• Releasing our books with new-media tools, delivering the same information or concept across all Writer's Digest-related properties in a way that makes sense for each one
  (see Donald Maass example below).
  
• Launching new educational sessions (live webinars) through WritersDigest.com by end of year.
• Planning an all-new writers conference in Fall 2009 that focuses on the business of being a successful author in a time of great change.
  
• Developing a business plan for digitizing all of our backlist books so that writers can choose, chapter by chapter, what content they want and personalize it for their needs.
• Creating a unified brand identity that helps everyone immediately recognize any kind of Writer's Digest experience.
• Designating an Online Brand Editor who oversees and creates a strategy for our online content, no matter what its source (magazine, book, event, community/forum), and makes sure it all works in concert with each other. (And also evaluates what YOU visit and enjoy!)
  
• Evaluating WD magazine's editorial plans for 2009: what should our feature packages be and how should the columns/depts change?
• Launching of a new community site at community.writersmarket.com (kind of like Facebook for writers), for subscribers of WritersMarket.com

• We're starting to use our content in smarter ways and distributing it in different ways
• We're making better use of our internal talent (editors), who can contribute and be involved across all writing-related properties, not just their formally designated piece of the pie
• We're beginning to develop a more integrated and valuable online strategy that better serves writers

WD Magazine
Original article on fiction writing from Don to run in spring/summer 2009

WritersOnlineWorkshops
Original online courses (regular courses plus brief webinars) built around the book, offered in the months prior to and following the book's release

Digital Products
Simultaneous Kindle and other e-book editions

Online at WD.com
Sneak preview chapter posted before publication
E-launch party on WD.com blogs/forums, featuring exclusive live chat with Don

WD Newsletters
Free chapter download and advance purchase incentive (buy book early, get access to exclusive online chat)

Conferences
Feature Don as a speaker for at least one event in 2009

• The new perception of self-publishing; emerging tools and models
• Resource chart on POD companies (what they offer, fees, rights, etc.) and reader feedback on self-publishing experiences.

• How to turn a first draft into a salable manuscript
• When and how to work with freelancers to get a book into shape

• How to market and promote yourself before and after you make the sale
• The most effective way to use social networking tools to sell yourself & your book
• Hands-on guide to online viral marketing tools (blog tours, book trailers, reading groups, podcasts)

• Visual guide to how your book moves from proposal to print to on the shelf—all the steps, all the things you need to know ahead of time
• What to expect from your publisher (editorial, marketing, publicity)
• How the industry has changed and new steps you need to take to ensure successful publication

• The new roles of gatekeepers and how to be an equal partner in publication
• The anatomy of a book deal and a book contract: what you must know and ask about even if you do have an agent

• The changing economic model of media and the emerging role of writers as content providers—five essential rules to follow to stay in the game
• How to negotiate the smartest deal for digital rights and e-rights (and when to keep all such rights for yourself)

• I'd like to see more focus on writing and editing fiction (less on other types of writing), and I'd love to see regular articles on innovative book promotion—not just the basics or the same things we've all read, but how to really promote your book—most especially novels, because they're not as obvious about how to promote them as non-fiction is.

• As someone who is writing a non-fiction social history/reference guide, I would like to see more information about breaking into non-fiction for and by writers of non-fiction when one isn't a celebrity or "name."

• What about including more stories from authors about their initial path to publication. Aspiring writers want to know how other writers got started. I think WD does a pretty good job of profiling bestselling authors, but I think aspiring writers want to hear more about numbers of rejections—in other words the struggle involved and how it ultimately paid off.
  

• More news/features on alternative and self-publishing. Thanks to the Internet, the publishing industry is transforming right before our eyes. Today's writers have so many other options other than the traditional publishing routes, and I'd love to read more about these options. Everyone is always worrying about query writing and how to get an agent, when the Internet gives true self-publishers the marketing and distribution tools once reserved only for the big publishers.

• I definitely vote for more on self-publishing. I don't see it as a "game" as much as an effective strategy to getting a formal book deal, if one desires it. That's what worked for me. I also see self-publishing as a strategy to experiment with new ideas to gauge the market response. Again, very effective and efficient for me to
  test out new ideas with my audience on a smaller scale and monitor impact,
  modify, what have you, before courting taking the idea that next step.

• I hope the new technological tools you're planning to discuss will
  include podcasting.
  

1. A comprehensive guide to starting or finishing your novel
2. A step-by-step guide to revision and self-editing (all genres)
3. How to write a successful memoir (for the non-celebrity)
4. The art and craft of timeless storytelling; how to hook your readers
5. How to be a successful critique partner and how to incorporate feedback into your work
6. How to make poetry a part of everyday life (even if you're not a poet)
7. A crash schedule for getting a first draft of your book done in 4 weekends
8. Master plots that work time and time again
   

1. Everything you need to know about self-publishing, and how the self-publishing game is changing
2. Why and how to get known before the book deal (to attract editor and agent interest, to ensure book sales)
3. The changing role of the gatekeepers—editors and agents—and how it changes your steps to publication and beyond
4. The new economic model of publishing/media: how it impacts your career and what you need to change today to remain relevant
5. How to make a sustainable living with your writing (in tough times)—a freelancer's ultimate guide
6. The most effective technological tools for marketing and promoting yourself
7. How to use social networking to reach readers and avoid a waste of time/effort
8. Negotiating contracts and payments with editors in a digital age; what are digital rights worth and when should you keep them?
9. How bookstores work, both online and offline, and what the future of bookselling looks like
10. How to get the most out of writers conferences, both business-wise and craft-wise
    

1. How I Write: Spotlights a celebrity author in his/her writing space, talking about necessary practices/objects/environment
2. Popular Fiction Report: Special reports, news, tips, and marketing information in today's hottest genres, including romance, mystery/crime, thriller/suspense, horror, and science fiction/fantasy
3. What's Selling and Why: A visual list of top-selling books (according to Nielsen Bookscan reports), why or how they made the top of the list, and insider info from authors-agents-editors on how the books came to life

Of course, such an intentionally restricted customer base means that those who do purchase Serfitt & Cloye's superlative super-luxury products and services are tremendously important, even precious. Consequently, the essential objective of Serfitt & Cloye is to overindulge and overfulfill each rarefied heir and Forbes 'Richest' List-aire they serve.

Which is precisely why Serfitt & Cloye created The Highest Society. Those who join The Highest Society are eligible to receive private electronic mail updates regarding the latest Serfitt & Cloye news, products, events, secret societies, lobbying efforts, snubbings, blackballings and much more. Membership is free. (Optional Dolce & Gabbana-designed platinum membership shield with name inlaid in ivory: $250,000.).

But don't delay. Enrollment is limited to the first person to sign up. Because, as you know, any group worth joining is worth excluding everyone else from. Visit this page and complete the form to see if it's you who will be received into The Highest Society.

• According to the Cincy Enquirer, power loss could last until Sunday.
  
• My favorite bar, Grammer's, will re-open. Yeah!
• Indepedent shops and markets are getting creative with the power outage to keep business going strong. Take, for instance, Shoetopia, in my old neighborhood of Northside. You can shop by candlelight and receive a discount for supplying some candles.

• Stop at Whole Foods in Mason (northern suburb). Store looks strangely barren. Think to self: Did they just open this store? What's going on?
  
• Stop at Fresh Market in Kenwood. Before I can walk in the door, I'm informed by a store manager they're taking only cash and check, plus: "We've sold out in the produce and deli, no bulk foods either, and well, everything else is gone too."
  
• Stop by Kroger in Hyde Park (one of the biggest and busiest in the city). Closed.
• Stop by Fresh Market in Oakley. Closed.
• Stop by Whole Foods in Hyde Park. Closed.
• Stop by Meijer in Oakley. Open! And mobbed! Many things are out of stock and bare shelves abound (especially in deli items and prepared foods). Fortunately I am the only Cincinnati citizen looking for roasted red peppers. Success.

• A metal ladder in the middle of I-75
• An entire tree (probably 100 years old) completely uprooted and lying across Central Parkway
• Landscaping materials, roofing materials, and other objects caught in trees
• Trees completely broken in half, often with branches hanging precariously over busy roads
• Majority of intersections without working lights
  

With each promotion at General Foods, I found that my background in the arts and humanities was more relevant. The higher you get in a corporation, the more you're dealing with qualitative issues. By the time I was in senior management, I was very effective in rebuilding businesses because I had good creative judgment—I had kept parts alive that most business executives did not.