Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

When in transition, putting together our cover stories

On April 1st, I'll be lecturing at the New York State Bar Association on navigating career transition.  It's jointly sponsored by the NYSBA's Committee on Lawyers in Transition and the Senior Lawyers Section.  My focus will be on how we present ourselves when between professional identities. 

In his book WHEN YOU'RE FALLING, DIVE, Mark Matousek describes those periods when we shed one persona and haven't put together another one as a time of vulnerability.  He provides the analogy of the lobster Homarus americanus.  Annually the creature dives to the bottom of the ocean, deposits one shell, and tries to stay alive before a new one grows. 

I provide tips on how to transform that vulnerability into an edge.  That reflects the thinking in my new book OVER-50: HOW WE KEEP WORKING, which will be published in the spring.  Here is a free peek at the Preface, Introduction, and Table of Contents Download Over50prefaceintrotoc.

Opening the program will be Rosemary Byrne of Step-by-Step Coaching LLC.  She will kick off with Preparing Our Story.  Then she will wrap it up with Writing the Next Chapter.

The location is Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP, 12 East 49th Street, 30th floor, New York, New York.

The time is noon to 2 P.M.

Register here.

"The Good Wife" - The Crisis Was Supposed To Be Over

When Peter was granted a new trial and allowed to return home with an electronic monitoring device, that was supposed to end the crisis.  After all, he was out of prison. There was hope he could be acquitted.  And he and Alicia could resolve whether or not the marriage had a second act in it. 

No way.  It set in motion more chaos.  Peter suspects Alicia's boss Will is hitting on her.  The coming attractions show Will and Alicia kissing.  Meanwhile, Peter is more or less just extra baggage.  He isn't bringing in money.  And he's in the way of Alicia's career.  He asks her not to go into the office for an emergency.  Yeah, right, that's exactly how to hold onto your job while your industry is downsizing.

At the same time chaos surrounds their lives.  The son Zack is involved with a manipulative older girl.  She had been tweeting slanderous and actually true statements about Peter and Alicia.  At the office, things are in disarray.  The law firm has about a year to go if it doesn't take radical action.  It can lay off 10 in acquisitions or bring in a third partner who has a solid client list.  To keep going Will agrees to take the business of a drug dealer.  Then when the drug dealer returns to his first lawyer Will tries unsuccessfully to keep the business.

This emotional roller coaster was a mirror held up close to how many of our lives are going these days.  Just when we think the worst should be over new kinds of not-normal take us over.  Welcome to 2010.

This VOGUE Is No Turkey

The new edition of VOGUE launched in Turkey has 252 ad pages out of 562 total magazine pages.   What ad depression in print?

Andrew & Cheri: Caricatures of American Losers

Now this.  Andrew and Cheri Young - yes that couple who were so involved with John Edwards - are being ordered to 75 days in jail by a judge.  That's because they allegedly withheld copies of the John Edwards's sex tape and other items from the court.

This couple, who have three small children, seem to be able to screw up a one-car funeral.  Their book, which was their meal ticket, was holding on in sales.  It's now in the 160s on Amazon.com.  What will happen to sales during those 75 days?

JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR vs. THE POLITICIAN

Published just yesterday, Lloyd Constantine's JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR has made a strong start. 

Just about every top-tier publication, ranging from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL to THE NEW YORK TIMES, has weighed in on it.  And its all-important numbers on Amazon.com are very good.  It's number-one in the Local Government and State Government categories and number-two in books about the Mid-Atlantic region.  Its overall ranking is astounding for a new entry: 1,852.  That's bound to migrate quickly to the magic 100 circle on Amazon.com. 

As Eliot Spitzer attempts a comeback, the timing of the publication couldn't be better.  The author's in India currently.  When he returns and is more available to the media and book-buyers it could hit the top 10.  Among the exclusive interviews Constantine has promised is to the readers of this blog.

The book is very different from Andrew Young's THE POLITICIAN.  After a while in the magic Amazon.com's 100, Young's tell-all is now at 166.  It's number-three in books about conspiracy theories, four in those about elections, and five in books about politics.  Without aggressive and sustained promotion it could fade, its place taken by the more substantial GAME CHANGE.

Readers might have suspected the two books to be similar.  After all, the chief character in both ran for election carrying a dark sexual secret. Both authors are lawyers.

However, Young's seems to be written to pay his bills and give him a platform for some other career.  When he entered this book-writing venture he was broke and unemployable.  Therefore, there's good reason to pull out all stops on presenting telling and titillating details.  Therefore, the book, at least in my analysis, lacks depth. We don't know much new about John Edwards that we haven't already found out.  We do find out lots new about Young but, who cares.

Constantine was and is relatively wealthy.  Currently he's counsel to Constantine Cannon LLP, a commercial litigation firm. 

His motivation seems to argue his theory that the Spitzer term as governor was disappointing because the man was being torn apart by his secret life.  I buy some of that but not all of it.  Spitzer seemed to lack the organizational skills to be the Chief Executive Officer of a major state.  For the cerebral among us, however, Constantine's argument is a delight to follow.  In addition, JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR presents information about that time in office and Spitzer that we didn't know. 

For those two reasons, the book will probably have long-term staying power or wag a long tail.  I predict it will be used as a textbook in public affairs, political science, and organizational theory courses.  Moreover, it provides a message of hope for all the middle-aged whose careers have unraveled.  Constantine got back on the horse.  Spitzer probably can.  And so can anyone who decides to continue with this wild ride called life. 

Incidentally, tomorrow I am interviewing Will Meyerhofer, JD, LMSW, about why some of us are grown up enough to weather crisis and others check out.  Meyerhofer is a lawyer turned psychotherapist who tends to the wounded of Manhattan.

JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR: Fundamentals of Political PR

It's just out - JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR: An Insider's Chronicle of Eliot Spitzer's Short and Tragic Reign. 

The insider author is Lloyd Constantine, former senior adviser to Eliot Spitzer when he was New York governor.  This book is useful for those of us who have become fascinated with political public relations, including the palace intrigue which President Barack Obama alludes to.  The narrative, of course, is a chronicle of the lackluster job Spitzer did as governor and his eventual fall from grace.  But, that might not be why it will be read closely and discussed, especially by us communications pros.  Unlike Andrew Young's THE POLITICIAN, it isn't filled with titillating details.

Constantine, who had supervised Spitzer when he was an intern from Harvard Law at the NY Attorney General's office, deconstructs bad and good PR moves by brandname political players, including himself.  Yes, in a sense he's a version of the Fallible First Person Narrator.  The only difference is that he is already aware of his flaws. Because the tale is from an insider's point of view the discussions and insights can help communications firms with their political clients.

For a speechwriter like myself I was thrilled that Constantine spotted as a red flag that the newly installed governor Spitzer did not have a professional speechwriter.  The author's theory - and it's his theory - was that Spitzer's secret life, which has commenced before he became governor, was tearing him apart.  Instead of the totally focused Spitzer of High Integrity there was an often distracted one who made such serious errors of judgment.   That Spitzer 2.0 Constantine calls The Imposter.  It was not the man he had supervised years before and had as a close friend for a quarter of a century.

Sans professional speechwriter, Spitzer allowed the crafting of his State of the Union in 2007 to be done by a committee of his aides.  Of course, it was poorly constructed, as is all work of ambitious committee members who value their input more than the value of it.  What saved it from disaster was the Spitzer aura which still was palpable and his strong delivery.

Other mistakes weren't so understandable.  Why, for instance, did Spitzer publicly humiliate those who he didn't have to during his Inaugural Speech.  The victims ranged from the outgoing George Pataki to the weakened Joe Bruno.  Constantine repeats something he had said to his wife at the time:

"He's [Bruno] on his way out - all Eliot has to do is show him some respect, and he will behave."

No surprise, Spitzer made plenty of needless enemies that day and New York paid for it when its House and Senate wouldn't play ball with Spitzer. 

Another enlightening insider bit is that contacting a reporter while he or she is writing the story can change the slant.  Constantine was tipped off that a NEW YORK TIMES journalist Danny Hakim had misinterpreted Spitzer's support of Hillary Clinton versus his, that is Constantine's, early support of Obama.  When he explained the facts, Hakim "changed the story." So, yes, make that call. 

The most sensational disclosure is that Constantine recommended that Spitzer take the rehab cooling-off period.  He could do his 28 days for sex addiction.  When he returned he would make the ritualistic mea culpa, take the last of the heat from the media, and work very very hard.  For some reason, Spitzer didn't follow that shrewd advice.  It might have saved New York.  Part of the reason for the mess it's in, we now know, is the seemingly below-average leadership of David Paterson.  I am convinced that Spitzer could have hung in.  Did he cave because he was so full of shame about The Imposter he had become?

JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR could be used as a textbook in a Public Relations advanced seminar.  There would be heated debate about if Spitzer should have and could have continued on as governor.

One more thing: Constantine is not a communications expert.  He is a lawyer with a special area of expertise in antitrust.  Currently, he is counsel to Constantine Cannon LLP, with offices in New York and Washington D.C.  Right now he's on business in India.  When he returns, he promises readers of this blog an exclusive interview.

BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK: Can it make business a hot read again

The 1990s was the era of the hot business read.  RED HERRING and a lot of other magazines no longer in existence were quoted like sacred authorities.  Then politics became the hot read.  POLITICO.COM is a must-check over and over during the day and evening.

Now, there's a chance that BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK can restore business to something we yearn to read more about.  In MEDIAWEEK, Lucia Moses reports that the publication is doing an extreme makeover which will be completed by the end of April.  Stories will be shorter.  There will be more editorial.  And the frequency, unlike that of FORTUNE which cut back. will be increased.

The question is if media is a zero-sum game.  If BBW succeeds, will POLITICO.COM lose some of its pull power?

Writers & 2 Years of Magical Thinking

Magical thinking was made famous when Joan Didion observed in her book by that title how it helped her through her grief after her husband's death.  It's such a common emotional defense because it works.  Until we're ready to accept what it is, this voodoo process holds reality at a distance. 

However, if we get stuck in it, as many writers seems to have been doing, it's dangerous.  Instead of taking pragmatic steps to solve a problem, we become entangled in thinking and action which can be downright counterproductive. 

During the past 2 years there has been a surge of magical thinking as the traditional writing industry shrinks.  Newspapers, magazines, publishing houses have been laying off.  It could get worse.  For example, it appears that Amazon.com might make an end run around the publishing business as we know it. 

Pragmatic steps to ensure the ability to make a decent living amidst these changes could include developing a niche area in medical communications, financial, or technical.  Another tactic could be to exit the field and leverage past skills for a new career path.  A third could be to grab a survival job and use that as a platform to analyze what kind of demand is out there in the marketplace.  Also, the cliche is true: Nothing gets us a job like a job.

However, too often writers who contact me for career coaching are hell-bent on respositioning themselves magically through a strong-selling book, networking with the powers-that-be in the communications business, and somehow getting noticed through a gimmick.  Those are possible, but not probable.

The kinder gentler way of dealing with the reality of a profession going through a paradigm shift might be simple acceptance.  The pain of not dealing with this often becomes much greater than the pain of change.

End of Book Publishing as We've Known It

Perhaps it was Apple's move into ebooks and the iPad.  Amazon.com has become more aggressive.  In PORTFOLIO Eric Engleman reports that Amazon.com has been courting literary agents and authors in the U.S. and the U.K. to sell electronic book rights directly to it. That would give Amazon.com more control over pricing.

NATIONAL ENQUIRER: Those in the know always respected it

The Establishment now has to own up to the tough-minded, aggressive, and resourceful investigative reporting the NATIONAL ENQUIRER has been doing for a long time.  But those in the know - that is, embedded in the gossip industry - always respected this publication.  My mentor, both for covering gossip and for a career comeback in middle age, Dominick Dunne used to put the NE on his shopping list every Thursday.  After I found that out, so did I. 

The information had to be presented within the law because the celebrities would be the first to sue had they not been.  We were aware, though, that quotes could come from people if leading questions were presented.  That's how some of those juicy statements and speculations happened.

NE is up for a Pulitzer.  The powers-that-be at the publication are also considering setting up an office right Inside the Beltway.  They will be competition for Politico.  And it will probably drive more pols to hang it up and leave Washington D.C.