Writes-A-Roni was inspired by a self-described 28-year-old Internet marketer who made himself “semi-financially independent and gained more free time” by cracking the code to social networking. I’m 50-something and the arc of my career has been the mirror-reverse of my mentor’s. Twenty years ago I was earning a six-figure salary and vesting deferred compensation benefits as the editor of a large-circulation consumer magazine. When the writing appeared on the wall that print would be subsumed by the Web, I landed a job as director of content with a nascent business-to-business Web site. It was one… MORE>
I’ve been doing everything I can think of to find writing and editing jobs. One thing that I did last week was blast resumes to 1.5 million recruiters and prospective employers. In return I got a number of invitations to become an insurance salesman. I responded to one of the offers and went to an informational seminar with about 15 others, most of whom were young ghetto women dressed to the nines. The speaker leading the meeting was a little off-putting–a pot-bellied 35-year old. He was blunt, plain-spoken and had trouble articulating distinct Ts… MORE>
Following up on my response to his ad for a ghostwriter-blogger, the Craig’s List Guy emailed me a list of questions—sort of an email job interview aimed at learning more about what I am like as a person, what it might be like to work with me. I liked being able to answer in writing; I’m better at it than speaking. And the questions were good—many were the same as the ones I’ve asked when interviewing prospective new hires. A few of the blog posts in this space are based on my responses to… MORE>
Readers of my resume might surmise that the title was conferred because I have written and edited a number of home-improvement books and magazines for New York City-based publishers. Those who know that I made my living as a carpenter before going into publishing might think I earned it by working on the elaborate model train set installed at Rockefeller Center at Christmastime every year during the late 1970s—or for the built-ins I created for big machers ensconced at the Dakota on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But no, it came before… MORE>
Much of my success as a writer and editor of home-improvement magazines stemmed from the fact that during the 1980s it seemed that there were only 10 or so carpenters in the U.S. who could write. It was a period of rapid expansion in the magazine business. Every time a job opened up, they’d round up the usual suspects. When I learned to edit photos and copy, I became a hot commodity among the how-to and shelter books. I had started as an assistant home and shop editor at Popular Mechanics, but every year or… MORE>
I used to be known as the handiest Jew in New York. I’ve been unable to extend the franchise to Washington—what with names like Greenspan and Bernanke in the hunt. I came to Washington almost 10 years ago to create content for a startup Web site with a thriving, forward-looking business-to-business publisher that had recently been purchased by an investment bank. It was to be a large, searchable online database of home-building products. I was enticed by the promise of—if not riches, at least a good salary and, eventually, a… MORE>
It’s been snowing a lot in Washington this winter. I love snow—always have. My favorite way of earning pocket money as a teenager was shoveling snow. You’d get a day off from school and spend the morning walking around the neighborhood doing walks and driveways. Bone weary by afternoon, it was off to the record store for Bob Dylan’s latest—or Smokey Robinson, Aretha, the Stones, a rare Lightnin’ Hopkins. By evening entire albums could memorized, the guitar licks deconstructed. But in Washington they don’t love snow—can’t deal with it. Just after taking office last year… MORE>
I’ve worked in publishing long enough to remember when publishing companies were run by publishers and editors. Editors shaped the product and prepared it for publication; publishers made the deals. Today it’s a different story. MBAs run the business, CTOs shape the process and the future, Sales and Marketing develop and push the products. Now that it’s more important for the Google bots rather than human readers to understand what’s on a page, SEO specialists are the arbiters of diction. Editors do whatever else is left—generally limited to checking spelling, fitting… MORE>
