Showing posts with label Writerly Topics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writerly Topics. Show all posts

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Next Generation Subscription Book Club

Powell's Book Store in Portland, OR, has a new groovy subscription book club called Indiespensable where every six weeks you get new independent books and sometimes even signed first editions for only $39.95 per shipment.

From their site:
Powell's subscription club delivers the best new books, with special attention to independent publishers. Signed first editions. Inventive, original sets. Exclusive printings.... Every six weeks, another installment to read and admire. Plus, every package is stocked with exciting surprises: bonus DVDs or CDs, prepublication copies of books we're looking forward to, mugs, posters, chocolate... See gifts from previous editions. Subscribe now to assure yourself a copy of Volume 9!
VOLUME 9
Ships on March 18, 2009
Sunnyside / A Day's Pleasure
by Glen David Gold
(Knopf)
Indiespensable, Volume 9

Limited edition, autographed, hardcover chapbook of "A Day's Pleasure," the first part of Sunnyside (56 pages). Printed on a heavy cream stock with 4/c frontispiece by artist J. D. King, two pen and ink interior illustrations by Patrick McDonnell (the creator of Mutts), and cased with a 6/c silk-screened image on cloth. Available only to Indiespensable subscribers.

Advance Reader's Copy of Sunnyside — more than a month before the book will be available in stores.

Special treats hand-picked by our staff


"A breathless stupendous novel that recreates both a young brash America on the verge of becoming itself, and Chaplin, one of its most bewitching quixotic citizens. From lighthouse to Hollywood to starlets to war to stardom to madness to genius Gold's startling narrative carries us across the world and back. Gold proves himself yet again to be the hungriest craftiest funniest and most humane novelist we have." Junot Díaz

Read Glen David Gold's essay about making the chapbook A Day's Pleasure.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Free Teleseminar For Writers

I ran across this free teleseminar for writers that might be a nice way to start 2009:

FreshStart '09: A Holistic Workshop for Writers by Marla Beck, Life Coach for Writers

Date/Time:
Thursday, January 8
10am PST / 1pm EST

http://www.coachmarla.com/teleclass.html

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Tips on Collecting Payment for your Writing Work

Women on Writing has an article that contains valuable tips on how to collect payment for your freelance writing efforts, not the least of which is to get the payment terms in writing. Check out the rest of the tips here: http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/2008/10/collection-tips.html.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Writer’s Digest - The Anatomy of a Writer's Website

Many writers who find themselves in a place where they need to promote themselves and their work get overwhelmed by the thought of creating their own website. If you find yourself in this position, click on over to Writers Digest. They have an article called The Anatomy of a Writer's Website with tips and lots of resources on how to easily create your own writers website, and what kind of content to include.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Get Ready for NaNoWriMo

Don't forget that November is just around the corner, so if you're looking for motivation to write that novel that's been churning and baking in your loins, then run over to NaNoWriMo.org and log in to solidify your November commitment to write that story. Your goal? 50,000 words by November 30th.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Helpful Hints ~

Often writers sabotage their chances of getting published without realizing it. Not utilizing the spell-check feature is one way. Another is by not making sure their work is professional-looking. To help guide your pieces to publication, make sure they look good. Jendi Reiter, editor of Poetry Contest Insider and judge of the Winning Writers poetry contests, has listed several important formatting tips to help guide the writer to success. Along with valuable suggestions regarding fonts & paper, front matter, cover & title pages, table of contents, acknowledgments, text, cover letter, and the famous SASE, she includes links to samples that provide a concrete look at what she means. Take a few minutes to read her Manuscript Tips, and help yourself avoid some of the more typical ways writers can unintentionally stand in their own way.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

How to Pitch an Idea to Hollywood

This morning's Los Angeles Times Magazine has a very informative story written by none other than Michael Wright himself (V.P. at Turner) about how to pitch show ideas to networks. His main point? Skip the gimmicks, remember you are selling to a buyer who reps a certain brand, go straight for the why-this-works-for-your-brand sell and then back it up with the goods and talent to actually make your project happen. Well, with one caveat. Sometimes gimmicks do work as he reveals at the end of his article. So let's see... follow the rules only to find the right moment to break them? It's so much more fun to just break the rules right out of the gate, though...

Read the article.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Writer's Block: Where in Your Head is it Really???

Some of us struggle with where to begin or how to continue making progress with what turns out not to be as simple as it should be: slinging words along a page in a meaningful progression. We're adults, we see movies, we read books, we know what makes something good or great, and there are no gates around the masters built to shut the rest of us out. Anyone with a pen/pencil paper or a computer (you can use them free at libraries!), is faced with the truth that it is only that which is within us that prevents us from writing, from pouring forth what we feel, observations on what others feel; the Great Stifler is our own. Sigh. In her article: "Writer's Block: Is It All in Your Head?", Leslie What tackles this thorny subject with understanding, insight, and -- Hugh Sigh of Relief! -- Possible solutions and recommended reading. Whereas not much research has been done this topic, she has unearthed and compiled enough of it that many of us who have suffered with this affliction may be inspired to take courage and sally forth to the realm of the written word with more confidence.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Thirty-two Statements About Writing Poetry ~

If you aren't familiar with Marvin Bell (and I wasn't until I came across this gem!), his Thirty-two Statements About Writing Poetry is a wonderful introduction to this astute and insightful man. This award-winning author and poet has succinctly and clearly enumerated several (thirty-two, in fact), thought-provoking observations. Different ones will speak to you each time you read through them.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

What's Your Semicolon IQ?

It's not often that a punctuation mark makes headlines in the New York Times. How thrilling that not only was this particular semicolon noticed; it was found remarkable enough for a journalist to write about, and for the editor to accept that article for publication! Heartening, yes, that something as simple as this could bring fame to the writer; this can be an inspiration to us all!

Congratulations to Beyond Baroque

Los Angeles is known as an industry town. We are lucky that it is an industry filled with creative people, and we are fortunate to have so many talented and hyper-creative people in our midst, but many industry people have creative interests that extend beyond just movie making and there are also many creative people here who are not associated with the movie industry. Los Angeles poets, for example, are an unsung and undiscovered gem in this town. Poets rarely get the kind of press here (and perhaps everywhere) that they deserve. Because Los Angeles is an industry town, many of the artistic services and support around town are focused on movie making, so when a literary arts center such as Beyond Baroque exists, we must relish and preserve it.

LAwritersgroup.com congratulates Beyond Baroque on it's survival and lease extension, and we extend our literary hand in friendship and well wishes to this Los Angeles gem.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Writing Poetry For FUN and PROFIT ~

Writing poetry can be such a deeply personal thing, sometimes it's difficult to think about ways to make money from it, but, not only can it be done, it can be done in ways other then entering contests and/or sending submissions and hoping. In this article, "Taking the PO Out of Poet," poet and author Jennifer Brown Banks shares some terrific "outside the box" ideas for how to turn your passion into a venture that can net you some cash benefits.

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Write Way To Happiness ~

Sometimes we could use a reminder of the healing aspects of expressing ourselves through writing. Just the simple action of writing a few words about our daily experiences can be a great benefit to our souls. Keeping a journal can reduce stress, help us to set goals and focus on them, improve our sense of well-being and aid us in making time for ourselves. Adding to the joy of this process, your journal can become a treasured keepsake. If you like this idea, but are unsure which approach to take, in this article, Doreene Clement lists 20 different suggestions of journals you can keep.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Where to Begin?

Sometimes it's hard to find a starting point to give focus to what we want to write. We feel like writing but don't know where to begin. If this is one of the demons that plagues you, than creativewritingprompts.com may be just what you've been looking for! Here you will find 302 (count 'em) prompts to create stories, poems and other creative pieces. We can be only grateful for that which eases the quest for inspiration!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Blog-ability

Kareem Abdul Jabbar has a blog on the Los Angeles Times website. Now, normally, there'd be no reason to direct folks to another blog site, but his eclectic topics are great sources of unusual information, ideas, and little-known biographies. Focusing on African-American personalities (the first female black lawyer in the US, jazz great Herbie Hancock, first female airline pilot, for example), health tips for those over 50, and commentary from an insider perspective on the latest sports news and scandals, it's a treasure trove of things that are interesting -- and inspiring -- to know and think about.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Basics of Writing Poetry ...

There are many instructive articles about writing, but this one by writing coach Jessica Page Morrell is one of the most thorough and instructive I've come across since I started writing for the LAwritersgroup.com blog. She begins with a quote from the Norton Anthology of Poetry that is worth repeating here:
'A poem is a composition written for performance by the human voice. What your eye sees on the page is the composer's verbal score, waiting for your voice to bring it alive as you read it aloud or hear it in your mind's ear.'
She goes on to offer suggestions and insights into:
  • The importance of keeping a notebook
  • Joining the writing life
  • Looking to your own life for material
  • Using poetry to express emotion
  • Style tricks
  • Style: Line
  • Style: Stanza
  • Style: Shape and format
  • Style: Repetition
She packs a lot of information into short paragraphs, and simply reading her suggestions is inspirational.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Beating Perfection Syndrome

We all want our writing to be the best that it can be, which, in our self-critical eye, is often better than it seems. If you find the desire for perfection to be so strong that it prevents you from writing at all ... well ... that sort of thing not only keeps you from sharing your gifts, it can constrict your soul. Author and copywriter Angela Booth grapples with this problem, and, in this article, generously shares her insights into its causes and consequences, as well as valuable tips on how to overcome it.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Writer Beware: The Dangers of Writing Fiction

Although writing about the stuff of our own lives, (non-fiction, memoirs, journals, etc.), may seem as though it would entail more emotional risks than writing fiction, through her own experience, Jennie Nash shows us that the exact opposite is, in fact, the case. She discovered that she revealed more of herself than she anticipated when her first novel was published, and in this insightful and informative article, explains how and why this happened.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Finding Quotes For Query Letters ...

Your query letter will have more attention-grabbing pizazz if you can quote an expert or two about the topic of your article. But how can you talk to an expert when you haven't been assigned an article yet? How, even, can you find one? Susan Denney answers these relevant questions in this helpful article that lists 6 terrific tips that will show you how to do just that!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Writing Humor For Young Readers

Let's face it: a little humor can make any piece of writing more interesting and enjoyable to read. In this engaging article, peppered with clarifying examples, short-fiction writer Eugie Foster explores the nature of humor. Although she's geared her essay toward writing for children, the lessons she's teaching can be applied to all genres, and toward any age group.