How to Become a Literary Scout

How to Become a Literary ScoutHow to Become a Literary ScoutBeing a literary scout is one of the best-kept secrets in publishing. Most people outside of the publishing business dont know what literary scouts do, nor have they even heard of the profession. Like scouts who work in sports, who are hired by teams to seek out and discover talented players to sign, literary scouts are in the business of finding material. Scouts are, first and foremost, readers. What they read depends largely on where they work. Where Literary Scouts Work Literary scouts work, primarily, for scouting agencies. Some literary scouts also work on the film side, for production companies, but well come back to that. Scouting agencies are hired by foreign publishers to identify American books they should purchase to publish in their country. The nature of publishing is such that foreign houses buy more American books than vice versa. Foreign publishers, i.e., publishing houses in Europe and Asia and around th e world, are eager to publish American books, and these foreign publishers rely on scouts to keep them informed about whats happening in the American book market and to recommend titles they should purchase to publish. Scouts, then, monitor what books are being sold to American editors, by agents, reading those titles and identifying books they think are promising for their clients to buy. A literary scouts job is multifaceted because the scout must not only stay on top of whats being sold, by talking to agents and editors on a regular basis, she also needs to be constantly reading manuscripts to identify material she thinks has the potential to sell. In this way, a scouts job combines elements of a literary agent and a book editor. Literary scouts who work on the film side function much the same way as the scouts who work for foreign publishers, only these scouts are identifying books forpossiblefilm adaptations. Film scouts, as theyre sometimes called, work for studios, production companies and, occasionally, well-established producers. A film scout, like a literary scout, must also stay on top of what books are being sold to get manuscripts in early to reisepass along to clients. While it can take years for a book to be made into a movie, many books are optioned - i.e., someone buys the rights to adapt the work to the screen - before they make it to bookstores. Getting a Job The good news about literary scout positions is that they are often open to entry-level candidates new to publishing. While there arent too many literary scout jobs - therearealso only a handful of scouting agencies and almost all of them are in New York City - these positions can be wonderful entre to various other jobs in publishing. One way to find literary scouting jobs is to contact scouting agencies. Some of the major scouting agencies in New YorkincludeMaria Campbell Associates Bettina Schrewe Franklin Siegal and Mary Ann Thompson Associates. Scouting jobs are also listed o n media-specific job boards likeMediabistro.

Stakeholder Management Plan in Project Management

Stakeholder Management Plan in Project ManagementStakeholder Management Plan in Project ManagementIn project management, a stakeholder management plan is a formal document outlining how stakeholders will be engaged in the project. A stakeholder is a person or group who has a vested interest in the project. By thinking through when and how stakeholders will be involved, a project gruppe can maximize stakeholders positive impact on the project. What Are Stakeholders? Stakeholders can be internal and external to the organization. Examples of internal stakeholders include executives and business units such as accounting and information technology. Business units typically have representatives on the project kollektiv. External stakeholders can be interest groups, businesses, and civic organizations. It is rare for external stakeholders to be represented on the project team. For agencies with regulatory authority, the industries they regulate are usually the most important external st akeholder group for any project. If a stakeholder is identified by the project team, that stakeholder should be contemplated in the stakeholder management plan. It is impractical for a project team to consist of members representing every stakeholder group. In many cases, it is impossible. However, the project team needs eintrag and buy-in from stakeholders for the project to succeed. For example, a government organization wants to completely revamp and modernize its most widely used proprietary software program. Almost everyone in the organization uses the program in some way. Every type of user cannot be directly represented on the project team, so the team devises ways to gather input from stakeholders and decides on ways to inform stakeholders about the projects status. These methods of gathering input and communication strategies are documented in the stakeholder management plan. Stakeholder vs Communication Plan There can be a significant amount of bleed over between a p rojects stakeholder management plan and communication plan. Their functions are very similar. A stakeholder management plan is broader in that it facilitates input to the project as well as outlines outputs. A stakeholder management plan is narrower in that it only addresses those with vested interests whereas a communication plan could include broader audiences. Evolution The stakeholder management plan is typically kept by the project manager. As a project progresses, the project manager reviews the stakeholder management plan and periodically brings it back to the project team to consider updates. A project can look very different in the middle of its timeline than it did in the planning stages, so it is important to make sure a projects guiding documents are changed if circumstances necessitate. Example Here is an example of how a stakeholder management plan can change over the course of a project. A state agency embarks on a rulemaking project. As it begins, the project sponsor and project manager come up with a list of stakeholders to put into the stakeholder management plan. One of the project teams first tasks is to flesh out the plan. After a few months, a project team member identifies a stakeholder no one thought of at the beginning of the project. The project manager adds the new stakeholder to the plan and calls a project team meeting to discuss how to engage the new stakeholder. Once the team decides what to do, the project manager will inform the project sponsor. The stakeholder management plan is a living document. As the project changes, the stakeholder management plan can change with it to better serve the needs of the project. With a nimble stakeholder management plan, a project team can appropriately gather input and feedback from stakeholders as well as keep those stakeholders informed.

Adam Hart-Davis Profiles Pioneers of British Engineering at Roe Luncheon

Adam Hart-Davis Profiles Pioneers of British Engineering at Roe Luncheon Adam Hart-Davis Profiles Pioneers of British Engineering at Roe Luncheon Adam Hart-Davis Profiles Pioneers of British Engineering at Roe LuncheonAdam Hart-Davis, the recipient of the 2014 Ralph Coats Roe Medal, demonstrates the Stirling Engine during his presentation at the Roe Luncheon at the ASME Annual Meeting. At the Roe Luncheon during the ASME Annual Meeting earlier this month, Adam Hart-Davis, discussed the ground-breaking engineering contributions of a number of Great Britains engineering pioneers. During his lively talk, Dr. Hart-Davis, engaged the luncheon audience with colorful and enlightening tales about those British inventors whose creations changed the world for the better.A well-known scientist, author, photographer, historian, and radio and television personality in the United Kingdom, Dr. Hart-Davis will receive the 2014 Ralph Coats Roe Medal at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Montreal this November. The Ralph Coats Roe Medal, established in 1972, recognizes outstanding contributions toward a better public understanding and appreciation of the engineers worth to contemporary society. During his presentation, Hart-Davis discussed the work of seven great British engineers and inventors, among them Robert Stirling, the Scottish clergyman who patented a heat-powered engine in 1816 Thomas Newcomen, who built the worlds first useful steam engine in 1712 and James Watt, who 60 years later made improvements to the Newcomen steam engine that made it more efficient. (From left) ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin, Roe Medalist Adam Hart-Davis, ASME immediate Past President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, and ASME Past President Susan Skemp at the presentation of the Ralph Coats Roe Medal certificate. Dr. Hart-Davis will receive the Roe Medal medallion this November at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Con gress and Exposition in Montreal. Hart-Davis talk also covered the contributions of John Iron-Mad Wilkinson, the inventor of a precision boring machine that enabled James Watt to make those enhancements Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the English mechanical and civil engineer who built the Great Western Railway and the S.S. Great Britain and designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge Sir George Cayley, who constructed the first heavier-than-air flying machine in the mid-1800s and Henry Winstanley, the English painter and engineer who built the first lighthouse on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks reef off the coast of Plymouth, England. During the question-and-answer session that followed the speech, ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin noted that there were no women in Hart-Davis list of British innovators. Acknowledging this lack of diversity, Hart-Davis observed, In these early periods, basically the 18th and 19th centuries, women were not allowed to be educated. They were busy having children, and then of course they had to look after them. So the chance of them ever becoming serious scientists or engineers was extremely small. (From left) ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin, ASME President J. Robert Sims, ASME immediate Past President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, honoree Adam Hart-Davis, and ASME Past President Susan Skemp at the Roe Luncheon. Its still a challenge to draw women into the engineering profession, in both the United Kingdom and the United States, Hart-Davis said. Programs such ASMEs new in-class middle school course, INSPIRE, may help remedy that situation, however. The online course, which is funded through the ASME Foundation, is designed to build awareness and inspiration for engineering, I think your INSPIRE program is brilliant, he said. It looks really, really good, and youre getting to the girls before they turn away. It seems to me the girls turn away at the age of 11, 12, 13. I dont know why. Maybe they see physic s and math as geeky, boys stuff. But theres no reason they cant be engineers. Theyre brighter than boys. They work harder. They do better in exams. Theyre quite good engineers, too.