Erika Dreifus

Most Fridays the Practicing Writing blog shares writing and publishing resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend. But it’s been an excruciating week for so many of us. And frankly, I’ve paid next-to-no attention to garden-variety news from the writing and publishing spheres.

On Wednesday, however, I received an email from Facing History and Ourselves, a Boston-based global nonprofit organization that I’ve admired for many years. The email introduced a “mini-lesson” titled “Processing Attacks in Israel and the Outbreak of War in the Region.”

The resource isn’t perfect. (What resource is?) But one of its segments impressed me as something that, though intended for educators and students, could be clarifying for writers as well, in our work and in the rest of our lives. It’s a section titled “Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Tropes in Discussing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

• An image of Maya Angelou graces a new quarter that is now in circulation.
• Over on the Brevity blog, Allison K. Williams presents “Seven Reasons for Rejection.”
• Free Authors Guild webinar happening January 18: “Even traditionally published authors are expected to participate heavily in marketing and promotion these days, no matter how much support the books have from the publisher. Moderator Jane Friedman and panelists Dana Kaye, Vaishali Nayak, and Leila Siddiqui will walk us through the timelines for marketing and publicity and explore how authors can collaborate with their publishing teams. We’ll discuss how to engage your readers and grow an audience through avenues such as social media, book tours, blogging, and more, and which efforts you should focus on for various genres.”
• “Gal Beckerman, Maya Chung, and Emma Sarappo Join The Atlantic as Editors, Kicking Off Books Expansion.”
• And, of course, there’s a new set of Jewish-lit links posted over on the My Machberet blog.

Have a great weekend, everyone.