Every time I get in a relationship with someone, early on I establish a rule: We will not be having (long) conversations on the phone.

I suspect it's been a deal breaker at times, or at least a red flag (I'm thinking of you, Mr. Get-Anything-I-Want-on-the-Phone Conductor).

This morning, I overheard a conversation between several colleagues that went something like this.

"I hate making phone calls!"

"Me too!"

"It's not like I've had really bad trauma on the phone, I just don't know what to say, it's always so awkward."

"I find ways to avoid calls. I'll send an e-mail if I can. I hate calling my credit card company."

"I don't like talking to anyone unless I really know them."

I suddenly felt as if maybe I weren't alone. (Is it a generational thing?)

This conversation was not even sparked by a particularly unpleasant phone calling task: It was a series of phone calls that needed to be made to Writer's Digest contest winners, people who are hopefully thrilled to hear from us!

Unfortunately, unlike my colleague, I have experienced traumatic moments on the phone, including:

• Hearing a string of foreign expletives a mile long (followed by heart-breaking news and a hang up) after finally gathering the courage to make an international call
• Being brazenly belittled, insulted, and ridiculed by agents who don't like the initial offer or contract they've received
• Being asked by an authority figure to lie to someone over the phone, while they watched to ensure I did so
• Hearing writers (whom I don't know) sigh loudly, say something mean, then hang up when I say I'm not interested in their project

There are maybe two or three people in the world with whom I can have a truly meaningful and productive conversation on the phone. For everyone else, I do my best, but so much is missing:

• body language
• facial expressions
• that intangible vibe in the room
• eye contact, eye contact, eye contact

When it comes to business life, though, quick (even long) phone calls are far superior to endless, indeterminate e-mail chains, and an absolute must when you're working in a company with many locations and telecommuting employees.

But when it comes to phone communication vs. written communication with unknown people in my business, written always wins: I never, ever want to hear your pitches on a phone call, I don't want to return your call asking for submission guidelines (it will turn into a pitch), I don't want to brainstorm ideas with you. For the love of God, take two minutes to find my e-mail address online (easy if you Google my name) and send a quick note. It's less intrusive and you'll actually get a response.

I have to ask the writers who do this: why make phone calls to people you don't know or have a relationship with? Maybe you think that because the e-mails aren't getting answered, the phone is the only way to get through, but not many people pick up the phone anymore without knowing who's on the other end and/or expecting the call. So why waste your time? Find other ways to connect.

Technology note:
The Writer's Digest blogs will be undergoing a server transition starting tonight at 10 p.m. EST, lasting all-day Thursday. This basically means that any comments you post during this time will not be saved, so hold them for Friday.

Photo credit: Mykl Roventine

As publisher of Writer's Digest, I get the tough, make-you-cringe cases for response. Back in March, we received the following e-mail through our general account. It's a long message, but important to convey in its entirety.

Dear Writer, please pay your membership fee in full.
Dear Writer, please pay for your online membership.
Dear Writer, please pay for your print edition of Writers Market.
Dear Writer, please pay for your digital edition of Writers Digest.
Dear Writer, please pay for your webinar.
Dear Writer, please pay for your competition dues.
Dear Writer, please pay for the advice you received on "How to make money as a writer."
 
DEAR WRITER, PLEASE PAY IN FULL!
 
Dear Writers Digest,
 
    I'm a writer, of merit and accomplishment. I read many of the trade journals, and avoid many of them as well - half of the writers magazines are written by people that are still in need of a copy of shrunk & white's. I'm writing you because this is becoming ludicrous.  When it comes down to it the majority of us are trying to do something we love and make money at it. We all strive to break through with every word, sentence, paragraph and page. We gorge ourselves on the advice of others, both by way of trade publication and by our hefty bookstores totals. All of us are looking for a writers haven, where we can glean from our peers, embrace the craft, and better ourselves. Unfortunately, that place no longer appears to be Writers Digest.
    As a business you've forgotten your customer. As writers, you've taken advantage of the craft and the passion with which people execute it. You can't possibly think that you can charge readers for every word. Even Barnes & Noble let's people read books in the store without throwing a surcharge on them, or even attend Book Groups without making them put down a deposit.
    I follow many of your writers, not just here, but all across the internet. I respect them tremendously, even when their writing isn't useful it's still uplifting. I was recently disappointed when I read an article, written by one of your writers, that said you were proud to announce your new webinars. I was excited, thrilled even, to think that I might get some tangible advice for the subscription I pay for, I read on eagerly so I could set the date for the next session. Then I followed a Link that showed me a price list for your short webinars.
    The small instruction explains that while originally you wanted to charge $199 dollars you decided that was too much and instead only charge $99 dollars. A $1.50 a minute...TO WRITERS...WHO ALREADY PAY FOR YOUR SERVICES. How does that equate? Let's see, a normal person, working forty hours a week, at $1.50 a minute would make over $14,000.00 dollars a month. Are you taking advice from investment bankers now, or simply trying to capitalize on the voice you've gained because of us writers who already spend countless dollars of our hard earned money on market and trade materials.
    It's really rather simple, charge, certainly, for some things. First, live up to your end of the contract, people are already paying, so start providing something to them without an additional fee. Second, be realistic, don't be so pretentious, you're time isn't worth $14,000.00 a month, not unless your running a pyramid scheme or a brothel.

I still haven't responded, so this has become my response. What's interesting about this particular case is that I'm 99% certain it is from one of my Facebook friends who is an aspiring writer I haven't met. (A few of us Writer's Digest editors have invited writers to friend us on Facebook; you're welcome to do so as well.)

I digress.

What this e-mail says to me:

1. We're not doing a very good job letting people know what content we offer for free.
2. We're not doing a good job communicating the value of what we offer or the diversity of what we offer (whether in terms of media, price point, or delivery channel).
3. Our marketing messages may be too numerous. (I can confirm that the frequency of these messages has increased dramatically in 2009.)
4. Whatever it is that we provide writers (for free or not), we're failing if writers feel that we're heartlessly capitalizing on their dreams, and merely exist to find more ways to take their money.

When I started at F+W in 1998, the mission of the company was to help creative people fulfill their dreams. Ten years later (with plenty of time and opportunity for cynicism to sink in), I'm still with Writer's Digest because I believe in that mission.

The problem is, we're not a nonprofit. (Yes, sometimes I wish we were.) And just like many writers are trying to make money at what they love (some of them by working for Writer's Digest!), the people in publishing are also trying to make money doing what they love. Yet I don't know anyone who goes into this business for the money. Those people usually migrate over to law, business school, and Wall Street.

And I think the writer of this message is primarily and supremely annoyed that he was hooked on a particular experience/product, and became angry when he realized it came at a cost that he found both unjustifiable and unaffordable.

Speaking from a business perspective, we price things at what the market can bear. And we've found that the value of the interaction and information in the webinars has consistently allowed a price of $79-$99. We could charge less, and attract more people, but for our efforts, it's better to charge a little more, and have fewer people.

The webinars so far have been hosted by our in-house editors (that includes me); we are not paid additionally for these. There are costs in licensing and using the Webex platform, based on number of attendees and how long the sessions run. We have one person running tech support in the background at all times, plus a customer service rep handling questions/concerns, and a marketing person who develops messages about the webinars, and an online editor who updates pages about it, etc. There's a cost of doing business; it's not pure profit.

However, there are other communities at F+W that charge less than we do. It's all based on customer feedback and attendance levels. So it's good to have this feedback, and maybe one day we'll consider lowering the price. But the wisdom typically with pricing is that it's much better to start high and bring it down, rather than start low and jack up the price later.

Writer's Digest can survive only by providing writers with valuable and trusted content that they need and are willing to pay for. The reason you see newspapers and magazines and even book imprints disappearing is because many types of content have become plentiful and free online, and no one is willing to pay for it any longer. Maybe that day will come for us, if we're not able to compete with other sources and communities that provide free or more valuable information. Certainly peer-to-peer sharing, as well as the sharing that comes directly from the source (agents/editors), cuts out some of the need for a Writer's Digest to give you the authoritative perspective on anything. Only time will tell, but as soon as we become irrelevant to the writing community, we'll go out of business.

That aside, it might be helpful to advise everyone on what we offer for free.

Our blogs. We have blogs focusing on agents, poetry, children's/YA, scriptwriting, plus general Q&A. The blogs focus on prescriptive/how-to information, current events, interviews with people in the industry, and inspiration (like Robert's Poem-a-Day challenge). We also frequently link to other (free/paid) resources that compete against us, in the name of serving the community. Best Tweets for Writers and 101 Best Websites (2009 list coming soon!) are good examples of this.

WD.com. All content here is free, and there is a ton of it (although admittedly it can sometimes be hard to find). You can find most of of the magazine's content here 1-2 months after the issue has released, as well as book excerpts (click here for a starter list). There is also an active forum where we regularly bring in guests to answer questions.

Your Story. This is a free contest we run every issue of the magazine that offers an opportunity to get published with us.

Newsletters. You can sign-up for our weekly newsletter with tips/prompts at our homepage, and get a free e-book (on common writing mistakes) while you're at it. There's also a free newsletter associated with WritersMarket.com.

Twitter/Facebook. There are unique opportunities to interact with Writer's Digest editors through Twitter and Facebook. I've managed to answer some questions in 140 characters or less, and also learned a lot from the community in the process. It's a two-way street.

I do hope that the accessibility of our editors online (for free) helps alleviate this feeling that we're only here to make a buck. It's also important to us that you find value in the content that does have a price tag, and that you feel you've made a great investment in your writing and your career.

We work to deliver a good experience. It's why I get up in the morning.