Thursday, May 2, 2013

An unscheduled interview by Terry Burns



I belong to a lot of social media sites, facebook, twitter, writing groups, etc. I don't have time to participate a lot but I watch what is being discussed and who is doing it. Sometimes I see something being discussed that I think maybe I have something I should contribute and I do, but mostly I quickly just keep my finger on it quickly before I delete and get back to work.

I take note when someone without sufficient experience is giving advice I consider not to be solid and when I see that I will watch a bit closer for a bit. Usually a more experienced writer will chime in and I don't have to, but if not I'll speak up. Not that I consider myself an expert on everything, but I attend a lot of conferences, network with a lot of people who are terribly knowledgeable and well, a lot of good information does come my way.

But what's with the title of this blog? What's an unscheduled interview? I keep an eye what I have on my plate, what I have in my inbox to work. If I'm holding some work to evaluate I recognize if I start seeing that name coming through the social media. In a proposal people often tell me what they want me to hear. As part of the evaluation process if I start having some interest I'll probably google them to get a closer look.

But if I see them coming up in social media I may tune in. I get an informal look at who they are, what they think, if we might be a personal match for each other. Snooping? No, it's out there for personal consumption. It's out there because they want others to know them better and that's what I might use it for.

I've said that the process of getting an agent and the process of an agent deciding to represent a client is a lot like dating and it is. First and foremost it is about the writing, pure and simple. I'm looking for well written stuff that I can fall in love with and really want to help get it out on the market. But I also want people that I like and get along well with, people I connect with, people who will fit well in my very tight-knit client group.

Sometimes I can find out a lot about that in an unscheduled interview.

3 comments:

Audrey said...

I found that many life changing ideas and events came to me during those "unscheduled interviews" in my life. I firmly believe that all of us need to leave ourselves open to the opportunities that accompany the unexpected in our lives.
Thanks for sharing this and causing me to think!

Terry Burns said...

I don't ask if somebody is a Christian before signing them as a client, but an atheist would probably be pretty uncomfortable in my client group. Checking social networks could also warn me if somebody that has beliefs or behavior that I would not be comfortable being associated with.

Linda Glaz said...

I totally agree, if someone is constantly posting rants on FB or the like (like me--errgghh, I do post an occasional rant) but I mean
very mean-spirited and totally opposite from my belief system, then I know right away we would never be a match. I wouldn't be able to communicate with the person. That being said, I have no problem with folks with differing opinions, I guess it's how they present them and how it affects our professional relationship.