Writing's on my mind, and I read how-to articles and pieces about publishing when my work is finished for the day. Five articles or blog posts recently caught my attention, so I'm sharing them. (If you're not a writer, scroll to the end of this post for a cake recipe. You won't be sorry.)
First up is an article from The Virginia Quarterly Review. Kathleen Schmidt offers insights into and predictions for book publishing in 2013. Don't skip over the book buyer/reader statistics from Bowker that were presented at the recent Digital Book World conference.
Digital Book World and Writer's Digest surveyed authors and found one-third of traditionally published authors are interested in self publishing.
Writer Chuck Wendig delivers 25 hard truths about writing and publishing. Read them all, but pay special attention to the last one: "You can’t control publishing. You can’t control the audience’s reaction to your book. Control what you can control, which means: write the best book that lives inside you."
Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Last Runaway, applies "less is more" to her writing.
Developmental editor Alan Rinzler advises authors to mine their experiences to give authenticity to their writing.
Bonus: For a great round-up of articles for and about writers and writing, bookmark The Author Chronicles' Top Picks Thursday.
http://authorchronicles.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/top-picks-thursday-01-17-2013/
In unrelated news, my France-inspired dinner party last Sunday proved a success. The Barefoot Contessa's (Ina Garten's) recipe for boeuf Bourguignon rocked, and I turned to an old friend dessert that wouldn't be out of place in France.
Sometimes my absorption with all things French crowds out my absorption with writing. Early this morning, I turned on my bitty laptop and saw a list of articles to read, including: Your Personal France. I clicked tout de suite, only to discover wishful thinking (and poor eyesight) had swapped France for Finance. A personal finance article at half-past dawn? That would be a non.
Your turn: share your favorite source for writerly information, name your favorite dessert, or both.
20 comments:
Some of my favorite writers' blogs are by husband & wife Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Good business stuff, and craft too. LOL at your personal Finance/France! :)
Thanks for the links, Pat. I always enjoy your suggestions although I don't always get a chance to read them all.
Jennette, I'm a big fan of Kristine Kathryn Rusch, too. Her posts rarely get to the point quickly. Instead, she shows the reader her thought process, which is always interesting.
Hi, Lark! I bookmark or favorite a lot of sites and look at them when I have a few minutes. An example Alan Rinzler gave of a sailor and writer reminded me of you and your WIP. You're smart to mine the years you spent in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
I had no idea you had a thing for all things France/French. Do you speak the language?
I loved the articles you shared and thanks for the cake recipe. Can't ever go wrong with cake.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Lol Pat! "I had swapped France for Finance." Only you. I did think that was interesting that a third of traditional authors are interested in self-pubbing. The times, they are a changing, eh? And congrats on the big French meal last Sunday. Glad it was a hit. Oui, oui! :)
Hi, Patricia!
No, you can never go wrong with cake. Yes, I have a thing for France/French, and, once upon a time, spoke French pretty well. That, sadly, was more than thirty years ago. I'm rusty now, but phrases are coming back.
Have a wonderful RWA meeting this weekend. I know your chapter members will like Ginger Calem. Hey, aren't you two supposed to go to a winery today?
Thanks for the links Pat. I like Rusch too and Jane Friedman.
And that cake recipe does look yum!
Hi, Karen,
I thought the survey results were interesting, too.
Whew! I'm relieved that French dinner went off without a hitch, except that I forgot to put parsley on every plate at serving time, even though I'd chopped the parsley and stacked the plates right next to it so I couldn't possibly forget.
Hi, Coleen.
I'm making the cake again this weekend to use up the leftover buttermilk. Crazy that I'll buy another four bucks' worth of berries to use up 70 cents worth of buttermilk, huh? But we will have cake! The recipe is easy to follow, and here in Houston, blackberries from Mexico are plentiful in grocery stores at this time of year.
Yes to Rusch and Friedman!
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