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The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2
  • Short Story Month celebrations end tomorrow (quick reminder: you can still enter our collection giveaway right here). There has been a lot of wonderful content online this month that focuses on short stories. I recommend especially the coverage at Fiction Writers Review and David Abrams’s terrific blog post spotlighting noteworthy story collections of 2012.
  • Want to know how to promote your e-book? Really want to know how to do so for free? GalleyCat has some resources for you.
  • And speaking of promotion, Jane Friedman recommends “4 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Book Marketing Efforts.”
  • Congratulations to Carol Tice on the publication of her first co-authored print book. (There’s quite a backstory here, one that will interest you especially if you’re into the subject of how your blogging may lead you to your books.)
  • Poet Diane Lockward has compiled a list of what she considers to be especially appealing online journals.
  • And Kelli Russell Agodon tells us “what’s going on in the Poetry Blogosphere these days.”

    • Friday Find: Another Resource for Book Reviewers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    You know what’s coming up, don’t you? That’s right, it’s nearly time for Book Expo America (BEA), where publishers will introduce and seek to build buzz for forthcoming titles. If you’re a reviewer or book blogger, BEA provides a terrific opportunity to learn about titles you might want to cover over the next several months.

    Even if you can’t make it to BEA itself, you can benefit from some of the ancillary resources. For instance, Publishers Lunch this week released a digital “buzz book” of its own, “a free ebook that presents over 30 meaty excerpts from books that will be featured at the convention and highly-touted fall releases of all kinds.” I downloaded it right away and immediately took note of books I’ll want to read and write about.

    [But remember, there are plenty of other ways to find not-yet-published titles for review as well.]

    And with that, I am off for the holiday weekend. I’ll see you back here on TUESDAY, and we’ll get the June newsletter out to you next week as well. Have a safe and pleasant weekend, all.

    Friday Find: Hot Freelance Tips from Kelly James-Enger

    by Erika Dreifus on
    23

    The primary concerns of the Practicing Writing blog focus on the craft and business of writing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. But you’ve probably noticed that freelance writing is something of an overlapping concern here. Speaking personally, I’ve been trying to sustain a part-time freelance practice alongside my “creative” writing AND my “day job” for the past several years, and lately, I’ve been trying to take a good hard look at how I can improve it.

    All of which is by way of explaining why I’m so pleased to learn that Kelly James-Enger, another contributing editor for The Writer magazine, has published a new book: Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets for Freelance Success. And to help introduce it, Kelly is featuring a series of “Hot Freelance Tips” on her Dollars and Deadlines blog. (She was also kind enough to arrange for me to receive a complimentary review copy of Writer for Hire.)

    But wait—there’s more! Kelly has agreed to provide another free copy of her new book to one lucky Practicing Writer. All you need to do to be eligible is to read the Hot Freelance Tips and come back here to comment on this post. Please tell me (and Kelly) something you’ve learned from the tips, something they make you wonder about, or something that simply “speaks” to you when you read them.

    We’ll collect comments until through next Friday (May 11), and then the trusty random number generator will do the work of choosing a winner. Thank you for playing along!

    UPDATE: The random number generator has selected CAROL J. ALEXANDER as the giveaway winner. Carol, please email me with your mailing address and I’ll get it to Kelly ASAP. Thank you all for participating–I enjoyed (and agreed with) your comments, and I’m sure that Kelly appreciated them, too.

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • To Think, To Write, To Publish is “a yearlong program, supported by the National Science Foundation, featuring two multi-day workshops in Washington, DC and Tempe, Arizona. Twelve emerging communicators and 12 early-career science and innovation policy scholars will learn about creative/narrative nonfiction storytelling techniques; meet with and learn from creative writing and science journalism professors, museum professionals, and editors of mainstream publications; and collaborate, in scholar-communicator pairs, on narrative essays to appear in a nationally-distributed publication. Each workshop will include a keynote event and sessions led by prominent narrative/creative nonfiction writers, teachers, editors and agents, featuring Lee Gutkind, ‘the godfather behind creative nonfiction’ (Vanity Fair) and the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction. This is a unique and challenging opportunity open to next generation science and innovation policy scholars and next generation communicators working in any genre(s) and interested in science, technology and the social sciences. All participants will receive an honorarium plus travel expenses to the workshops. To Think, To Write, To Publish will help writers learn much more about the process and importance of research and the vital importance of policy, and scholars learn about how to utilize creative nonfiction storytelling techniques to make science policy more accessible to a general audience.” No application fee. Deadline: June 15, 2012.
  • The Cha Flash Fiction Contest is run Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. “It is for unpublished flash stories in English language on the theme of ‘Misinterpretation.'” You may submit up to two pieces (no longer than 250 words each). There is no entry fee. Deadline: July 15, 2012. Prizes: £50/£30/£20 (payable through Paypal). All three winning pieces will receive first publication in a special section in the fifth anniversary issue of Cha.
  • Freelance opportunity with Columbia Journalism Review (for a Virginia-based writer): “CJR seeks one Virginia-based freelance correspondent for an online media criticism project, The Swing States Project, focused on the 2012 presidential campaign and other campaigns for federal office. The correspondent will critique campaign coverage—local and regional, but also national when it comes to town—with two specific areas of focus. First, he or she will monitor the media for instances of ideological fear-mongering, rhetorical distortion and manipulation, missing context, errors of fact, etc. (Or, alternately, he or she will highlight coverage that excels in pushing back against political misinformation.) Second, the correspondent will explore how the impact of political money in Virginia is covered, in terms of advertising, fund-raising, and the perception of candidates during the campaign, and lobbying and power politics beyond it. Swing States Project correspondents are expected to contribute on average three posts per month, which are featured on the CJR website. Much of the work will involve reading and reacting to/critiquing in-state campaign coverage, with some reporting as well. To see the project’s output to date, visit http://www.cjr.org/swing_states_project/. Correspondents also consult with the editors in New York about how national trends are reflected in their states and occasionally share insights and reporting for stories written in New York, and work with an in-house engagement editor to promote the project through local media (including, possibly, radio/TV appearances) and social media (Twitter proficiency—and following—a plus). Compensation will include an $800 monthly retainer and a per-post fee of $200. This position is grant-funded and continued freelance assignments are contingent on funding renewals.”
  • “The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, Inc. [Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.] is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to advance the art and craft of writing by encouraging writers and readers at all levels to participate in and enjoy the literary arts. We seek an Executive Director with vision and proven experience in development of not-for-profit organizations and a dedication to the arts and literary pursuits. The ED is responsible for overall management of the Center’s programs, operations, and staff, and for development and fundraising.”
  • And last, but by no means least: The May issue of The Practicing Writer went out to subscribers over the weekend. As usual, the newsletter focuses on poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and is filled with no-fee competitions and paying litmag calls for submission.