We're in the midst of planning the 2009 editorial calendar for Writer's Digest magazine, and I'd love to have your ideas and opinions on what you want to see in the coming year. Writer's Digest editors from across the brand gathered earlier this week to brainstorm of list of potential ideas. Feel free to e-mail me directly or use the comments area of this post to give us your feedback.

Craft & Technique Topics

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
   

Business Topics & Timely Topics

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
    

New Department/Column Ideas

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

What would you add to our list of ideas?

The Serfitt & Cloye Gift Catalog now has an online home, with an opportunity to join Serfitt & Cloye's Highest Society.

What's the Highest Society, you may ask?

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.

Well, folks: To all who have expressed their personal and public concern for my welfare, thank you. But—like nearly 50% or more of the Cincy population—I still do not have power at my apartment building. (I must say, though, everyone in my building has found caring friends and family to take them in during the outage, including myself.)

A few interesting news items from Cincinnati-area blogs:

• 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.

So far there's been modest improvement in the power situation in the Cincinnati region. My apartment still doesn't have power, and many traffic lights at busy intersections are still out; one news report claims 30% of traffic signals don't work, and based on my drive-about yesterday, I'd say they're the most critical ones (i.e., traffic lights coming off exit ramps).

Yesterday I was on a quest for a bottle of roasted red peppers. A quick summary of this quest:

• 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.

Most gas stations I drove by were closed, which resulted in mass hysteria at all open gas stations. (See photo above from Joe Wessels. Check out his stuff here.) And I-71 has been reduced to one lane in the northern section, due to a water main break that has caused the interstate to buckle.

Cincinnati was hit with devastating winds from Ike yesterday, which has caused the largest power outage in the history of the southwestern Ohio region (at least according to news outlets). I read that as many as 90% of Duke Energy customers are/were without power. My apartment hasn't had power since yesterday evening, and the F+W office (20 minutes away) also is without power. Apparently, it could take days (or weeks?!) to restore power to some areas.

The photo above was taken in my neighborhood of Over the Rhine, where the historic Findlay Market experienced some damage; flying debris hit transformers, causing sparks that set fire to nearby buildings.

You can watch a related Cincinnati news video here.

One of my favorite watering holes, Grammer's, also caught on fire. It's not clear yet from news reports the extent of the damage. Cincinnati reporter Joe Wessels has posted photos on Flickr.

Unwisely, I was traveling by car during the high winds yesterday, not realizing how dangerous it was, and I witnessed:

• 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
  

I was out this morning and very little has improved; the damage and debris is far too widespread for the city's resources to handle. Will be interesting to watch progress.

Instead of a photo of myself today, I'm offering a glimpse of my current workspace. The photo doesn't really capture it all (particularly not the laden bookcases off to the right), but it's a fairly good representation of the environment.

What I've learned (#5): Here I will mercilessly steal the words of poet and businessman Dana Gioia (who just stepped down as head of the NEA):

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.

(This comes from an article in Fast Company.)

Although I spend a lot of time on this blog (and in my workshops) talking about the importance of sales, marketing, promotion, and the numbers-numbers-numbers, I've found that making the right decision is almost never about looking at the numbers and instead about this creative judgment, usually critical thinking combined with grandiose, technicolor vision. This is what fuels, I would argue, the best businesses (and projects) in publishing today.

Related point: Numbers and money follow, they do not lead. If you manage by spreadsheet, with no regard to the fact that our work relies mostly on humans, you've made a grave mistake. Humans lead. Numbers follow.

At F+W, we route color proofs of book covers for approval, and sometimes they can get "stuck" in someone's inbox. Our production coordinator extraordinaire (Mark G.) included a note on a recent cover to avoid any delays …

To celebrate my 10 years with F+W Media, this week I'm blogging on five things I've learned after ten years in the business. Above I've posted a lovely photo of moi (taken by HR) on my first day of trade publishing life: August 3, 1998. If you like that photo, just wait. I'll post some more treasures from those glory years.

What I've learned #1:

Many authors claim they want good editors—and bemoan the fact that editors don't edit any more—but few authors graciously accept thorough editing and attention from their editors (when it does occur).

You often hear these days that editors no longer edit—that they're too busy doing other things, like meeting with sales and marketing, creating innovative products to compete with digital media, or simply managing the day-to-day tasks of producing dozens of titles per year.

What I've found, though, is that an editor's life can be made miserable if she offers up a thorough development or content edit, because the author's ego (or attitude) gets in the way.

This already sounds like terrible, horrible cliche—the writer vs. editor, us vs. them mentality that, frankly, is quite tired and tiresome for me.

Let's try to take this a step further then, shall we? Perhaps even into positive territory!

1. First, remind yourself that the editor is trying to make the best book possible, and the suggestions/edits are meant to improve the book and help it succeed.

Now, some editors have poor bedside manner (they only make negative comments; they never sprinkle in positive comments or helpful encouragement). I myself am guilty of this. But you must look past it. This editor wouldn't have agreed to work with you if she didn't believe in your idea, in your work, or in you. The admiration is there—the editing process is getting down to brass tacks, it is a laser-like focus on How can we take this to the next level?

The edits aren't there to tell you what you did wrong. The edits are there to provide an outsider's perspective as well as an expert's perspective on your work. This should be invaluable feedback for improving your work and your own skills. If you're scanning the editor's comments looking only for variations of "What a genius you are!" you've completely misunderstood the editor's role. She's not there to bolster your self-worth. She's there to push you and challenge you.

2. You will inevitably disagree with some of the editor's suggestions. This is natural, this is expected, and this is nothing to get upset about.

The editor is not always right, of course. But there's no reason to get angry if you disagree with her suggestions; anger or frustration over edits is wasted energy. Why? See Point 3 below.

Also: Occasionally I work as a freelance copyeditor, and I'm always befuddled when I'm  (frequently) told by the assigning editor, "Don't go too heavy or the author will freak out." Why do authors consider it a bad thing when their work is tightened, clarified, or otherwise improved? As a writer myself, I actually do know why. Because we become far too attached to our own words; we see them as extensions of our mind, heart, or soul. To see any of it cut—it's like having an internal organ dug out with a spoon. Guess what? It's time to stop treating our words as hallowed ground.

If you find yourself disagreeing with everything the editor says, then evaluate whether you both have the same vision for the work. Has there been a critical misunderstanding as far as what the work is supposed to achieve? Obviously there can be different perspectives even when you're both headed for the same goal, but everyone's in trouble if you can't find common ground on the fundamental issues of unique selling point (of the book), target audience, and how to approach that audience.

3. Have a conversation with the editor (via phone or e-mail) in instances where you have a differing viewpoint.

Again, the key is to have a productive conversation—and not flare up or lash out when your work is being revised, questioned, or cut apart. The editor will greatly respect you if you take the following approach in each conversation:

a) Clearly identify the edit/suggestion that you have differing opinions on.
b) Summarize why you think the editor wants you to make the change. If a reason was not given by the editor, ask why the change or revision was suggested.
c) Once you fully understand why the change was suggested, explain either why you think the original version should remain, or suggest an alternative solution.

The key here is that when you explain (c), it should tie into what's best for the reader, the market, or the book. Any editor worth her salt will hear you out, and she'll be persuaded to your way of thinking if your argument is sound.

Most writers are not very good at self-editing—it is an incredibly rare skill. It's why most writers belong to critique groups, so they can get hopefully impartial feedback that will help them improve their work.

It's also part of your skill set to learn how to work effectively with editors. It may not come naturally at first, but if you're lucky enough to have a dedicated editor—an editor who edits—it's a gift. Learn how to take advantage of it, not get upset over it.

There's a great post (that will become a series) at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind that explains the differences between imprints at book publishers. Must-read material for aspiring book authors (and hey, for agents and people inside the industry too!). A snippet:

Something else that might help would be to take Thomas Dunne's name off of any minotaur titles they acquire, because I'm sorry, which imprint is it? Or is it St. Martin's? Way too much confusion, please pick one (which would be Minotaur, of course.) As for Thomas Dunne Books, um, well....I think of small titles that make money on the library market? To be fair, Dunne's been around publishing for something like 40 years and the "something for everybody" attitude worked in a world of single-digit television channels. Now, not so much. Will the name survive when Dunne retires? Somehow I doubt it.

Click here to visit the full post.

Writer's Digest author Christina Katz (our Writer Mama) has a month of giveaways in September to celebrate back to school! You can find the line up of prizes here (which includes goodies from Writer's Digest):

http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/writer-mama-back-to-school-giveaway-the-2008-final-list-of-prizes/

Participants have to answer writing-career related questions to qualify for the daily drawing. Click here for the full list of rules.