Capitalizing on Talent

Word association: Writers Room founder R. Foster Winans (left) and new CEO Kimberly Stever want to offer members more business-related services, while maintaining an intimate, community-oriented atmosphere.

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Local writers gain community, mentoring and, now, business savvy from a new and improved Writers Room of Bucks County.

by Juliet Fletcher

"One common misconception about the publishing world is that agents are like mommies, there to help you develop your writing, take care of your needs. That couldn’t be further from the truth."

If the inflexibilities of the publishing experience make earnest writers blanch, one local house of letters isn't about to adjust its message. The Writers Room of Bucks County, described as an "anchor on the main street" of bucolic Doylestown, doesn't present itself as the place to learn to swallow hard truths. Its founder R. Foster Winans' other favorite observation is that the writing process is "dispiriting and messy." But in recent months, the cozy writers' community -- where visiting authors regale audiences with their tales from a fireside armchair -- has rebuilt itself according to a stricter business model. And it's hardly a coincidence that this year will see further attempts to integrate business savvy with creative high thinking.

The Writers Room itself was the product of a risky business decision made by Doylestown native Winans, who in 1998 invested a lump sum in a communal space where writers could come to work, outside their homes. It took after The Writers Room in New York, and Winans was sure of his target audience. "I started it because I was lonely, and wanted to meet other writers," he remembers. "I had been working on a number of novels at the time, and after a couple of years I found my social life had shrunk to the checkout counter at Kmart."

Salons with renowned local authors and workshops followed, as he discovered nascent writers were "hungry to have the process demystified: How do you find an agent? What happens when your book gets published?"

This year sees the realization of The Writers Room's efforts to give its network of 2,000 members and participants the answers. Its expansion -- and Winans' anxiousness to return to writing full-time -- meant new management. In January, Kimberly Stever was named CEO of The Writers Room, and Peter Leitner took over as chairman of the board. This highly organized structure is a leap for the nonprofit group, but Stever believes it will benefit from "an awareness of basic business practices." Previously working as chief marketing officer at the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and now head of Eastwick, a marketing company for arts and culture nonprofits, she says she's learned how "aggressive pursuit of business relationships" delivers "value to members" in the form of increased and more specialized programming. She laughs about how "just the fact that we've set proper advertising rates" for the group's Bucks County Writer literary magazine reflects its growth.

What does this boil down to? Stever believes it will give members more of what they want -- access to pick the brains of experts in publishing. And once you consider publishing a business, says Winans (whose own writing career has included a stint at The Washington Post, and several memoirs), you're better able to find a way through it -- or a detour from it.

Asked if he considers the business disillusioning, Winans replies, "Absolutely." Where once there were 25 publishing houses for agents to approach, he points out, now there are five, and self-publishing is a tempting alternative. "Agents," he continues, "are salespeople your manuscript has to be in perfect condition, you need to present yourself well and prove there's a market for your book." It's in response to this that The Writers Room is unveiling its new extension, Writer Services, offering freelance, step-by-step consultations in editing services, proofreading and, most popularly, "mentoring." For a fee, writers gain a much-looked-for chance to get a professional opinion on a manuscript, before taking the plunge and sending it to an agent.

Other steps toward the eventual chance to publish work include the Writers Room poetry marathon, held at the end of April, and "Underage Thinking," a proactive program where writers ages 13 to 18 meet to compile and edit a teen literary publication. Stever's hopes for the society's expansion include more programs related to film and screenwriting, acquisition of additional space for classrooms and even a return to offering authors desk space -- a business idea Winans had thought he'd abandoned, thinking it "wouldn't fly." Transforming funding, says Stever, can transform the group's effectiveness. "Business success," she says wryly, "is not a bad thing."

And a small step, guided by such a personal approach to developing a member's prowess, can pay off spectacularly. Ruth Stonesifer revealed during a memoir class there that her son was the first soldier killed in the war on terror. "She presented herself not as a writer, but as someone with something to say," remembers Winans. "She started telling of her experiences, with the media and with her son's body being returned, and I said, "You have some pretty interesting points of view. You should be writing op-ed pieces.' We got her into the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and we're working with her on her book proposal."

And Stever points out that Writer Services is a great opportunity for all concerned. "We are so blessed with our membership that, if someone comes to us with their first manuscript, we can draw on our base to find them the perfect editor. I think we're the ideal matchmaking service."