowledge.”

Nicola Joyce has been a freelance fitness writer, based in England, since 2004, when she sold her first piece on her experience swimming the English Channel. “It was always my intention to be the go-to person in my field,” she says of being a writer specializing in fitness. “After nearly nine years, I think this has slowly become the case.”

Reaching out across social media can boost your presence and reliability as an expert in a specific field. Joyce uses social media to “communicate and share relevant, useful information. I position myself not just as an expert voice but as a curator of information and a knowledge hub.” Alerting your readership to news and the work of other writers in your field not only expands your own knowledge, but also generates interest in you as a writer and person.

Choose opportunities wisely

You cultivate your career with both opportunities you accept and those you pass up. Rae Francoeur operates the New Arts Collaborative, a creative services business, after decades of writing and editing on the subjects of fine and literary arts. She recounts a job offer she had as a night editor. “It was a step up for me, but I was a single parent and the commute was a long one. I tried it out; I spent two weeks there, and I just couldn’t do it. It was too disruptive to my daughter. I often tell my friends, just because there is an opportunity, it doesn’t mean you have to take it. There are times I think people should say no and try to stick to the track that they really want to be on.”

If the pay is too low, the amount of work too demanding or the subject is outside of your area of interest, don’t be afraid to say no. A former client connected me with a man who needed help getting his mystery novel published, and when I read his email it seemed that what he really needed was a literary agent. I could have given him advice, working as a sort of consultant. But he seemed a little too proud and inflexible, and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy working with someone like that. Additionally, this type of work wasn’t in line with the direction I wanted my career to follow, so I politely declined.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of specializing is enabling yourself to write what you love.”

Joyce emphasizes the importance of finding paid opportunities, even as a newcomer. “Don’t write for free. It devalues what we, and you, do. Explore the extra avenues of digital. Digital publications often need content for more than main features___ snippets to promote forthcoming issues of a magazine, promotional content for eBooks and add-ons and content to tie in with social media projects.”

McLaughlin also highlights how opportunities can unfold within your specialty if you get creative with it. “Real estate writing can be a story about a property, home or commercial. It can be about an unusual renovation or the experience of the homeowner with the property. Keep a pretty broad focus [within your field of interest], and follow every avenue that you can.”

Never stop honing your specialty

Getting your name and face out into the world can be intimidating, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do it. Start by having your byline out there, Francoeur suggests. Also, consider writer’s conferences, book expos and blog conventions. Joyce accumulates fitness knowledge by signing up for email alerts from fitness organizations, attending business networking and industry-related events, and she is also a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland and the Fitness Writers’ Association. McLaughlin connects with local editors and homeowners and attends trade shows to keep her finger on the pulse of real estate.

Or, if you’re a bit of an entrepreneur like Francoeur, consider coordinating your own events. Francoeur has put on literary panels, regional writers conferences and fundraisers to benefit her community. This type of effort may seem Herculean, but even a handful of literary connections can be enough to pull a conference together and get the word out. However, for writers looking to start on a smaller scale and earn some extra income, Francoeur says, “I have friends who have writers groups in their homes for a fee. You can put it on Craigslist or MeetUp, or just posting something in the library.”

Pursue your passion

One of the most rewarding aspects of specializing is enabling yourself to write what you love. Joyce shares this sentiment about her fitness writing, “I sometimes work seven days a week and often start earlier than I would have if I was still in house. But I never feel like I’m working.” Specialization may sound like something you have to fall into by luck, like Internet stardom or lottery winnings. But in reality, if you make valuable contacts with people in your field and take time to brainstorm new or unusual outlets for your writing, you can fuel your career by writing only what you love.

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

@AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Finding The Right Market For Your Work

You’re passionate about food, and have devoted hundreds of hours to your food blog. But is it realistically possible to make a career out of cooking, taste-testing, and talking about food to anyone who will listen?

Adam Roberts, who started the Amateur Gourmet in 2004, was able to turn his humorous failures and successes into the kitchen into a book of essays, and later parlayed his food savvy into shows on FoodNetwork.com and Food2.com. Molly Wizenberg, who also started her blog Orangette early on, acknowledges that although newer bloggers have to stand out in a more crowded blogosphere, it’s not impossible if you stay focused and develop your strengths, whether it’s photography or writing about a niche subject. Jaden Hair, who started Steamy Kitchen in 2007, recalled, “After a few months of blogging, I thought seriously about doing it as a full-time job,” she said. She has a cookbook on the shelves and a built-in audience craving for more.

Here, three food bloggers share six tips for making the leap into a mainstream or high-profile food career.

Take stunning photos. If you focus on food, you can’t just dash off one-paragraph posts or cull headlines from other sources. Trying to make your braised pork recipe or dinner at El Bullí evocative requires great photos, and food bloggers almost always take their own. “Food is so multi-sensory, and blogs are only visual, so you have to appeal to that one sense,” says Jaden Hair. She takes about 50 photos for each of her recipes before whittling down to the “money shots” and editing them. The perfect leading photo draws readers into the story, so work on developing your photo skills and look to sites like TasteSpotting.com or FoodGawker.com for inspiration.

Teach yourself all aspects of making a great blog. In addition to fine-tuning her photography, Hair also taught herself photo and video editing with tutorial sites like Lynda.com. She designed her site by learning to tweak WordPress. “I didn’t know a food stylist, so I just picked up cookbooks and studied them page by page.” Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Most bloggers, photographers, and Web designers are happy to share tips with anyone who sends a friendly email.

“Some bloggers suffer for not putting themselves out there enough… Ask yourself what you can do to stand out.”

Take initiative in branching out. Chances are, you’ll find gigs that pay. After her blog started to gain momentum, Hair contacted a local paper and wrote for free, which eventually led to paying assignments and a column with the Tampa Tribune. She also contacted a local ABC affiliate and offered to do cooking segments, which led to gigs with NBC and CBS affiliates. “I made it a point to get as much media experience as possible,” she said.

Roberts got on the Food Network’s radar by initially emailing a Food Network blogger who showed up in his traffic stats. The email eventually led to a meeting with an executive who was casting for The FN Dish, then a more permanent show on Food2.com. “Some bloggers suffer for not putting themselves out there enough,” said Roberts. “You have to look at what’s out there and ask yourself what you can do to stand out.”

If you take time to develop great writing and photographs, chances are opportunities will also eventually find you. Because of the popularity of Orangette, Wizenberg was contacted by editors at Town & Country, Modern Bride, PBS.org, and NPR.org to contribute freelance articles, and by Bon Appétit to write a monthly column.

Monetize. If you have at least a few hundred readers a day on your blog, you can make money on your blog. Ad networks like BlogHer, Glam, and Foodbuzz typically pay rates that range from $3 to $6 per thousand page impressions, or more if you boast very a high readership. Over the course of a month, the pay begins to add up. With Steamy Kitchen’s wide readership, Hair said that ad revenue account for 50 percent of her earnings, but “even if it was ad income alone, it’s still a really, really good income.”

Whether your ad earnings can pay for just groceries or allow you to live off blogging, joining an ad network is an easy way to finance your passion.

You can also syndicate your content, like Hair does with the Tampa Tribune, but you should weigh the pros and cons. “I’m more in favor of creating new content vs. syndication,” said Hair. “It hurts SEO when you have duplicate content.”

When you finally score multiple projects, don’t neglect your blog. Learn to manage your time well. “Over the years, I’ve learned to manage my time and my creative energy so I can do the blog, write book proposals, come up with episode ideas for the Food2 show, and so on,” Roberts said. “The secret, I find, is in dividing the day. In the morning I blog, then I clear my head at lunch — taking some time for lunch is important (plus it’s fodder for future blog posts) — and then, in the afternoon, I work on all my other projects.”

While Wizenberg was working on her book, A Homemade Life, she took breaks by posting shorter pieces on her blog. “Blogging still felt like a lot of fun while I was writing my book,” she said. “It was like coming up for air.” Jaden Hair maintains a balance in her schedule, by doing TV only twice a month and limiting the amount of work to eight hours a day. And she continues to blog because she enjoys it. “I get to play in the kitchen,” she said. “That’s not work to me.”

Be a part of the conversation. Popular food bloggers stay popular by taking time to engage with their readers, by answering comments and emails. But you can also chime in on Twitter; the large pool of food editors, cookbook authors, and bloggers there means you can get instantaneous feedback on your posts, find out other other’s kitchen pet peeves, or discuss a hot sustainable food topic. And besides, writing from home can get lonely. “Twitter is my lifeline to other food bloggers out there,” said Hair.

Highlight your strengths. Wizenberg believes that great food blogs can come in all forms, whether the focus is photography, Japanese cooking, or story-telling, as long as the writing is not sloppy and the voice is authentic. Roberts added, “Whether it’s your concept, your voice, your design, your subject matter, or all of the above, those are the factors that’ll determine your success. Plus, your resilience: you’ve gotta keep blogging, even when no one’s commenting. Eventually, they will come.”

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Diana Kuan is a freelance writer who divides her time between China and the U.S. She often blogs on the road for AppetiteforChina.com.

Self-publishing success stories aside, there are still plenty of writers with their sights set on the Big Six and scoring a traditional deal with a major publishing house. And you know the drill: If a traditionally published book is what you want, then a literary agent is what you need.

Assuming you’ve done your homework and already learned the components of a book proposal and how to write an effective query, we’ve decided to drill a little deeper to discover other, lesser-known factors that agents consider before signing an author. And as a bonus, we’ve eliminated all speculation and hearsay and talked directly to agents about what works and what doesn’t.

So if you’ve decided to eschew eBooks and print-on-demand and are holding out for a contract from HarperCollins or Simon & Schuster, this one’s for you. Don’t bury your sales hook

You may write as a means to communicate your innermost feelings or to fulfill your life’s one true purpose, but when you sign with an agent and (hopefully) a publisher, selling books is the name of the game. And for Rachelle Gardner, an agent with Books & Such Literary Agency, a book’s sales potential must be critically examined before she agrees to sign an author.

“As I’m reading [a submission], I’m paying attention to my gut response: Are readers going to enjoy this and want to keep turning the page?” says Gardner. “Then the other side of it is, regardless of my gut response, can I sell this? And could a publisher sell this to readers? And if so, how?”

Gardner recommends writers clearly communicate the sales hook in their initial submission. As in, don’t expect the agent to automatically assume that your cozy mystery featuring a stay-at-home mom turned amateur sleuth will be targeted to unfulfilled women in middle America. The agent may make that connection on her own, but you’re better off displaying your knowledge of the market and the fact that your book actually has an audience (read: buyers).

Do prepare a verbal pitch

As a writer, hiding behind a keyboard comes naturally, and the Delete key is often the most powerful (and often used) tool in a fully loaded arsenal. Even still, there are times when the opportunity to wow a potential agent may come via a face-to-face, on-the-fly meeting as opposed to an emailed query. If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.

“If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.”

“The main points with a verbal pitch are to remember that you’re talking to a person, so you’re not sounding like a robot who’s rattling off a written pitch,” says Gardner. “And remember that the purpose of a pitch is to get someone to want to hear more. It is not to tell your whole story.”

Gardner suggests developing a 30- to 60-second, elevator-style pitch as well as one that takes as long as a few minutes. For more tips on how to sell your story verbally, visit Gardner’s personal blog.

Don’t write too niche

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise spawned a slew of sword-and-sorcery fantasies, and Stephanie Meyer inspired scores of other writers to brush up on vampire etiquette following the uber-success of her Twilight series. Certainly, there is an advantage to monitoring industry trends and positioning yourself to best capitalize on the market, but most agents want to work with authors who aren’t bound by sub-genre.

“What I like to see is that [writers] have the ability to be nimble and change,” says Paige Wheeler, a founding partner of Folio Literary Management. “So, perhaps what are the traits within that vampire novel that can be turned into something else? Is this something that could be turned into a YA or a romantic suspense? How do they want to turn what they love into something that may be more commercially viable as tastes change in publishing?”

Do have a long-term vision

Many aspiring authors have visions of retreating to country cottages in the summer or beachside bungalows in the winter to churn out regular tomes that net a full-time salary year-round. And while there are plenty of naysayers to shoot down your career novelist dreams with pragmatic talk about “real jobs” and 401(k)s, the good news is that agents actually prefer a writer with long-term career plans. Agents are just as invested in developing an author’s career as the author herself, so one-and-done writers don’t rank high on client wish lists.

“You have to plan not just on getting you first or second book published, but your fifth or seventh,” says Wheeler. “When I meet with people one on one in conferences, I often say, ‘What else are you working on? What’s project number two? What’s project number three?’ And if they have no idea, that could be a problem.”

So how can you show that you’re an idea machine without coming off like a scatter-brained creative? Wheeler says the best time to share future plans is after the initial query stage, once she asks for additional materials. It also helps to show some cohesion in terms of genre or subject matter; bouncing from business book to YA novel to political thriller is not advised.

“Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is.”

Do establish a personal connection

Wouldn’t landing an agent be so much easier if you knew one personally, or had a friend of a friend who could put in a good word? Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is — even with one you’ve never met.

“I kind of like it when people say, ‘I finished your client Rory Friedman’s book, and I haven’t slept for two days,'” says Laura Dail of Laura Dail Literary Agency. “So the connection can be through clients or authors that you both like.”

And if mentioning another client’s book scores points with agents, actually getting a referral from that client will definitely move your query to the top of the slush pile. But before you name drop, adds Dail, ask your fellow writer to reach out to the agent first. “Sometimes — and I always say this to my clients — if you haven’t called me or emailed me and told me to keep an eye out for this person, then I don’t give it much weight.”

Don’t get discouraged

As if moving from blank page to completed manuscript weren’t difficult enough, wading through the uncertain waters of landing an agent and securing a publishing deal may seem more daunting than embarking on a Thanksgiving Day juice fast. But if getting published the traditional way is still your ultimate goal, take heart: The industry needs you.

“I actually do think it’s an incredible time right now,” says Dail. “You can still do a traditional deal. Publishers are still paying advances. They still want amazing talent, [and] they’re dying for something fresh and wonderful.”

The fact that publishers and literary agencies wouldn’t exist without authors and their works is a simple, unalienable truth that is often forgotten. Yes, there’s competition, and, yes, the changes in publishing have made it more difficult for a first-time author to break in. But it’s not impossible. And if you follow these tips — along with the wealth of other resources on our site — your odds of landing an agent and a book deal are bound to increase.

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

@AndreaWillWrite

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