Filed under: publishing, writing tips, how to become a professional writer, writing tips
10/13/2010 • 7:16 PM 0
Three links for Authors
Image via Wikipedia
Why You Should Publish an Email Newsletter
Guide to Literary Agents – 7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Matt Myklusch
Author Blogs–Getting Started With Domain Names — The Book Designer
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- Domain Name Search (webhostingpro.co.za)
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Filed under: publishing, Domain name, guide to literary agents, publishing advice links
10/13/2010 • 2:02 PM 2
Top 10 Reasons We Write Horror
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1. Childhood.
2. Anticipating old age.
3. 9 to 5 isn’t as exciting as zombies breaking down the door.
4. The existential horror of it all goes down better with the sugar of a plot.
5. Halloween fetish.
6. We heard it was easier to break into horror.
7. Mom and Dad and that thing they did that we weren’t supposed to see.
8. Mom and Dad gave us Stephen King books instead of a babysitter.
9. Vengeance fantasy on siblings…and all those other stupid kids who laughed at us at the academy.
10. Horror is closest to the truth of our existence and best expresses our worldview (when we aren’t entertaining at children’s birthday parties.)
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- “If you go to this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel expecting to see a horror movie, you’ll be disappointed.” (makethelogobigger.blogspot.com)
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- [Movies] The Mist (2007) (geeky-guide.com)
Filed under: Horror, publishing, Top Ten, horror, Stephen King, Top 10 Reasons We Write Horror
10/12/2010 • 4:14 PM 1
Twitter Time Management
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(This bears repeating & retweeting.)
I love Twitter, but as Seth Godin says, “Twitter is never done.” You must be careful how you use it.
Here’s how: I post often on Twitter. However, I never post to Twitter from my desktop. Twitter is for the iPod. Twitter is for the in-between times. Twitter is for down time. Twitter is productive time when you would otherwise be unproductive. Twitter is for commercials (if you aren’t already saving years of your life by saving your TV shows on PVR and zipping through commercials.)
I use Twitter to:
Help people find links to useful information.
Say something funny and read something funny.
Answer questions and connect with people I wouldn’t otherwise know.
If it isn’t useful or funny, I’m doing something else.
(Plug: you get fresh updates on the latest publishing links on your right of this screen so this blog always has updated content through the day. Follow me @RChazzChute!)
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Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Twitter, publishing, seth godin, Social network, Twitter, Twitter Time Management
10/12/2010 • 4:02 PM 0
The Difference Between Regret & Remorse is…
Image by Dave Dyer via Flickr
You feel remorse for running over that little old lady when you were drunk.
You feel regret when you think how much better it would have been if you had run over (and then backed up over) your college freshman roommate.
In the first instance, it’s something you did do which was bad, so you feel remorse.
We regret the things we didn’t do.
Thank you to Christopher Hitchens. He had a better education than I did, but he shares what he knows.
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Filed under: grammar, publishing, writing tips, Christopher Hitchens, Remorse, remorse vs. regret, the difference betweem remorse and regret
10/08/2010 • 8:10 PM 0
Your Friday Afternoon Reward: publishing advice links!
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Will Technology Kill Book Publishing?
Organize Your Writing Business by one of my favorites, agent Rachelle Gardner.
Top Ten Statements to Scare Off a Literary Agent
How Publishing Really Works: Reverse Vanity Publishing
Why Agents May be Opposed to Self-publishing
Raccah calls time on book publishers by theBookseller.com
The e-Writer’s Place Writers Resource – 10 Tips For Writing Columns
Talking to Agents and Editors at Conferences
Related Articles
- Literary agents open the door to self-published writers (alanrinzler.com)
- Yes, You Can Make a Living as a Fiction Author (webupon.com)
- Literary Agents Open the Door to Self-Published Writers (blogs.forbes.com)
- Money Should Flow to The Writer, But Always? (gomestic.com)
- Self-Publishing Expo: A Look Into the Future (teleread.com)
- French publishers descry Wylie’s publishing venture (teleread.com)
- Two views of the future of publishing (teleread.com)
- Publishing Industry Blogs (writinghood.com)
Filed under: publishing, E-book, Literary agent, publishing, publishing advice links, self-publishing, Vanity press, Writers Resources
10/06/2010 • 7:34 PM 2
10 Reasons We Aren’t Writing Faster
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1. We are hooked up to the Internet. (Did you know they have porn and wrestling kittens–or both!) on the web? Why would you make your dreams come true when there are distractions like that?
2. We don’t outline and we got fifty pages in before we hit a dead-end. Now what? Back up and go again? What if I hit another roadblock?
3. Coffeemaker broke and can’t afford Starbucks. We could afford one Starbucks flavored coffee…if we get that barista job.
4. We chose the wrong point of view from the start. We did not realize this until we hit the climax on page 326.
5. Kids, job, sleep…minor, dispensable obstacles en route to glory.
6. Best friend got published. Instead of writing, it is necessary to run in circles around the house cursing god, fate, Random House…not necessarily in that order.
7. Writer’s Block. Urk! It is now necessary for us to attempt a bank robbery for new content. Could also solve #3 if our getaway works out.
8. Depression. Cold, paralyzing depression. “Why haven’t I won a Giller by now? Or at least published?”
9. False starts. Your agent tried a few publishers and dumped you. The acquiring editor took you on with glee (and then immediately switched over to educational publishing.) The journal that was going to feature you went under. Close calls are part of the writing deal.
10. Laziness. Yeah, I said it. Laziness.
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Filed under: getting it done, publishing, Rant, Rejection, publishing, Writers Resources, writing
10/06/2010 • 10:09 AM 2
Pet Peeve of the Day: Anne Coulter (& this phrase)
“Of all people…”
This week I heard a radio commentator say, “Why would anyone want to try to censor Anne Coulter, of all people.”
First objection: In this context, the phrase is misused because it suggests irony where there is none. Anyone familiar with Anne Coulter’s vitriol would not be at all surprised that someone would want to censor her hateful, homophobic comments. (I’m not for censorship. The best response to Anne Coulter is an empty room. She should be ignored. Why people like her, or listen anymore, is beyond me.)
Second objection: It’s misused in that it’s condescending. When the Governator was elected in California, I heard tone-deaf know-nothing critics say, “Who would vote for Arnold, of all people?” Arnold the American Dream who’s a Republican with strong family and social ties to powerful democrats who’s adored by millions of movie fans? At that time, the better question was, “Who wouldn’t vote for him you morons?”
Third objection: “Of all people” is a bit of throat clearing that takes up space in a sentence but adds nothing to it. Avoid using this phrase in your writing.
Filed under: publishing, Pet Peeve of the Day
10/05/2010 • 7:08 PM 0
Links for Advice on Pitching Your Book
Adventures in Agentland: the pitch session from the agent’s side of the table.
The Pitch is a Bitch (but don’t fear the query)
And agent Rachelle Gardner asks, are you into writing for the long haul?
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- Another Reason To Nail Your Query Pitch Paragraph (pubrants.blogspot.com)
Filed under: agents, publishing, Rejection, writing tips, pitching, query, querying, writing career
10/04/2010 • 3:49 PM 0
All About MFAs: Read these links before applying for an MFA.
The MFA meme struck this morning in a big way. I tweeted a few great links about Master of Fine Arts programs. Here they are in one aggregation for
your edification and enjoyment. There’s some heavy points among the fun stuff.
Bark on How to be an MFA student.
Writers Digest’s MFA Confidential, Surviving the MFA
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- Seth Abramson: Columbia Professor’s E-mail to Students Was Pure Fiction (huffingtonpost.com)
- Seth Abramson: The Decline of the New York City MFA (huffingtonpost.com)
- Lesley University Creative Writing MFA Ranks Sixth in Low-Residency Programs Worldwide (prweb.com)
Filed under: MFAs, publishing, Rant, Departments and Programs, Education, Master of Fine Arts, mfa, mfa danger, Writers Resources, writing
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