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Something amazing happened this week.  I sought out experts and asked them for short interviews.  This is the amazing part – out of the six I emailed, four responded with “yes, I’d love to talk to you about this.”  (Or words to that effect).

I can’t believe it!  I know this makes me sound gauche, but I’m stoked that it worked.  Aye, but here’s the rub:  I am fundamentally a shy person.  I’ve never outgrown this, however I have learned how to deal with it in my professional life.  Still, when I received responses to my request this week, I felt myself start to freeze.  I began to experience the numbness that shy people feel as they try to disassociate from what is uncomfortable to them.  I felt fear.  I felt the need to flee.  What do I do now, I thought, I have to follow through.

So, I picked up the one thing that has always helped quell my fears and resolve my life’s dilemmas:  my pen.  I wrote my interview questions as well as the follow up questions I thought I might want to ask.  Then I started to write this blog post.  Writing has seen me through the toughest times in my life, so it’s natural for me to sort this all out by writing it down.  It helped calm me, and I felt in control of the situation when it was all down on paper.  I felt my comfort level start to return to normal.

Yesterday, I conducted my first interview, and I thought it went well.  My interview subject was very gracious (especially when I had difficulties with my recording equipment), and she gave me great information.  Later, when I checked my email I found responses from the rest of the experts I requested interviews from – all in the affirmative.

I’ve followed up with everyone – just waiting to hear back as to scheduling.  Now, I’m jumping over to my next article and compiling a list of experts to contact.  I’m actually looking forward to my next round of interviews.

It’s amazing how a little success can boost a girl’s confidence!

Interviewing, What I've Learned & From Whom I Learned It fear, freelance writing, interviews, research, writing

I have been thinking for a long time about mining my experience as a career grant writer/fundraising professional to write a series of articles targeted to the creative class (artists, musicians, and writers) to teach them to research funding opportunities, write proposals, and win grant money.  And I need your input.

 

My idea is to write a very detailed series of articles covering everything relevant that goes into winning grant money (people, it takes more than just writing the proposal) with a very clear how-to slant that even the novice grant seeking artist could use successfully.  My goal is to provide specific information – I’ve seen too many articles in the past 5 years that do not come from people with experiences in the trenches.  I’ve been there. I have knowledge that would be useful, and most importantly I have direct access to the people who read the proposals and make the funding decisions.

 

So, here is what I’m asking from you, dear interested reader.  What questions specifically would you want answered?  What are your concerns?  What information would you require for such a series to be helpful and relevant to you?  Where would you expect to read such an article, what publications?

 

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.  Please reply in the comments section or email me at grantart –at- susannahfisher.com.

 

Thanks!

Queries articles, grant seeking, grant writing, how-to, writing