In the second in our series of "Dispatches From the Field," Michael Horvich discusses his reactions to the conference.
If you missed our conference, be sure to put next year's on your calendar: Saturday and Sunday, 06/04-05/2011.
The Evanston Writers Workshop (EWW) Conference took place in Winnetka, Illinois on May 15 and 16, 2010. The conference was a first for me, a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about the writing profession. However, my mantra became “DO NOT BECOME OVERWHELMED,” although I did a little. Having learned so many new things about the “business” of writing made becoming a published writer seem further away than it ever had been. But I repeated my mantra over and over and listed: I am further along than ever, learning more is good, making connections with like minded people helps, you love writing and that’s what counts, etc.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Dispatches From the Field: "The Middleman Age of Civilization"
In the first of a series of "Dispatches From the Field," we will host a variety of articles from attendees to our first annual Writers Conference, In the Trenches with the Writer.
If you missed our conference, be sure to put next year's on your calendar: Saturday and Sunday, 06/04-05/2011.
And now, without further ado, here is our first dispatch: "The Middleman Age of Civilization," by RJ.
Driving home from EWW’s first-ever conference I had what, to me, was an insight about our share in where the world is trending (pun intended, sort of). Thinking about all the time and energy that had been devoted to agents and how to butter them up to get your slice of territory under the sun, it struck me: Of course, history has hit a new epoch. The last age of civilization was the industrial age. Now it’s the middleman age. I never was very satisfied with all those books and articles about “the post-industrial era.” So, it’s _post_, but what is it now?
Well, it came clear. What do brokers, agents, supervisors, managers all have in common? They are middlemen (and women). They operate between producers and customers. Only in third world countries is it still sometimes the case that farmers, cottage-industry producers and the like meet their customers and haggle, gossip, lunch together and deal face to face. And that is changing fast. Nowadays only the middleman has the semblance of that old style of doing business, and even then there are layers of middlemen. And it is true in all fields: farming and industry. In the arts it is the agents who are between the public and the performers. Symphony directors, painter’s schools, book editors, county farm agents… are the complement of engineers in manufacturing. They organize the work of producers to make the product more useful to the consumers.
But it is the middlemen, artistic agents, financial brokers, advertising agents, product salesmen, and the like, who make or break the producer of goods. You have to placate them, seduce them, accept the handsome awards they give themselves and take what they offer back, if you want your product to meet a market.
With mass production manufacturing, industrial farming and all I guess it is essential to have someone to bring your product to the attention of the customers who don’t even know what they are looking for until the middlemen inform them.
But with this new development there are new dangers too. Last night on 60 Minutes they reported on a technician on the oil rig who kept notifying his superiors that something was going wrong. He was directly in touch with it. But the decision was made by a “supervisor” from BP who wasn’t directly in touch with the real world of the drill. He said, “Keep going,” according to 60M. That is just like what happened with the Challenger Space Shuttle. The scientists and engineers said “It’s too cold, the rubber O-ring might harden and snap.” The supervisor said, “Keep going.” The shuttle exploded, the crew died. There are many more such stories out there. But what the heck, the world now has three times the number of people it can support. So we can risk a few now and then. The decision makers are never close to the ones that get it in the neck. It’s not their hides.
Just like every development in civilization has its benefits, so it has its problems. I think in the age of the middleman, there should be a law that the man or woman on the firing line gets to veto the middleman, who doesn’t know the scene in the trenches.
If you missed our conference, be sure to put next year's on your calendar: Saturday and Sunday, 06/04-05/2011.
And now, without further ado, here is our first dispatch: "The Middleman Age of Civilization," by RJ.
Driving home from EWW’s first-ever conference I had what, to me, was an insight about our share in where the world is trending (pun intended, sort of). Thinking about all the time and energy that had been devoted to agents and how to butter them up to get your slice of territory under the sun, it struck me: Of course, history has hit a new epoch. The last age of civilization was the industrial age. Now it’s the middleman age. I never was very satisfied with all those books and articles about “the post-industrial era.” So, it’s _post_, but what is it now?
Well, it came clear. What do brokers, agents, supervisors, managers all have in common? They are middlemen (and women). They operate between producers and customers. Only in third world countries is it still sometimes the case that farmers, cottage-industry producers and the like meet their customers and haggle, gossip, lunch together and deal face to face. And that is changing fast. Nowadays only the middleman has the semblance of that old style of doing business, and even then there are layers of middlemen. And it is true in all fields: farming and industry. In the arts it is the agents who are between the public and the performers. Symphony directors, painter’s schools, book editors, county farm agents… are the complement of engineers in manufacturing. They organize the work of producers to make the product more useful to the consumers.
But it is the middlemen, artistic agents, financial brokers, advertising agents, product salesmen, and the like, who make or break the producer of goods. You have to placate them, seduce them, accept the handsome awards they give themselves and take what they offer back, if you want your product to meet a market.
With mass production manufacturing, industrial farming and all I guess it is essential to have someone to bring your product to the attention of the customers who don’t even know what they are looking for until the middlemen inform them.
But with this new development there are new dangers too. Last night on 60 Minutes they reported on a technician on the oil rig who kept notifying his superiors that something was going wrong. He was directly in touch with it. But the decision was made by a “supervisor” from BP who wasn’t directly in touch with the real world of the drill. He said, “Keep going,” according to 60M. That is just like what happened with the Challenger Space Shuttle. The scientists and engineers said “It’s too cold, the rubber O-ring might harden and snap.” The supervisor said, “Keep going.” The shuttle exploded, the crew died. There are many more such stories out there. But what the heck, the world now has three times the number of people it can support. So we can risk a few now and then. The decision makers are never close to the ones that get it in the neck. It’s not their hides.
Just like every development in civilization has its benefits, so it has its problems. I think in the age of the middleman, there should be a law that the man or woman on the firing line gets to veto the middleman, who doesn’t know the scene in the trenches.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
We want YOU!
...to attend our First Annual Writing Conference, of course! You asked for it, and we listened. We have a plethora of panels (and found our thesaurus to boot!), but today I want to highlight our Keynote Speaker: Ms. MaryJanice Davidson. You NEED to hear her speak!
Here's why:
She's more fun than a barrel of monkeys! A multiple best-selling author on both the prestigious (and coveted) New York Times AND USA Today Bestseller lists, she really knows the business of publishing from the inside. From the trenches, say! (And our conference theme IS: In the Trenches with the Writer!)
Prolific, funny, and down-to-earth, we have asked MaryJanice to talk to us about the publishing business, keeping the momentum going once you finish one or two novels and are trying to figure out "what next," and her in-general thoughts she would have loved to have someone like her share back when she was first starting out.
She has written a prodigious 66 books so far! Here's the list, from her website:
1. By Any Other Name (1998)
2. Adventures of the Teen Furies (1998)
3. Dying for Ice Cream (1999) (ebook)
4. Secrets 6 (2000) (Love’s Prisoner)
5. Reunions (Too Good To Be True) (2000) (under the name Janice Pohl)
6. Escape The Slush Pile (non-fiction self-help) ebook 2001
7. Thief of Hearts (2001)
8. Naughty or Nice (2001) (Santa Claws, a Wyndham Werewolf Story)
Was originally released as “Nicely Naughty” as an e-book that is no longer available
9. Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul (What I Learned in Spite of Myself)
10. Undead & Unwed (2002)
11. Canis Royal: Bridefight (2002)(e-book)
12. Love Lies (2002) (e-book)
13. Secrets 8 (2002) (Jared’s Wolf)
14. Lighthearted Lust (2003) (There’s No Such Thing as a Werewolf) (e-book)
15. Under Cover (2003)
16. Beggarman, Thief (2004)(e-book)
17. Cravings (2004) (Dead Girls Don’t Dance)
18. Forgotten Wishes (2004) (Love’s Tender Fury)(e-book)
19. Perfect for the Beach (2004) (My Thief)
20. How to Be a Wicked Woman (2004) (The Wicked Witch of the West Side)
21. Merry Christmas, Baby (2004) (Undercover Claus)
22. Men at Work (2004) (The Fixer-Upper)
23. Undead & Unemployed (2004)
24. The Royal Treatment (2004)
25. Bad Boys with Expensive Toys (2004) (The World is Too Darned Big)
26. Bewitched, Bothered, and BeVampyred (2005) (Night Mares)
27. Derik’s Bane (2005)
28. Hello, Gorgeous! (2005)
29. The Royal Pain (2005)
30. Undead & Unappreciated (2005)
31. Undead & Unreturnable (2005)
32. Betsy the Vampire Queen (2005) (first 4 Betsy books combined)
33. Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (2005)
34. Romance at the Edge: In Other Worlds (2005) (Beggarman, Thief)
35. Charming the Snake (2005) (Savage Scavenge)
36. Kick Ass (2005) (the Incredible Misadventures of Boo & the Boy Blunder)
37. Bite (2005) (Biting in Plain Sight)
38. Really Unusual Bad Boys (2005) (Bridefight, Mating Season, & Groomfight)
39. Wicked Women Whodunit (2005) (Ten Little Idiots)
40. Sleeping with the Fishes (2006)
41. Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (2006)
42. Undead & Unpopular (2006)
43. Drop Dead Gorgeous (2006)
44. Mysteria (2006) (Alone Wolf)
a. Fangs Again (2006) never got published
45. Surf’s Up (2006) (Paradise Bossed)
46. Valentine’s Day is Killing Me (2006) (Cuffs and Coffee Breaks)
47. Dead & Loving It (2006) (Santa Claws, Monster Love, There’s No Such Thing as a Werewolf, & A Fiend in Need)
48. Swimming Without a Net (2007)
49. The Silver Moon Elm (2007)
50. The Royal Mess (2007)
51. Undead & Uneasy (2007)
52. Doing It Right (2007)
53. Demon’s Delight (2007) (Witch Way)
54. No Rest for the Witches (2007) (Majicka)
55. Over the Moon (2007) (Driftwood)
56. Mysteria Lane (2007) (Disdaining Trouble)
57. Fish Out of Water (2008)
58. Undead & Unworthy (2008)
59. Dead Over Heels (2008) (Undead & Wed: A Honeymoon Story, Survivors, & Speed Dating, Werewolf Style Or, Ow, I Think You Broke The Bone
60. Betsy: Bride of the Vampire (Undead 5-7; Dead & Loving It) (2008)
61. Seraph of Sorrow (2009)
62. Undead & Unwelcome (2009)
63. Faeries Gone Wild (2009) (Tall, Dark and Not So Faery)
64. Undead & Unfinished – to be released July 6, 2010
65. Rise of the Poison Moon – to be released July 27, 2010
66. Me, Myself, and Why – to be released September 2010
For more information on MaryJanice, check out her awesome website.
And to meet MaryJanice in person, and hear all about her writing process, sign up for the conference! What are you waiting for? Space is limited. Come visit the conference website today! 10% discount for EWW members.
Here's why:
She's more fun than a barrel of monkeys! A multiple best-selling author on both the prestigious (and coveted) New York Times AND USA Today Bestseller lists, she really knows the business of publishing from the inside. From the trenches, say! (And our conference theme IS: In the Trenches with the Writer!)
Prolific, funny, and down-to-earth, we have asked MaryJanice to talk to us about the publishing business, keeping the momentum going once you finish one or two novels and are trying to figure out "what next," and her in-general thoughts she would have loved to have someone like her share back when she was first starting out.
She has written a prodigious 66 books so far! Here's the list, from her website:
1. By Any Other Name (1998)
2. Adventures of the Teen Furies (1998)
3. Dying for Ice Cream (1999) (ebook)
4. Secrets 6 (2000) (Love’s Prisoner)
5. Reunions (Too Good To Be True) (2000) (under the name Janice Pohl)
6. Escape The Slush Pile (non-fiction self-help) ebook 2001
7. Thief of Hearts (2001)
8. Naughty or Nice (2001) (Santa Claws, a Wyndham Werewolf Story)
Was originally released as “Nicely Naughty” as an e-book that is no longer available
9. Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul (What I Learned in Spite of Myself)
10. Undead & Unwed (2002)
11. Canis Royal: Bridefight (2002)(e-book)
12. Love Lies (2002) (e-book)
13. Secrets 8 (2002) (Jared’s Wolf)
14. Lighthearted Lust (2003) (There’s No Such Thing as a Werewolf) (e-book)
15. Under Cover (2003)
16. Beggarman, Thief (2004)(e-book)
17. Cravings (2004) (Dead Girls Don’t Dance)
18. Forgotten Wishes (2004) (Love’s Tender Fury)(e-book)
19. Perfect for the Beach (2004) (My Thief)
20. How to Be a Wicked Woman (2004) (The Wicked Witch of the West Side)
21. Merry Christmas, Baby (2004) (Undercover Claus)
22. Men at Work (2004) (The Fixer-Upper)
23. Undead & Unemployed (2004)
24. The Royal Treatment (2004)
25. Bad Boys with Expensive Toys (2004) (The World is Too Darned Big)
26. Bewitched, Bothered, and BeVampyred (2005) (Night Mares)
27. Derik’s Bane (2005)
28. Hello, Gorgeous! (2005)
29. The Royal Pain (2005)
30. Undead & Unappreciated (2005)
31. Undead & Unreturnable (2005)
32. Betsy the Vampire Queen (2005) (first 4 Betsy books combined)
33. Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (2005)
34. Romance at the Edge: In Other Worlds (2005) (Beggarman, Thief)
35. Charming the Snake (2005) (Savage Scavenge)
36. Kick Ass (2005) (the Incredible Misadventures of Boo & the Boy Blunder)
37. Bite (2005) (Biting in Plain Sight)
38. Really Unusual Bad Boys (2005) (Bridefight, Mating Season, & Groomfight)
39. Wicked Women Whodunit (2005) (Ten Little Idiots)
40. Sleeping with the Fishes (2006)
41. Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (2006)
42. Undead & Unpopular (2006)
43. Drop Dead Gorgeous (2006)
44. Mysteria (2006) (Alone Wolf)
a. Fangs Again (2006) never got published
45. Surf’s Up (2006) (Paradise Bossed)
46. Valentine’s Day is Killing Me (2006) (Cuffs and Coffee Breaks)
47. Dead & Loving It (2006) (Santa Claws, Monster Love, There’s No Such Thing as a Werewolf, & A Fiend in Need)
48. Swimming Without a Net (2007)
49. The Silver Moon Elm (2007)
50. The Royal Mess (2007)
51. Undead & Uneasy (2007)
52. Doing It Right (2007)
53. Demon’s Delight (2007) (Witch Way)
54. No Rest for the Witches (2007) (Majicka)
55. Over the Moon (2007) (Driftwood)
56. Mysteria Lane (2007) (Disdaining Trouble)
57. Fish Out of Water (2008)
58. Undead & Unworthy (2008)
59. Dead Over Heels (2008) (Undead & Wed: A Honeymoon Story, Survivors, & Speed Dating, Werewolf Style Or, Ow, I Think You Broke The Bone
60. Betsy: Bride of the Vampire (Undead 5-7; Dead & Loving It) (2008)
61. Seraph of Sorrow (2009)
62. Undead & Unwelcome (2009)
63. Faeries Gone Wild (2009) (Tall, Dark and Not So Faery)
64. Undead & Unfinished – to be released July 6, 2010
65. Rise of the Poison Moon – to be released July 27, 2010
66. Me, Myself, and Why – to be released September 2010
For more information on MaryJanice, check out her awesome website.
And to meet MaryJanice in person, and hear all about her writing process, sign up for the conference! What are you waiting for? Space is limited. Come visit the conference website today! 10% discount for EWW members.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thow Me Something Mister Game!
I built a video game as a promotion for my publishing house. Everyone take a look at it. If you want to download and play it, you can win free e-books. They have a link to the promotion on their homepage Whispers Publishing. Hope everyone has fun with it!
Debbie
Debbie
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