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.
Showing posts with label publishing industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing industry. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
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What's an unpublished author to do?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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