"Publish or die" would appear to be the driving axiom in the halls of academia (some would say; to the detriment of teaching.)
The reasons for this would appear to be simple. Publishing attracts grants and investment and this helps in gaining tenure.
In industry it attracts sales.
In other words, unless you value your name in print above all else, money is a key motivational force. What you write has to be commercial not only for the organisation you write on behalf of but also for the publishers who hope to attract advertising revenue from the quality of the material they publish.
Advertising is expensive but it is not the only way to help publicise a company. There are many ways to get "free publicity": editorials, press releases and articles etc.
For the individual it generates recognition which can be invaluable when moving to a new company or setting up ones own. Maybe it benefits one within ones own company but if you expect this, I would suggest you are unrealistic. Truth is, in some companies, you can be "too clever by half".
To be sure, there is certain self-satisfaction to be derived from seeing ones work in print, especially in peer journals. There is even greater satisfaction when you see evidence of the effectiveness of your writing. One article I wrote was designed to help exploit a new market. I then spent some time supporting the sales team, agents and distributors. We visited one potential client, expecting to meet just the chief marine superintendent and were confronted with he, the senior trader (bunker fuels) and the companies managing director who brought with him a copy of the article. In this, as in all activities, the message is that writing is not enough by itself. It can be most effective when it is made part of come campaign with clear objectives. It is pointless writing or advertising if the sales team are not equipped with the tools to capitalise on your efforts or if they are not mandated to some course of follow up action.
I have to say that on a personal level, peer recognition is the most satisfying outcome of any endeavour. Nothing beats knowing that you have said something that others value.
Most probably, you will be writing as a specialist in a particular field and with the belssing or encouragement of your employers.
Some of the benefits are:
(a) personal satisfaction
(b) professional peer recognition
(c) financial: Maybe not directly to you, but if it brings something to your company one can live in hopes, often confounded, that it will bring some financial benefit to you personally from your company. More probably it will be more tangible an asset when you decide to start your own company.
(d) career this can be both negative or positive. As has been discussed in other threads there are dangers in being seen as "clever" or at least, cleverer than your co-worker or even your managers who are sometimes threatened by anyone with ability. Best value is probably in ones CV/Resume.
If you write reports, or manuals, or even give presentations within your company or even if you write yourself notes prior to aid you at meetings, you are already on the path.
A good start as a dedicated writer may be to produce articles for the house magazine or even for client accessed publications. Many companies express an interest in publishing house magazines but often find that getting material is the problem. Enthusiasm from the many soon reduces to a few stalwarts who seem to write everything. You will thus find your house magazine an avaricious client for anything you want to write. This is the easiest form of writing (in my opinion) since often the "publisher" is more interested in filling space than in actual quality of the content. A look at any company magazine will demonstrate this, especially if you find lots of stories about the works outing or the fish old Joe caught in a publication being sent to clients (who could care less).
Once they have your material they may well re-write it. Your target, as you develop your writing skills, is to see the editorial changes (and grammatical and spelling corrections) eliminated.
From there you develop to writing for trade publications or professional audiences.
Papers:
I've co-authored a paper for the Texas A&M 2000 instrument symposium and a paper for the IBIA 2004 conference in Buenos Aires, plus my material has been used by others to give papers at various ISA meetings in the USA which I shall claim credit for.
Papers usually have to be non-commercial and have something new to say.
Articles:
I wrote four articles published by Hydrocarbon Engineering on a one per year basis, two for Bunker News and one for Bunkerspot (and provided a journalist with material he only marginally edited for an Automotive manufacturing trade magazine).
I have also written numerous press releases and "editorials" In fact, when added together it seemed to me an impressive collection but far below output of the majority.
Some of my press releases resulted in requests for articles and some spawned requests to other companies for complimentary or contradictory articles. One press release found a subject so topical that it was run in every single media outlet (paper and internet) that it was sent to. If you find a good topic, this is not so hard as it might seem. It only requires that you are an avaricious reader and on the lookout for an opportunity.
Each outlet represents a different set of challenges for the writer. Some need to be non-commercial, some can be blatantly commercial. All need to have something new or of interest. Your opinions will be valued more if you are prolific and can gain some sort of status, through your activity, as an “expert”.
Different publications have different styles. Some publication require a low-tech approach and others insist on good technical content. Some are very strict about word count. Others more flexible.
In other words, you need to write for a target audience and be able to write in the style and format of the publication you are aiming at. The less work they have to do to convert your submission into the published form, the more likely you are to be published.
Early on I found it invaluable to work with a publicity agency. I have been fortune to work with some good ones. They are not technical. They can help you with style and presentation, matching to the target publication and even finding outlets.
Finally, one should not neglect the value of forums such as this. I have made many posts (though that is not to equate quantity with quality) and even produced a few "FAQs". This has proven valuable to me personally, though this wasn’t why I contributed. But as you are here, and posting, you are already building an audience and enjoying the opportunity to share opinions with your peers. Fortunately, you can do so here anonymously and your mistakes will not haunt you!
Incidentally, I understand “blogging” is an increasingly useful outlet for those with writing ambitions; anyone any experience of this?
JMW
