Friday Finds for Writers

Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • A return to the issues of “niceness” in book reviews, the differences between reviews and publicity pieces, and similar topics, occasioned by the announcement of Isaac Fitzgerald’s new job.
  • On the Ploughshares blog, Rebecca Makkai shares “14 Ways to Tick Off a Writer.” (I confess that I’m guilty of committing #11–albeit in an un-patronizing way [I hope]. I really do believe that completing a novel draft is a huge achievement.)
  • Need some help with your poems? (I sure do.) Check out Carmen Giménez Smith’s “Twenty-two Poem Hacks” on the Harriet blog.
  • Speaking of poetry: Diane Lockward follows up on the fate of six rejected poems.
  • Jane Friedman offers tips on finding and working with a book publicist.
  • Have a great weekend.

    Friday Finds for Writers

    Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • If you’re new to Twitter, you may find this primer to be useful.
  • 71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book.” (h/t @JennCrowell)
  • A promising new-ish website I’ll be keeping an eye on: “The Writer’s Job,” which describes itself as a “guide to writing and making a living.”
  • For the next few weeks, Cathy Day plans to dedicate her “Teaching Tuesday” blog posts to some of her teachers and what she has learned from them. First up: Michael Martone.
  • This Q&A with Adam Berlin addresses the author’s new, post-9/11 novel; his work as co-founder/co-editor of J Journal: New Writing on Justice; and the gaps that can occur between books.
  • Have a great weekend, everyone.

    Weekend Web Wanderings

    Usually, I limit writing-link roundups to the “Friday Finds” posts. But I’ve run across so many interesting items over the past couple of days that I’m going sharing an exceptional set of “Weekend Web Wanderings” today as well. Hope that you enjoy!

  • Over on the Ploughshares blog, Rebecca Makkai advocates “writing as if…”. (h/t @occasionallyzen)
  • There’s something kind of whiny about this piece by Lionel Shriver on how much non-writing is involved in a writer’s work life. But there’s also something true about it.
  • Fascinating interview with poet Nikki Finney. Among the thought-provoking morsels: “Nobody wants to hear your rant. If you want to rant and if you want to be full of rage, you can put that in your journal book. Art is about the provocative, but it is also about the beautiful. I never forget that. They go hand in hand for me.”
  • Carol Tice takes on the subject of early-reader reviews–and how to make them better.
  • And I’m cheating a bit with this one. Let’s just say that I’ve recently been “inspired” to revisit my own “7 Reasons This Writer May Unfollow You on Twitter.”