	AllExperts > Business & Technical Writing
	Search

About Warren D. Miller
Expertise
I believe I can answer nearly any question about business writing. That goes in spades if the target audience is a lay readership. I make my living writing and speaking. N.B.: I DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS MARKED 'PRIVATE' because I believe that knowledge should be shared, not hoarded. I also believe such questions are likely to be submitted by people trying to cheat. In addition, don't waste your time asking me to write something for you. You don't learn anything if I do that. I'm happy to critique something that YOU write, of course. That's the best way for you to learn how to write well.

Experience
My profession is business valuation, which means appraising businesses whose shares are not publicly traded. This requires in-depth knowledge about a number of disciplines, including economics, finance, strategic management, accounting, anthropology, statistics, and psychology. The left-brain part of me must conduct rigorous research and financial analysis. The right-brain side must then separate what matters from what doesn't and then explain it all in writing (and in everyday English) to people (usually business owners, but sometimes judges and juries) who do not have the expertise that I have been lucky enough to acquire over the years. I love what I do and consider myself fortunate to live in a country where I can do what I love doing and make a nice living doing it. I am glad to help with writing issues, but NOT, please, with any valuation, business consulting, or other non-writing questions.

Organizations
CFA Institute, American Society of Appraisers, Strategic Management Society, Academy of Management, Institute of Management Accountants

Publications
My writing has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, American Fly Fisher, Business Valuation Review, CPA Expert, Academy of Management Executive, CFA Digest, and others.

Education/Credentials
MBA - Oklahoma State U. (1991); BBA - U. of Oklahoma (1975); Chartered Financial Analyst designation (2006) Accredited Senior Appraiser (2006) Certified Management Accountant Certified Public Accountant (1992)

Awards and Honors
Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year (2001) - American Institute of CPAs Winner - Statewide Humorous-Speaking Contest - Oklahoma - Toastmasters International (1971)

Past/Present Clients
Confidential.

You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Writing > Business & Technical Writing > Business/Trade Journal - Awards?

Business & Technical Writing - Business/Trade Journal - Awards?

Expert: Warren D. Miller - 11/2/2009

Question
Dear Warren:
I've been writing for a rather small trade magazine for about 5 years - each article is about 1,750 words. I try to write about progressive business ideas for this group (subscription is about 10,000 owners of material fabrication shops) and I'm wondering if there's such a thing as an annual award for business writing (for certain specific categories) where I could submit some of my better articles for consideration/acknowledgement. Any other ideas on how to generate interest so that I might be more appealing to larger business/trade magazines - I'd really love to obtain a staff position someday. Thank you for your help!
Best,
Chris
Wayne, New Jersey

Answer
Thanks for your most interesting question, Chris. I'm not aware of any annual awards for business writing. The only awards I know of are Pulitzers, which are not confined to business. Obviously, there's a gaping hole in the awards market, isn't there? :-)

I'm not sure what you mean by "progressive business ideas," esp. in the context of "material fabrication shops." I don't mean to stereotype, but "progress" and "material fabrication" strike me as generally incompatible. :-)

My first suggestion is to make sure that you ground your ideas in economics, NOT politics. Business writers who truly understand economics are few and far between. Sometimes even the Wall Street Journal's staff writers let their politics overpower simple economics. If you've not read any of David Warsh's columns (www.economicprincipals.com/) and also the weekly jousting between Nobelist Gary Becker and Judge Richard Posner (www.becker-posner-blog.com), you're missing something. Both of those websites are models of clarity in writing about economics.

My other suggestion is to make sure that your "progressive" (bad word, incidentally) ideas are based on empirical research. That means reading such academic journals as "Academy of Management Journal," "Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processing," and publications from the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (www.obts.org). For your articles to be meaningful and attract a wide audience, you must be different from most writers, esp. those with a political ax to grind. Hack political writers masquerading as economists (Paul Krugman comes to mind) are a dime a dozen. Our citizenry needs fewer of them, not more.

Please do me a favor by completing the rate-the-expert e-mail you'll receive about the same time you get this reply from me. Your ratings and, especially, your comments help me do a better job of helping folks like you who ask such interesting questions!

Take care, and I hope I've been helpful.

Warren

Ask a Question