Here is this week’s topic and reader question:

How Can I Get Recognized for My Hard Work?

Dear Lindsey,

I’m a junior assistant at a PR firm, which basically means I’m pretty far down on the totem pole. However, I get the impression my manager sees promise because she invites me to all of the big meetings and keeps me in the loop on projects.

My work speaks for itself – the reports are chock full of my suggestions, recommendations, and feedback. Yet, I have never gotten an ounce of credit or even a bit of praise. She says I’m only there for “support” and only to “gain exposure” to high-profile campaigns. I’m all for paying my dues but a simple pat on the back would be a great morale booster. Instead, this constant take take take without mention is pushing me into a really negative place.

Should I be grateful for the opportunity to take part in these meetings? Am I asking too much to want a little bit of recognition?

Thanks,
Underappreciated PR Assistant

Click here to visit Excelle.com and read my answer to this question…

There aren’t any reality shows about finding America’s next top writer.  And I’m not saying there should be.  I know that my writing process—sitting in front of a computer silently willing myself to focus instead of Google ex-boyfriends from college—wouldn’t make scintillating television programming.  But still, without a Simon or Tyra barking directives from the television, an aspiring author might feel left in a lurch when it comes to launching a career.  So, Lindsey asked me to write some tips on starting a writing career.  And while this is a tough request as there’s no one path to follow to writing success or specific way to guarantee getting published, there are a few writerly must-do’s when you’re getting started.

1. Write. Writing is a pretty huge part of being a writer.  That sentence might read stupid obvious, but it’s a fact that writing’s easy to talk about and hard to do.  Having a book idea or writing aspirations is one thing, but churning out the pages to back those ambitions up is a completely different thing.  So put your fingers to the keyboard, pen to the page, or quill to the parchment, and get writing.

2. Share. As hard as writing is, sharing your writing can be even harder.  But you can’t get published if your work never leaves your hard drive.  So, don’t be afraid of other people’s eyes on your words or editorial feedback.  In fact, you should seek it out.

3. Read. Read as much as you can, and not just from the genre you’re writing.  Read everything from literary memoir to paranormal romance to the instructional poster about hand washing in your dermatologist’s office.  Inspiration and influence comes from everywhere and seeing how others are practicing the craft can be very motivational.

4. Toot. Toot your own horn because, to paraphrase someone famous and philosophical, if you’re not tooting your own horn, who is?  Let people know that you’re not just a writer, but an awesome writer.  Tell the world how funny/poignant/lyrical/thrilling your work is.  How else are they going to know?

5. Live. Writing is important, but so is having something to write about.  A story about a guy who stares at his QWERTY keyboard for eight hours a day and limits his social interaction to the pizza delivery guy and his cat isn’t going attract that many readers.  So get out there and learn and do and see, so you have a base of experiences from which to write.

Hope this helps and inspires writers out there.  And I’ll leave you with this insider secret: never underestimate the power of switching fonts to WingDings when you’re up again writer’s block.  Inspiration at its finest!

Click here to check out Julie’s new novel, Slept Away.

Julie, a self-described “eager first time author,” reached out by email and offered to send a copy of her new novel, Hot Mess: Summer in the City. I said sure. The book arrived with a press release, plus something I’d never received with a book: a little pink envelope with “Lindsey” handwritten on it (points for spelling my name correctly). Inside the envelope was a lovely note on pretty stationery, thanking me for giving Hot Mess a read.

Julie, you had me at the thank you note. (And I’m going to swipe your awesome strategy and send thank you notes along with review copies of my book too!)

She also followed up with me a few weeks later and agreed to do an interview for my blog. Here is the interview, along with Julie’s generous request to help any young novelists seeking advice:

Interview with Julie Kraut, co-author of Hot Mess: Summer in the City:

Q: How did you get your book deal?

Julie: I have to admit that my book deal was a whole lot of luck. I had written the proposal for Hot Mess with Shallon [Lester, the book's co-author] and we knew it was good, but just didn’t know what the next step was. I was fortunate to be working in publishing and, over lunch with a good friend who’s an editor, I mentioned the proposal idea. She was interested and the rest is Hot Mess history.

Q: Describe the writing and editing process for us.

Julie: Writing a book is a weird combination of too long and too short. Seriously, you don’t even know how long 300 pages is and how fast four months go by until you’ve signed a contract saying that you’ll deliver a 300-page draft in four months. But of course it’s incredibly rewarding, and seeing your name on a book cover is beyond exciting. Plus, no one really notices when you do 2.2 spacing and that makes 300 pages go a little faster.

Editing can take some getting used to. Like, I got the note on a recent round of edits that jokes about hand jobs weren’t appropriate. And I was kind of like, um, without any HJ jokes, this book is going to be about three pages. And that’s including the dedication. But, you get used to it and realize that a book is a team effort and everyone’s working toward the same goal of making the most successful book they can. In the end, it’s all about being proud of what your name is on. And I probably shouldn’t be proud of hand job jokes anyway.

Q: What’s your best advice to aspiring novelists?

Julie: This sounds totally lame and like I’m too into The Secret (which maybe I am), but my big advice is to see every aspect of your writing career as steps on your path to getting published, especially rejection. Everyone gets no’s along the way. Just accept the negative responses, learn from them what you can, and then consider yourself one step closer to a yes.

Q: Give us the pitch for your book!

Julie: Hot Mess: Summer in the City is the hilarious and dishy tale of Emma Freeman, who waves buh-bye to her standard summer of stationwagoning around the suburbs and hello to a fabulous internship in the big city. But as the summer heats up, Emma learns that glamour is hard to come by when your only friend is too boy-crazy to hang, your budget is more H&M than D&G, and you spend 8 hours a day working for a man who proves that the devil wears Dockers too. Add one little white lie told to one very hot coworker and a roommate who makes Paris Hilton look junior varsity, and this summer in the city turns into one hot mess.

Q: Any final thoughts?

Julie: I’m super happy to chat with folks in more detail about getting into writing. Please pass on any interested blog readers who want get in touch. (Note from Lindsey: If you’d like to reach out to Julie, leave a comment and I’ll pass along your info.)

This seminar, led by Catherine Orenstein, is designed to help you identify the ideas and causes that you care about, and will show you how to write about them to make a difference. You’ll learn how to generate winning ideas, craft a powerful argument, use news hooks, address or preempt your potential critics, pitch an idea, and how to frame an issue to make your point, persuade your readers and establish yourself as part of a larger public conversation.

I have taken this class and it’s really excellent.

UPCOMING SEMINAR in NYC: Saturday, February 23 (all day session)

Cost: $300 early registration ($325, if less than 10 days prior to class start date).

See more information and testimonials or sign up now through the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership,

SPECIAL OFFER: Provide the code “LPOLLAK” when registering and you will receive 10% off.

• DNUCAPE, or, Do Not Use Cute Acronyms in Professional Emails. You never know whether people are familiar with the same abbreviations that you are.
• Do use proper capitalization and punctuation. my biggest pet peeve when it comes to emails i receive from college students is that everything is in lower case and there is very little punctuation if any at all trust me its not cute its really unprofessional so please dont do it thnx. AND NOTE THAT ALL CAPS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU ARE YELLING.
• Do cool it on the exclamation points! This is another big pet peeve among the older professionals I meet!! Young people email them and use way too many exclamation points!!! One or two in an email is more than enough; otherwise you look really, really young and kind of annoying!!!!
• Do not leave the subject line blank. In today’s overloaded inboxes, most people are likely to overlook or delete any message that looks like spam, so it’s smart to include a helpful subject line. In professional situations, I’m a big fan of action-oriented subject lines, such as “Networking Request from a Young Alum,” “Quick Question,” or “Internship Application Attached.” If a professional receives an email from someone she doesn’t know and there is no subject line, she’s likely to delete it.
• Do not become the boy or girl who cried, “Urgent.” Use the red “high importance” exclamation point sparingly. Sending in your résumé or asking for an informational interview is not urgent to the person receiving such an email.
• Do a quick once-over of important messages, even after you’ve spell-checked. Review the spelling of the recipient’s name, the accuracy of any important numbers you’ve mentioned, and the overall tone of the message. (Your dry sarcasm may come across as rudeness to a busy person reading your message.)

Need help with grammar and style issues? Check out one of my favorite sites: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

A: Congratulations on deciding to pursue your passion! As those of you know who have read my book, Getting from College to Career, I am 100% in favor of doing what you love for a living. However, you do have some very real concerns. The good news is that you have lots of options and many successful writers whose careers can inspire you.

My overall answer to both of your questions is, YES, you can make a very good living as a writer. I’m proud to say that I am doing this myself, through a combination of book writing, freelance article writing, ghostwriting for other authors, and creative copywriting for corporations and nonprofit organizations. It took me a few years to get to this point, but it’s been well worth the hard work to get here.

One of my favorite books on how to make money as a writer is Six-Figure Freelancing by Kelly James-Enger. I highly recommend it. Also, one of my tips to writers is to find a niche (mine, of course, is career writing). You could have a nice advantage with your training in finance. Business writing can be a lucrative choice if it’s something that interests you. If fiction writing is your passion, that’s a little harder, but absolutely possible. Check out Mediabistro.com and Gotham Writers’ Workshop for great classes (in person and online) on how to write well and how to build a successful career doing it. I’ve personally benefited from classes at both of these organizations.

In terms of needing money right now, you may need a strategy to earn a regular paycheck for a while as you build your writing career. I began my writing while working part-time at a women’s business association three days a week. This allowed me to save money in the bank, have health insurance and do a lot of writing for free to build my experience, skills and reputation. This might be a good option for you.

If necessary, you can even work full-time and build your writing on the side. At the same time, you can join professional associations related to writing, subscribe to magazines or e-newsletters related to the industry (such as Publishers Weekly, PublishersLunch.com and Mediabistro.com’s Daily News Feed) or, as I just mentioned, take classes to build your skills. All of this will keep you on track to be a full-time writer in the near future.

Finally, an important tip I always share with aspiring writers is to start hanging out with other people who are writing—or doing anything creative—for a living. If all of your friends are working in corporate cubicles, you’re more likely to feel frustrated than if you’re spending time with other people pursuing a passion for writing. I’m happy to be one of your online writing buddies.

Best of luck!

Want an opportunity to make $200 and be published in a national best selling brand?

Christine is co-authoring Chicken Soup for the Twenty-Something Soul and this is an URGENT call out for stories. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A TWENTY-SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE!

All you have to do is write a story about twenty-something life (yours or someone else’s) and submit it ASAP to http://www.chickensoup.com/. Here’s how:

1. Go to http://www.chickensoup.com/ and read the “Story Guidelines,” which outlines the recipe for a winning Chicken Soup Story.

2. Write your story – approximate word limit is 300-1200 words (but Christine will edit it for you so don’t worry about being exact or fabulously well-written!)

3. Go to http://www.chickensoup.com/, click on “Submit a Story” and be sure to select “Twenty-Something” as the book title. Fill out the info and just paste your story in the appropriate box.

Good luck!