Flynn, Nancy L. 1956-

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FLYNN, Nancy L. 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born 1956. Education: Ohio State University, M.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Columbus, OH. Office—Write to Business, 2300 Walhaven Ct., Suite 100A, Columbus, OH 43220. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, consultant, speaker. Founder and executive director, ePolicy Institute; founder, Write to Business, writing, editing, and coaching service for public and private businesses. Ohio State University, Columbus, English department and School of Journalism, adjunct writing instructor. Frequent speaker on writing for business and technology matters.

WRITINGS:

(With Tom Flynn) Writing Effective E-mail: Improving Your Electronic Communication, Crisp (Menlo Park, CA), 1998.

The $100,000 Writer: How to Make a Six-Figure Income As a Freelance Business Writer, Adams Media (Holbrook, MA), 2000.

The ePolicy Handbook: Designing and Implementing Effective E-Mail, Internet, and Software Policies, AMACOM (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Randolph Kahn) E-Mail Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication, AMACOM (New York, NY), 2003.

Networking for Success: The Art of Establishing Personal Contacts, Crisp Learning (Menlo Park, CA), 2003.

Instant Messaging Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication, American Management Association (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nancy L. Flynn is a recognized expert in writing for business and electronic communications policy. The author of The $100,000 Writer: How to Make a Six-Figure Income As a Freelance Business Writer, Flynn has also focused on IT (information technology) policy for businesses with her Writing Effective E-Mail: Improving Your Electronic Communication, The ePolicy Handbook: Designing and Implementing Effective E-Mail, Internet, and Software Policies, E-Mail Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication, and Instant Messaging Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication.Additionally, Flynn blends a writing background with a wealth of information about business policies regarding electronic communications to provide consulting services to both freelance writers and businesses. The founder of the ePolicy Institute as well as Write to Business, Flynn numbers among her clients Silicon Valley firms, Fortune 500 companies, and even Washington politicians.

With her 2001 The ePolicy Handbook, Flynn tackles the management of information technology in the workplace. She makes the point in the book that businesses place themselves at risk when they do not have clear-cut policies regarding employees' unauthorized copying of software or use of e-mail and the Internet. Additionally, lost productivity also factors in with such a potential source of personal amusement at hand like the Internet. According to a reviewer for HR Magazine, in The ePolicy Handbook Flynn offers a "nuts-and-bolts handbook" that provides "a complete package of how to audit current policies, assess needs and write new policies." Divided into six parts, Flynn's book outlines not only the necessities for such company and employer policies, but also includes specific information on the development of such policies, from employee rights to cyber insurance policies and the methods needed to enforce language codes online. Walter S. Sokol, reviewing the book in the National Public Accountant, found that it "covers difficult issues." Sokol further observed: "If you own a computer and access the Internet you should read The ePolicy Handbook. If you have employees, own a computer and access the Internet, you must read this book." Importantly, one reviewer noted in Wired Workplace Dilemma, Flynn does not advocate "'big brother' tactics" to track Internet and e-mail use by employees. Instead, the reviewer continued, "the author shows how to adopt and monitor effective e-policies without alienating a workforce that grew up in the computer age." Not all reviewers were equally enthusiastic, however. Gordon Mitchell, writing in Security Management, felt that the book "may be useful for someone who wants to collect reference material on policy writing. Otherwise, it has limited value." But for a contributor to OfficeSolutions, Flynn's book is a "timely and comprehensive survival kit," while Skip Corsini in Training prophesied that "you might not find a more useful business book this year, or next, than this one."

Similar issues are raised in Flynn's 2003 title E-Mail Rules, written in collaboration with lawyer Randolph Kahn. "If you worry about liability and compliance with the law," wrote Deborah Lynne Wiley in an Online review, "this book provides the 'rules' you need to implement in your organization to control e-mail use and abuse." The authors provide thirty-seven such rules in as many chapters, providing actual real-life examples as well as statistics to prove the case that improper use of e-mail can not only cost time but could also result in legal action, such as sex discrimination lawsuits for so-called "romantic" e-mail. The book also provides information on how to use e-mail as a legal or business record. A contributor for Accounting Today noted that all the rules may not pertain to every business; however, the book, in this reviewer's opinion, "offers readers insight into which policies and procedures they should choose to impose and enforce." Library Journal contributor Carol J. Elsen also found E-Mail Rules useful, calling it a "handy e-risk management tool for companies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Accounting Today, June 2, 2003, review of E-Mail Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication, p. 30.

Business Wire, February 9, 2004, "Romantic E-mails and Racy IM Interludes Can Ruin Valentine's Day," p. 1.

HR Magazine, February, 2001, review of The ePolicy Handbook: Designing and Implementing Effective E-Mail, Internet, and Software Policies, p. 155.

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, Carol J. Elsen, review of E-Mail Rules, p. 131.

National Public Accountant, October, 2001, Walter S. Sokol, review of The ePolicy Handbook, p. 31.

OfficeSolutions, June, 2001, review of The ePolicy Handbook, p. 16.

Online, September-October, 2003, Deborah Lynne Wiley, review of E-Mail Rules, p. 63.

Security Management, September, 2002, Gordon Mitchell, review of The ePolicy Handbook, p. 219.

Training, June, 2001, Skip Corsini, review of The ePolicy Handbook, p. 64.

Wall Street & Technology, June, 2003, review of E-Mail Rules, p. 12.

Wired Workplace Dilemma, June-July, 2001, review of The ePolicy Handbook.