Regular readers of Waxing Unlyrical probably are familiar with Erin Feldman, the talented eclectic responsible for WUL’s Sarah and Sheldon illustrations. That’s how I was acquainted with her.
Image: crimfants via Flickr, CC 2.0
What you may not know is that Erin is a writer by trade, and her business has grown to the point that she isn’t going to be contributing new S&S posts for the foreseeable future.
I love Shonali (I assume I must have declared this to her once or twice). But one of the most endearing things about WUL for me is that it introduced me to Erin, and I thought it might be a fitting tribute to share a few ways that I am a better person for knowing Erin Feldman.
The slightly less serious ones
I know that no matter how we prefer our coffee it always makes us more productive.
I know that anytime I meet someone new I should ask for their Twitter handle.
I know that setting boundaries is difficult .
I know that you cannot buy Facebook shares with Zynga currency.
I know that you need to be a cheerleader, even if you lost out on traditional opportunities to do so.
The Serious Ones
Erin taught me that good content isn’t stagnant. Most copywriters don’t do illustrations, and that’s why I read more of Erin’s posts than any other copywriter.
Erin taught me about the “more” tag. I don’t think I ever told her this, but my site looks a heck of a lot more put together since Erin introduced me to it.
Erin taught me the value of boundaries. I pitched a post to her a few months back and she rejected it because it didn’t fit with the content that she was publishing. I think that bloggers who exercise that level of discipline about their content are rare.
I couldn’t be more grateful to have the opportunity to know Erin Feldman and to have enjoyed her contributions to WUL over the last couple of years. She is extraordinary and her voice will be missed….
I’ll stop my gushing. Not because I couldn’t say more about Erin but because I just read one of her blog posts and need to go proofread my site for “could ofs” that should be “could haves.”
What have you learned from Erin Feldman and her surrogates Sarah and Sheldon?
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jimdougherty Thank you for this tweet, too. :)
leaderswest Oh, thank you, Jim!
ErinMFeldman Of course!
leaderswest The whole experience has been a great encouragement. :)
Awwww, what a nice post! Just today Erin has opened my eyes to poetry as a way to improve writing prose. So I’m going to take a look at that and see if I can maybe sorta try and appreciate poetry. :)
Lisa Gerber Isn’t it lovely? I’ve bookmarked it for rainy days. :)
You know you can reach out to jasonkonopinski or me about poetry. I have a series this month because of National Poetry Month.
leaderswest Your post showed up in my Google Alert (I know it’s dying.), so I saved it. For a rainy day. :)
@ErinMFeldman You need to migrate to Feedly. It will transfer all of your feeds from Reader. Don’t worry about bookmarking this though, it was so well received I’m going to make a habit of posting love letters to you for all of my guest posts! :)
leaderswest I’ll have to give Feedly a try even though I never got into Reader. I am going to set up – is it Talker? I have a note somewhere about a different tool to use in place of Google Alerts.
Erin F. Talkwalker is the alternative to GA that we’ve been trying. leaderswest
Shonali leaderswest That’s it! I couldn’t find the note I’d written. I knew it had talk and walk in the name, but that’s all I could remember at 5 a.m.
leaderswest Oh, I’m referring anyone who asks why he or she should work with me to this post. :D
dalicie It was a wonderful surprise. howiegoldfarb leaderswest shonali
howiegoldfarb Who knew I was such a good teacher?! ;) leaderswest shonali
ErinMFeldman You’ll have to tell Sarah and Sheldon. Or… I guess I will have to now. :( howiegoldfarb leaderswest
shonali I’m sorry I don’t have the time to draw them anymore. :( howiegoldfarb leaderswest
ErinMFeldman you taught howiegoldfarb something? I thought he was unteachable!! cc leaderswest shonali
AmyVernon I don’t know about howiegoldfarb. It was leaderswest who said he learned something from me. :) shonali
ErinMFeldman Ah. That makes more sense. howiegoldfarb is kind of irascible leaderswest shonali
@ErinMFeldman rocks! leaderswest the key to having her publish a post is to ensure it covers one of the 4 major food groups: Bacon. Cupcakes. Vodka. Habenero Corn Nuts.
What a great post!
HowieG Thank you! leaderswest Cupcakes definitely are a win.
John_Trader1 Thanks, John! :) leaderswest shonali
ErinMFeldman EF – A heroine to many, a friend to a lucky few.
John_Trader1 I rarely favorite tweets, but that one needed to be.
SpinSucks Thank you for sharing the post! It was such a delightful surprise. leaderswest
I’m a huge Erin F. fan. :)
jasonkonopinski Thank you, Jason! It does my heart good to hear that. You already know I’m a fan of yours. :)
Jim Dougherty always teaches me something with every single post of his. Love this, Jim!
SocialMediaDDS It’s a beautiful post. leaderswest
What a wonderful tribute to a spectacular woman. I’m a HUGE Erin F. fan and couldn’t agree with you more, Jim (leaderswest )! Our word nerd friendship is dear to me. Erin knows that when I make a much anticipated trip down to Austin one day, she will be one of the first “sights” to be seen! While WUL will sorely miss Erin’s pearls of wisdom and wit via Sarah & Sheldon, the VERY good news is that the reason for her departure is that her business is deservedly becoming busier! Erin, you rock!
xoxoxo
Claudia
SocialMediaDDS I look forward to it! leaderswest
I love Erin F. . That is all! :)
Hajra Aw, thanks, Hajra! I hope all is well with school and everything else.
It’s great to see Erin F. getting kudos like this. So often in our industry, it is the “big names” that get all the love. Erin so quickly earned my trust and respect I dubbed her “Aunt Erin” to my then-3 month old daughter. While I haven’t had a pitch rejected by her, my guess is that’s because I’ve yet to pitch her. So I’m sure my time for rejection is coming soon. Thanks for the great article leaderswest.
MattLaCasse I still need to send her some books or maybe coloring books and crayons.
I’m sure we’ll work together eventually, perhaps on something we pitch as a team. I know you’re someone I would enjoy working with, same as leaderswest.
Erin F. Without a doubt. We’ll definitely figure something out!
MattLaCasse “Aunt Erin”? She’s too young for that! Erin F. leaderswest
Shonali MattLaCasse leaderswest Haha! Just how old do you all think I am? It’s really my own fault. I asked if I could be Libby’s aunt.
Erin F. Shonali MattLaCasse leaderswest Good people are never too young to count as family. Or too old for that matter. “Aunt Shonali” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? :)
Welcome to the club, she has rejected 37 of mine….of course, it was the same one every time but I was just trying to see if she was paying attention. She’s been to my house twice I believe and certainly brightened the place up.
She’s quite the talent indeed, but eclectic? I thought she was Jewish….:). Can you say that in social?….:).
bdorman264 37? I feel like someone should acknowledge your persistence, Bill. :)
leaderswest bdorman264 Bill’s fine. He won the lottery and made a hole in one yesterday. ;)
bdorman264 Haha! I’m not even Jewish, although I seem to share some Jewish sensibilities with friends like yuvizalkow.
Thanks, Bill. :)
Maybe the 38th try will be the winner.
Well…I’m getting all misty-eyed.
Thank you for such a lovely post, Jim!
shonali From me? Oh, wow! leaderswest
ErinMFeldman It’s pretty cool, have you read it? leaderswest
shonali I just finished it. It’s…it’s amazing! leaderswest
ErinMFeldman Isn’t it? I thought it was one of the nicest posts I’d read in a long time! leaderswest
Erin Feldman is the unattainable ideal of writing excellence. Whoever wrote this piece got it spot on. Great piece.
leaderswest Thank you for the kind words. They are such an encouragement.