We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janet F. Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Janet, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the process is as much a part of success as the outcome. I like to start a project with expectations and goals, and the point to which I reach those helps determine to what degree I was successful or not. For serious work, I like to use the SMART model. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant or Realistic, and Time bound. This is an organized approach and the more detail-oriented the answers are, the easier it is to break up a project into manageable sections and results that can be tracked. For less serious projects, I can forgo formal planning. A vague beginning can lead to more spontaneous actions. I tend to be less emotionally vested if it doesn’t work out. I find that applying persistence, mental agility, communication, an understanding of others, and integrity, can outweigh talent.

I ask myself: Did I enjoy the creative process? Did I power through the parts I didn’t care for as much? Did I move my project along and course correct along the way? Was I able to reach a point where I could publish, meet a client deadline, provide help to a writer, or meet another goal? In addition, I often include non-tangible rewards that point to success, such as: did I make a difference in my world or someone else’s world?

One of the hardest challenges for many people is letting go of unproductive expectations based on one’s perfectionist self-critic. When my inner voice gets in the way, I remind it I am doing the best I can at the moment and that another try at another time may lead to different results. I only need to consider my own measures for success and not compare myself to others. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I am happier when I keep this in mind. A positive attitude and how I feel is part of my success, as is gratitude.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I started my career in graphic arts for print, and book and magazine publishing. I tried other creative pursuits over the years: fine arts, cartooning, and writing, and spent ten years in high-end sales. I’ve worked for other companies, and I prefer being my own boss. I wrote my first book (unpublished) in the mid-90s and wrote several more that were published, as well as numerous short stories. I had an opportunity to start editing manuscripts and when I found I had a talent for it and liked it, I learned more and became better.

In 2010, after writing the self-help book, You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get, I set up my company, Good Day Media, to handle the publishing and to act as a platform for the work I produced. Networking groups, companies, book clubs, and writing conferences sought me out for speaking engagements. I discovered the enjoyment of teaching, and dropped my presentations on non-writing subjects.

These days, I focus on editing, one-on-one coaching, and developing my own stories. Mostly, I see manuscripts. I also work on white papers, articles, business correspondence, and website copy.

Critique is a big picture endeavor. After reviewing a manuscript, I make constructive comments about story structure, plot arcs, timelines, creative writing, overuse of certain words, grammar, whether the story fits within the intended genre, and other considerations related to story and character development. I am honest about the problem areas I see, and give compliments where warranted. I give suggestions and examples of how my writers can fix their work and usually include a small, sample edit.
Developmental editing includes the above, but is a lengthier process involving a deeper dive. I offer more specific instruction on how the author can make changes to their manuscript. It’s not unusual to work on problem areas together.

For detail work, I like to copy edit. I’m very thorough and when asked to only line edit, the last edit in the process, I often find I want to do more than fix basic grammar, punctuation and typos. I’m not satisfied to leave work undone. I want to change awkward sentences, remove repetition, strengthen character voices, and such. I’m very good at cutting. Every editor will find something another editor won’t and there are a lot of gray areas that call for reasoned corrections. I try my best to make sure nothing slips through that should have been fixed, like a typo. Proofreading is not for me.

When manuscripts are too rough, I’ll see if the writer wants coaching first. One-on-one coaching provides direct, personalized service. Using their manuscript is a great way for them to learn how to correct their problems before it goes to an editor. Any piece of writing, short or long, can be used. I guide my tutees in their specific needs: sentence structure, showing versus telling, word choice, grammar, punctuation, anything that might go into development and getting rid of beginner mistakes. It’s not unusual for me to coach someone for a stretch of time and then eventually do the edit on their manuscript.

I don’t take everything that comes my way. It’s important to be a good fit with the project and the writer. It’s not unusual for the writer to think their manuscript needs one thing when I think it needs another. I accept fiction and non-fiction, young adult and adult, and work in most genres. Most of my work is conducted through email.

In general, my clients like the level of communication I offer. Some editors take your work and you don’t hear squat for two months. I like to ask questions as I go along. My objective is to bring out the best voice of my author; not for them to sound like me. I am clear about the scope of work in what I will and will not do for them, payment plan, deadline, and so forth.

My first time writers are usually unfamiliar with what it takes to publish and how to go about getting other needed services, like cover design. Since I once designed book and magazine covers, I know a lot about that topic: what works, what doesn’t and why. I’m happy to share my knowledge and provide other resources on traditional versus self-publishing, and marketing. In short, if there’s a way to help my client, I’ll give it a go.

I don’t always have a lot of time to spend on my own work. I have several projects going all the time, books and short stories. I like to write the stories I want to read. I wrote a complete draft for a memoir and a novel, and have partially written manuscripts I’d like to get to, yes, someday.

Marketing my books takes time and effort. It’s not my favorite task and I’ll occasionally pay a professional. In addition to You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get, I published two romances under a pen name, Zoe Amos: Superior (2013, Good Day Media) and Talk to Me (2021, Sapphire Books Publishing). For Talk to Me, I hired a PR person who came up with a hook I hadn’t considered. I used it in a various marketing efforts and it worked well.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I thought I had written a winner when I self-published my first book, You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get, but as a newbie, I made beginner mistakes in marketing, mostly for not planning far ahead of the release. I sent the book to Kirkus, a top book reviewer, and received an excellent review. A few months later, they named the book Best Specialized Instruction Book, one of their top ten picks of the year. I screamed in excitement when I got the news. I decided to go to BookExpo America (BEA), a huge, four-day event for the book trade, to see what sort of interest I could generate. Before going, I decided I either wanted a distributor or a publisher to take over the sales. In either case, I knew I would be doing most of the marketing and figured most of the sales would come from speaking engagements.

At BEA, I had a nibble with a respected publisher who agreed to see the book, but it would take six months before I heard back with no guarantee they would take it on. It’s unusual to secure a distribution agreement as a first-timer, but I did. And, not only was it with the group I liked best, they wanted it immediately for their catalog. I decided to go with them and signed a one-year contract. They kept me on for a second year.

We can never know the road not taken. I was satisfied with my choice, though some days I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had I taken the other road. I decided to go with the bird in the hand rather than take a risk and end up with nothing after six months. You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get went on to garner three awards. As an “evergreen” book, it never goes out of date and still sells.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

When I’m creative, I enter a state of flow known as “being in the zone.” Time flies, I’m happy, I’m challenged, and most of all, I’m enjoying myself. I am the rare individual with an equal ability for analytical and creative pursuits. There is crossover between the two. When I have to be analytical, I find my creative spirit comes into play to help solve problems and add arty flair. And when I’m creative, I find analytical ways to be more efficient and organized. One of the things I enjoy about editing is how the combination of these two work synergistically to produce a better product. Some of editing is pre-determined by spelling, grammar, and punctuation, whereas some of it is finding the best word choices, sentence structure and coming up with evocative phrases. As a writing coach, it feels good to know I can show others how to find these solutions. By offering a variety of suggestions, I give other writers a nudge in a direction they might not have considered.

I feel lucky to have found work that appeals to me on so many levels. To me, editing is like solving a fun puzzle that makes other people cringe. That’s why I’m here, happy to do the work. Helping others solve their writing issues makes me a better writer and I see it when I work on my own books. I often think of advice I’d give my clients and apply it to my writing. Win win!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gooddaymedia.com and https://www.janetfwilliams.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoeamosauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/You-Dont-Ask-You-Dont-Get-108109095885139/?v=wall
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetfwilliams
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanetFWilliams and https://twitter.com/WhoisZoeAMOS