Like the book (and the movie and the Sex & The City episode that inspired both) said, don’t you wish you could tell a bad client, “I’m just not that into you”? Yet, most freelancers know that it’s never that simple.

As a self-employed professional, you have to consider the ramifications of breaking up with any customer: lost money and assignments, or worse, burned bridges that lead to lost money and assignments elsewhere. The media world is small, and who knows if the editor you can’t stand today becomes the top dog at your dream publication tomorrow? However, there are some situations where it pays to part ways. In fact, a split could be exactly what you need to advance your career.

Here are a few signs that it is time to dump a client and tips to ensure your career doesn’t go down in flames with the relationship.

1. It takes forever to get your dough — or they’re not paying at all.

This is probably the most obvious sign that a business relationship is going down the tubes. But before you cut ties with a deadbeat client permanently, do everything you can to get the money you’re owed. Inquire about late payments after a reasonable amount of time — and don’t just rely on email. Follow up with the publication’s accounting representative and keep track of all correspondences. If they’re still not paying up after several verbal and written notices, it’s time to call in a collections agent or pursue small claims court. Not only does the action show them you mean business, but it frees you from worrying about the matter.

“No one should need to work as hard and long as they did on a client project in attempting to get paid,” says Oregon designer Jeff Fisher of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

To avoid landing in this predicament in the first place, put a clause in your contract that states you can charge interest on a late payment (after 90 days, for example). That’s even more of an incentive for a client to cut the check on time.

Try This: Wait until the current project wraps up (and you’ve been paid), and then see if the client contacts you again. Sometimes you can avoid an uncomfortable conversation if they choose to dump you first. If they do ask you to do more work, be simple but firm: “I appreciate the offer, but cannot take on your project at this time.”

“To avoid landing in this predicament in the first place, put a clause in your contract that states you can charge interest on a late payment. That’s even more of an incentive for a client to cut the check on time.”

2. The client doesn’t respect you.

Other than being outright mean or rude, there are other behaviors that show a client doesn’t think highly of you. Maybe your editor is consistently late to meetings, never returns your phone calls, or doesn’t provide feedback in a timely or constructive manner. Who wants to work with someone like that?

For Fisher, those are all deal-breakers. “To me, it conveys that the client thinks their own time is more valuable or important than that of the person they have hired to do their work,” he says.

Von Glitschka, an illustrator in Oregon, says it is important to convey information upfront so the client doesn’t get the opportunity to disregard you. He has encountered clients that try to rush him with deadlines or stall out mid-project. “The whole equation of ‘good, fast and cheap’ is true. Pick any two. They want good and fast; then it won’t be cheap. They want it fast and cheap; then it won’t be good.”

Try this: “In order to get this project to you on time, I need to have the contract signed and a deposit due by Friday, and your first round of revisions back within seven days.” And, of course, make sure you meet all your deadlines and meetings, as well.

3. Your skill level is above the work.

Bored with your assignments? That’s another reason to say goodbye.

In the mid-90s, Fisher performed some design work for a law firm. Over a few years, he executed a complete identity design and overhaul that included updating the format of the company’s newsletter. After that, his only responsibility was to produce the quarterly newsletter. Fisher knew he could do that task in his sleep and wanted to move on to more challenging work, so it was time to split. Thankfully, the relationship ended well, and ironically enough, he was rehired last year to revamp the branding platform once again.

If this is your situation, first think about the work you want to do. Then, snag a new client in that arena before you give the older one the heave ho. You may not have to do this if you’re doing well financially, but it’s always a good idea to have a job before you quit one, particularly in times like these when many media companies are slashing freelance budgets.

Try this: “I approached the client and politely resigned the account, letting them know I had greatly enjoyed working with them, but felt my talents (and their marketing/promotion budget) could be better served in doing work in which I was more passionate,” said Fisher.

“If you’re trying to hang on to your ‘oldest client’ simply to prove that you’re good at what you do, think again.”

4. You’re only staying out of loyalty.

Just like we outgrow personal relationships, we do the same with business partnerships. Moving on can be hardest when there’s no better opportunity afoot, so we tend to stay put. This type of relationship may not be bad; it just doesn’t put you in a position to advance your career — a perfectly good reason for breaking ties.

Ilise Benun, founder of the Marketing Mentor business coaching program for creative professionals and author of The Art of Self Promotion, says it’s important to remember that your first client may not necessarily be your best.

“I think this is very tricky for people because they think the clients they start with, they__?re going to die with,” she explains. Benun says that’s while many freelancers learn the most from those first clients, their skills, rates and tolerances change as they go. So, if you’re trying to hang on to your “oldest client” simply to prove that you’re good at what you do, think again. Instead, try to build some new relationships with editors, or develop a monthly newsletter to show off your logo-making chops. Benun says that not having adequate marketing in place is what keeps many freelancers stuck.

Try this: Keep it brief. Benun recommends saying that you can’t take on additional projects, because your business is going in a different direction or you are not the best person to meet their current needs. “You know, the proverbial ‘It’s not me, it’s you,'” she jokes.

More Tips for Dumping a Client

You don’t have to be rude or arrogant when breaking up. It pays to keep things professional, because you never know where a contact may come in handy. Plus, there’s no better way to bring in new business than having a testimonial from a satisfied customer.

If you must move one, choose an appropriate format or setting to break the bad news. Whether you do that by email, phone or in person really depends on your relationship. I communicate with many of my customers only via email, so I usually opt to send a short message or have a quick phone call. Be honest, not mean.

“In most situations, blatant honesty is usually the best policy,” Fisher says. “My ‘I need to focus my creative energies on a different type of project,’ explanation is often a very true and valid sentiment to be shared___but can also work as a little white lie in cases where an escape for one’s own mental health is necessary.”

The beauty of freelancing is you can choose the projects you take on. So, if it’s time to separate from a company in pursuit of something more fulfilling or better paying, it’s okay. You’re in the position to do so.

NEXT >> How Freelancers Can Avoid Not Getting Paid

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Kristen Fischer is a copywriter based in New Jersey. Find out more at www.kristenfischer.com.

Like many editors, Mike Sante has seen an uptick in the number of queries and story pitches landing in his inbox during the past six months. There’s no mystery to the trend: with all of the recent layoffs at newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets, the pool of freelancers is growing larger by the day.

Size up the competition

The managing editor of Interest.com says the trend has changed the way he’s assigning stories. In the past, he might have considered hiring an experienced longtime freelancer without a lot of personal finance writing experience if he felt they had potential. The current market has changed all that: Sante now has his pick of top-notch, recently laid-off personal finance writers with years of experience from big-name publications like The Wall Street Journal.

For the generalist or someone without a lot of personal finance writing experience, it’s tougher to land an assignment with Sante and Interest.com these days. Sante suspects the same is true at other publications, as well. It appears there is more competition for career freelancers, Sante says. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that editors are leaving behind longtime freelancers in favor of new blood. And there’s no guarantee that newly laid-off writers and editors will experience long-term success as full-time freelancers. “Just because they’re talented doesn’t mean that they’re going to be able to make a go of it,” he says.

Successful freelancers have to have a mind for business, and not all writers have the desire or ability to do what it takes.

Alison Stein Wellner, a full-time freelance travel writer and instructor for The Renegade Writer, agrees. Freelancing is an entirely different game than working as a full-time staff person, and the newly minted freelancer is just not going to have the same skill set as the more experienced full-time freelancer, says Wellner, who has freelanced full time since 1995. There’s a lot more to being a successful freelancer than simply being able to write well. Successful freelancers have to have a mind for business, and not all writers have the desire or ability to do what it takes. For the existing full-time freelancers who are worrying about increased competition, Wellner has some advice: Stop. “I think that the threat from the newly laid-off is probably exaggerated,” she says. “Worrying about the competition doesn’t make a lot of sense, anyway. You need to focus on your own game, because this is not really a lottery.”

Competition from newly laid-off staffers is not much of concern to some longtime freelancers like Robert McGarvey. “Being a freelancer is a very different thing from having a staff job,” says McGarvey, who has freelanced for more than 30 years. “And most staff editors aren’t really equipped to be freelancers.”

Evaluate additional economic factors

The bigger threat to longtime freelancers are things that are happening as a result of the downturn, according to McGarvey. “The editorial hole is shrinking because advertising is down,” he says. Some publications are not taking submissions from freelancers at the moment. With fewer pages, there’s less work for full-time staffers to do. In an effort to avoid layoffs, some publications are having staff writers and editors generate content that normally would be assigned to freelancers. “That’s the competition,” says McGarvey.

Like McGarvey, Fred Minnick also does not see newly laid-off staffers as the biggest threat. The full-time freelancer from Louisville, Kentucky, said while business is still good, he’s feeling the economic pinch in other ways. Minnick, who has freelanced full time for the past two and a half years, said he’s noticed that some publications now are reducing per-word rates. Where he might have received a 1,400-word assignment from a publication in the past, he’s now receiving 600-word assignments. In some cases, the frequency of assignments also has tapered off.

Others, like Craig Guillot, have hardly noticed a downturn. In fact, the New Orleans-based freelance writer and photographer says 2008 was his best year yet since he started freelancing full time three and a half years ago. “The work has been flowing in all year,” he says. While Guillot did lose some newspaper work this year, it was low-paying anyway and had no significant impact on his finances. Like many experienced full-time freelancers, Guillot is really not that concerned about competition from recently laid-off staffers. Longtime editorial contacts getting laid off and publications shutting down are more of a worry. “That concerns me a lot more than the competition,” he says.

Regardless of whether freelancers are experiencing increased competition right now, there are several things that freelancers can do to remain competitive and weather the economic storm ahead.

Ten tips for staying competitive in a down economy:

1. Increase your marketing efforts. Getting assignments is really a numbers game, so in tough economic times like these, you have to increase your marketing efforts, Wellner says. If you normally send out five queries or letters of introduction, send out 10. “Sales is a matter of the number of doors you knock on.” Accept the fact that it may take longer to land assignments now, she says. “Your mileage may vary.” Now is the time to step up other marketing efforts too, Minnick says. If you don’t have a Web site, get one. “It’s getting your name out there” that will make the difference right now, he says.

2. Play up your strengths. If you have a specialty or a niche, now is the time to play that up. Know that with increased competition, it might be more difficult to get your foot in the door if you’ve never written for a particular publication or penned articles about a certain topic area before, Sante says. Look for clients and publications that need your area of expertise and target those. Don’t forget to emphasize other strengths like reliability, Guillot says. Selling yourself in the right way — beyond your writing skills and experience — can sometimes convince an editor to take a chance on you.

3. Pay attention to the market. Remember that what brought you money in the past, may not earn you a dime now, McGarvey says. “If you’re trying to place that story on the million-dollar honeymoon, you’re in the wrong place and wrong time.” Frugality, on the other hand, is “in” right now. “So you have to be alert to what the marketplace wants and what your skills are,” he says.

4. Diversify. Even in the best of times, magazines and publications go under, Wellner says. Don’t fall into the trap of accepting too much work from a small number of clients. Diversify as much as you can — especially right now. For McGarvey, the need to diversify is underscored by an experience he had during the last downturn in 2001, when he was stiffed $3,000 after a publication he was writing for went out of business.

5. Watch your attitude. You can’t control the economic climate, but you can control your attitude and what you’re focusing on, Wellner says. “Writing is psychological,” she says, and constant exposure to negativity can zap your productivity. “So it’s really important to guard your attitude.” Editors and clients want to work with people who are positive and upbeat. “And part of being competitive is being enthusiastic.” The enthusiasm will shine through in your queries and story pitches, so keeping a positive attitude can ultimately make a difference in your bottom line.

6. Learn new skills. Everyone will emerge from the downturn, but it’s up to each individual to decide how they want to come out of it, Wellner says. Why not use any downtime you have to brush up on your skills or learn something new? Think beyond writer’s workshops — what skills or areas of knowledge are going to make you more marketable? For example, Guillot just purchased a new camcorder and video equipment. While he’s not aggressively marketing his multimedia skills yet, he expects that more freelancers soon will be expected to know how to use this technology. While the video is more of a hobby now, Guillot expects that he increasingly will use these skills in new ways.

7. Nurture existing relationships. Don’t take your existing work or your current clients for granted, Minnick says. “Try to extend some service to your existing clients.” For example, instead of simply writing stories, offer to gather photos. Nurturing your business relationships is always important, but it’s especially important right now. “Your best customers are your existing customers,” he says. McGarvey can vouch for that fact — all of his work is from old and existing customers right now. Make the rounds among your old customers and ask if they need any help right now, he says.

8. Stash the cash. In tough times, it sometimes takes clients longer to pay, Guillot says. Be sure to keep a large cushion of cash on hand for the lean times. Even though he’s had a great year, there can be times when he goes six weeks without seeing a check land in his mailbox. Save as much as you can, he says, and live well within your means.

9. Face reality. “This is the worst [economic climate] I’ve ever seen in the years that I’ve been freelancing,” Wellner says. But focusing on that and all of the implications that go along with it can be detrimental to your productivity and your business. It’s important to focus on the positive, but it’s also important to be realistic. Make sure the publications you’re working for are financially solvent, because some will go out of business — just as they did during the last recession in 2001, McGarvey says. “I do think that times are going to get much, much worse for freelancers. And I fully expect the number of freelancers to shrink in the next six months.” The same thing happened in 2001, he says. But many freelancers weathered the storm and are still in business.

10. Hang tight. If you’re in this business for the long haul, it’s important to stay alert to changes and keep your mind open to new possibilities and opportunities, McGarvey says. “You’ve got to be nimble. Stay alert to what the next act is.” Be honest with yourself about the freelance life because more than likely, it’s going to be a rough road ahead — it’s just the beginning of the recession. “Things aren’t going to get better soon. It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he says. “You’ve gotta really like this work right now. If you don’t, you should be doing something else.”

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Jenny Cromie is a Michigan-based HR/business freelance writer and editor, and editor of The Golden Pencil, a b5media.com blog about freelance writing and how to build a successful freelance writing business.

In technology, it always pays to be ahead of the curve. And ignoring the eBook tidal wave in publishing today is akin to believing that Friendster is the only social network.

Thankfully, Joshua Tallent is on the right side of digital trends. Having started as an eBook developer back in ’02, Tallent later launched eBook Architects to help authors and publishers navigate this new retail world and get their books onto all the must-have reading devices.

“When the Kindle came out in 2007, I saw the opportunity to help authors format their books as eBooks. At first, it was just a part-time way to make extra money, but about nine months after I started doing it, it turned into a full time job,” he says. “I hired my first employee last year. A couple of weeks ago, I hired employee No.11.”

Ahead of his appearance at mediabistro.com’s Publishing App Expo, Tallent talks jobs in digital publishing, which tablet is his true love, and why there is still no single eBook format.

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Name: Joshua Tallent
Resume: Started as an eBook developer for Wordsearch and later founded eBook Architects. Author of Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide.”
Birthday: February 12, 1979
Hometown: Austin, TX
Education: Studied history at University of Houston
Marital status: Married, two kids
Media idol: “None, I try not to idolize anybody.”
Favorite TV show: Law & Order
Guilty pleasure: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Last book read: Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
Twitter handle: @jtallents

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Since this is such a new business, potential employees may not have eBook formatting on their resume. What kind of skills do you look for?
We require that the developers that we hire have a base knowledge of HTML, but a lot of the eBook formatting skills are learned on the job. I’d rather hire someone who is more of a moldable mind than someone who is fixed in their ways. We have people from many different backgrounds.

For authors and publishers thinking about making an eBook, at what phase of a book’s production do you like to get involved?
It would be great to get involved early on and sometimes that happens, but [for]the majority of projects that we have done we get the files when the book is about to be published or a manuscript is about to be submitted. Typically we get a PDF file from clients, but sometimes we get a Word document or an HTML file.

Once you have the files, how long does it take for you to make an eBook? And what format will this eBook be in?
The biggest issue that we have is the workload, but once your project gets into our system it takes about three weeks to create. We always make an ePub and a Kindleo file; those are the standards. We can also do fixed layouts for iBooks, enhanced eBooks and some special formatted eBooks, but in general our clients just want the ePub and Kindle format so that they can sell in the main eBook retailers.

“It is not a single format to rule them all.”

Book publishers are not always known for the technical savvy. It doesn’t help that the main eBook retailers don’t all conform to one standard eBook format, and they have to create different files for different bookstores.
It is not a single format to rule them all. Most publishers are starting to figure out that this is a big deal. They want to put out eBooks and have it not be frustrating. A consumer says I want an eBook; I go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Apple and then read it that way. Amazon is 70 percent of the eBook market because they are doing it well. They make it easy for consumers. Barnes & Noble holds second place because they focus on the customer experience. That is what is going to sell eBooks. Kindle and ePub will be the main formats because of this. It’s only when you get into children’s books and enhanced eBooks that other formats come into play.

These special formats read better on tablets. How do tablets change the landscape for the e-reading experience?
There is a lot of hype around tablets, but I still think that a black and white e-reader is the best device to read a book. I don’t think there is a comparison between e-readers and tablets. They are different things; I don’t equate the two. I have an iPad, but I don’t use it for reading that often. Most of the time I use it for other kinds of things like watching videos, surfing the Web and playing video games. Tablets have the benefit of being multimedia devices, but they aren’t the best way to read eBooks. Dedicated e-reading devices are a better experience for reading, and they lead to greater consumption of eBooks.

“I don’t think there is a comparison between e-readers and tablets.”

What do you think of the new tablets by the eBook sellers?
The Kindle fire is a good idea for Amazon, because they have the ability to sell that content. They have videos and music, so it makes sense for them to build out that ecosystem. Barnes & Noble and Kobo tablets make less sense to me, since neither one are focused on selling movies, videos or music. There are benefits to having an LCD screen for video in a book, but most eBooks don’t have video and Barnes & Noble barely has an app store. When Barnes & Noble came out with the Nook Tablet, the whole thing was tied to Netflix and Hulu. In a sense, I don’t see the purpose because their experience is so tied to books. However, the only caveat would be magazine content or children’s books; the new tablets do create a better reading experience for this kind of content. And there is a lot more content coming out around these areas lately.

I’m sure you have an array of e-readers to run tests at the office, but what is your preferred device to read eBooks on at home?
I like the Kindle. I like the ecosystem. I can read on my Android phone, or my iPad or my Kindle and all of my reading is synced in real time. I’m planning to use the Kindle Fire. I think Amazon has the best customer device experience. Some people like to bash Amazon, but personally I like them. I am pretty sure that I will be able to read the books I buy today in 10 years. Just because you go to Barnes & Noble and buy an eBook doesn’t mean that content will live on for decades.

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Nina Lassam, eBook Marketing Evangelist?

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Dianna Dilworth is editor of eBookNewser and a GalleyCat contributor.

What happens when you take a witty, music journalist-turned-food writer and place him in front of Food Network cameras?

You get Crave, a food road show with a sense of humor — something normally absent from the network catered to stay-at-home mothers and aspiring chefs. Hosted by San Diego native Troy Johnson, the Riviera Magazine senior editor spent eight weeks traveling the country and providing viewers with a variety of 30-minute food biographies.

Johnson is no stranger to the TV camera. He hosted a local award-winning music show for six years called Fox Rox and was the host of the San Diego Padres pregame show. Until his boss at Riviera assigned him the beat, food was the last thing on Johnson’s radar; at the time, he jokingly said it’s “for people that are one Ambien away from death.”

Yet, his transition was a smooth one, as he won multiple writing awards in San Diego and Orange County and proved that great writers can adapt to any environment.

How does a music writer land a TV show on the Food Network?
I sent them gold bouillons, uncorrupted DNA and first rights to my first-born child with the contingent that she wasn’t ugly. I switched to food about five years ago and I didn’t want to do it at first, at all. I came out of the music scene and wrote a little bit for Rolling Stone, mostly online. Did more stuff for Spin magazine. I hosted an underground TV show; it went for six years. We won a couple of Emmys and we did a pretty good job. We got canned after six years because of the economy.

I took a real job at a magazine that said you’re going to handle arts, culture and music, but we also need somebody to handle food. I thought, “Food? Screw food.” That’s for people that are one Ambien away from death. Since I didn’t like it, but had an acute sense of self-preservation, I studied it. And studied it. And studied it. I made flash cards and read Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen from cover-to-cover, almost twice. I read everything I possibly could and discovered that I really loved this. There’s history; there’s science; there’s culture. I thought nobody was writing about it with edge. I brought that semi-punk rock view towards food. I made a tape for Food Network and they said we think you’re OK, why don’t you come to New York? I said “Absolutely!”

“There’s nothing natural about TV. You just have to hopefully put a little bit of humanity in it.”

When did you first discover your passion for food?
It wasn’t too far into it. To caveat that, I’ve always been a home cook and I’ve been interested in cooking since I was 18. I make my own béchamel and I get really inventive and I grow my own food. But I had no interest in writing about it. I thought it wasn’t edgy enough or exciting enough. About six months into it, I was actually editing a guy who wrote about food for The New York Times. I was helping him hone on these stories but also learning from him at the same time. About six months in, it was love from familiarity. I started going around town and really getting to source the chefs and philosophizing on why certain foods became huge. And plus, it just tastes good in your mouth.

What chefs or writers have influenced you along the way?
Most of the writers have been music writers like Lester Bangs, who was a psychotic meth-addled rock ‘n’ roll guy… David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs for just the pure humor of it all. In terms of chefs and writers, I like [Anthony] Bourdain, Bill Buford, Gael Greene, M.F.K. Fisher, but I mostly get my real drive for writing from humorists and people who appreciate the darkly, funny side of life.

How does hosting a TV show about food compare to writing about it?
Hosting a TV show, you have 22 minutes to get in as much information as possible with a minimum amount of exposition. You have to fit what you thought in a paragraph in one line that you have to deliver on camera. It’s tough, to be honest with you. The camera points at you, you’re with a chef, and you have to get in a certain amount of information. You have two more shoots that day, and you have a limited amount of time to get all the information you need. It doesn’t always lead to the most natural conversations. There’s nothing natural about TV. You just have to hopefully put a little bit of humanity in it.

Humor is something Food Network shows normally lack. How do you balance the humor with information hardcore foodies are craving?
That’s what I’ve done in my writing. I wrote a book about growing up with a gay parent, and I got information across, and I talked about news about gays and AIDS, but I also threw humor into it. “Mother Teresa Has an Active Vagina” is the title of one of the chapters and “God Hates Fags” is another chapter. I’ve just always been able to throw humor into real, factual writing about whatever I do. Again, this sounds kind of pretentious. I’m not saying I’m the funniest dude on earth. Some of my jokes suck, but I always liked writers who can get real information across, give you the nuts, the bolts, the history, but also perspectives. I respect food, but I also think we treat it too preciously sometimes. Have fun with it. It’s still food.

You mentioned the writing was awful for Crave. How much input did you have during the rewrites of the show?
All of that writing is mine. I was told ‘don’t go this certain direction.’ There was one time where I said, “Pork butt is the Jesus of meat. It’s all forgiving.” They said you can’t compare pork butt to Jesus because we will offend three-quarters of our audience. I realize that some people don’t have as loose as a personality about religion like I do, but they did give me guidance. I wrote every single scrap in there.

“I respect food, but I also think we treat it too preciously sometimes. Have fun with it. It’s still food.”

Jonathan Gold was the first food critic to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. As a fellow food critic, is that something you strive to accomplish one day?
Oh God, I mean it would be amazing. If the Pulitzers call, I definitely won’t block their number. At the end of the day, my knowledge about food — even though I’ve studied it for five years and I’ve eaten out three times a day for five years — my knowledge of food is still dwarfed by someone like Alton Brown or Michael Simon. I’m still learning this craft. A half-decade of studying does not make you a master. I want to bring that David Sedaris/Mark Twain kind of humor to food. I think a real sense of humor has been lacking in the food genre. If that lends itself to some sort of award down the road, well shit, I have a really dusty mantle for it to fit on.

How much weight did you gain during your eight weeks on the road?
We did three trips — two three-week trips and one two-week trip. I gained seven pounds every single time. My philosophy on this is you have to eat two bites. The only way to have my body not eclipse the sun is if I’m eating two bites and then I’m done. I know there are six more courses coming or I have to taste four more things that day. It’s the only way to survive. It’s not that I’m trying to be precious about my body image or be Kate Moss’ boyfriend, because gout I heard is not pleasant. I’ve heard about people using spit buckets on shows like that because at the end of the day, you have to eat so many burgers from so many different angles. I never used a spit bucket, although at some point on my trip, I did painfully pine for one.

Troy Johnson’s tips for transitioning from print to TV:
1. Free for All. It’s not unlike what drug dealers do (note: I hate drugs. Don’t do drugs). Give it away for free. Then charge them for it once they’re addicted. Every writer has three minutes of valuable content/research/information that would be valuable to viewers, and local TV has a lot of air time and little budget to fill it. If you do well in that spot, you’ll grow.

2. Talking Heads. If you’re a sports columnist, read national headlines every day. Then, if there’s a local angle to that national story, pitch it to the producer of a local news station. They’re always looking for voices/experts/pundits to talk on stories, especially if you can detail your perspective and make it unique/weird/different.

3. YouTube, Dude. Learn the basics of FinalCut and make a three-minute story package. Even if one person in the world sees it and they leave you a comment about how much you suck, it doesn’t matter. The real value in that is learning to film a story visually, writing for video, speaking the copy into the camera, etc.

4. Trial by Teleprompter. There are a few [software programs] out there, but learning to sound natural on teleprompter is a long process. My first year on TV, my producer put me in a chair for hours at a time and ran the teleprompter. He also made me wear headphones where he’d play bird noises, sex noises, TV clips, bad German techno, some sexy dude saying something in French. He taught me to read prompter even through distractions.

Tom Lutz’s most recent book is called Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers and Bums. Considering Lutz has been working 60-70 hours per week to get the Los Angeles Review of Books off the ground, in addition to his teaching duties at University of California-Riverside, “doing nothing” is the antithesis of Lutz’s modus operandi.

Spurred by a desire to give Los Angeles a larger voice in the literary conversation and to push back against the widespread shuttering of book review sections nationwide, Lutz launched the electronic version of the magazine in the spring. As advertising revenue increases, he hopes to pay contributors on par with the market. For now, the fledgling site has been buoyed by the largesse of marquee writers and reviewers who have been willing to work pro bono. And that’s been the most pleasant unexpected development.

“The quality of people that I’ve got working for me, most of whom I met sort of accidentally since I started, has been great,” Lutz says. “People who read something and decided they wanted to be part of it and joined it, an incredible group of people who are turning this out each day. That’s been a spectacularly wonderful surprise.”

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Name: Tom Lutz
Position: Editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Resume: Has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, Stanford University, the University of Copenhagen and the California Institute of the Arts. Author of American Nervousness, 1903: An Anecdotal History, Cosmopolitan Vistas, Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears and Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums.
Birthdate: March 21
Hometown: Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Education: Bachelor of Arts in English and journalism from University of Massachusetts. Masters and Ph. D in English from Stanford University.
Marital status: Married
Media idol: William Dean Howells
Favorite TV show: Web Therapy
Guilty pleasure: “Watching Burn Notice.”
Last book read: American Idyll: Academic Antielitism as Cultural Critique by Catherine Liu
Twitter handle: @lareviewofbooks

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Beyond the title, what else distinguishes the L.A. Review of Books from the New York Review of Books?
We are based in Los Angeles, and the world really does look different from here than it does in New York. We have less of a relation with the established big six publishers. We have a kind of wider sense of the publishing world and a desire to look out from L.A., rather than look at L.A.

And you thought that was missing before?
Well, I started this as I watched the book review supplements at all the Sunday papers dying: the Atlanta paper, the Boston paper, the Chicago paper, the Washington paper. And then the Los Angeles Times folded its Sunday supplement section into its arts and book section which is about four pages long now. And that was my interaction with the literary culture: the Sunday Times Book Review. So, I thought future generations should have the same chance to be introduced to a literary culture as I had.

What were some unforeseen developments, both positive and negative, that you encountered in getting the publication off the ground?
[Laughs] I thought it’d be easier to raise money for it. To me, it seems like it was a really good idea, and that’s why I’m doing it. I thought it would seem like a really good idea to people with a lot of money. So, the difficulty of raising money was an unforeseen development.

“I thought future generations should have the same chance to be introduced to a literary culture as I had.”

What’s been your feedback from writers and readers?
Very enthusiastic, from all over the world. From people reading in India and Japan and Europe, South Africa. Really kind of a great response from readers. Every once in a while somebody is unimpressed, some reader, lets me know. That’s interesting, too. Publishers seem to be very happy to have another outlet. And academics, who don’t always have a voice in a public forum, are happy to be working with us. Going through that editing process to see that people will read them. So, all of those responses have basically been very good.

The banner on the website says it’s the temporary home of the review. When will the permanent website go live?
We’re getting a walk through from our Web company in a week, so we’ll see what kind of shape it’s in then. We’ve been saying for a while now that the full site will be up for the New Year, and we seem to still be on schedule for that.

Are there sections that you think will be of particular interest to readers?
I think as the site goes up, our scientific fans will have a vibrant section. And our young adults, readers and authors, will have a kind of lively section. Right now, since we’re limiting ourselves to a piece per day, there’s not enough time to have a full communal interchange, but they will on the full site. That’s what I’m looking forward to. And, of course, there’s going to be more interactive features in every way and a lot more audio/video material.

What’s your operating budget?
Right now, we’ve taken in a couple hundred thousand dollars, and we have an aspirational budget of $2 million a year.

Will the site’s online content continue to be free?
We’re developing some content for sale in the Kindle single model or as apps. We’re developing various ways to sell some content, and we’ve been talking editorially perhaps with things we think will be a big response, putting them out a few weeks early as paid items and then throwing them up on the site after that. We’re trying to develop an audience, so we don’t want to draw up a pay wall anytime soon. We’re following the general trends there.

“We’re letting our writers, our reviewers, make some of those editorial decisions. That, I think, is part of why writers are happy with us.”

When is the print edition of the review going to first publish?
We’re not sure exactly that there will be a print edition. We’re going to see how we do with the electronic items. Mike Davis is serializing his book with us; we have a couple other serial possibilities in the works. So, we’ll eventually publish those in print editions, but we’ll see how things go. There was a lot of clamoring in the beginning, because the people who were leading the charge were traditionalists in the sense that they were missing their print edition. There’s less clamor for it now, and I think once the full site is up there will be even less because people will see the value. And, as tablet use goes up for reading, I think people will be less interested in the print editionn.

What’s the name of the Mike Davis book?
“The Ghost of Wrath” is the working title. It’s a biography of Harrison Gray Otis. He’s one of the founders of the L.A. Times. Mike’s argument is that nobody ever wrote a biography of him, because he always seemed like a cartoon evil character. Mike has found some very interesting Civil War exploits of his and he’s becoming a very interesting character.

What’s the vetting process for books to be sent to you and reviewed?
We’re on everybody’s mailing list, so we get pitched I don’t know how many books a day. Maybe a hundred? It’s a heavy road. Some of them come as books or galleys, so we have our editorial meetings and we look through the stack and pick out what we feel we should cover. And then we put out a call for reviewers. Since we can’t immediately offer people a big check for it, we’re relying on people’s desire to review the book rather than on our desire to have it reviewed. So, we’re still not reviewing everything we’d like. We’re letting our writers, our reviewers, make some of those editorial decisions. That, I think, is part of why writers are happy with us, because we do like to let our writers’ passion determine the length of the piece that they write, the kind of piece that they write. Less of giving a rating to a particular piece, to say read it or don’t read it; we’re not that kind of review. We’re more like a literary conversation, and that’s why we’re doing it.

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Nina Lassam, eBook Marketing Evangelist?

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Cameron Martin is a freelance writer and contributor to The New York Times, The Atlantic, Yahoo! Sports and Barnes & Noble Review.

After parlaying his sales career into a copywriting business, Ed Gandia learned all the nuances of going solo, from setting up an accounting system to dealing with problem clients. But that wasn’t enough for this suburban Atlantan — he wanted to help other people run successful businesses, too.

That’s why Gandia launched the International Freelancers Day along with Steve Slaunwhite and Pete Savage, co-authors of his book, The Wealthy Freelancer. The event, held Sept. 23, brought together approximately 5,000 freelancers globally who got to watch more than 16 free presentations online. Now in its second year, the free day of webinars gives freelancers the wisdom and tools they need to flourish.

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What exactly is International Freelancers Day?

It’s a free online conference that includes numerous streaming sessions throughout the day covering topics applicable to freelancers. Participants attend online, so they don’t have to pay for travel and our overhead costs stay low. Like, this year, we had a presenter who talked about what fees to charge clients… we also covered how to promote yourself as a freelancer, how to use Facebook and LinkedIn, PR techniques… that sort of thing. Every hour, two new 20-minute presentations started and participants could choose which one they wanted to see in each time slot. The presentations streamed throughout the day virtually, so people had to show up on time to see them.

How does it work?
Well, you have to register prior to the event just as you would with a regular conference. Registration is free and then we sent an email out to participants with a link to a special page on the site that streams the presentations at their scheduled times. You don’t need any special equipment, but you have to show up at the scheduled times to catch the presentations. You simply go to the site and choose which presentation you want to see, then watch it.

And then you offered the content as a replay package — for a fee, right?
Yes, that’s how we’re able to cover most of our costs, but that’s really not the goal of the event. Buying the replays for $29 for all 17 sessions gives people the chance to see all of the content and replay it as much as they want. The replays come with full transcripts and MP3 audio files for those who prefer to read the material or listen to it in their iPod or MP3 player. If you missed a traditional conference, you probably wouldn’t be able to get the content. That’s a huge advantage to having a virtual event.

How did International Freelancers Day start?
We wanted to create a movement. First of all, we saw that every group and profession out there has its own day. There’s a pancake day and even a pirate day. Freelancers make up about a third of the U.S. workforce if you count part-timers and contingency workers; they don’t have their day. We just didn’t get that. And we thought, well, what better way to put out great information via a live online event?

“Nobody has gone out there and has really gotten people fired up in a positive way. Somebody’s gonna do it and I want it to be me.”

You’ve stepped outside of your role as a copywriter. You’re doing this to help other people. How do you know this is your calling?
I think this is a severely underserved audience, and it really pains me to see [that]. I guess bottom line is there’s very little coverage, and when I do see coverage in the mainstream media it’s very negative. And I say, you know, forget that; that’s not going to help anybody. How do we find a way to make this work? Make this a viable business, a viable living and make a living so you don’t have to go back to that environment that keeps spitting you out? I have a passion for this business, for freelancing. And I really want to see people doing better. Nobody has gone out there and has really gotten people fired up in a positive way. Somebody’s gonna do it and I want it to be me.

What about the technical aspect of International Freelancers Day? How did you put that together?
Crystal Coleman, our business manager. We couldn’t have done it without her. She is a seasoned operational manager; she really ran the show behind the scenes… making sure things ran smoothly and presentations ran on time.

All of the technology seemed to go off without a hitch this year. What else was different?
Last year, the server went down twice during the event. We were on a high-powered dedicated server this year; we had contingency plans. Last year, we really wanted a lot of big names. We ended up with a very impressive presenter list. This year, I wanted to do something different… get new fresh ideas and perspectives. We had about 40 percent of the presenters from last year. It ended up working out really well. We had about 4,800 people; we know that the attendance rate was really high. They knew we would provide replays for a fee, so there was an incentive to show up that day.

Are there plans to do this next year?
Definitely. We really want to continue this tradition. I think it achieved its purpose. I didn’t feel more proud to be a free than I did that day. I think people who are maybe struggling a little bit may have had some renewed hope.

Ed’s tips for successful freelancing:
1. Learn to land clients. “Many freelancers are very good at their craft, but they haven’t developed the marketing practices and habits that will keep the work flowing in. The solution lies in consistently marketing your services, even when you’re booked solid. It’s also about picking the marketing tactics and practices that fit your personality and yield the biggest impact.”

2. Go beyond networking. Network in your local community, but connect the smart way by narrowing down organizations where your prospects hang out. “Then, rather than just showing up for the lunch meeting or breakfast networking events, you should volunteer in the organization. That’s how you really get to know people. When you do this, however, do it from a place of service. Be sincere in your willingness to help and the work will come”

3. Set the tone. “Most freelancers let their businesses and clients guide their path. Instead, I would suggest setting a course… and then making the needed adjustments to ensure you get to where you want to go. Freelancing is too great a gift to let others dictate your route or destination.”

Yuli Ziv may not be a household name – yet – but the founder of Style Coalition, a network that includes over 50 top fashion and beauty bloggers, has made her mark on the fashion world in a few short years. And now the former marketing exec has literally written the book on fashion blogging, Fashion 2.0: Blogging Your Way To The Front Row (CreateSpace), which she hopes will help revolutionize the burgeoning industry.

Cutting through the clutter of the hundreds of thousands of fashion blogs currently rattling around the Internet is no easy task, Ziv concedes. It took her five years to become profitable, but she hopes that with her guidance aspiring bloggers can achieve success – and earn a profit – in much less time.

Why did you decide to write the book?

Number one, there was no such book in this industry in particular. There are a lot of books, of course, about blogging, but I thought the fashion industry needed one specific to it because it’s a very special industry. As the leader of Style Coalition and a fashion blogger, I am constantly approached by people for advice and tips and questions like, “How do I get into Fashion Week?” Answering individual emails was getting tiring, so I thought packaging all the advice I had into one book would be a better solution. And, because this industry is so new, there are no guidelines or rules. It needs some organization, and as someone who had been working in marketing and blogging and with an ad network before –- I’ve been doing all of that for a decade — I thought I could help. It helps the entire industry in that way.

Is there something you have learned during your five years as a fashion blogger that you wish you would have known before you started?
Most of all, and I talk about this a lot in the book, it’s having a foundation — knowing who you are and why you are there and what you stand for. Many people start blogging because it’s so easy and they don’t put thought into it before they do it. What separates a professional blog, for me, is that you know from the first page who this person is and why they are writing about what they are writing about and what you’ll get from their blog.

Why did you decide to go into fashion blogging to begin with?
Things were starting to happen in the fashion industry, and I was fascinated about the change, and I could smell the revolution, and I wanted to be a part of it when it happened. I am really happy about my decision; I could be part of the change from the beginning and capitalize on it.

But it wasn’t easy for you at the beginning; you write in your book about a few failures along the way.
It took years before I saw a dime from my business, but as an entrepreneur you’re a risk taker and you jump at the opportunity to take a risk, not for a steady a paycheck. It took five years to get here.

“I could smell the revolution, and I wanted to be a part of it when it happened.”

When giving advice to aspiring fashion bloggers, would you tell them that it takes five years to make money from your blog?
I don’t think I had a good plan at all. If you want to be successful, you have to have a better plan. If I had known where I was going, it wouldn’t have taken me five years. I have enjoyed the journey, but it pays to be focused from the beginning and think, “How am I going to make money? How am I going to get there?” Also, the industry was so new; I couldn’t imagine five years ago that the industry would be where it is today.

What is the best lesson from your book?
The main thing — and this is why our industry is different – because this industry is driven by fashionable products, it’s hard not to get jaded and swayed by the glitz and glamour. The book tries to show bloggers how to balance that with the business side and guides bloggers on how to still enjoy the benefits that the industry offers, but conduct a business at the same time and keep your ethics and focus and not be distracted by the free stuff.

What is your advice to bloggers to best monetize their blogs?
You need to figure out what your revenue channels are and really separate them from your editorial content. Some revenue channels are appropriate for some blogs and some aren’t. Once you separate that from editorial, that’s a good start. Then you have to start being more and more pushy, especially when you’re approached by marketing people to do features that should be sponsored features. There are some bloggers that aren’t experienced and they don’t have the education, and they are doing sponsored content for free, and it is hurting everyone. The main skill to have is to learn to separate a marketing opportunity or pure promotion. Once you learn to say no to those things and demand payment, it’s an important step to building your blog as a business.

Ziv’s tips for launching a successful fashion blog:
1. Research the marketplace. “Before you do anything, do your research and find a niche that hasn’t been done before. If you don’t have a unique proposition it’s going to be hard to succeed. There are new blogs popping up every day, but there is still room for innovation. For example, there’s not enough comedy in fashion; there’s not enough humorous stuff and people challenging the traditional interviews and putting a comedic spin on it.”

2. Learn the rules. “It puzzles me how many bloggers consider themselves professional, but they don’t know the basic terms of the industry, particularly when monetizing. You need to know what CPMs are and what traffic means. You should know the Fashion Week terms the same as marketing and advertising terms.”

3. Have a plan and stick to it. “Don’t get swayed by anything or other success that you see out there and start to think, ‘This person is doing blogging on celeb fashion; look how much traffic they get; I should do that, too. Don’t get distracted by anything, like freebies or jealousy. Just stick to the plan.”

Doom and gloom seems to permeate the media community these days. If it’s not the bankruptcy of Borders, it’s another wave of massive layoffs by AOL. Matt LeMay, a former music journalist who watched the record industry implode, now offers some advice for content publishers in the media business: “Embrace the future, or the future will kill you.”

That future, says LeMay, relies not just on distributing content through social media, but using the right tools to make your Twitter and Facebook links smarter. As platform manager for bit.ly, LeMay says the company’s ubiquitous links allow content producers to collect and track data on which stories and blog posts are read and how often. In advance of his talk at Socialize on March 31 in New York, LeMay explains how writers and publishers who arm themselves with this information can finally turn their passions into dollars.

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Name: Matt LeMay
Position: Platform Manager
Resume: Began touring with a band, which lead to working for a music nonprofit. After learning to develop websites, LeMay had a chance encounter with the one of the founders of Bit.ly, which lead to his managerial position at the startup.
Birthday: November 28, 1983
Hometown: New York
Education: B.A. in Modern Culture & Media from Brown University
Marital status: Single
Media idol: Gary Vaynerchuk. “I have a ton of respect for people who build incredible careers without muting their personalities.”
Favorite TV show: The Critic
Guilty pleasure: “I wrote my thesis on Sex in the City and I kind of liked it.”
Last book read: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
Twitter handle: @mattlemay

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Tell us what your daily tasks are as Platform Manager at Bit.ly.
I help people get the most out of bit.ly’s APIs and data, which means I have the pleasure of interacting extensively with developers, publishers, business partners and our own incredible product team every day.
The first thing that I do is I check the emails that come from developers. That is really important to us, because we don’t want any of our developers to ever feel stuck, ever. I often follow that with taking a look at product, where the road map is, and I answer any questions we have from our business partners about API and about integration. Then there’s lunch, which is a very big deal at the Bit.ly office. One of the things I love about my job is just listening to everybody. We have an open office, about 15 people in a single room. So, I like to keep my ears open, absorb information and try to process and spit out information in a useful manner.

How is Bit.ly different from other URL shorteners like Tinyurl.com and Tiny.cc?
Bit.ly is all about real-time, actionable analytics. We can provide you not only with analytics about your social media efforts, but also with analytics about how your content is being shared organically across the entire social media ecosystem.

I also like to think that we put a lot of love into our product and make our product user-friendly and open. So, you can get analytics on any Bit.ly whether or not it’s your link. And we like the idea of having as much data available and open to everyone if possible. You don’t have to pay us money in order to find out that information.

So many writers want to sit home and just write. Marketing is the last thing they want to do. How can a site such as Bit.ly make it easy for writers to monetize their work?
It’s never easy for writers to monetize their work! That said, with cycles of attention being as short as they are now, the window in which to capitalize on your work’s success is smaller and smaller. Bit.ly gives you real-time, actionable data about how your work is being shared, so that if something begins to pick up steam, you can harness that momentum immediately. Tomorrow is too late.

“What you want to write about and what people want to read about may not always be the same thing.”

My background is primarily as a writer. I write record reviews. I’ve been a music journalist for the past 11 years. And I know first-hand that monetizing your content is excruciatingly hard. There is so much content out there and so many outlets that are giving away content for free. But what Bit.ly offers you with the data that we collect is immediate feedback from your readers on seeing if what you’re writing is of interest to them or not. You can use Bit.ly to track how your content is performing and get really good, really quick actionable feedback about whether you’re on the right track. Beyond that, if [a story] does pick up, you still have time to pick up on it. The issue with writing is that what you want to write about and what people want to read about may not always be the same thing. This way, you can be more empowered so you can say, “I know that when I write about thing X it gets more click-throughs, but I’m more passionate about writing about thing Y.”

What are three things writers and publishers can do today to start monetizing their work through social media?

1. Get real data. Your audience is not who you imagine it is, I promise. It’s a really exciting time for analytics right now, because we used to have to think about our audience and imagine. With real data, you don’t have to make those kinds of assumptions any more. You can find out what you need to and act on it fast.

2. Encourage participation and curation. People like to engage deeply with content; make this easy and fun. The future of media is in curation to a large extent. This way, people who aren’t writers, who haven’t identified themselves as content creators necessarily, can engage.

3. Don’t forget that developing a voice is hard and takes time. If you only reach for low-hanging fruit, you will ultimately sell yourself short. Once you find out what your audience is interested in, [it] doesn’t mean that should be the only thing that you write about. Nor should you pander to people, because I think people are very smart about when they’re being pandered to.

What is the best example of an author or publisher who has learned to monetize their intellectual properties and or services through social media?
I’ve enjoyed watching Roger Ebert use the Amazon referrals program (and amzn.to branded bit.ly links) to drive some additional revenue. He used Twitter to leverage an already-strong personal brand to the point where product recommendations outside of his ostensible area of expertise still carry a lot of weight.

“The future of media is in curation to a large extent.”

You’re also a senior contributor at an online music magazine. What parallels and lessons can the publishing industry learn from the music industry?
Embrace the future, or the future will kill you. What happened to the music industry is that music fans cared more about music than the music industry did. And music fans were using every technology at their disposal to discover music and share music. They were one step ahead of the people who were selling things. The music business was concerned with selling product. And the music fans became a lot smarter about music than the music industry.

There was a moment when the music industry had an opportunity to either harness that power or try to explore it, and they made absolutely the wrong decision. They sued their customers; they tried to pursue legal recourse to stop the technology that was trying to empower their customers to make the most out of their product. And it literally destroyed the music industry. I think that content publishers are getting smarter about that. They’re realizing that when someone comments on your post or reprints part of it on their own site, these are all good things. Listen to your customers; listen to your readers because they are the only ones keeping you in business at the end of the day.

Twitter was the craze last year that took mainstream media by storm. Besides Bit.ly, what little-known entities do you see as being the next Facebook or Twitter and why?
SoundCloud.com is really awesome. I like how they allow you to comment at whatever time you’d like. SoundCloud took that real phenomenon and real behavior among music listeners and they built it in their product.

NEXT >>

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Jeff Rivera is the author of Forever My Lady (Grand Central) and and the Founder of HowtoWriteaQueryLetter.com

While WIRED magazine deemed him “one of 25 people helping to reinvent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood,” filmmaker Lance Weiler calls himself simply a story architect, one who isn’t married to any specific medium.

And, in today’s fragmented media landscape, the ability to simultaneously deliver an entertaining or informative tale through print, cellphones, TV, the Web, and whatever technology comes next is more than mere innovation — it’s survival.

Weiler has been pushing boundaries since about 1997 when he experimented with alternate realities — building a seemingly real case with court documents, 911 calls, and missing person flyers — for his film The Last Broadcast. His recent endeavor, Pandemic 1.0, appeared as part of the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier and unfolded for attendees over several elements including film, mobile, social gaming, data visualization and real-world interaction.

Now there’s a name for Weiler’s work: transmedia, a term loosely defined as storytelling across multiple platforms. And, for this award-winner, the key to his success — and that of any content producer, really — is engaging the audience as collaborator.

What made you start experimenting with transmedia?
What was interesting to me — and you can see it across the work that I’m doing — is how technology or the connective world that we’re moving into can break the fourth wall. How can we put people into the shoes of the protagonist, extend the story and make them experience it in more than one form? I’m interested in how storytelling can evolve in the 21st century. How can I tell a story in an efficient manner where the audience becomes more of a collaborator in the work that I do?

Some feel that transmedia is becoming another generic buzz word. What do you think?
Transmedia is a transient term. Media, by its definition is going to be fluid. It’s great to have a term that people understand, but whether there was a term for it or not, I’d still be doing it.

With any term that becomes hot, a lot of people gravitate towards it and try to own it. The terminology doesn’t matter as much to me as it does to tell stories and develop work richly in a way similar to software releases where you’re doing rapid prototyping and putting it out to the world to see what people think.

But there’s a lot of movement in the category that’s legitimate. Guillermo del Toro opened a transmedia studio. The creator of CSI [Anthony Zuiker] started Level 26. Fourth Wall Studios secured financing and will be doing original transmedia projects and co-productions with studios. There’s a lot going on in Europe, South America and Asia.

“How can I tell a story in an efficient manner where the audience becomes more of a collaborator in the work that I do?”

What was the conceptualization process like for Pandemic 1.0?

It was born out of the desire to tell a rich world of what is essentially a Lord of the Flies tale. I built this universe that has various touch and entry points, multiple ways that the story can be pervasive. I wanted to extend and tell a story where adults have contracted a sleep virus and youth are left to their own devices.

I wrote the screenplay called Hope is Missing (HiM) that went through the Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab. It was the first time that a feature film and transmedia project went through the lab. Pandemic starts with an initial outbreak that spreads across the world. We’ve raised financing to shoot serial content and stage transmedia events in London, Barcelona, Berlin, Rome. I’m very interested in seeing the story told from multiple perspectives around the world. HiM takes place 90 days after the initial outbreak in a small town in the United States.

I had a lot of room to do R&D around the story. In the lab, I put together a conceptual way of how I could tell the story in the real world. I shot a short [film] that was a style guide of what we would do in various cities. I crafted an extension that would sit in the real world and would involve a game layer.

What does story research and development involve?
The vast majority of films are underdeveloped. Story R&D is an amazing opportunity to richly develop the stories that I want to tell. It allows you to go through various phases, seeing if the story works, getting feedback, building relationships with audiences. I try different things to see what they like and what they don’t like. That’s not to say that I only do what audiences like, but it’s a great way to rehearse with actors, get a sense of the world, build the experience, collaborate, and try something in the real world and online, a better way to develop the story world. There’s a level of complexity to transmedia, so it’s a way to refine the process. Transmedia isn’t just a checklist — here’s the mobile, the game, the social media. I want to understand each of these elements and how they fit into the story — what makes them stronger not just as individual pieces, but as a whole.

How do you decide which platforms to use to best tell the story?
I design from a standpoint that whether it is on a device or platform, each should have a beginning, middle and end. I want to create an emotional connection to something. It’s really great to have someone on the edge of the seat. If I can do that in the world, lure someone into it, create that sense of thrill, I’m happy.

Whether it’s mobile, online, in the real world, in the cinema, or on the screen in the middle of the living room, it’s not about having just a series of things where you can’t get the answer unless you do this next thing — I want the story to build. If each part delivers, the more likely that more people will want to consume it.

I also work from story themes and the burning questions from characters, building across the story arc. If I’m going to do mobile, for instance, I have to find a way that a new application makes sense to the story that I’m telling. There might be amazing technology out there, but if it doesn’t reflect the emotional tone that I want, the theme I’m trying to uncover, or fit within what the characters are engaged in, I won’t use it. It’s kind of like what you do when you write and ask yourself, “Is this serving the story?” I apply that to my transmedia project.

There were so many moving parts with Pandemic when you introduced it at Sundance. How were you able to maintain the quality of the experience?
We developed software to help us schedule and time things out. I’m very interested in how data can be used within storytelling and how contextualized storytelling can facilitate more efficient delivery of story and bridge social connections. We modeled different cinemas after cities around the world and, when people checked-in, the virus would spread. We wrote an algorithm that would measure certain things, so that the story would ebb and flow based on real world applications.

How is transmedia transforming the audience experience?
In my personal work, I’m interested in that relationship. I’ve benefited greatly from social media and networking. I pay it forward a lot; that’s what I try to do with [the creative network and conference] DIY Days and the Workbook Project. I work hard to try to make things a little more accessible in an industry that’s been shrouded in secrecy, to uncover Oz working the levers.

Building a relationship with an audience that is real only helps me as a storyteller. It creates a checks and balance system. They feel like they are invested, and it sparks something creative within them.

One of the things that we’ve been doing that’s in closed beta is a mobile Android app that puts people in the shoes of the protagonist. We found that people are using it the way that they want. The players start to define it. But I want the participation to be in a filtered way. The stuff that really rises up, we reference and bring back. Working with the audience, seeing what sparks through story R&D efforts, and then bridging those gaps, gives the story more of a face. The relationship with the audience becomes more fluid.

Lance Weiler’s tips for getting started with transmedia storytelling
1. Test your story. “Start with using transmedia as a way to develop your story. Create simple extensions to your story using something like Twitter. There are a lot of free tools.”

2. Check out what others are doing. “For anyone emerging, check out The Workbook Project. We have a lot of transmedia practitioners who come through. Also check out jawbone.tv to see what’s out there.”

3. Expand possibility. “Release yourself from the literal translation of what you’ve seen. Free yourself from the confines. Then play and experiment.”

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Nelson George, Writer, Producer and Filmmaker?

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Felicia Pride is a content producer. Visit her at feliciapride.com or @feliciapride.

Whether it’s Associated Content, Suite101, or Demand Studios, so-called “content farms” are a hot topic of debate in the media business. How can seasoned journalists stay afloat financially and professionally when every Joe Blow amateur is willing to fire off “stories” on everything from “What is a Cat?” to “How To Brush Your Teeth” for pennies a post?

“I understand how those folks feel,” Examiner.com CEO Rick Blair says. “Having worked with many journalists, I can identify with them.”

While Examiner.com does bring in millions of page views like others in its category, Blair says his site is more than just your run of the (content) mill. He describes “examiners” as specialists in old-school and new media reporting with a local flair.

“We’ve rarely been compared to as a content farm. I think it’s a definition made up by traditional journalists,” Blair says. “One guy described a content farm as ‘any website generating mass amounts of low-quality content with the intention to drive search traffic.’ By that definition, I think more businesses might be engaging in this activity than we realize. We definitely don’t generate that mass amount of low-quality content.”

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Name: Rick Blair
Position: CEO of Examiner.com
Resume: Started as a CPA at Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Then spent ten years at Knight Ridder Newspapers, holding various positions at Presslink, Inc. and Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Served as vice president of sales and marketing and vice president of content management at Picture Network International. Helped launch Aol’s Digital City before landing the top position at Examiner.com in 2009.
Birthday: March 11, 1953
Hometown: Ironton, Ohio
Education: B.S. in business administration at Ohio State University
Marital status: Married
Media idol: Ted Leonsis. “He knows how to grow, scale and maintain business like no one I have seen.”
Favorite TV show: The Daily Show
Favorite Book: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra “with my grandson”
Guilty pleasure: Pinkberry
Twitter handle: @Examinercom

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So, how did Examiner.com begin?
Well, our primary investor purchased the San Francisco Examiner and launched the Baltimore Examiner, which are free distribution newspapers. After that, they started the Examiner.com websites. I had been involved as a consultant. They had this idea that there would be a way to take passionate people who are very knowledgeable about their subject matter from different towns, cities, boroughs, and neighborhoods across the United States, and scale that, yet maintain the quality that you needed to have a good publication. Prior to our start of May of 2008, we built an infrastructure to handle the anticipated influx of all these writers. Our methodology was to super-vet them by having them fill an application online in which they provide us editorial samples. We review those samples and accept or reject them along with giving them a criminal background check before they can become an independent contractor for us. We started out with eight cities. Since that time, we’ve had substantial growth. In January we’ve had 25 million overall unique visitors, 70 million pages and over 70,000 examiners that produce anywhere from 3,000 to 3,500 hundred articles a day.

One of the things we knew that we had to do is to combine human power and technology power. We have 25 people who work on directly recruiting and vetting examiners through the pipeline. If I had to describe our mission in one word, it would be “examiners.” We want them to simply write articles that their audience would want to read.

There are a number of competitors such as Suite101 even Yahoo. What makes Examiner.com different than all of them?
All but about 8 or 9,000 of our examiners write locally. We’re all about the local perspective, from where are the best places to park during a baseball game, to hot yoga places for young moms, to what’s going on in a certain town. We do this high vetting process very similar to what Associated Press does. We’ve rarely been compared to as a content farm. I think it’s a definition made up by traditional journalists. One guy described a content farm as “any website generating mass amount of low-quality content with the intention to drive search traffic.” By that definition, I think more businesses might be engaging in this activity than we realize. We definitely don’t generate that mass amount of low-quality content.

“If I had to describe our mission in one word, it would be ‘examiners.’ We want them to simply write articles that their audience would want to read.”

There is a lot of debate on what classifies a journalist and what classifies a blogger. Do you see a difference between the two and if so, what do you classify your examiners as?
Well, I do see difference between the two. I look at bloggers as amateurs, though in some cases they are journalists. I don’t even know what the definition of a content farm is anymore. Journalists, and I know, having been involved in the media for most of my life, when they write for the local media, they are the watchdog, teachers and conscience of a community. We’re not trying to do that. We’re a mix of both. We do have really good journalists too though, including someone who writes for The New York Times. Though, for us, she writes about riding bicycles in New York. In other cases, we have bloggers who blog about things they’re passionate about like local government. The “examiner” is a title which describes neither a professional journalist nor an amateur. They’re writing about a subject that they are passionate and knowledgeable about.

Does the Examiner own the content that the contributors compose and if so, how can a writer use the Examiner as a way to expand their platform or to create a brand and turn it into some form of revenue?
That’s a great question and that’s what we really want them to do. Now, we pay our examiners based on the secret algorithm that we use. We encourage them to have links back to other articles on our site and, with the training that we provide, we teach them how to distribute their content across the board. We do own all the rights to the content on the site and we do tell folks, ‘don’t quit your day job’ because other than a few of our examiners, they’re not going to make thousands of dollars from us. But if they take this as a stepping stone and add this to their portfolio, it’s very easily done for them. For example, they can have a constant link to their book on Amazon. We want them to be happy and successful and write more often.

What are your thoughts on the recent sale of Huffington Post? Do you think that it’s fair for them to continue to profit off of writers without sharing the wealth?
I think it was a good acquisition for Aol. They needed somebody to hold it together. When I was at Aol, we helped launch the local initiative. I think they needed a property for them to rally their content around. In that instance, with the bloggers, if you’re going to give away your content and you’re going to allow them to publish it, and something happens where they benefit from it, unless you have some kind of a deal upfront, it may not be a very good idea. I understand how those folks feel and having worked with many journalists, I can identify with them. I will say this, all those bloggers at Huffington Post who posted for free, we’ll be happy to invite them to Examiner.com, where we pay them.

You have 70,000 examiners. How do you maintain the quality of the content and without overworking your editorial board?
The first thing we set up was Examiner University. Once examiners are accepted, we give them some 40 courses where they learn everything from how to upload an image to how write in the third person. We’ll teach them how to write better headlines, how to socialize their content — all of it is covered. We also have a community of examiners that self-police and they are wickedly objective about their counterparts. We don’t edit each post. We compensate by our lack of editing with our substantial upfront review and training process instead.

“I will say this, all those bloggers at Huffington Post who posted for free, we’ll be happy to invite them to Examiner.com, where we pay them.”

With your recent partnership with Reuters, do you see the contributors or the examiners’ fees increasing?

Yes, our examiners’ fees in total increase with our success. So, as we become more successful, examiner fees will become more successful. That is the part of the algorithm and is one of the principles that we assure our examiners are compensated in terms of dollars and in terms of the satisfaction they get by sharing their information and the significant amount of press that they get. They are referenced by hundreds, if not thousands of press every month.

For those who are considering creating their own forms of user-generated if not curated content sites, what is your advice for them to stand out?
You have to maintain a level of quality and you have to strive for an even higher level. You have to make sure you have the resources to train folk and give them feedback. For every 9,000 applications we receive a month, we only accept less than 50 percent of those.

What is your vision for Examiner in the coming years?
We want to be the go-to website for all things local and we want people to come there because they want to read our stories, not because we have a lot of them; that our stories are valuable to help them in their everyday lives. We’re advertising-based and the base strategy has pretty much stayed the same, but we’re growing faster than we anticipated.

NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Brian Farnham, Editor-In-Chief, Patch?

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Jeff Rivera is a GalleyCat contributor and the founder of HowtoWriteaQueryLetter.com