The Quality of the AMWA Annual Conference Depends on You!

This year, AMWA brought the development of the annual conference to you, and you have just a few days remaining to make it yours. For the first time, this year AMWA solicited its members—and beyond—for all types of conference sessions. This means that the quality of the programming at the 2013 Annual Conference depends on you and the proposals you submit!

Whether it’s an open session, a how-to session, a roundtable discussion, a poster, or a new type of session, it’s offered only if you propose it. Whether it’s a session you’ve presented at AMWA before or it’s a new idea, you must propose it. Detecting a theme to this message?

The theme of the 2013 conference is Expanding Your Horizons, to reflect the professional growth you’ll gain from attending the conference. Presenting at the conference will enhance your professional growth, and there’s a program format for everyone.

✭ Are you a seasoned medical communicator with a wide network? Then contact some colleagues and propose a panel discussion on a topic within your specialty area.

✭ Do you have an efficient way of accomplishing a task or process? Why not share your practical advice in a how-to session?

✭ Are you just starting out as a presenter? Leading a roundtable discussion is a great first step.

✭ Do you and a colleague find yourself on different sides of an issue? Get together to present a pro/con debate.

✭ Are you skilled in computer software or applications? Share your skills in a hands-on demonstration.

✭ Have you done research in medical communication? Present it in a poster. (This option is good if you really don’t want to speak in front of a group of people.)

As you know, AMWA represents medical writers and editors in a wide range of work settings. To meet all those needs, we’re looking for a variety of topics. We’re particularly interested in a few topics, such as
• Technology (social media, e-learning, mobile apps)
• Communication theory (comprehension, usability)
• Writing for lay audiences
• Health care reform
• Work relationships (collaboration, team building)
• Business aspects of freelancing

So You Want to Write A Book (Open Session 1)

By Amy Karon

At AMWA's recent national conference, attendees chuckled and scribbled notes while authors and former journalists Alisa Bowman and Debra Gordon dispelled myths and offered practical tips on breaking into the book business.

The two know the market. Bowman spent several years as an editor at Runner’s World magazine before her husband negotiated her first book contract during a magazine gala at FAO Schwartz.

“I loved my job at Runners World,” said Bowman, who has since ghostwritten* and co-authored seven New York Times bestsellers. “But it was apparent to me that I could make much more money working for myself.”

Gordon’s titles include When Sex Hurts and The Idiot’s Guide to Type 2 Diabetes, and, with her husband, a fellow enthusiast, Wine on Tuesdays. “We managed to do it with our marriage intact,” she grinned.

Read on for Bowman and Gordon’s advice on taking nonfiction health and medical books from inspiration to publication.

Tip: Books published under your own name often pay little. 

In traditional publishing, Gordon said, authors receive only about 15 percent of book sales, and that first goes to repay the publishing company’s advance. “The vast majority of authors never receive royalties,” she added. “Write a book because you want the experience and exposure.”

But self-publishing and e-books have gained popularity as potentially lucrative alternatives. Authors pay a self-publishing company for services they choose, such as copy editing and printing, Bowman said. Because no agent or publisher are involved, the author earns 100 percent of the sale price of every book and can still sell it on Amazon.com.

Another way to make money by writing books is to ghostwrite or co-author with someone else, an accepted practice in the publishing world.

“Most of the bestsellers out there are written by people like Alisa and me,” said Gordon, adding that she just signed a $70,000 contract for a book on mobile health.

To break in, tell clinicians and academics you can help them write books for consumer audiences. If you see a study you think can make a book, contact the authors and pitch the idea.

Workshops at the AMWA Annual Meeting vs. Home Study

by Mark Bowlby

As a newbie to AMWA, but as an experienced scientific meeting attendee, I’ve been curious as to how AMWA workshops at the annual meeting would compare to the home study courses. I’ve attended several of the essential skills workshops at this year’s annual meeting in Sacramento, and they’ve been a great experience—not just for the instructor’s knowledge that is on display, but also for the experience and skills that the audience brings.

Workshops combine the experience of home study, in the form of homework to be completed prior to the meeting, with a classroom setting which combines lecture, class discussion and group exercises. The workshop venue encompasses a mixture of new and experienced students, led by a passionate and expert workshop leader. The high quality of the leaders has not been a surprise; however, the knowledge and interest that the students all bring to the table has been a bonus. Indeed, the breadth of experience and diverse job functions that are brought together for this brief time is part of the key to this learning experience.

So how do the workshops compare to home study, of which I’ve taken 3 courses? They are similar in nature, but different in form. Home study allows a slower pace of learning, shorter bursts of learning, but also a very in-depth level of study. Workshops, however, are an intense 3 hour block with information coming at you quickly. Home study allows one to try out solutions on the side, look for resources that enhance learning, and they always have that motivator of the “scary” exam at the end. Workshops lack this latter motivator, but the engagement of the class and instructor keeps everyone involved and engaged. Last, of course, home study is an endeavor solely taken to master the course material and apply it to one’s work and passion. Workshops, however, are embedded in a larger AMWA meeting, and thus the networking, personal interactions, and other open sessions all combine to enhance the experience and build enthusiasm for being a better, more effective, writer.

Now which method of learning is better? That, of course, depends on how one learns best, your budget (dollars and time), and many other factors. Perhaps the best answer is to do both. Take a few home study courses first, then attend a local or national AMWA chapter meeting and try a few workshops. They’ll enhance your knowledge, broaden your thinking, and open you to new possibilities and ideas. What more can you ask for as a writer?

Links:
AMWA education program
AMWA workshop descriptions
AMWA self-study workshops
AMWA chapter conference schedule

Dial 911: Emergencies in Medical Writing (Open Session 21)

by Amy Karon

Nearly every seasoned medical writer can recall clients and contracts that evolved into the stuff of nightmares. Maybe endless requests for revisions are eating into your sleep time. Or perhaps you realize a high-profile faculty member is self-plagiarizing.

Stay in the profession long enough and scenarios like these are bound to make you hold your head at times. But there’s help. At the 2012 AMWA conference, Scott Kober, MBA, CCMEP,  and Anne Jacobson, MPH, CCMEP, reprised their popular open session on emergencies in medical writing.

Using digital keypads, attendees anonymously chose how they would handle a variety of problems. Lively discussion followed. Here we summarize those debates and dilemmas.

Scenario 1: Your work from long-term clients is drying up after more than 20 years of freelancing. Do you really need a web presence?

You do need a consistent and varied online presence, said Kober and Jacobson. But there are two ways to go about it—by dipping your toes, or going all out.

More cautious medical writers might start by creating their own simple website and LinkedIn profile. Others might hire a marketing and social media consultant to help develop a brand, website, detailed LinkedIn page, and professional Twitter account.

Whichever way you go, your website should include a resume and some sample writing or editing projects. If you’re under a nondisclosure agreement, keep that in mind. Some writers create pieces specifically for their online portfolios.

Scenario 2: Your last client burned you. How do you vet a new one to prevent this from happening again?

“My first-line approach is to e-mail people whom I trust,” Jacobson said. “Luckily, I know a lot of freelance medical writers whom I can vet clients through." She said she tends to avoid asking for feedback from members of AMWA's online discussion groups.

Kober and Jacobson also suggested crafting a checklist of the kinds of clients and projects you want. This will help you develop a broader perspective on whether prospective clients fit your business goals.

Scenario 3: You discover an author whose review article you’re editing is recycling chunks of text from a previous article. Whom do you tell, and how?

Make your client aware of this taboo practice and consider proposing a solution, said Jacobson and Kober. But don’t approach the faculty member yourself. Let the client handle it.

Be aware that copyright infractions can come back to haunt writers, they added. “Some faculty don’t even realize that self-plagiarism is a problem,” said Jacobson. “When this has happened to me, usually the remedy is just to rewrite (a piece) because it obviously can’t go out as it is.”

If a client tries to say self-plagiarizing is all right, rewrite the piece anyway and then don’t take any more work from the client, Kober said. Participants also suggested ensuring clients know that journals use software to detect plagiarism and copyright infringements and that such infractions can result in their being blacklisted.

As for red flags for plagiarism, watch out if a manuscript’s first draft is clean, with perfect punctuation, Kober said: “Plug it into Google and see what comes up.”

Scenario 4: You have a major deadline in three days and your father has been rushed to the emergency department. His physician thinks he’ll be okay, but has to run some more tests.

Do you go and bring your work? Tell your client you can’t make the deadline?

“Mild emergencies come up all the time and you find yourself schlepping your work all sorts of places,” said Jacobson. “The real question is whether to alert your client that there could be a problem. It depends on the client and the relationship.”

But from a client’s perspective, Kober said, “I would want to know as soon as possible. There is nothing worse than hearing on the day of the deadline, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, my dad has been in the hospital for a week and a half.’ I’m sympathetic, but I also wonder why you didn’t tell me before.”

Others recommended giving clients the names of three people they trust to get the work done.  Communication is critical, they agreed – let the hiring manager or the client know right away that you are working at a hospital. Most will appreciate the heads up and adjust their expectations accordingly.

Scenario 5: A client asks you to cover the cost of purchasing full-text references, which is not the norm. Do you renegotiate your contract?

Kober retrieves needed references for freelancers, but encourages them to get what they can on their own. “Ideally, from a client’s perspective, it would be great if we didn’t have to dig up references for you and find them.”

Said Jacobson, “When a client is nickel and diming you about project costs, they are unlikely to be willing to renegotiate a project fee.” She suggested searching on PubMed and restricting access to free, full-text articles. “Open access sources are now pretty good,” she added. “Every once in a while, I spring at the last minute for a $30 reference for a big project.”

Participants noted that AMWA membership includes access to MD Consult. Alumni organizations also sometimes offer limited journal access, and entering the full title of the article in quotes in online search engines also sometimes yields a PDF.

DeepDyve also offers lets you “rent” full-text articles for small amounts of money, members added, although you can’t print or save them to your computer.

Be careful about downloading PDFs and giving to clients, participants added; that can be seen as illegally selling them.

Scenario 6: A client is asking for many more revisions than expected. You are being paid for the extra time, but you’ve taken on other scheduled projects and this one is now keeping you up nights and weekends.

Think about how much you want to keep this client, Kober and Jacobson advised. If you don’t want to work with him or her again, consider politely extracting yourself by explaining that your contract does not include project management. You can also try to renegotiate for more money per hour.

Another approach: Say that you have taken on other projects because the plan did not include this much extra time.

Attendees also suggested building milestone payments into bigger projects so that at the end of 6 months, you’re not crossing your fingers hoping the client doesn’t refuse to pay (because you finally drew the line at further revisions) or goes bankrupt.

Scenario 7: You are writing multiple needs assessments for the same client on the same topic. Can you reuse your work?

“If you’re not willing to turn a blind eye to a faculty self-plagiarizing his own work, how are you willing to turn a blind eye to yourself?” Kober said.

Added Jacobson, “Once you have already done the mental work of understanding the same disease states, it is easier to crank it out. You do have an obligation to submit original material.”

But try for a bit of wiggle room when working with the same client on certain projects, Jacobson suggested. For example, agree to write updated needs assessments for the same client, rather than reinventing the wheel each time.

Scenario 8: After 5 years of full-time freelancing, you’ve decided to take a job. You just interviewed for what seemed like a terrific position, but half the interviewers did not show and no one explained why or followed up. Do you give the company the benefit of the doubt?

Jacobson said she is working on noticing red flags and steering clear of clients and companies who raise them.

“There are far too many employers who think they are doing an employee a favor by giving them the time to talk to them,” added Kober. “It’s a slap in the face. It’s rude and disrespectful.”

One option: Write a courteous letter to human resources explaining what happened and your disappointment. HR departments often appreciate hearing this, participants said. But don’t address your letter to the people who didn’t show up to the interview!

Scenario 9: You (in a client’s role) hire a freelance who checks out and has great references and clips, but turns in awful work. What do you say?

Attendees said they definitely want to hear feedback. Kober said he makes it a personal rule to give it. Jacobson recommends asking for an edited version of a document. If a client is constantly changing a certain word, for example, you can modify your writing style for that client accordingly.

When hiring and applying for work, require and send raw copy, suggested participant Debra Gordon. She added that she plans to send clients an anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire so they can provide honest feedback on her work without worrying about jeopardizing their business relationship.

The Passing of the Gavel

Outgoing AMWA President Barbara Snyder passes the gavel to incoming President Douglas Haneline at the organization's annual business meeting, then tries to grab it back!

(Video by Mark Bowlby)