|
From the President's Desk Writers need good friends by Salley Shannon Like most writers, I have my shy moments. They hardly ever occur at social events -- and these days, a social event is any time I'm out of our house in the D.C. suburbs. My husband works in a "real" office, two of three children are launched, and the youngest is away for the summer. I spend too much time talking to myself or Lord Nelson. (Large, obstreperous canine, not the ghost of battles past.) So I enjoyed myself mightily during the Friday night cocktail event at our annual writer's conference last April. I invaded conversations and waved madly when I spotted a buddy. It would have been enough that nobody there seemed inclined to nibble my toes or bark, but actually, it was a great soiree! I found Mickey Goodman (Marietta, Georgia.), Bob Wilson (Saxons River, Vermont.) and Cheryl Sharman (New York. and Costa Rica) by their name tags. I hadn't met them but I knew them, regardless. We'd all been on the 23-person Personal Pitch organizing committee. (A bonding experience in this economy.) I was sorry to see the party wind down as members started looking at watches and reminding one another where the various "New York Nights" dinner groups were gathering. Recently, I was horrified to hear that a West Coast member attending her first conference had been miserable at that party. She knew virtually nobody, she's a little shy and all around her, people seemed acquainted. She mistakenly attributed this to the idea that most people who come to the conference are New Yorkers and know one another. Wrong on both counts, but it hardly matters: she felt left out. We've all been miserable that way. She did meet a couple of people, but after a time, with everyone around her apparently engaged and merry, she bolted. (Never heard if she'd signed up for a dinner group. Crossed fingers.) My immediate reaction was that next year, to get everyone moving about and talking, we'll be having goofy ice-breaker games at conference cocktail parties. I'm glad to report that next year's conference co-chairs, David Buden (Cleveland, Ohio) and Gina Roberts-Grey (Baldwinsville, New York), also had the "icebreaker" thought. Morris dancing lessons, perhaps? Whistling? David and Gina are both highly creative, so expect anything south of water balloons. As I've thought about that member's experience, I keep harking back to two things. First, perhaps 10 years ago, it could have been me feeling odd-man-out. For years, I was a lurker, an uninvolved member. A few names I saw in the newsletter became familiar to me, but I knew hardly anyone. And second, I've made almost all my ASJA friends by working with them on a project or committee. Others I've met by answering a forum question. We responded a couple of times then started e-mailing privately. This organization was founded 60 years ago for two reasons: to be the voice of freelance writers in the publishing world, and for mutual support. Collegiality. Friendship. I joined ASJA for professional reasons and stayed because of them, plus inertia. I began getting my money's worth only when Melba Newsome (Charlotte, North Carolina) recruited me to be on the Publications Committee. Actually, she said she'd taken on the chairmanship and that my name soon would be appearing on the committee list. Saying "no" to Melba required more chocolate than I had that day. Soon, I was reading committee stuff and sending "reply all" responses, which often got private conversations going with other committee members. We're writers. Our personalities emerge fast when the emails start flying. Knowing more writers made me care more, somehow, about our collective fate. Which meant I soon cared more about ASJA. Not the organization as such. The writers in it and the vision of how ASJA can help us be better at what we do, get treated fairly, gain a measure of respect for our skill. Collectively, we have such strength and wisdom. We need to grow and evolve as our industry transmogrifies. (Great word, isn't it?) ASJA has a small staff, but basically, we move on volunteer power. I hate to use the c-word, which sounds dull, so let's just say that a lot of what needs doing or pondering happens in our small groups. As the work gets done, the friendships get started. Come fall, we'll we sending email blasts about openings. Meanwhile, speaking of games, we need a few on the forum, which could be livelier. (I'm not suggesting a food fight, mind!) Let's think about how we can get more out of it. I hereby create the Online Forum Water Balloon Comm -- oops! Almost said the c-word. The Forum Creativity and Water Balloon Small Group. Care to join? We also need a chairman. Send me an email: president@asja.org. We're phasing out the old address, which used "prez." An amazing number of people have invented a penis enhancer and think the president of ASJA should know. If you're one of them, don't tell me. Sometimes, I really am shy. Salley Shannon lives in Derwood, MD. Lord Nelson is an 80-lb. British Golden Retriever and Scrabble champion. (She wishes.) Contact her at president@asja.org I care passionately about the mission of ASJA: mutual support and advocacy for freelance writers. So a few years ago, when Bob Bittner and Jack El-Hai suggested I consider joining the board and taking a turn as president, I thought, sure. Truth time: I did not anticipate being president while watching the writerly world implode, explode, or whatever it is doing this week. On the other hand, a year ago you didn't expect to be scrambling for work the way you are today, did you? There's only one recourse: take up our shovels, like the little boy who knows there's a pony in here, someplace. We can shovel alone or we can have a little fun, clear a bigger space, and maybe even find a whole herd of ponies, if we shovel side-by-side. Relatively few of us writers will survive these times by doing the same things we were doing a year ago. By now, we know we must look for new markets, accept compromises, learn things we might prefer to bypass. I, who am not permitted to take family photos because I cut off heads, am not overjoyed at the thought of learning how to present video stories. (On the web, yet.) I will do that and more to preserve my career as a freelance writer. If ASJA is going to be around a decade from now to help and support our careers -- re-shaped careers we can't fully foresee at this juncture -- ASJA, too, has to evolve. Fast. Faster than ever before. I promise to remember our roots, and to speak up loudly and often for freelance writers. ASJA must meet with publishers about absurd contract clauses. We must testify about legislation that affects us. We must write op-ed pieces. Russell Wild, immediate past president and dear friend, stepped up the pace on these things. I promise to ramp it up more. Who knows -- we might even find ourselves picketing. (We're not a union. We can't make demands. But if a magazine regularly fails to pay some of our members, we may decide to take our advocacy to the proverbial "next level.") Volunteer for our Advocacy Committee. Two years ago I thought advocacy could be handled by our Board members, plus a small, very focused committee. Now I think we need an Advocacy Committee of at least 25 (sharp, outspoken, thoughtful) committee members. Forty would be better. Look forward to our new face. We are redoing our website. I anticipate a friendlier, fresh look, a lot of housecleaning, and better functioning. Hooray for Minda Zetlin, who chairs the revamp committee. Let's get to know one another. If you are a member of an ASJA committee, from now on, expect to have meetings by conference call. And regularly. We have work to do -- and the job of mutual support, being present for one another, is as important as anything on our committee agendas. (Stand by for an email blast listing committee openings early this fall.) Similarly, put up your picture, so that when you post on the forums, we see you. You lurkers, join the forum conversations. Me, I promise to start a new thread/conversation at least once a month, and to comment on a thread at least once a week. Please make the same promise yourself -- we all will benefit. Let's talk! Don't suffer alone. Let us support you. If a publication has owed you money for months, and your editor isn't returning your calls or emails, this is the time to bring in the Grievance Committee. (Check the website for the how-to particulars.) Chairman Greg Cook has a nifty form letter that has been getting great results. In this economy, editors and publishers need to know that if they stiff one of us, more than one writer will know about it. If the bad behavior continues, there's the Warning List. They don't like it when we help one another, by the way. Hence those "no disclosure" lines that are starting to pop up in contracts. Speaking of contracts, if you're not sure you understand the ramifications of what you're reading, remember that we have a Contracts Committee, chaired by Milt Toby. Ask for help. Expect more classes on the skills you need to survive. Lisa Armstrong is chairing ASJA University, which offers useful programs featuring editors and experts (Lisa Collier Cool and Margie Goldsmith) that you can attend in person or via the web. Plus, a re-tooled conference come April (Gina Roberts-Grey and David Budin, co-chairs). Help us double our numbers. ASJA has been hovering at 1,400 members. An organization with 3,000 freelance writers will speak with greater authority and be heard. Let's get there. For our mutual good, ask one writer friend to join ASJA. Keep asking until you have recruited a new member by this time next year. I also am hoping that writers who have left us, for whatever reason, will come back. Spread the word, please. We can help shape the new, writerly world that is evolving -- if we grow in numbers, focus our energy on things that matter, and above all, support one another as professionals and friends. Let's walk into the future together. Salley Shannon can be reached at president_at_asja.org
|
ASJAA • A Times Square, 1501 Broadway, Suite 403, New York, NY 10036, USA A • A (212) 997-0947