Lots of people dream of being writers and having their words read by thousands of people.
Some writers even dream of getting paid for the blood, sweat and tears they expend over their writing.
If this is you, then you should consider the words of 5 successful writers living in Israel, who presented on a panel on “Career in Writing” at the Jewish Women Writers Seminar in Jerusalem yesterday. Five diverse writing fields were represented in the panel, and each speaker gave their own view on what it takes to succeed in their field.
Much-published Yael Mermelstein, feature writer for Binah Magazine and editor of Mishpacha Junior magazine, spoke about career opportunities for freelance writers. Click the play button to hear Yael.
Veteran editor Suri Brand, who runs Brand Name Publishing, spoke about the demand for good editors. Click the play button to hear Suri.
Seasoned grant-writer Beth Shapiro, who currently works in-house for JobKatif, spoke about the opportunities in the field of grant-writing. Click the play button to hear Beth.
Industry veteran Paula Stern, CEO of WritePoint, reviewed the options for writers who are considering a career in technical writing. Click the play button to hear Paula.
And also, there was a tall Australian lady who spoke about the growing field of web content writing. Oh yeah, that was me, Naomi Elbinger! (pronounced: El-Bing-Er; “bing,” as in the search engine, and not “binge,” as in when your neighbor brings round a bag of chocolate rugelach.) Click the play button to hear Naomi.
I was a bit nervous about speaking about working on the web to a religious audience. I even mentioned the importance of Facebook marketing for content writers. But thank G-d it went down OK.
The common theme among all the presentations was that it is possible to have a great career for someone who is willing to work hard to improve their skills and market themselves. There was a lot of great tips on offer, so it’s worth a listen if you are a working writer, or want to be one.
Thanks to the wonderful conference organizers, Esther Heller (who is the voice introducing the panelists) and Tamar Ansch, for giving me permission to post this recording. The conference was a fantastic event with a huge, enthusiastic crowd in attendance.
But my personal favorite part was at the very end, when my I picked up my 4-month-old baby, who was babysat outside during the presentation. I experienced a massive and instantaneous shift from the professional, dramatic, know-it-all persona you will hear speaking above, to being a simple mommy to a divinely tiny and vulnerable little creature who was so happy to see me. That was a big reality check for me.
Wow, that is a lot more self-disclosure than I normally do on this blog. It must be the effect of all those inspirational writing discussions at the conference!
Speaking of conferences: the 2nd Annual Kishor Conference for religious women entrepreneurs is coming up on June 13, at the Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem. The topic is “From Dream to Success: Tools to Build Your Business.” You can get more info about the conference here.
If you’re going to be there, please come over and say hi!
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Yocheved says
Hi Naomi,
We met at the seminar on Monday and talked about being in touch. I’m not sure how to do so.
Waiting to hear from you. Thanks.
Naomi says
Hi Yocheved – I just emailed you!