Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Ghostwriters: We are losing our favorite Third Place Barnes & Noble

Call it the Ghostwriters' Goldilocks Syndrome.  Starbucks is too commercial.  Panera has too much food accessible.  The public library doesn't allow food and drinks.  So, our favorite Third Place, we found after much trial and error, has been Barnes & Noble.

As we wait for a prospect or a client to interview, we can take advantage of the magazines to read for free in the cafe.  If we get there early we can even grab a book and read enough so that we don't have to buy it.  Should we be there to get out of our home offices, the genteel ambiance feeds our concentration.  Those who might be homeless pay careful attention to hygiene.  And everyone shares the outlet for recharging laptops which operate on the free WiFi.

Now, we find out that the brass at B&N are planning to shut down about 20 retail outlets annually.  One of them could be the one we have made our home away from home and office outside the office.  Where will we go?  I feel like the 85-year-old Bronx yenta whose landlord is tossing her out to convert to condos.  I know I can't adjust since I am not even willing to try.

Should we ask for volunteers from a think tank to come up with a plan to save B&N retail? That plan might involve subsidizing our purchases from B&N with funds collected via mobile.  Chris Hughes, now at THE NEW REPUBLIC, could get in the loop.  As payback our campaign could underwrite complimentary copies of THE NEW REPUBLIC distributed at B&N. 

Ghostwriters: We have solidified our positions as Idea Factories

When I was a young ghostwriter at GM, a senior executive in public affairs who had also been a ghostwriter at one time contended that he "had made" the reputation of a former chief executive officer.  I assumed that he was being grandiose.  Soon enough I recognized that the role of ghostwriter is much more than a wordsmith who takes detailed orders.

In essence, we are Idea Factories who produce a continuous line of diverse topics executives can discuss in print, digital, audio, video, and on their feet.  That positioning has become solidified in a digital era when everything is changing so fast. Executives who are earning their keep doing what they have to do don't have the time to keep up, never mind sort out seminal developments they should be addressing from blips no one will pay attention to five hours from now.

When we are called to meet with a prospect we have to have already assessed what subjects are worth their investing in.  We don't suggest.  We argue why certain choices are the best bets.

In his landmark book "The Power Game," Hedrick Smith hammered that confidence is a key source of power.  That has been confirmed over and over again among our clients.  Now we have to ensure that our clients see that quality in the ghostwriters they employ.  We have to present our ideas with all salesmanship of a Steve Jobs.

"Downton Abbey" - Sybil dies in childbirth, Cora/Mary blame the Earl

The old order of the Earl and his advisers know best is coming apart on "Downton Abbey."  Because the Earl paid deference to the medical opinion of his buddy doctor, Sybil died of toxemia after giving birth to a daughter.  Another doctor had warned that Sybil was filling with toxins and should be moved to a hospital.  The Earl sided with the old order. 

With Sybil's death, Cora and Mary are blaming the Earl.  He seems to also blame himself.  But that is just one piece of his authority fading.  Matthew, whose inheritance is invested in Downton Abbey, has major plans for imposing modern financial controls on the enterprise.  He knows that the Earl will balk because the old order sees "businesslike" as "mean." But he plans to go ahead.

Cora won't sleep with the Earl and Mary is going to write a letter of apology to the doctor who was right.  Mary is not aligned with Matthew's "turnaround" plans and there could be increasing tension in the marriage.

Another source of friction is Tom's plans to have the daughter he and Sybil conceived baptized as a Roman Catholic.  That is shown in the coming attractions.  The family is in an uproar.  Will they fight Tom for custody of the child?

The old order also took a hit when Edith is invited to be a guest columnist for the newspaper.  Her father is against it.  However, everyone knows now that she is a spinster she has to do something.  This could be that something.

This episode was a very sad one for those of us who have become part of the Crawley family.  We have lost innocent Sybil who had followed her heart and the men in the life could not protect her from lousy medical advice. 

Ghostwriters: The digitally well connected might not be all that successful

Commercial success does not necessarily come from tons of digital connections and even heading online communities.  We ghostwriters usually learn this the hard way when investing in a prospect.

Let's call him Peter.  He was all over the web and had a thriving community in his professional field.  He even had guest columns now and then in brandname media.  You bet, I invested in the relationship. 

One of the things I did was edit pro bono an opinion-editorial he was publishing in a mainstream media property.  I agreed to meet him in one of the Third Places.  It was during that 90-minute conversation that my gut told me that in front of me the person I just bought coffee and a bun for was no deep pocket.  The names of companies were dropped but not enough specifics given to indicate that he was a paid consultant.

I had done (shame on me) a few assignments for him before we talked money.  After the get-together I waited until I got over being upset.  About twenty-six hours later I brought up being paid for the work I had done.  There was a lot of static about being "in transition" which we know is code for not being very successful.  I got as much money as I could.  Nicely I indicated that in the future he should take advantage of all the other writers he had who were eager to work for him.  I left the door open.  The fault was mine that I has assumed the connectivity is correlated with professional homeruns. 

Lesson: Talk money before any work is done, including pro bono.

Davos: Fading Influence

The sweet spot in influence doesn't seem to be Davos, at least not any more.

Sure, the media such as BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK, are still covering the annual get-together of the wealthy and those with titles.  But the coverage is significantly less.  Davos Man has become an anachronism.

Influence is an unstable entity.  Where it is now?  It is in the kinds of digital ventures discussed on TECH CRUNCH, the battles in the courts of public opinion and law fought by those representing Lance Armstrong, and liberal leadership in Washington D.C.

Would you rather have a ticket to Davos or be a part of the Obama Administration, as a speechwriter?

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg: Success makes women less likable

It's 2013, not the "Father Knows Best" 1950s. 

Yet, women might still have to choose between success and being liked. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the movers and shakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos that as women become more successful they are less liked, reports THE GUARDIAN.

Likability, hammered journalist Hedrick Smith in his book "The Power Game," is one source of power.  It's not the only source but an important one in how the world works since players get what they want through other people.  Being respected might not be enough.

This reality that the successful woman might not be liked imposes another challenge on us in ghostwriting.  What tone should be used in the books, articles, and opinion-editorials we plan and create for her?  For example, humor for women involves risk but it may make her more human.  Yesterday I met with a female human resources thought leader and discussed leveraging humor in her columns in brandname media.  My recommendation was against it.  "Hillary Clinton," I told her, "isn't a barrel of laughs."

Millennials (including MFAs) Pursuing Careers as Ghostwriters

Millennials, including those who have invested in pricey MFA degrees, have looked at the future of writing as a career and decided ghostwriting is shrewd to pursue.  As they answer ads for ghostwriters on Craigslist, Mediabistro, and Careerbuilder, they gush about how much they wish to tell that executive's or leader's story in their exact voice.  No chasing fortune and fame as a novelist or journalist so much any more.

I was clued into this trend by requests for 20 minutes of time to discuss how Millennials could break into ghostwriting.  Those requests have become more frequent as the downsizing of journalism has become more of a tedious continuing story.  If enough folks at the prestigious THE NEW YORK TIMES don't take the buyouts, there will be layoffs. 

In addition, one of those thought leaders searching for a ghostwriter had put an ad on one of those looking-for-talent forums.  So far, she has received 300 replies mostly from Millennials with writing degrees such as the MFA.  The bad news for them is that she chose me because it's obvious that I am seasoned, dealing with many voices, formats, and messaging. 

When we met today to discuss assignments she asked me why so many young people are chasing ghostwriting.  My answer was blunt: It pays well. 

Also, it is a career path in which you can build enough of a brandname to fly solo.  The way to do that is to have clients with the connections or with our help to be published in brandname media.  This past eight months have been good to my portfolio.  My recent (and that's what they are interested in) publication credits include: FORBES, THE WASHINGTON POST, Fox Business, PR NEWS, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Yahoo, DEFENSE SECURITY SYSTEMS, and brandname blogs. 

With more writers getting smart about hedging their way of making a living, having ghostwriting as one service to offer represents ultimate pragmatism.  Can a writer survive and thrive solely as a ghostwriter?  Yes, if they luck out with the publication credits.  Leaders and executives want their byline in the big time.

"Downton Abbey" - Will Matthew force layoffs?

In Shakespeare, marriages are the beginning of tragedy.  And the marriage of Mary and Matthew on "Downton Abbey" might be just that.  The shift from great harmony to escalating tension has happened quickly.

At first Matthew, who had invested his inheritance in the family affairs, wanted nothing to do with the business aspects.  Then he reviewed the books and was stunned by the waste and mismanagement.  He has gone on a mission, which Mary rightly fears, to impose modern financial controls on how the family business operates, including the fees charged for rentals.

Soon enough Matthew might come to view so many employed as servants as also waste.  There could be layoffs at Downton Abbey.  Bates could well be released from prison and find no job to return to.  Also, paternalism toward the workforce could end.  When Mrs. Hughes feared she had cancer, Cora, the Earl's wife, told her not to worry about anything.  In sickness and health and in dying, she had a home at the Abbey.

In short, the way of modern accounting could wipe away the values of the elite in England.  They could become as much of crass penny-pinchers as their American counterparts across the ocean.

Ghostwriters: Who regrets majoring in humanities?

Regret is a fantasy about what could have been.  There is, of course, no guarantee that had we ghostwriters majored in business or engineering that we would have become rich and famous.  But, of course, those fantasies pop up when we read statistics about starting salaries for new college graduates who majored in computer science, various niches in engineering, and finance.

FORBES reports that the National Association of Colleges and Employers lists those majors which are getting newbies annual compensation in the 50s and 60s.  None of them are in the humanities.  Moreover, one wonders how those who had majored in English, History, Religion, and Philosophy are faring even in nailing down a job.

Like many ghostwriters, I have tried other lines of work.  Nothing worked for long.  I didn't like managing.  One the novelty wore off I didn't like identifying and apprehending miscreants in retail.  When I was a probation officer in Detroit, I don't think I influenced anyone to adopt a middle class way of life.  I had worked hard to get admitted to what was at the time the best law school in America, got there, took a look around, and accepted a lucrative offer to return to ghostwriting/speechwriting.

Although ghostwriting pays well enough - I once had a This Old House + a beach cottage - none of us will make the really big bucks.  And, unlike speechwriters who are achieving fame, we sign ironclad NonDisclosure agreements (NDAs) to be invisible.  

But we love to take on the voice of others.  We are actors with more steady work.  Work has never been that slow that I had to wait tables.  Actually the only economic adversity I have encountered occurred because I was between jobs since I had tried out another field.

Give 'Em Hell Hillary: Intuitive grasp of right persona

Hillary Clinton has the intuitive genius to put out there the right persona at the right time.  Her Give 'Em Hell Hillary won the day on the Hill and provides an awesome ending to her current career journey. 

Now all the world is waiting for the curtain to go up on The Next and who Hillary will be.  Will the persona be world leader who can function brilliantly as the U.S. President or will it be Elder Statesperson who heads up a think tank on public policy?

We may have clues sooner than we expect.  Hillary tends to lay low briefly, then move into her new stage presence.