November 2008 - The ASJA Monthly

How Not to Get an Agent, Part II • ASJA Awards • Writing for The New York Times
The
Monthly
The Official Publication of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Inc.
Volume 57 • Number 10 • November 2008
Getting the Most Out of
Blogging
by Jan Greene
‘‘WE WRITE WHAT YOU READ’’

volume 57 • number 10 • November 2008
PUBLICATIONS CHAIR
Tina Tessina
EDITOR
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
DESIGN AND LAYOUT
Dave Mosso
CONTRIBUTORS
Howard Baldwin, Elise Capron,
Andrea King Collier, Lisa Collier Cool,
Jan Greene, Sam Greengard,
Gary Heidt, Florence Isaacs,
Linda Konner, Michael Larsen,
Melanie Lasoff Levs, Nancy Love,
Penny Musco, Alexandra Owens,
Elizabeth Pomada, Sallie Randolph,
Joy Dickinson Tipping, John Ware,
Russell Wild, Minda Zetlin
PROOFERS (this issue)
Paula Dranov, Toni Goldfarb,
Mary Beth Klatt, Liz Levine,
Kathryn Wilkens
The ASJA Monthly (ISSN 1541-8928)
is published monthly except for a combined
July/August issue by the American
Society of Journalists and Authors,
Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 302, New
York, NY 10036. Subscriptions are $120
per year as a benefit of membership.
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American Society of Journalists and Authors
1501 Broadway, Suite 302
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Phone: (212) 997-0947; Fax: (212) 937-2315
E-mail: staff@asja.org • www.asja.org
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Newsletter editor: newsletter@asja.org
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© 2008, American Society of
Journalists and Authors, Inc.
The articles and opinions on these pages are those
of the individual writers and do not necessarily
represent the philosophy of ASJA. Please obtain
permission from ASJA and individual writers
before reproducing any part of this newsletter.
The deadline for submissions to
The ASJA Monthly is the 2 nd of each month
for two months out.
E-mail copy to newsletter@asja.org and
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table of contents
3 From the President’s Desk
The Worthiest Cause You Can Find
by Russell Wild
4 The Society Page
Member news
5 First Amendment Committee
Report
Member Events, Web Sites
and Blogs
6 Adventures of a Pen-Pushing
Parent
by Melanie Lasoff Levs
3 Agent Roundup
by Elise Capron, Gary Heidt, Linda
Konner, Michael Larsen, Elizabeth
Pomada and John Ware
6 Inside ASJA
by Alexandra Owens
8 Meet the Committees: WEAF Trustees*
by Lisa Collier Cool
13 Call for ASJA Board of Directors Nominations
7 Letters to the Editor
New Members
columns & departments
7 Writing Life
How Not To Get An Agent, Part II
by Linda Konner
11 Wise Advice
by Andrea King Collier, Sam
Greengard, Florence Isaacs
and Minda Zetlin
12 Writing Business
Coping with Change
by Howard Baldwin
14 What’s In Store
by Joy Dickinson Tipping
15 ASJA Administration
* Because of unfortunate errors in the Meet the Committees article in the October issue, we are re-running the
piece, with the errors corrected. Our apologies for any confusion it may have caused.
1 Getting the Most Out of Blogging
by Jan Greene
4 ASJA Awards 2009 Call for Nominations
14 If I Can Make It There... Writing for The New York Times
by Penny Musco
15 Meet Tina Tessina, ASJA’s New Publications Chair
columns & departments
8 Industry News
10 PayCheck
What members are paid
13 Warning List
Beware these publications!
16 Letter of the Law
by Sallie Randolph
The Confidential section is for ASJA members only. All the information in this section must be kept confidential.
Interested in the contents of the entire newsletter, not just the public section?
ASJA members receive all 32 pages, including trade secrets, market information and publishing contacts.
Information on membership requirements available on the Web site at www.asja.org.
2 • November 2008

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
The Worthiest Cause You Can Find
I
can’t predict the future, but I can say with some assuredness
that when the nation’s professional freelance writers
fill out their 2008 tax forms next April, some will
see a depressing bottom line. Others, despite a low-on-gas
economy and a flat-tire publishing industry, will wind up
doing just fine … or more than just fine.
ASJA member Cecil Murphey of Tucker, Ga., clearly
belongs to the latter, more fortunate group. His 90 Minutes
in Heaven (co-authored with Don Piper, released in 2004
by Revell Books) has sold over four million copies in 30
languages, and continues, after nearly 100 weeks, to remain
atop the New York Times Bestseller list. “The book has made
me a lot of money,” says Cecil.
Another ASJA member, Lori Hall Steele, of Travers
City, Mich., finds herself in the former, not-so-fortunate,
group. Lori, a widely published journalist who has written
more than 2,500 articles, with credits in Woman’s Day,
Smart Money, Salon.com The Washington Post and others,
is currently chalking up no credits and making no money.
The 44-year-old single mom suffers from both ALS (Lou
Gehrig’s disease) and chronic lyme disease, which has left
her paralyzed and unable to work. She is also straddled with
astronomical medical bills.
As terribly difficult as life has been for Lori, it has
been made a little easier by a $5,000 grant (the maximum
grant allowable) this past summer from AJSA’s Writers
Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF).
“I was so touched by ASJA’s generosity and honored to
be a recipient,” says Lori. “The money has helped tremendously.”
In the 12 months prior to September 1, WEAF has given
out a total of $42,170 in grants, compared to $34,400 in the
previous 12 months.
“That’s a huge increase for our small emergency fund,”
says Lisa Collier Cool, chair of the WEAF Board of Trustees.
Lisa explains that WEAF grants are given to professional
freelance writers (ASJA members or not) experiencing
financial hardship due to illness, disability, or other crisis.
by Russell Wild
“A number of writers hit by disasters like Hurricanes
Katrina and Dennis are still struggling to recover even years
later,” says Lisa.
And where does the money to help these financially
struggling writers come from? From other writers ... writers
like Cecil Murphey, willing to share their good fortune with
those less fortunate. Cecil recently contributed $10,000
to WEAF, the highest single donation the fund has ever
received.
When I called Cecil to thank him for his great generosity,
he said, “I’m not a guy who needs a lot of money—and it’s
fun to give it away.”
On behalf of ASJA, WEAF, Lori Hall Steele, all the other
recipients of WEAF grants, thank you, Cecil. And thank you,
the many dozens of other ASJA members, who have contributed
in past years.
I’d like to thank especially ASJA member Alice Shane,
of Summit, NJ, who helped WEAF orchestrate a special
fundraiser this past summer to benefit freelance writers
experiencing hardship due to the Iowa floods. Alice’s efforts
helped to raise $12,000.
WEAF is a registered 501 (c) (3) charity, founded in
1972. Tax-deductible donations can be made by mailing a
check to the ASJA Charitable Trust, 1501 Broadway, Suite
302, New York, NY 10036. You can also donate online using
your credit card by going to www.asja.org/weaf. WEAF
can also accept donations of appreciated securities, such as
stocks or bonds (allowing additional possible tax benefit to
you).
I can’t predict the future, but I’m fairly certain that a
good number of the more fortunate among you will contribute
to WEAF, and a good number of the less fortunate will
benefit enormously from that generosity.
Please please, won’t you consider giving to WEAF this
year?
ASJA President Russell Wild, of Allentown, PA, would also like to remind
you that it is now time to renew your ASJA membership. “Pay your dues
and make a contribution to WEAF at the same time,” he suggests.
In this month’s Confidential section (for members
only), read about blogging and how writers are
generating an income doing so. You’ll find the ASJA
awards nomination forms there, too. In PayCheck,
read about the latest pay rates—who’s paying and
who’s not—and in Industry News, find out about the
latest hirings and firings, and much more.
Visit www.asja.org to learn more about becoming an ASJA member.
November 2008 3

The
Society Page
New and noteworthy member happenings
Sherry Beck
Paprocki
4 • November 2008
Sherry Beck Paprocki led a team that
received a 2008 national gold award from
the Council for Advancement and Support
of Education. Paprocki was editor of
Marietta College’s
magazine redesign,
which was selected
over 51 other publications
in the Magazine
Publishing Improvement
Division. Grand
Gold winner was The Stanford Lawyer
… Samuel Greengard’s, AARP Crash
Course in Finding the Work You Love: The
Essential Guide to Reinventing the Rest of
Your Life (Sterling, 2008) is now available.
It offers a practical framework for navigating
a mid-life career change and finding
work that offers greater meaning and fulfillment
… Feral House published Porn & Pong:
How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and
Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture, the
fourth book by Damon Brown. The pop
cultural look at American sex and technology
has gotten praise from Playboy, CNN
and Wired … In October, Lauraine Snelling
presented her newest contemporary novel,
One Perfect Day (Faith Words), in which one woman’s miracle
is another’s heartbreak, and has returned to Blessing, ND in
Rebecca’s Reward (Baker Publishing Group/Bethany House),
the fourth book in the Daughters of Blessings series … Florence
Isaacs now writes an online column on condolences for www.
legacy.com as author of “My Deepest Sympathies: Meaningful
Sentiments for Condolence Notes and Conversations, plus a
Guide to Eulogies.” She has also been quoted recently in The San
Antonio Express News, the Orange County Register, Real Simple
and Modern Bride … Matt Birkbeck’s latest
book, Deconstructing Sammy: Music,
Money, Madness, and the Mob, was published
in September by Amistad/Harper
Collins. It tells the true story of the seven
year investigation to restore the legacy of
Sammy Davis, Jr. and resolve his debts,
which reached $15 million upon his death
Matt Birkbeck
in 1990 … Sherry Amatenstein, LMSW,
a journalist and adjunct writing professor
at New York University and New School, is writing her third
book, The Portable Marriage Counselor, for Adams Media. Now
a Licensed Masters Social Worker, she specializes in helping
artists uncover the roots of their struggle with motivation, selfdoubt
and self-sabotage … Emmanuelle Alspaugh has joined
Judith Ehrlich Literary Management as an agent … Psychology
Today magazine invited Susan Newman,
Ph.D., author of Parenting an Only Child, to
blog about raising and being an only child and
related parenting issues. Posts under the blog
John Moir’s book
Return of the Condor:
The Race to Save Our
Largest Bird from
Extinction (Lyons
Press) was selected
as one of three
finalists for the
2008 William Saroyan International
Writing Prize sponsored by Stanford
University Libraries and the William
Saroyan Foundation
heading “Singletons”
are relevant to parents
with two or more offspring
as well … Rita
Milios’ two books due
out this fall from Quality of Life Publishing,
a hospice-related publisher, include It
Was Just Awful, a children’s book for ages
6-12 that helps kids heal from traumatic
grief. The It Was Just Awful Companion
Caregiver/Counselor Workbook offers additional
information,
exercises, counseling
tips and discussion
points, correlated page by page with
topics from the children’s book … Michael
Karl Witzel’s new book, Barbecue Road
Trip: Recipes, Restaurants, & Pitmasters
from America’s Great Barbecue Regions,
was published in September by Voyageur Press. Witzel takes
readers on an eye-opening (and mouth-watering) tour of the
histories, techniques, culture, competitions, traditional side
dishes, and classic hot spots associated
with barbecue’s four major regionally
based styles … In addition to book and
magazine work, Bob Andelman also hosts
the “Mr. Media Interviews” podcast, heard
onwwww.blogtalkradio.com/mrmedia.
Recent author guests included Joe Pistone
(“Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business”);
Bob Andelman
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (“The Courage to
Survive”) and Chip Rowe (“The Playboy
Advisor”) … Jenny B. Davis has left the cold behind, recently
relocating from Chicago to Fort Worth,
Tex., where she’ll juggle freelancing about
food and fashion topics with duties as the
new editor of Texas Meetings & Events magazine,
a style columnist for Dallas Child and
Fort Worth Child magazines and a fulltime
gig as a senior reporter for Texas Lawyer
newspaper. Her latest kids’ book is The
U.S. Lawyer-Presidents Coloring & Activity
Book … Barbara DeMarco-Barrett has
Jenny B. Davis
been named public affairs director, 2008-2009, at KUCI-FM,
where she’s hosted “Writers on Writing” for 10 years.
Send your latest accomplishments to newsletter@asja.org. Upload photos
and book covers at www.asja.org/upload. Please keep entries to 50
words or less. Submissions may be edited at the editor’s discretion.

Protecting the First Amendment Rights of Arrested Journalists
A statement by the First Amendment Committee of
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is deeply concerned over the arrests
and harassments of journalists during the recent political conventions.
Last month at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, journalist Amy Goodman and
two staffers for the progressive television show “Democracy Now” were arrested and reportedly
injured by police while covering protests outside the convention. Associated Press photographer
Matt Rourke was arrested after police encircled the demonstrators he was photographing.
Several other reporters, two university student photographers, and their faculty advisor were also
arrested. The students’ video equipment was seized and they were detained for 36 hours without
charges. They have now been charged with felony rioting, while Goodman was charged with a
misdemeanor.
“There were also reports of journalists being harassed at the earlier Democratic National
Convention,” notes Claire Safran, chair of ASJA’s First Amendment Committee. “We need to be
alert to the possibility that it could happen again, any time, any place.
As Safran points out, ASJA’s 1,300-plus members have long been active in the defense of free
speech and a free press. “For that reason, she says, “we are dismayed at how little attention has
been paid to these recent incidents and at how scant the coverage has been in the mainstream
media. While we realize that the legal process needs to play out and that police need to enforce the
law and prevent violence, we urge authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the St. Paul
arrests and reported abuse of journalists.”
ASJA’s First Amendment Committee further urges that police departments across the country
be more careful in the future regarding the respect of journalists to cover protests as part of
their First Amendment rights. When a newsworthy event such as a protest or riot occurs, it is a
journalist’s job and First Amendment right to report on the incident.
The American Society of Journalists and Authors is the nationwide organization of
independent nonfiction writers. It represents more than 1,300 leading freelance writers of
magazine articles, books, and other forms of nonfiction writing.
For further information, contact Alexandra Owens, executive director,
American Society of Journalists and Authors, at (212) 997-0947.
Member Events
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt 11.8 Book signing, Rochester Children’s
Book Festival, 10:00 a.m., Rochester, NY
Joan Detz 11.7 Class: “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting:
On Staff or Freelancing” Center City, Philadelphia, PA
11.17-11.18 Class: The Master Class in Speechwriting, Center
City, Philadelphia, PA www.joandetz.com.
Rita Milios, 11.15 Workshop: “Chart Your Course and
Achieve Your Writing Goals,” Florida Writer’s Association 7 th
Annual Conference, Lake Mary Marriott Resort, Lake Mary, FL
www.FloridaWriters.net
Nancy Rubin Stuart 11.18 Talk: The National Arts Club, 15
Gramercy Park South, New York, NY (212) 475-3424.
Member Web Sites & Blogs
Damon Brown
www.damonbrown.net
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
writer blog: http://sherionwriting.blogspot.com. Ramblings as
a pastry student: http://pastrystudentrises.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Golden
www.stephaniegolden.net
Susan K. Perry
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/creating-in-flow
Lauraine Snelling
www.LauraineSnelling.com and www.BlessingND.com
November 2008 5

Adventures of a
Pen-Pushing Parent
by Melanie Lasoff Levs
I
always assumed that freelancing was an ideal lifestyle
for parents of young children. You can have flexible
hours, work during school and naps and be home for the
little ones. Since my husband, Josh, and I were not talking
kids yet at the end of 2003, I thought fleetingly of those positives
when I left a dysfunctional company and decided to
freelance until I could find a “real” job. Just a month later, I
was making more money freelance writing and editing than
I was at my previous magazine, and having way more fun in
the process. I had also come to understand that freelancing
was a “real”-er job than I’d ever had, on so many levels. I was
a freelance convert.
So by the time our son was born in September 2006, I
had built a solid business. After a self-imposed four-month
maternity leave, I went back into work. Granted, my hours
were much abridged, as was the money, but I had steady
assignments. I’d often hire a babysitter once a week for a
five-hour stretch so I could bang out stories in loud coffee
shops. I felt blessed to have the best of both worlds: the ability
to be home with my new baby and still pursue my livelihood,
albeit in shorter spurts.
And then Ryan turned one. When he was 16 months, he
finally got off the waiting list for part-time daycare. Josh
and I figured this was the beginning of my comeback into
full-fledged freelancing. Now, for the first time since I was
pregnant, I didn’t have to leave the house to work. But the
house was so quiet on Ryan’s daycare days. I’d glance around
and wonder what the heck I was still doing there.
It was time to find somewhere else to go, and coffee
shops wouldn’t cut it anymore. My husband had his office;
my baby had his classroom. I needed a place to be me, a place
to have a purpose other than being a mom who occasionally
worked. Aside from the psychological, I also had practical
needs: stability, steady income to keep up with our everincreasing
credit card debt, and more frequent grown-up
interaction.
Did that mean…(gasp)…it was time for a real job again?
I couldn’t fathom trading freelancing for the confines of a
40-hour workweek in an office. But, could there be a parttime
position out there that fit what I thought were idealistic
expectations?
An editor I had worked with over the years said yes. She
even agreed to pay me the amount I needed to make to hit
my weekly goal, which freed me up to work strictly for her if
I wanted to. I wouldn’t have to spend precious time chasing
assignments from new clients or managing multiple projects
from current ones. It sounded ideal.
A few days after the editor and I talked, one of her longtime
staff members gave notice. My editor immediately
took steps to bring me in-house as a part-time temporary
employee until a full-time replacement could be found.
Suddenly, after more than four years, I had my very own
cubicle! I had direct deposit and a check every other week!
I had a half-hour lunch break! Of course, I also had taxes
taken out of said check, and, for the first time in those same
four years, had to actually account for my whereabouts. I
started questioning again which side of the fence I wanted
to be on. Can I have it both ways—an in-house job for one
employer and the autonomy I want and need? Does that exist
for us busy parents and writers, the true best of both the
parenting and writing worlds?
So I again search for that happy medium that most
of us pen-pushing parents crave, the—dare I say,
balance—between regular, well-paying work that
feeds the family and the often unpredictable,
fulfilling work that feeds the soul.
In July, the position for which I had been pinch-hitting
was filled. When I felt relief that I could give up the confines
of the office and excitement to start working with other
clients again, I realized freelancing does fit my new life as a
parent. But the questions that didn’t phase me before Ryan
both scare and exhaust me now: when will I get paid again?
How can I find higher-paying jobs? Where can I escape so
I’m not constantly distracted by dishes and laundry and, oh
yeah, this person to raise? How can I use every minute of my
work time so when I’m with my family, I can simply be with
them? And how can I use my work time so I don’t spend all
of it looking for those higher-paying gigs and, therefore, not
using the time to make money in the first place?
Freelancing still works for me. But I think the right
part-time job would as well. So I again search for that happy
medium that most of us pen-pushing parents crave, the—
dare I say, balance—between regular, well-paying work that
feeds the family and the often unpredictable, fulfilling work
that feeds the soul. So as I took down the quotes I’d tacked
to the walls of my cube, handed in my badge and deleted the
screensaver of my son from the computer, I did not rule out
sniffing around to see if there isn’t something – something
– out there that would provide what I want and what I need.
And if not, at least I have it already.
Atlanta-based freelance writer Melanie Lasoff Levs has written for
publications including The Washington Post, Newsweek, Women’s Wear
Daily and Atlanta Magazine.
6 • November 2008

WRITING LIFE
How Not To Get an Agent, Part II
I
read Monique Fields’ piece, “How Not to Get an Agent”
(Sept.), with interest and compassion. As a literary
agent, I hear Monique’s lament frequently. And I was
recently reminded again how difficult it is in particular for
memoir writers like Monique to find an agent when I spoke
at the Willamette Writers’
Conference, in Portland, Ore.,
in August.
My bio in the conference
brochure said nothing about
accepting memoirs, which I
do only with rare exception
(perhaps five times in 12 years
as an agent). And whenever I
spoke that weekend—during a casual chat over breakfast
bagels with a writer, or addressing a roomful of writers prior
to my lecture, or on a panel with other agents—I made it
very clear that I don’t accept memoirs. I also explained why:
because they’re too hard for me to sell.
Call me a wimp; that’s fine. All I know is that (as I
explained repeatedly in Portland) a memoir must answer
to two writing gods: the god of storytelling and the god of
extraordinary writing. These gods take human shape at
editorial meetings all over publishing offices in New York
and elsewhere, and they are a demanding lot. Whereas a
book on, say, diabetes need only (only?) have top-notch,
breakthrough information and good, accessible writing, a
memoir must have a drop-dead-great story to tell and be told
exquisitely... or side-splittingly... or movingly... or whatever
is suitable to that particular tale. The memoir gods are often
unkind; at least they have been to me and my clients over
the years. As Monique wisely said in her item #2, agents may
love books but they also want to—need to—make money. So,
like many agents I know, I shun memoirs.
But what did I encounter at the three-day writers’ conference?
During the approximately two dozen 15-minute
one-on-one writers pitches I fielded (similar to the “speeddating”-style
pitches at the ASJA conference), I’d say easily
two-thirds wanted to discuss their memoir. I was always
kind (though I’m sure I had trouble maintaining a perky
expression by the eighth or tenth announcement of “I’ve
written a memoir about...”). And I always tried to explain,
as above, why memoir writing was a particularly difficult
art form, especially for writers who were unpublished
(like many at Willamette) though often, as Monique points
out, just as tough for well-published ASJA journalists and
authors of other kinds of books.
I found myself offering the slight solace I could to disappointed
writers upon learning that, although they had paid
$25 extra to speak personally with me, they had still not
A memoir must answer to two writing
gods: the god of storytelling and the
god of extraordinary writing.
by Linda Konner
found their agent. What I found myself saying more than
anything else were two things:
1. Take one key part of your story and try to get it published
as an essay in a big-circulation magazine, newspaper oped
(if it touches on some controversial
or headline-related
subject), or e-zine. It’s easier
to get a 2500-word essay published
than a 75,000-word
book, and you’ll still have the
satisfaction of seeing Your
Story out there and reaching a
large audience.
For example, one young woman at the conference
told me she had written her memoir about having lived
in a cult and eventually escaping it. Since I don’t know
much about memoirs her story actually sounded pretty
good to me, and I told her that had she tried to publish a
portion of it earlier this summer —when it seemed like
all the news we heard was about the raid on that cult
in Utah—I was sure she could have found a taker. And
who knows? That published essay may have brought an
agent to her, or at least could have made her agent search
easier.
2. Remember that the book you want to write next may not
be the book that get published next. As Monique said in
her newsletter piece, she’s been trying to get her memoir
published for four years—a long time by any measure. I
would never tell a writer to give up her dream of getting
a particular work published, if it means that much to her.
But if you’re a working writer you know you’ve got to be
practical, and the more other kinds of work you get published
in the meantime, the easier, I believe, it will be for
you to find an agent for the memoir that’s close to your
heart.
Of course, it’s easy for me to say “don’t get discouraged.”
Only you know how much patience and endurance you have
for working on your as-yet-unpublished memoir, as well
as scaring up an agent for it (and who’s to say which of the
two tasks is the more onerous and time-consuming)? But
there is one surefire way to not get an agent, and that’s by
giving up. Sounds like Monique Fields isn’t ready to do that
with her memoir. And best-selling memoir writer and ASJA
member Janine Latus didn’t. How about you?
Linda Konner is an ASJA member and a literary agent in New York City.
November 2008 7

This is a corrected version of the article, “Meet the Committees,” which was printed in the October issue. Due to an
editing error, several trustees were misidentified in that version. The ASJA Monthly deeply regrets the error. —BDB
WEAF Board
of Trustees
meet
the committees
Get to know the volunteers who keep ASJA running smoothly
The Writers Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF) has
been rescuing writers in need since 1982. Funded by taxdeductible
donations, it has given out 162 grants, totaling
$398,422, helping seriously ill freelancers, victims of
natural disaster or disabling crimes, and those beset by
an extraordinary crisis. Applications are screened by the
chair, and those meeting WEAF’s eligibility criteria are
sent to the trustees for a vote on the grant amount, if any,
Lisa Collier Cool, Chair
When I was president of ASJA,
Katie Fishman, then chair of the Writers
Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF) board
of trustees, invited me to lunch with her
and other trustees. They briefed me on the
Fund’s activities, and when Katie stepped
down as chair, I appointed Pat Estess as her
successor. In 2006, Pat reciprocated by asking
me to become the new chair of WEAF. Both Pat and Katie
have been extremely helpful in teaching me the job and offering
smart advice, and Grace W. Weinstein, the board’s financial
guru, recently volunteered to be our treasurer.
My goals are to raise WEAF’s profile and to improve
fundraising. After attending a meeting of grant-giving
groups, I expanded the content on our website, www.weaf.
org, to include an extensive list of resources for needy writers,
as well as detailed information on the Fund. There is
also an online donation form and downloadable grant application.
With the help of The ASJA Monthly’s designer, Dave
Mosso, we redesigned and updated our brochure, which we
distributed at the 2008 conference. Thanks to volunteers
Lisa Stockwell and Beth Rubin, you will soon see profiles of
recent grant recipients in the newsletter.
Right now, WEAF is holding a fundraising drive to
benefit victims of the Iowa floods, a project proposed by
Alice Shane, who wrote a press release for members to send
to their local paper and other fundraising materials. As a
result, WEAF has been featured in at least five newspapers
so far. To date, we have received more than $11,600 in donations,
a huge boost for this worthy cause. A natural disaster
can devastate a writer’s ability to work, and we continue to
receive applications, even years later, from those affected by
Hurricanes Katrina and Dennis. The Fund is run entirely
by volunteers so every dollar donated helps freelancers who
to be awarded. Under WEAF’s bylaws, half of the trustees
are ASJA members and the other half are non-members
from the publishing world, all of whom generously donate
their time to help struggling writers get back on their feet.
To learn more about WEAF, make an online donation with
your credit card, or download an application, go to www.
weaf.org.
Here’s a look at WEAF’s board of trustees.
urgently need the gift of a second chance as they battle illness,
disability, advanced age or an extraordinary crisis. I
feel very good about volunteering for WEAF and urge ASJA
members to continue their generous support of this crucial
safety net for writers.
Joan Rattner Heilman, Secretary
I have been on the Board of Trustees
of WEAF (originally the Llewellyn Miller
Fund) for so many years that I don’t
remember when I was first appointed,
but I do know when I joined ASJA—it was
in 1977. I am an accidental journalist,
having started my career as an accidental
secretary at This Week Magazine, the
original Sunday supplement, where I learned to be a copy
editor and writer and eventually became a senior editor.
Later I became a freelancer and have written over a dozen
books and hundreds of articles and columns. So I know what
a precarious life freelancers lead financially and emotionally,
how the ups and downs can take their toll, and sometimes
end up in shambles, often through no fault of one’s own.
Over the years, I have known many writers who have faced
multiple obstacles because of illness or age or unusual crisis,
without the security of a steady income or a financial safety
net, and I am happy that, as one of WEAF’s trustees, I have
been able to help some of them get through the rough times.
In addition to my writing life, I have been a volunteer
worker, first in Manhattan and now in Westchester County,
for CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates), working as an
official part of the judicial proceedings to monitor individual
cases of children in the foster care system. I also erect and
monitor dozens of bluebird nestboxes every year, and am a
member of the Committee for the Environment in my village.
8 • November 2008

Grace W. Weinstein, Treasurer
I’ve been a member of ASJA since
the mid-1970s (when it was the Society
of Magazine Writers). After varied
service to the Society, including serving
on the Membership committee and
as Membership chair, co-founding the
Council of Writers Organizations, and
running two successful day-long seminars
for public relations professionals, I became the first
ASJA President to serve two consecutive one-year terms.
Following my presidency, I represented ASJA on the
Board of the Copyright Clearance Center. More recently,
I’ve been on the Board of the New York Financial Writers
Association. My current ASJA focus is on the Writers
Emergency Assistance Fund, where I’ve seen how much
difference a relatively small amount of money can make
in turning lives around. Helping WEAF is one of the most
meaningful things I’ve done.
Professionally, I am the author of 13 books and numerous
magazine articles, most (but not all) in the realm of
personal finance. I currently write a regular column on personal
finance for Creative Living magazine and contribute
periodic columns to the Financial Times on tax and estate
planning. I do some corporate consulting as well, writing
journal articles and white papers on global business topics.
In the past, I’ve been a columnist for Good Housekeeping,
Investors Business Daily and Universal Press Syndicate, and
editor of the monthly newsletter, Money Matters: A Woman’s
Guide to Financial Wellbeing. In a highlight of my career, I
served a three-year term on the Consumer Advisory Council
of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, the first freelance
writer to do so.
In my personal life, I’m an avid reader, a collage artist,
and a dedicated traveler.
Donna G. Banks
As a Features Editor for Reader’s
Digest, I cover the consumer service beat.
I also edit “Make It Matter,” “Dreamers,”
and “React” each month. In 2007, I was
the project editor on Alex Haley: The Man
Who Traced America’s Roots, a compilation
of Haley’s features, written exclusively
for Reader’s Digest over a 40-year span.
I am a board member of the Eye-Bank for Sight
Restoration, the world’s first eye bank, and The United
Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), a non-profit, scientific,
and educational organization that administers the nation’s
only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. I
was a member of the National Donor Family Council and
the Public Education Committee at the National Kidney
Foundation, and served on the board of the Coalition on
Donation. I am a graduate of Goucher College.
I’ve worked with so many writers over the years—hardworking,
dedicated professionals. Reader’s Digest has a longstanding
history of saluting those in our communities who
make a difference (check out our new “Make It Matter” column).
A matching grant from the Reader’s Digest Foundation
and donations from ASJA members helped found the Fund
in 1972. Serving as a trustee is my way of giving back to those
in need.
Greg Daugherty
For 30 years or so, I’ve enjoyed dual
citizenship in the worlds of magazine
editing and writing. As an editor, I’ve
worked at magazines such as Success,
Money, Reader’s Digest, and currently, as
well as once before, Consumer Reports.
I’ve also freelanced for magazines and
newspapers and done several books, one
of them on magazine writing. I’ve been an ASJA member
since 1994.
I recommend this double life to other editors, incidentally,
because I think it makes us more realistic in our expectations
of freelancers. Often that means more accommodating,
but other times more demanding. I believe freelancers
can also benefit from holding a staff job at some point in
their careers, disillusioning as the experience may be.
I was invited to join the WEAF board several years ago
by Pat Estess, an ASJA member, my one-time boss at Sylvia
Porter’s Personal Finance magazine, and a friend ever since.
Serving has been a gratifying, if heart-tugging, experience.
Our grants are modest, but they seem to make a real difference.
Most of WEAF’s funding comes from our fellow ASJA
members, not exactly a cash-flush group, but a generous one
where other writers are concerned. Unless I am mistaken,
we have no equivalent to WEAF in the world of editors,
though it wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially these days.
Katharine Davis Fishman
I’ve been a trustee of the WEAF since
the late ’90s, when Murray Teigh Bloom
decided it was time to groom a successor
and asked me to follow him. After a couple
of years of training (those were more
leisurely times) I became Chair of the
Fund in 1999 and held this position until
2003, when I passed it along to Pat Estess.
During my administration, the Fund changed its name from
the Llewellyn Miller Fund (a counterproductively vague
tribute to a fine woman no longer well-remembered, who
had an unspellable name). Working on the WEAF has been a
sobering, challenging, and highly rewarding job: sobering to
discover how fragile is all our security; challenging because
nevertheless one must decide, sometimes, when to say no;
and rewarding to learn that we have given a colleague a bit
of breathing space and a fresh chance.
In ASJA, I have been around the block. I was President
in 1990-91; Executive Vice-President the year before that;
on the Executive Council for several years before that; and,
since I joined in 1982, have been Chair of the Planning,
Program, Membership and Nominating Committees. I ran
the 50th Anniversary Committee- which had a three-year
life-span – and am now planning ASJA’s Big Birthday Bash
on Saturday, December 13th, 2008, for our 60th anniver-
Continued on Next Page
November 2008 9

WEAF Board
of Trustees meet
the committees
continued from previous page
sary, to benefit the WEAF. It will be fabulous! Y’all come!
(Watch the newsletter and the website for details.)
I write mostly narrative journalism on a wide variety
of subjects. I’ve written three books: The Computer
Establishment (1981); Behind the One-Way Mirror: Psychotherapy
and Children (1995); and Attitude! Eight Young
Dancers Come of Age at The Ailey School (2004). The last was
one narrative; the first two were many narratives over a broad
canvas. I’ve also written three cover stories for The Atlantic
(“Problem Adoptions” won ASJA’s 1993 Outstanding Article
Award and another award from the American Psychological
Association); New York (where I covered education and
iconic institutions from the American Museum of Natural
History to FAO Schwarz); Town & Country (Fifth Avenue
real estate, among other things); and many other magazines.
My favorite professional challenge is to start a subject at
ground zero and finish with a book or article that’s respected
by experts in the field.
In addition to ASJA I’m a member of PEN and its
Freedom-to-Write Committee and am on the board of
Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn.
Florence Isaacs
I’ve been a WEAF trustee since
2004, which is a new experience for me,
as well as a natural progression. I’m a
past president of ASJA, and served on
the ASJA board for many years. I chaired
the annual Writers Conference twice,
and also organized several ASJA writing
symposiums for physicians, mental
health professionals, and others interested in working with
writers.
WEAF is dedicated to helping writers in need, and
more of them are bound to be in need as this difficult economy
plays itself out. Fundraising will be more important
than ever. I look forward to working with other trustees to
increase support from the publishing industry and allied
fields for this critically important endeavor.
Mary Ellen Keating
Since 1998, I have spearheaded
corporate communications and public
affairs efforts for Barnes & Noble,
Inc., the world’s largest bookseller and a
Fortune 500 company that operates 800
bookstores in 50 states. I am also responsible
for coordinating public relations for
the company’s online business, Barnes
& Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the largest e-commerce
websites. At Barnes & Noble, we like to say our booksellers
do important work. The American Society of Journalists
and Authors and the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund
also do important work by encouraging and supporting
writers. For that reason, I am proud to be a WEAF board
member.
Caitlin Kelly
I’m a Tarrytown, NY-based freelance
writer who has written for The
New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
Washington Post, Glamour, More, New
York and other publications in Canada,
the U.S. and Europe. My book, called
“groundbreaking and invaluable” by
Booklist, is Blown Away: American Women
and Guns (Pocket Books, 2004), the first national, neutral
examination of how women and guns intersect in American
life, past and present. A former reporter for the New York
Daily News, Toronto Globe and Mail and Montreal Gazette,
I have won a Canadian National Magazine Award and five
journalism fellowships. I’m a graduate of the University of
Toronto.
Having personally faced some very lean years and medical
challenges, I know the healthy and solvent are fortunate
indeed. I’m glad we can help.
Al Silverman
I first got into magazine publishing
in the early 1950s and became an early
member of your august organization.
In those years of the 1950s, I was an
editor for various magazines and also a
freelance writer. You might have heard
of The Saturday Evening Post, American
Heritage and The Saturday Review, but
can you remember these magazines that helped me pay the
rent: Bluebook, Male, Men, Real, Nugget, Climax, Swank,
Pageant, Cavalier?
In the 1960s, I settled in as editor of Sport Magazine and
wrote sports books on the side. The only one that is perhaps
known today is a book I ghosted for a great Chicago Bears’
football player, Gale Sayers. Out of that came the story of the
relationship between Sayers and his white roommate, Brian
Piccolo, until his untimely death. From that book came the
first made for television movie, Brian’s Song.
In 1972, I left magazine publishing for The Book-of-the-
Month Club, starting out as its editorial director and ending
as its CEO. This is where I got the material for my book about
the golden age of book publishing, as it surely was. After
retiring from the BOMC, I spent nine fascinating years as
an editor at Viking/Penguin, as it was then called. Among
the authors I was lucky to work with were Saul Bellow,
Robertson Davies, William Kennedy and T.C. Boyle.
My latest book, The Time of Their Lives, was published
by St. Martin’s Press in September. It’s my 14 th book and the
one I know I’ll always be the closest to.
10 • November 2008

Wise Advice
Veteran Authors Share Their Experience
Q:
with Andrea King Collier, Sam Greengard, Florence Isaacs & Minda Zetlin
A members asks: I just got back from a press trip. Should I mention that when pitching
or abide by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy?
Florence Isaacs
Often this is a non–issue because
most publications today allow press trips
for travel or food stories (although The
New York Times and Associated Press are
notable exceptions). One writer had to
sign a contract with AP, saying no complimentary
travel would be involved. In
general, however, publications understand that writers can’t
pay for trips. At least some major newspapers send their own
staff writers on press trips sponsored by hotels, etc..
Handling the material in your story is a different issue.
Some writers do blatant puff pieces for sponsors, and some
publications (usually smaller ones) don’t mind. The writers I
know find an angle to pursue that isn’t an obvious commercial
for (or endorsement of) a sponsor. They might talk about
the history of a restaurant, rather than say it’s the best one
in town. They might write about the great bathtub in a hotel
room, rather than say it’s the best place to stay.
Ask colleagues about a publication’s policy when you’re
in doubt. If you do have to pay your own way, some tourism
people will provide special rates for journalists who can’t
take freebies.
Minda Zetlin
I’m not a travel writer, so I posted
the question to the ASJA forum and got
opinions from some seasoned travel writing
pros. Their consensus was: Don’t tell
if you’re not asked—but make sure the
publication doesn’t have a no-comp policy
before you query. If the query is accepted,
check the contract for a no-comp policy before you sign.
They noted that it makes little sense for publications to
disallow press trips unless they’re willing to pay the writer’s
travel expenses themselves, which certainly makes sense
to me. And the free trip bought your presence, but not your
dishonesty. If the beds were hard and the food was lousy, as a
professional journalist you’ll say so. Most editors understand
this, which may be why one long-time travel writer reports
only two occasions when she’s been asked if she took a free trip.
I also learned of a practice wherein journalists pay whatever
they wish so they can honestly tell their editors later that
they did not accept a “free” trip. But that’s an ethical discussion
for another day...
You can find much more complete answers on the ASJA
forum by searching “Press trip—Would you tell?
Andrea King Collier
There are magazines that have a policy
about press trips. I try to stay on top of
which ones that won’t take a story from
a freebie trip. But I also say, “I just got
back from or I am going to” when I pitch a
travel related story. They usually ask how
I got there, if it is a deal breaker.
I recently had a hybrid trip where I paid my own travel,
but the week at the resort was comped because I was doing a
lecture. I disclosed my travel arrangements to three editors
who were all happy to have the content (each on a different
aspect of the trip. The number of publications that pay travel
for the big trips is getting smaller. Some of the ones that were
sticklers, because they paid travel expenses, are shrinking,
as far as I can tell.
I have also had an experience with a magazine that had a
policy, but my trip was paid for because I was at a non-tourism
meeting. I explained that to the editor and ended up with a contract.
I think it is good to be upfront. You might lose the assignment
with magazine A, but B, C, and D are yours for the taking.
Sam Greengard
This topic is so murky it makes a
cesspool seem clear by comparison. As
I’ve stated before, I think that honesty is
the best policy. Of course, there’s a lot of
wink and nod behavior about all this—and
some publications indeed have a “don’t
ask, don’t tell” policy. But that doesn’t
make it right. And the fact that other people do it doesn’t
make it right either (a concept my kids have an extremely
difficult time understanding).
However, it also depends on the situation and what
exactly you’re writing about. If it’s a travel story about
San Francisco and you were comped by the Visitor’s and
Convention Bureau, then you probably should say something
to an editor. If you toured a microbrewery and then
have an opportunity to quote a business executive about,
say, labor challenges, I don’t think it’s necessary to say anything.
I mean how in the world would the trip influence your
quotes or information?
So, this is probably a classical case of “situational ethics.”
In the end, it’s best to do what seems honest and right, and
most of the time we know in our gut what that really is.
Andrea King Collier, Sam Greengard, Florence Isaacs and Minda Zetlin
are long-time ASJA members. Find out more about them by accessing
the members’ directory at www.asja.org.
November 2008 11

WRITING BUSINESS
Coping With Change
by Howard Baldwin
12 • November 2008
You have to rethink the skills that will be
in demand in five years, because you can’t
rest on the traditional publishing skills
that you have developed so far. You have to
evolve and hone some new skills.
O
ne of the exercises Dr. Randy White likes to conduct
in his leadership development classes vividly forces
participants to consider how change affects them
emotionally. He asks them to switch their watch from one
wrist to the other. Invariably, within a few minutes, everyone
itches to switch it back. If
he asks people the time, they
looks at the wrong wrist.
“It’s a wonderful analog
for change. It’s hard to accept,
hard to remember, and it feels
awkward,” says White, a consultant
with the Executive
Development Group in
Greensboro, N.C.
Awkward concisely describes the situation that writers
and the publishing industry currently face, as does terrifying.
“There’s been nothing like this digital transformation
in any of our lifetimes,” says Holly Brady, director of the
Stanford Publishing Course. “This is a hard-left turn.”
Journalists are facing an exacerbated situation because
we’re really facing two kinds of change simultaneously.
It’s not just a change in business models, where companies
are trying to discern how to make money from electronic
rather than print advertising. This situation is also marked
by technological change, something many people find particularly
daunting. To promote themselves and their work,
journalists must master Web pages, podcasts, blogs, digital
cameras, and other kind of technology far more complex
than a word-processing application.
Surely if any industrial demographic understands how
to cope with change, it’s journalists. After all, don’t intellectual
curiosity and the next new thing drive our work?
Perhaps—but that doesn’t necessarily translate into the
ability to master change in our own lives.
“People get accustomed to doing things a certain way
that helps them feel secure,” says Andrea Kay, a Cincinnatibased
career consultant and author of the upcoming book,
Work’s a Bitch and Then You Make It Work (STC Paperbacks,
2008). “They don’t like surprises. When it comes to their
work, people don’t want to have to think about how to fit in,
how to adapt.”
Moving away from that security is scary, for a very
ingrained reason, according to White. “We’re afraid of getting
it wrong. In school, we were rewarded for getting the
right answer, not the wrong one. But the wrong answer usually
leads you to a new discovery.” That is, we learn more
from our failures than our successes.
Besides, argues Kay, “You risk much more by doing
nothing. If you do not open yourself up to something difficult,
you risk losing what you have. People think there’s
no risk in staying [in a job], but that’s where the risk is. Job
security is a myth.”
How should journalists cope? Kay recommends, “Do
not put off the inevitable, which is a serious assessment of
how you fit into the industry
in light of all these changes.”
You have to rethink the
skills that will be in demand
in five years, adds Brady,
“because you can’t rest on the
traditional publishing skills
that you have developed so far.
You have to evolve and hone
some new skills.” She acknowledges that, with layoffs and
downsizing, many people in the publishing industry are
now doing the work that three people would have done a few
years ago. “There’s tremendous pressure to keep your head
down and be as efficient as possible. That’s probably the
worst thing you can do. If you don’t put your head up and see
where this is going, you’re going to run into a wall.”
For many, an obvious choice is freelancing, one that Kay
herself took many years ago when she left a full-time job as
an advertising copywriter to become a career consultant. “If
you have the ability to develop a business model for yourself,
you have a lot more security. You’re in charge of everything
— what direction your business goes in, whether it’s viable,
and whether you need to shift, depending on the marketplace.”
Even so, the idea of being “in charge of everything”
can be emotionally difficult as well, especially when you’re
accustomed to having editors and publishers make business
decisions.
Even those who don’t plunge into self-employment have
ways to cope. Among participants in the Stanford Publishing
Course, Brady says, “the smartest ones have skunk works for
new projects. They’re throwing things up against the wall
and seeing what sticks. You have to develop an instinct of
what it means to live and publish on the Web. You have to be
willing to experiment.”
Ironically, one of the scariest things that writers have
to deal with is a sudden explosion of creative options. “If
you’re creative, you don’t have to go through the traditional
gatekeepers any more,” says Brady. “You don’t have to amass
a huge following to make a living with your work.” All you
really need are enough rabid fans to buy your books from
Continued on Page 15
ASJA member Howard Baldwin spent nine years as an editor at travel
and regional publications before making his own (involuntary) transition
into technology and business writing. That was 21 years ago, and he’s
never been happier.

CALL FOR
NOMINATIONS
The Nominating Committee is preparing a slate for the 2007-2008 ASJA Board. Any ASJA
member is eligible to be nominated, and self-nominations receive full consideration. The
following positions are up for election this year:
President*
Secretary*
Vice President*
Treasurer*
Three At-Large Board Members**
*Officers serve a one-year term. **At-Large Board Members serve a three-year term.
If you would like to nominate yourself or another member, please contact the Nominating
Committee at nominations@asja.org The deadline is 5:00 PM EST, on Monday, December 1.
Please include your phone number. Tell us about the candidate, what this person has contributed to
ASJA, including committee work, and why you feel this person would be a good board member.
Members of the Board of Directors are crucial to the success of ASJA, for they guide our organization
and head up a variety of special projects. We need people who are dedicated to our organization
and who will invest the time it takes to do this job well. We’re looking for candidates with
good ideas, who will take responsibility and who participate well in a group. Candidates must
be willing to commit to attending two all-day board meetings, one in New York on the Thursday
before our spring conference and one in November, which will be held in a U.S. city to be determined
each year, as well as monthly board meetings held on the last Thursday of each month, via
conference call. ASJA pays travel and hotel expenses for board meeting attendance.
All nominations are kept confidential.
—Russell Wild, President
Custom Publishing and Advertorials
With their huge circulations and innovative content, custom publishers and advertorials have become the fastestgrowing
marketing medium on the Internet. Come find out how you can double and triple your writing fees in this
exploding realm.
Moderators:
Bruce Fraser and Janice Fioravante, ASJA members
Panel:
• Jeremy A. Abbate, director, global media solutions,
Scientific American Custom Media. On an international
basis Jeremy integrates Scientific American’s digital
and print platforms in all areas of scientific disciplines
(including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, energy,
aerospace and engineering).
• Sarah Alger, senior editor, Time Inc. Custom Solutions.
She currently manages Proto, a 48-page quarterly
magazine for Massachusetts General Hospital and
Uncommon Wisdom, a retirement planning magazine
for Wachovia. She has been interviewed by Jay Leno
and David Letterman.
• Karen J. Bannan, ASJA Board member and prolific
contributor to custom publishers.
• Paul T. Libassi, deputy managing editor, Time Inc.
Custom Solutions. Paul oversees new business prototypes
as well as print and digital content for Merrill
Lynch, TD Ameritrade, the Massachusetts General
Hospital and Wachovia. Previously, he was editor of
Individual Investor and editorial director of Reader’s
Digest special interest publications.
• Valerie P. Valente, senior VP, publishing director,
Rodale Custom Publishing. Rodale Inc., publisher
of titles such as Prevention and Men’s Health, also
includes its own Custom Publishing Division, including
offline and online program clients. Programs range
from an online magazine for 24 Hour Fitness and a
loyalty print program for Bloomingdale’s.
Date & Time: Nov. 13, 5:00 to 7:30 PM; panel begins 5:30 PM
Place: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Room 308, 219 West 40th Street, NY, NY
Cost: ASJA members and guests of ASJA members: $25; CUNY students $5; public, $35. Includes food and soft drinks.
November 2008 13

notice.” She also gets into issues you’ve probably never
thought about, such as the difference (a big one, it turns
out) between a “Dear John” letter and a “Hi, John” letter.
The book is sparely but delightfully illustrated with the
grammatical adventures of Aardvark (species obvious) and
Squiggly (a snail.)
WHAT’S in
STORE
by Joy Dickinson Tipping
S
ometimes it’s such fun to just let your Inner Grammar
Nerd (mine’s name is Balthazar) come out, to spend a
few hours curled up in a chair reading about hyphens
and commas and infinitives (oh my!). For instance, the first
time I read Lynne Truss’ marvelous Eats, Shoots & Leaves,
her British punctuation drove me nuts. It was so relaxing
and enjoyable, I found, to read that book with a purple pencil
in hand, joyously moving her commas from outside to inside
the quotation marks, where they properly belonged in any
stateside publication. Mignon Fogarty and Bill Bryson are
both American, and thus use good ’ole Strunk-and-Whiteapproved
punctuation, but their books are definitely worth
the chair time. Both authors possess a wacky sense of humor
that makes their books fun as well as informative. Our third
featured author, Natalie Goldberg—revered among writers
for her classic Writing Down the Bones—brings a sober but
similarly lighthearted tone to her utterly engrossing take
on memoir, a genre that could certainly use a fresh dash of
integrity these days.
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better
Writing, by Mignon Fogarty. Holt Paperbacks, 2008.
224 pages. Paperback, $14.
Ms. Fogarty stunned the newly
buzzy “podcasting” world in 2006 when
she started her weekly Grammar Girl
podcasts and they eventually rose to No.
2 on iTunes. Suddenly, knowing where
the apostrophe goes, or whether to use
a colon or semicolon, became hip (and
word geeks everywhere wept with glee).
As professional writers, we owe her a
huge debt of thanks for emphasizing correctness
in every form of written communication, including
newbies such as e-mails, text messaging, blogging, etc. Ms.
Fogarty will have none of that “Well, it’s only for a blog, so
who cares if it’s grammatically correct?” silliness. The playful
title of the first chapter—“Dirty Words”—gives a hint
at her sense of humor. She doesn’t scold; she tries to gently
help, although she does note that, despite what certain
bloggers or e-mailers might suspect, “writing badly is like
dressing in lime shorts and an orange plaid sweater—people
Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors, by Bill
Bryson. Broadway, 2008. 398 pages. Hardcover. $22.
If Bill Bryson started writing a regular
column for Goat Herder’s Weekly, I’d
happily pay my $28.50 a year, or whatever,
for a subscription. I’d even become
a card-carrying goat herder if necessary;
that’s how much I (and virtually every
writer and editor I know) love him. So
any new Bryson book is cause for exultation.
This new one will go on my shelf of
essential references, both for its plethora
of linguistic tidbits and the wonderful pithy way he explains
them. To wit, the razor’s edge of difference, for instance,
among “elicit,” “extract” and “extort.” “Elicit,” he notes,
“the mildest of the three, means to draw or coax out, and
can additionally suggest an element of craftiness. … Extract
suggests a stronger and more persistent effort, and extort is
stronger still and suggest clear threats of violence or harm.”
So, to elicit payment from a recalcitrant client: “Hey, I’d love
to do that assignment for you, but I’ll need to get a check on
that last one first.” To extract: “This is the third time I’ve
called, and I’m considering legal action.” To extort: “Hey,
you scumbag nonpaying editor, my attorney is headed down
to your office. Get your checkbook out; he also works for the
Mob!” As always, Bryson also injects bits of sheer “wow!”
such as the cunning tidbit that Shakespeare used six different
spellings of his own name.
Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing
Memoir, by Natalie Goldberg. Free Press. 310 pages.
Hardcover. $25.
If you’ve ever wondered whether
you have the material for a memoir,
Goldberg’s latest should reassure you. “If
you’ve lived 10 years, you have enough
writing material for your whole life,”
she writes. “If you’re 30 years old, stop
everything. You already have too much to
capture. If you’re 60 and your memories
are fading, seven images—your mother’s
face, a cake from Ebinger’s bakery, the
feel of a football, a street you remember, the smell of a
gunshot, the first movie you loved, one time of heartbreaking
sex—should fill a book. Just slow down.” Old Friend is
both philosophical and practical, with Goldberg’s fabulous
10-minute exercises designed to get your brain stirring up
Joy Dickinson Tipping is the author of Haunted City, a guide to New Orleans
for Anne Rice fans, and Scarlett Slept Here: A Book Lover’s Guide to the South,
as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles on everything
from adoption to ZIP codes (yes, there is a story in ZIP codes!).
14 • November 2008

memories you didn’t even know were still there. The 10 minutes
can be about time itself—“Tell me about a clock you’ve
looked at a lot. Go. Ten minutes.”—or place—“We all come
from someplace. Where did you come from? How did you
escape? Go for ten.”—or just about anything. For freelance
newspaper or magazine writers, the exercises also are likely
to inspire all kinds of fresh ideas for articles.
Sixty Candles for Eleven Bucks
Writing Business (continued from page 12)
your Web site, or enough traffic on your blog to sell
advertising.
The key to coping with change with an emotionally
healthy outlook, then, is to consider the positives
rather than the negatives — that this is a new world
for publishing, and the winners will be the ones who
understand it first; that there are actually more opportunities
for creative outlets rather than fewer; and that
by moving forward into the unknown future, you have
the chance for greater success than by staying rooted in
the present.
How are you coping with the changes faces the publishing
industry and your career? If you’re interested in telling
your story, contact newsletter@asja.org or Howard
Baldwin (howardbaldwin@pacbell.net).
ASJA’s new book, Sixty Candles, is available now
through the ASJA office. Members can order it for $11,
non-members for $15, shipping included.
E-mail staff@asja.org for complete ordering information.
ASJA Mission and Administration
Founded in 1948, the American Society of Journalists and Authors is the nation’s leading organization of independent nonfiction
writers. ASJA is a primary voice in representing freelancers’ interests, serving as spokesman for their right to control and profit from
the uses of their work in online media and elsewhere. ASJA brings leadership in establishing professional and ethical standards, and
in recognizing and encouraging the pursuit of excellence in nonfiction writing. ASJA headquarters are in New York City.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT Russell Wild
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Salley Shannon
TREASURER Ron Meyer
SECRETARY Minda Zetlin
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Jack El-Hai
PAST PRESIDENT Lisa Collier Cool
AT-LARGE MEMBERS
Caitlin Kelly, Mary Mihaly, Trish Riley
Term expires 2009
Karen Bannan, Sandra E. Lamb, Janine Latus
Term expires 2010
Nona Aguilar, Lisa Armstrong, Kevin Garrison
Term expires 2011
CHAPTER PRESIDENTS
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (Southern California),
Mickey Goodman (Southeast), Laird Harrison
(Northern California), Sandra E. Lamb (Rocky
Mountain), Pat McNees and Emily Paulsen
(Washington, D.C.)
STANDING COMMITTEES
ADVOCACY Salley Shannon (chair), Gloria
Chadwick, W. Thomas Smith, Miryab Ehrlich
Williamson
ANNUAL WRITERS CONFERENCE Sherry Paprocki
(co-chair) and Sally Stich (co-chair)
AWARDS Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (co-chair),
Linda Marsa (co-chair)
CONTRACTS Lee Klancher (chair), Richard Marini,
Kathleen Vyn, Claire Walter
EXECUTIVE Russell Wild (chair), Lisa Collier Cool,
Jack El-Hai, Ron Meyer, Salley Shannon, Minda Zetlin
FIRST AMENDMENT Claire Safran (chair), Larry
Atkins, Claudia S. Caruana, Cynthia Greenwood,
Jeremiah Hall, Timothy Harper, Sally Wendkos
Olds
FORUM Nona Aguilar (chair), Sophia Dembling,
Sandra Gurvis, Carol Kino, Mary Mihaly, Leslie
Pepper
GRIEVANCE W.Thomas Smith (chair), Sheila B.
Callahan, Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, Sally King
HOSPITALITY Andrea Campbell (chair), Elina
Furman, Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer
MARKET REPORTS Jackie Dishner (chair), Karen
Asp, Sherry Suib Cohen, Meryl Davids, Bobbi
Dempsey, Carol Ekarius, Debbe Geiger, Kristine
Hansen, Lisa Iannucci, Judy Kirkwood, Jennifer
Lacey, Lindsey O’Connor, Kristin Ohlson, Kate
Wagner, Steve Weinberg
MEMBERSHIP Terry Whalin (chair), Tom Bedell,
Kelly James-Enger. Alternates: Sam Greengard,
Janice Hopkins Tanne, Mark Fuerst, Mary Mihaly
MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT Michele Hollow
(chair), Sarah Crow, Susan J. Gordon, Mary Dixon
Lebeau, Andrea Rotondo, Daylle Deanna Schwartz,
Libby Slate
NOMINATING Donna Albrecht
PAST PRESIDENTS Samuel Greengard (chair),
Tom Bedell, Lisa Collier Cool, Eleanor Dienstag,
Katharine Davis Fishman, Mark Fuerst, Sally
Wendkos Olds, Grace W. Weinstein
PUBLICATIONS Tina Tessina (chair), Stacie Zoe
Berg, Dara Chadwick, Ellen Count, Paula Dranov,
Mary Ann Fusco, Toni Goldfarb, Lisa Waterman
Gray, Mary Beth Klatt, Lisbeth Levine, Anne Stuart,
Susan Weiner, Kathryn Wilkens
PUBLIC RELATIONS & MARKETING Trish Riley
(chair), Pauline Bartel, Dara Chadwick, Joan
Detz, Mark Masse, Richard Mintzer, Michele
Wojciechowski
STORY LEADS (formerly the Tipsheet) Lisa Collier
Cool and Sandra E. Lamb (co-chairs), Carole
Christie, Kay Day, Shirley Lee, Marcia Nelson,
Susan Newman, Joan Price, Elaine Shimberg, Diana
Somerville, Mary Ann Sternberg, Tina Tessina,
Judith Evans Thomas
TELECONFERENCE Mark Francis Cohen (chair),
Kelly Bastone, Shawn Blore, Craig Canine, Randy
Dotinga, Michael Fitzgerald, Jonathan Green, Laird
Harrison, Charlotte Huff, Julia Klein, Amy Paturel,
Caroline Tiger
WEB SITE Gene Retske (chair), Julie Catalano,
Emma Johnson, Karen Lane, Bruce Miller, Steve
Morrill, Kurt Repanshek
ASJA STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Alexandra Owens
MEMBER SERVICES Juliana Statius Muller
IT MANAGER Bruce W. Miller
STAFF ASSISTANT Diana Pacheco
ASJA CHARITABLE TRUST/
WRITERS EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FUND
(formerly Llewellyn Miller Fund) Lisa Collier Cool
(chair), Joan Rattner Heilman (secretary), Donna G.
Banks, John Mack Carter, Greg Daugherty, Katharine
Davis Fishman, Pete Hamill, Florence Isaacs, Mary
Ellen Keating, Caitlin Kelly, Al Silverman, Grace W.
Weinstein
November 2008 15

December 13, 2008
ASJA’s 60 th Birthday Bash is Saturday, December 13, 2008.
Bring your spouse, partner, casual date, editor or agent (or
all five of them) to The General Society of Mechanics and
Tradesmen, a turn-of-the-century New York landmark at 20
West 44th Street in Manhattan, where the elegant reading
room, with a magnificent soaring skylight, stylish faux-marble
pillars, ironwork and wooden shelves, provides a dramatic
ambience. A variety of New York-style multicultural treats
(starring Beijing duck), wine and beer is included in the $75
per person charge. Cool piano by Thomas Shaw. ASJA co-founder
Norman Lobsenz’ recalls the days when writers were paid
and treated well. And Bill Dyszel will create one more of his
off-the-wall videos, this time drawing on the past, present and
future of ASJA and its unforgettable members. Register now at
www.asja.org/calendar.
—Katharine Davis Fishman,
Chair, 60 th Anniversary Gala
Since 1992, ASJA’s annual Lunch-With-an-Editor Raffle has raised
money for the Writer’s Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF).
Raffle tickets have defied inflation to remain at a mere $5 each—a
fully tax-deductible contribution to a terrific cause—offering the
possibility of a lunch with the major magazine or book editor of
your choice.
The raffle drawing will be held on 12/13 at the holiday party. You
don’t have to attend the party to win. To see the list of editors and
buy your tickets, go to www.asja.org/members/news/n0811a.php
“The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you”
-David Foster Wallace
American Society of Journalists and Authors
1501 Broadway, Suite 302
New York, NY 10036
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visit us on the Web
www.asja.org