I have been subscribing to the Writer for years now and let my Writer's Digest subscription lapse, as it is simply a self promotion and marketing engine. Your magazine delivers information about the craft and reaches into it's own archives to share other author's opinions on craft. Some things change, and some things don't. Believing that your reader exists is an essential truth. Please put together a series on the writer in public life--reading excerpts, attending book clubs and facilitating discussion, making speeches, presenting awards, receiving awards. This is part of the craft that is ignored, because an author's distinct personal views are full of teachable moments for the writer and the attendees. I have been in Toastmasters for the last 18 months, which has been valuable to me in ways I could not have anticipated. I am very earnest when I put together a 5-7 minute speech. Once I've looked at my speech assignment and decided which subject fills it's parameters, I ask the question why is this subject so important to me that I want to have someone listen to me about it. The process of forming the speech involves a rocking chair, a legal pad, and a timer. When I cut out every digression (I will never be a linear thinker) I ask one last question. How can I give something to the listener that they can use in their own life? I never write to be funny, but my description of my brothers being an "incidental irritation in my life" immediately brings a laugh no matter who I say it to. I'm told it's a witty remark. I still don't why. I simply write what I think is essential and let the listener decide. Please note: I did not use the word audience. It is a perilous concept for a wordsmith.