Corporate Goddesses and Other Mentors

By Betsy Ashton

I know I'm supposed to be writing about horrible bosses I worked for and hated. I can't do that. What I can do is write about why more women don't climb high enough in the corporate structure. It's about mentoring, white guys in ties and corporate goddesses in stilettos.

Sheryl Sandburg made big bucks with Lean In where she writes about why women are and aren't promoted in corporate America today. Sure, she made it to the top. She had good mentors along the way. Heavens knows, she dropped enough names. She wasn't afraid to try to have it all, to lean in and ask for promotions and challenges, to balance work and life from a position of advantage. Well educated and in an industry that recognizes potential over experience. Sure, she made her way to the top. I'm not taking anything away from her. I applaud her, but what she writes about is out of reach for most of us.

Jane Rosen, author of My Life as a Corporate Goddess, offers a witty, pointed look at the difference between men and women in offices with great views. She's been there. She's done that. In this book, originally published in 2008 and now out for Kindle, she uses satire to make her points. (Don't you just love the cover? I'd buy the book based on that even if I didn't know what was inside.)

One of her points is about the proliferation of white guys in ties. Power ties. $200 nooses around the neck. There are so many of them. They're everywhere. But let a woman walk into a room wearing stilettos and men's eyes follow her, maybe even drool. But promote her to sit at the table, most likely not.

Rosen writes of the need for women who made it to mentor those on the way up. Mentoring starts at home where parents should encourage children of both sexes to do their best, set goals and achieve them. Mentoring continues through school and college, where teachers, counselors and professors should guide boys and girls, not tell them some jobs are closed to them. Mentoring becomes critical in the workplace.

Note in Sheryl Sandburg's book, she tells readers not to ask her to mentor them because she doesn't know them. Fair enough, but does she really mentor women she knows? Rosen has done that all her life, whether it was in public broadcasting (Yes, you'll find an Emmy on her bookshelf) to working for top management at NCR, she's had women assistants whom she taught to excel.

Okay, time to confess. I met Jane in 1996. She was fresh off a divorce, a single mother with a great young teenage son, returning to her home town (Dayton, OH) after a whirlwind career working in public broadcasting in Austin, TX. You figure out which show she produced to earn her Emmy. We became friends, still are. When she was thinking about writing about corporate goddesses, she interviewed a variety of different women in the workplace. She thought my story was one worth sharing.

I learned more from Jane than she did from me, I think. We both mentor women, she working with them to shape the marketing messages for their businesses. I work with newbie writers through social media and countless speaking engagements.

Jane and I both write. She's working to get two wonderful plays produced; I'm working to get my second Mad Max book published. There's always more room on the ladder to the top. Climb on, women. We'll be there to lend a hand, an ear and a tissue.

Yours in goddess-hood.

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Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max Unintended Consequences. She is the current president of the state-wide Virginia Writers Club where she finds ample opportunity to mentor writers.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Goal Setting

We're a family of setting goals and we know that our goals often change for a variety of reasons. My eldest son, who's taught eighth grade Language Arts for sixteen years, has decided his mountain of paperwork every night--correcting homework, reading and grading papers, recording the grades, filling our government forms--has taken the joy out of teaching. He's earned a second Masters, this one in school administration. His goals have changed, and he'll be an assistant principal next year.

I have a grandson who, on his own, sets goals every year before school starts. He had four this year: to earn all A's, to get college credit for his advanced calculus class, to get into a STEM camp this summer and to qualify for States in wrestling. So far, Ryan's on track for all four. In fact, he's a shade ahead. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. He's been accepted at the two-week camps at both the Naval Academy and the University of Maryland. Here he is at States, an accomplishment for a sophomore, getting some tips from his coach. As a show of solidarity, all the guys who qualified for States, from his school. dyed their hair blond. Hey, they're teenagers...go figure.

Sometimes our goals as writers change, too. Like my goals for my writing career. I wanted to write a book and, after completing that task, I wanted to see it published. Like most writers, my first one was terrible and my second, while an improvement, still stunk to high heaven. My third completed manuscript was the charm, making it through the publication process. Signing that first contract was a good moment. Then after several books and novellas published with the same small publisher, my goals changed again.

I wanted to aim for a larger publisher.

Setting a goal means working hard to achieve it. Ryan doesn't earn all A's by playing video games all evening; he has to study hard. Looked as if Grandma had to work hard too. For I had a lot of improvements to make--like strengthening my voice and overcoming some amateurish habits. I read books on the craft of writing and took online classes. The bad part of my goal meant I was spending a lot of time away from living life so I could learn to write stronger. Believe me, I often asked if the sacrifice was going to be worth it in the end.

Last year I signed contracts with two Big Five publishers, each for one book. This year I was offered two more.contracts with these same publishers, who I shall call Pub A and Pub B for this discussion. These contracts were both for a series of three books, not yet written. They'd been accepted on a blurb type proposal for each book. Folks, I was thrilled. Then the ugly slipped in.

Both contracts contained "non-competitive" clauses, which meant I could not publish with anyone else while I had a book releasing with them. But...but I had two contract offers. How could I only publish with one?

My agent spoke to the contract department of Pub A. Since my series with them was for a contemporary romantic series, set in Florida, revolving around a fire and marine rescue station, and the series with Pub B was a paranormal romantic series set in Scotland, they saw no potential competition between the series. Pub A simply inserted the phrase "except for the contracted paranormal series set in Scotland." With Pub A, I was home free.

The contract department of Pub B was of a different mindset.

Their contract stated I could not publish or self-publish for six months prior to six months after a book released with them. Since there were three books, they would own me exclusively for three years.

I am a full-time writer. I typically write three or more books a year. So, what was I to do with my time while I waited for this one book to release? And what of my contract with Pub A?

To say I cried over the disappointment of it all would be an understatement. I finally told my agent to refuse the contract offer with Pub B, even though their royalty rates were higher. I'll be 66 this month, people, I'm too old to be ordered about. Then the contract department decided to change the six-months prior and after to two-months before and after, but they wanted the books closer together, with a designated word count and a one-month window for Pub A to release their book between each of Pub B's "black-out periods."

Well, for heaven's sake!

So agent lady had to go back to Pub A to ask if they'd be agreeable with this rigid scheduling process and would they put it in writing. Because if Pub A released my book a day or two before or after that window of opportunity, then I could be in breach of contract, Well, if that's not an ugly side of publishing for an author, I don't know what is!

Had I, perhaps, set the wrong goal?

Contract departments aside, my editors at both houses have treated me very well. They tweet and post on facebook about me. They've set-up blog tours and reviewers. They're all about pushing my career, knowing full well I am also with the competition. My agent called me over a month ago. An editor at another one of the other Big Five wanted to see some of my work. Did I have anything I was working on that wasn't already contracted? We both laughed. We'd had enough ugly for a while.

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