Name: Kim Izzo
Best Known For: The Jane Austen Marriage Manual (2012), The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum (2001)
Education: Screenwriting, York University
Employment: Deputy Editor/Beauty Director for Zoomer Magazine
Favourite mobile app: My Fitness Pal
Favourite magazines: Vanity Fair and Tatler
Professional role model: Suzanne Boyd, Editor-in-chief of Zoomer Magazine
Describe Jane Austen’s influence on your life in 140 characters or less:
Jane Austen made me understand at an early age the importance of manners, subtlety and being witty.
How do you choose your outfits for public appearances?
I try to pick colour because it’s better for television. I like dresses because it adds a touch of glamour and that’s never a bad thing.
How important do you think it is for writers and editors to be actively involved in social media?
It’s very important. That is how the world works and how people get the word out especially when publishers don’t have the publicity budgets they once did.
Which skill is most essential to write for magazines? How do your experiences in magazine publishing prepare you to write books?
The most essential skill is to make a deadline under pressure but also not to be precious when your editor rewrites your copy. I don’t think my magazine experience helped much except that I’m better at just sitting down and starting to write as opposed to waiting for some great creative spark to happen. My screenwriting training helped more with structure and character.
The Jane Austen Marriage Manual and Zoomer appeal to different readers. Did that make the writing process difficult?
Not at all. I don’t write to a specific demographic or reader when I write a novel because if you do that I think you’re constricting yourself too much.
Recommendations for summer reading:
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
The Lower River by Paul Theroux
Prince William: Born to be King by Penny Juror