The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
4

Lots of excellent finds for you this week, my practicing writer friends!

  • I’m not one for making too many New Year’s resolutions myself, but I sure do enjoy reading other people’s lists of intentions. And I really liked reading poet Diane Lockward’s recent review of how she fared with the resolutions she made for 2010.
  • Good news for those of us who love good fiction: Andrew’s Book Club is back.
  • I thought Daniel Handler’s essay on reading poetry, in the January 2011 issue of Poetry magazine, was terrific when I read it in print, and I’m so glad that it’s now online.
  • I know: You don’t expect to hear about my book, Quiet Americans, before Thursday, but I can’t help pointing you to these reflections, which were inspired by mention of another author’s new book on the Tablet magazine site a few days ago.
  • Looking for some writerly inspiration in the new year? Check out Lisa Romeo’s Winter Writing Prompts Project. And Midge Raymond’s weekly writing exercises.
  • Speaking of inspiration, I am loving Sage Cohen’s new Path of Possibility site. It’s tough to single out favorite posts, but here’s one, about conquering fear, and here’s another, in which Sage shares some of her own beautiful poetry.
  • Also empowering: Carol Tice’s freelance writer’s manifesto.
  • And let’s take one last glance back at 2010, through the eyes (and words) of writers from around the world (with a little help from translators, as needed).

    • Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Subtropics has reopened for poetry submissions. “Thank you all for your patience.” Pays: $100/poem. Does not accept simultaneous submissions in poetry. More info here. (via @ALTA_USA)
  • From the Chicken Soup for the Soul series: “If you are Canadian, we are looking for stories from you! Send us your inspirational, humorous, or heartwarming stories. They don’t have to specifically be about Canada — they just have to be Chicken Soup for the Soul stories that take place in Canada or are written by Canadians. If you are not Canadian but you have a great story that took place in Canada (examples would be American college student at McGill, stranded travelers in Newfoundland on 9/11, great vacation stories) that is fine too. The deadline for story submissions is January 30, 2011.” Pays: “If the story or poem you wrote is published by us, you will be paid $200 upon publication of the book plus you will receive ten free copies of the book your story or poem appears in.”
  • Fans of the “Modern Love” column in The New York Times may be interested in the recently-posted guidelines on “how to submit Modern Love essays.”
  • The Texas Institute of Letters administers an array of literary awards open to entrants who were born in Texas or “lived in Texas for at least two consecutive years at some time.” A literary work “whose subject matter substantially concerns Texas is also eligible.” The next submission deadline is imminent (January 9), and there are no entry fees.
  • “Babble.com is looking for a parenting news blogger to join the fastest growing website for parents, with 4 million uniques and counting. The job involves contributing a minimum of two posts per day to Strollerderby, Babble’s breaking news blog written by the web’s most tuned-in, best-informed, wittiest parents.” Check the announcement on MediaBistro.com (site registration required).
  • I am seeing some interesting freelance opportunities posted on Twitter by @femministas, which I discovered (I think) thanks to @JennCrowell.
  • For poets, fictionists, and writers of creative nonfiction: Lots of free-to-enter competitions and paying calls for submissions were packed into our January Practicing Writer newsletter, which went out to subscribers last Thursday. Read the issue online here.
  • Roger Williams University (R.I.) seeks a Director of Marketing, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) is looking for a Director of Communications & Marketing, and the University of California-Berkeley invites applications for a Writer/Editor.

    • Friday Finds: 2011 Reading Lists

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    I’m so swamped keeping up with life and all things pre-publication that I didn’t even get around to making any “best of 2010” book lists. Now, I see, some very enterprising practicing writers have already gone ahead and provided sneak peeks into what they’re anticipating reading in 2011.

    So, for this Friday’s finds, I’m going to point you to two of those writers’ blogs, where you’ll find plenty of titles to get you started with a 2011 tbr list.

    First, check out The Quivering Pen, where David Abrams provides photographic evidence of just how ambitious his reading plans are.

    And then, go visit Between the Lines, where Ellen Meeropol (who has a book of her own, a novel titled House Arrest, coming in February) combines reflections on 2010 and 2011 reads.

    (Thanks to both David and Ellen for the shoutouts to Quiet Americans in their respective posts.)

    Have a great weekend and a Happy New Year, all. See you back here on Monday.

    Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: Keeping My Promises

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    People who know me know that I am a real stickler for keeping promises. That holds both for promises I make, and promises others make to me.

    Today, I want to focus on two promises that I made in last week’s pre-publication post. I’m very happy to tell you that there is major progress to report, and those promises have been kept!

    First, I am delighted to announce the superb blogs where my forthcoming story collection, Quiet Americans, and I will be stopping along our upcoming Winter Blog Tour. The tour begins the week of January 17 and continues for a month. Please read all about our amazing hosts and the schedule at the Winter Blog Tour HQ.

    Next, although it will still be at least a couple of days before you can order Quiet Americans on Amazon, you can now purchase an autographed copy right from this website. (At least, you can do so if you have a mailing address in the U.S. or Canada.)

    So that’s the latest from here. We’ll see what gets accomplished in time for next week’s post!