Ilise Benun - The Creative Professionals Guide to Money: How to Think About It, How to Talk About it, How to Manage It

Writing is thought to be a solitary activity, one person alone with a blank piece of paper (or a blank screen these days, although I still like paper). But that's not how this book was written. This book represents my most collaborative effort to date. I sought out as many people as would agree to participate, and they were, in the end, numerous: from clients who shared their experiences and stories with me to subject matter experts, whose ideas I absorbed as we talked. They all shared perspectives that complemented, strengthened and sometimes also conflicted with my own.

I can't list everyone here but I will try. It all started with a conversation between me and Peleg Top, my co-author of The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing. Our friend Tom Tombusch of Wordstream Copy drafted the first proposal. Amy Owen and Megan Patrick at HOW Books helped us shape it, accepted it and then trusted me to deliver when it started to morph into something else entirely. Thank you both for your trust.

During the research phase I talked to colleagues and industry professionals who took the time to share their experiences, including Susan Chait, Emily Cohen, Monique Elwell, Cameron Foote, Galia Gichon, Rick Gould, Kit Hinrichs, Lee Jacobson, Maya Kopytman, JP Lacroix, Dana Manciagli, Frank Marciano, Jennifer Neal, Mona Patel, Shel Perkins, Jean Perwin, Jennifer Rittner, Lee Silber, Michael Steger, Andy Strote, Mikelann Valterra, Petrula Vrontikis, June Walker and Jon Weiman.

Near the end of the writing phase, my ad hoc editorial team read pages of unfinished thoughts and sent me their comments and, in one case, went over them with me, line by line. Those generous people were Jonathan Cleveland, Doug Dolan, Nina Felshin, Galia Gichon, Aaron Joslow, Dana Manciagli, Patrice Robertie, Rhonda Schaller, Alan Seiden.

There were a few who went further: Dyana Valentine, the worksheet queen, got out of her sickbed one Saturday morning to brainstorm better worksheets. Besides everything he'd already done, Doug Dolan was on call near the end of this process to stop everything he was doing to give me feedback on a new idea for the introduction. And James Tricarico gets a month of homemade dinners in exchange for hours spent explaining accounting basics to me.

I have come to depend on the F+W Media gang as we work on more projects together and their effect on my business deepens. In fact, I realize that if it weren't for this almost twenty-year association with F+W, a lot of the people I cite above wouldn't have found their way to me in the first place. So a big thanks for any peripheral (and future) support that has seeped into this book project goes to Bryn Mooth, Beth Dean, SueAnn Stein, Larry Zimmer, Cory Smith, Gary Lynch and Kate Rados.

Also at F+W Media and mostly behind the scenes has been book designer, Grace Ring, who I trust to take my words and make them easy to read. And, of course my editor, Amy Owen, who has shepherded this project through with patience and encouragement.

I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without my support system behind the scenes: copywriter extraordinaire, Deidre Rienzo (you're the best!), Kathleen Harrington and David Tornabene, Cathy Baehler, Pamela Strell, The Haas Family, Maria McKenna, Luz Ossa, Dr. S and all of my sisters.

It's new for me to be grateful to so many people for so much, but I am truly awed and humbled by the generosity of everyone who contributed to this book, whether you knew it or not.

I thank you all.