Friday Finds for Writers

Time to send you off for the weekend with some resources and ideas–and maybe some entertainment.

  • First, from BookBaby.com: “If you’re an independent author or small publisher, attending [literary festivals or conferences] can open up some great new opportunities, but they’re also expensive, especially if you’re traveling. You want to make sure you plan ahead, set clear goals, and get the most out of the experience.” To that end, here are some helpful hints.
  • I need to spend some quality time–soon–with Carol Tice’s guide to fixing your writer website.
  • Sometimes, I get a little annoyed by all of those tweets, posts, and articles by “mama writers” about how hard it is for them to get any writing done–even when their partners are the family breadwinners/insurance providers, their children are in school and healthy/without special needs, and they have child-care assistance to boot. (You’ll notice that I don’t link to those kinds of items very often!) What a refreshing change it is to find Writer Abroad’s reflections on “5 Reasons Having a Baby Can Make You a More Productive Writer.” Thank you, Chantal!
  • Big list of (classic) literary spoilers.
  • OK, so I wasn’t exactly prepared. But it appears that Wednesday (June 20) was International Short Story Day! Celebrate belatedly by enjoying this downloadable new short-story anthology, courtesy of HarperPerennial. (h/t @GrubWriters)
  • I’m a Brooklyn gal by birth (and I spent my first nine years there), so I’m naturally drawn to this new literary map of the borough. (If any of you can think of a literary reference for Sheepshead Bay, where I spent ages 3-9, I’d be most grateful. My other B’klyn nabes–mainly Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach–have some claims to fame, but poor Sheepshead Bay–with the eponymous bay pictured below–is apparently a literary desert!)
  • Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday!

    4 thoughts on “Friday Finds for Writers

    1. Chantal says:

      Thanks for the mention. Yes, I’m also not a fan of writer mom’s who claim they can’t do anything!

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        Thanks again for the terrific post, Chantal.

    2. Erika, I read Carol Tice’s post a few weeks ago, and it was immensely helpful as I considered the creation of my new blog. I don’t have a lot of design options on my WordPress template but was still able to apply many of her points. It doesn’t take a long time to implement these excellent ideas either. Also, just wanted to say, that although I still have some work to do, I am inspired by the readability, simplicity, and organization of your site! The little coffee cup icon is my morning cup!

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        Well, thank you, Amanda! I like my site, too! And I’m not certain that I’ll follow *all* of Carol’s suggestions, but I think that she makes a good case for them. I’m probably going to keep my contact form, for example, but why she dislikes them. Still, there are some things that I can tweak here, and I plan to do so.

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