As promised in my previous post, I’m rolling out a brief (and profoundly incomplete) survey of online writer’s networks, social networks and resources. Browse the list, check out the sites, then run your own searches and see if you can do better.
No matter how far down the long tail your interests lie, you'll probably find a network (hopefully, more than one) that seems like a gathering of long lost friends. And after you and your friends bond, come back here and tell us about the group so the rest of us can join the party.
Fiction & Poetry Resources
Writers-Network is a free creative writing community for writers and poets. You can post poems and short-stories, read the work of other writers. “We welcome writers and poets of all levels, from all backgrounds.”
Fiction Factor is a portal covering a wide variety of genres (with spinoff sites dedicated to Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi, and other popular categories). Billed as an ezine, articles address topics from the nuts and bolts of writing fiction to publication & marketing strategies. They have an active writer’s forum with thousands of members.
Freelance Writer's Resource
Freelance Writing Jobs is a fabulous resource and community for current and aspiring freelancers. The awards say it best: Top 10 Blogs for Writers: Top 5 finisher for all four years, SOB: Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Award, Preditors & Editors Truly Useful Site Awards, Writers Digest 101 Best Sites for Writers, 2006, 2007, 2008. ‘Nuff said. Go there!
Screenwriting Resources
The Scriptwriters Network (founded 1986) is a non-profit run by a community of writers and industry professionals. Their worthy mission: “The Network serves its members by enhancing their awareness of the realities of the business, providing access and opportunity through alliances with industry professionals, and furthering the cause and quality of writing in the entertainment industry.”
InkTip is a portal that links entertainment industry buyers with writers. They claim an average of 1 script produced (not optioned) per month. This is the real deal and it gives writers who don’t live in L.A. the chance to get their work in front of producers and directors. It’s worth a look.
Other Resources
The Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network (SPAWN) is a resource site for publishers, artists and writers.
WritersNet is a community-driven reference site for writers. Very much a work-in-progress, it has some useful directories of writers, publishers, literary agents, and editors.
Duotrope’s Digest is a writer’s resource site, featuring a free membership and online submissions tracking service, updated weekly with new information from publishers seeking a broad spectrum of fiction pieces.
Preditors & Editors is a site devoted to listings of links to a wide range of sites covering fiction writing. They also provide “buyer beware” warnings about agents, publishers and others out to separate desperate writers from their hard-earned money. The site is truly and ugly baby (it harkens back to the bad HTML smash-ups of the early ‘90s), but the service they provide to the writing community is invaluable.
Enhance Your Social Skills
Social Networking is an enormous phenomenon online. Think LinkedIn, Facebook, and Ning. Ning is the brainchild of the co-inventor of the first web browser, Marc Andreessen. Quoting their site promo: “Ning is the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online.” Browse Ning and you’ll find fan-generated communities covering sports, politics, hobbies, and the arts. And among all these wonderful groups, you'll find writers gathering as well.
First, check out Writer’s Café, a community for writers who want to share their work with readers and writers. It must be working pretty well because there are over 50,000 members according to the site administrator. Then go to Ning’s top site, click on “Discover Ning Networks You’ll Love” and start browsing for more writers groups or even a knitting community if you feel a need to purl. Better yet, pick the writing topic you’re passionate about and start your own network.
Make contact. Just Think Differently.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Networking for Newbies
Search engines are like shotguns, you can cover a lot of territory with them but the results can be indiscriminate. Bah-dum! Thank you, thank you, we’ll be here all week. Be sure to try the buffet.
My quest for online writers' communities confirmed that just because you build a resource site for writers does not mean anyone will be able to find it. Bottom line: I need better search terms or writers' site owners need some lessons in SEO.
A few of the search terms I used (with and without apostrophes in various locations): writer's networks, writing networks, writers social networks, writers online groups, fiction, freelance writers and freelance writing. It would be an understatement to say that finding the right search terms is challenging. Wading valiantly through a plethora of sites pitching writing seminars, online degrees, and vanity publication (yawn!) I found my way to some gems that made the journey worthwhile.
I will admit that I have a bias toward sites that appeal to my personal and professional interests. So take a look at some of the sites I recommend and then pull on your waders and go searching for yourself. It may take some time, but don’t give up. Even a couple of great sites can inspire and invigorate you. They might even provide pointers to put money in your pocket. Stay tuned.
Find them and bookmark them. Just Think Differently.
My quest for online writers' communities confirmed that just because you build a resource site for writers does not mean anyone will be able to find it. Bottom line: I need better search terms or writers' site owners need some lessons in SEO.
A few of the search terms I used (with and without apostrophes in various locations): writer's networks, writing networks, writers social networks, writers online groups, fiction, freelance writers and freelance writing. It would be an understatement to say that finding the right search terms is challenging. Wading valiantly through a plethora of sites pitching writing seminars, online degrees, and vanity publication (yawn!) I found my way to some gems that made the journey worthwhile.
I will admit that I have a bias toward sites that appeal to my personal and professional interests. So take a look at some of the sites I recommend and then pull on your waders and go searching for yourself. It may take some time, but don’t give up. Even a couple of great sites can inspire and invigorate you. They might even provide pointers to put money in your pocket. Stay tuned.
Find them and bookmark them. Just Think Differently.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Time Is Money - Pay Yourself First
Time is a valuable commodity. Ask anyone who's currently juggling home, family, job/career, school, and a crushing array of personal commitments. And isn't that pretty much all of us? There just aren't enough hours in the day. From sunrise to sunrise, we only get 24. We can't beg, borrow, steal, or even manufacture any more. That's why time is so precious.
What's an aspiring writer to do? Take a tip from some of the best known financial consultants out there. Even in a down economy, when credit's tight, hundreds of people across the country are still managing to tuck some money away in their personal savings accounts. How? By paying themselves first, before the rest of their creditors. Now, that's thinking outside the box.
The concept of "paying yourself first" doesn't come easily to most of us, but if we want to be successful writers, we need time. Time to learn our craft, hone our skills, write/revise our manuscripts . . . even plan our marketing strategies when we're finally ready to send our work out into the world. Where to find it? There's certainly no time left at the end of the day, not if we haven't found a way to slip some into our budget beforehand. That's where "paying yourself first" comes in.
So, how to begin?
Step 1) Take a moment to sit down and examine your life, your daily schedule, the commitments you've already made. Then target a specific amount of time each day that will be forever reserved just for you. This is the "check" or "deposit" you'll be paying to yourself. Maybe an hour each night after everyone else has gone to bed, or half an hour each morning. Don't be grandiose! This is no time for grandstanding! Pick an amount you can stick to religiously day after day, week after week.
Step 2) Don't stiff yourself. You'll always have friends and family (think of them as your other creditors) calling to invite you out to a movie, or lunch, or a day trip to the beach. These little temptations are hard to resist, especially if your book or novel has hit a snag and your "labor of love" has become just plain hard work. But they won't do much to move your writing career forward or help you realize your dream. So when these other creditors come calling, and they will, think of yourself as the one creditor that absolutely, positively must be paid that day . . . or else. "Pay yourself first" and then use the movie date as a reward for good behavior.
3) Don't make the mistake of thinking you can skip paying yourself today and just double up on your payments tomorrow. It never works. Follow that course and you'll soon have a fistful of IOU's, but you'll be no closer to your dream. It's much better to stay current.
For best results, start slow and easy. Think of this as a long term investment, not a lightning fast sprint to the finish line. Stay the course, continue "paying yourself first" each and every day, and watch the dividends pile up. Just think differently.
Karen Gilb
What's an aspiring writer to do? Take a tip from some of the best known financial consultants out there. Even in a down economy, when credit's tight, hundreds of people across the country are still managing to tuck some money away in their personal savings accounts. How? By paying themselves first, before the rest of their creditors. Now, that's thinking outside the box.
The concept of "paying yourself first" doesn't come easily to most of us, but if we want to be successful writers, we need time. Time to learn our craft, hone our skills, write/revise our manuscripts . . . even plan our marketing strategies when we're finally ready to send our work out into the world. Where to find it? There's certainly no time left at the end of the day, not if we haven't found a way to slip some into our budget beforehand. That's where "paying yourself first" comes in.
So, how to begin?
Step 1) Take a moment to sit down and examine your life, your daily schedule, the commitments you've already made. Then target a specific amount of time each day that will be forever reserved just for you. This is the "check" or "deposit" you'll be paying to yourself. Maybe an hour each night after everyone else has gone to bed, or half an hour each morning. Don't be grandiose! This is no time for grandstanding! Pick an amount you can stick to religiously day after day, week after week.
Step 2) Don't stiff yourself. You'll always have friends and family (think of them as your other creditors) calling to invite you out to a movie, or lunch, or a day trip to the beach. These little temptations are hard to resist, especially if your book or novel has hit a snag and your "labor of love" has become just plain hard work. But they won't do much to move your writing career forward or help you realize your dream. So when these other creditors come calling, and they will, think of yourself as the one creditor that absolutely, positively must be paid that day . . . or else. "Pay yourself first" and then use the movie date as a reward for good behavior.
3) Don't make the mistake of thinking you can skip paying yourself today and just double up on your payments tomorrow. It never works. Follow that course and you'll soon have a fistful of IOU's, but you'll be no closer to your dream. It's much better to stay current.
For best results, start slow and easy. Think of this as a long term investment, not a lightning fast sprint to the finish line. Stay the course, continue "paying yourself first" each and every day, and watch the dividends pile up. Just think differently.
Karen Gilb
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Beware the Doomsayers
Go to any writer's conference, seminar, or workshop, and you'll find that the conversation soon turns to publishing. Specifically, the current state of publishing in America. The news is dire.
Bookstores are closing all across the country. The number of titles published each year is shrinking rapidly. Agents and editors are only interested in bestselling authors with proven track records. And there have been so many mergers and acquisitions these past few years that "there are only six major publishers left in the world--most of them based in Germany!"
What's an unpublished author to do? Don't buy into the hype. The publishing industry is changing, yes, and we'll be looking at those changes in future posts. But it's hardly closing up shop and disappearing into the mists of time forever. First time authors are still being published every month of the year.
Need proof? Walk into any bookstore in your neighborhood--Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, or the independent bookstore on the corner--and you'll find a wide variety of books by first time authors. Books newly released by publishers in 2009-2010. Here's what I found by spending just 10-15 minutes browsing the racks first thing this morning:
In the Sanctuary of Outcasts (memoir) by Neil White
The Blue Orchard (novel) by Jackson Taylor
Little Boy Blues (memoir) by Malcolm Jones
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (novel) by Beth Hoffman
The School of Essential Ingredients (novel) by Erica Bauermeister
And I wasn't even looking at genre fiction (mystery, romance, SF/F) or the nonfiction areas of the store. If I had, the list would have been considerably longer.
The truth is that every agent, editor, and publisher out there would be thrilled to discover the next new bestselling author. The next J. K. Rowling, Dan Brown, John Grisham, or Stephen King. They're all looking for that "diamond" in the slush pile. But they won't find yours if you don't submit.
So beware the Gloom and Doomsayers! Don't listen to their prattle. They've been preaching the end of the world since the beginning of time . . . and it hasn't happened yet. Sadly, they already have a large and growing following of writers who have shelved their books and given up on their dreams. Don't give up on yours.
Believe in yourself, believe in your talent, believe in your work. Just Think Differently.
Karen Gilb
Bookstores are closing all across the country. The number of titles published each year is shrinking rapidly. Agents and editors are only interested in bestselling authors with proven track records. And there have been so many mergers and acquisitions these past few years that "there are only six major publishers left in the world--most of them based in Germany!"
What's an unpublished author to do? Don't buy into the hype. The publishing industry is changing, yes, and we'll be looking at those changes in future posts. But it's hardly closing up shop and disappearing into the mists of time forever. First time authors are still being published every month of the year.
Need proof? Walk into any bookstore in your neighborhood--Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, or the independent bookstore on the corner--and you'll find a wide variety of books by first time authors. Books newly released by publishers in 2009-2010. Here's what I found by spending just 10-15 minutes browsing the racks first thing this morning:
In the Sanctuary of Outcasts (memoir) by Neil White
The Blue Orchard (novel) by Jackson Taylor
Little Boy Blues (memoir) by Malcolm Jones
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (novel) by Beth Hoffman
The School of Essential Ingredients (novel) by Erica Bauermeister
And I wasn't even looking at genre fiction (mystery, romance, SF/F) or the nonfiction areas of the store. If I had, the list would have been considerably longer.
The truth is that every agent, editor, and publisher out there would be thrilled to discover the next new bestselling author. The next J. K. Rowling, Dan Brown, John Grisham, or Stephen King. They're all looking for that "diamond" in the slush pile. But they won't find yours if you don't submit.
So beware the Gloom and Doomsayers! Don't listen to their prattle. They've been preaching the end of the world since the beginning of time . . . and it hasn't happened yet. Sadly, they already have a large and growing following of writers who have shelved their books and given up on their dreams. Don't give up on yours.
Believe in yourself, believe in your talent, believe in your work. Just Think Differently.
Karen Gilb
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