Lincoln Michel's article "Everything You Wanted to Know About Book Sales (but Were Afraid to Ask)" over on Electric Literature is a solid read. It provides what is probably the closest any of us will get to a decent explanation of the vagaries of book-sale definitions and numbers. Check it out…
Writing Tools and Information
Diversity and Marketing.
Jean Ho’s NPR piece, “Diversity In Book Publishing Isn’t Just About Writers — Marketing Matters, Too,” brings up another facet in the need for increased diversity within the literary world. A good read.
Books for Life.
From The New York Times blog: How reading books corresponds to living a longer life. Just another benefit of reading. Sweet.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2016/08/03/read-books-live-longer/?_r=0&refere
When You Cannot Write a Single Word.
In Writers Recommend, poet Lo Kwa Mei-en describes what she does when she cannot write a single word:
"I have taken to picking up a book from my past that I have been hungering to reread and typing it out word for word, at a speed slow enough to feel the words relating to each other and hear new things in their music that I had not heard before. I will retype another's book until I feel love and not despair."
21 Tips.
From the BookBaby Blog: 21 Tips to Beat Writer’s Block.
Some wonderful tactics that can be employed for when your motivation or ideas for writing dry up. #14 and #15 are standard protocol for me.
Indie Presses.
Here's a great read that I found on TheAtlantic.com: “American Literature Needs Indie Presses.”
There’s a lot to appreciate about this insightful article by Nathan Scott McNamara which focuses on the role indie presses now have in the literary world. Check it out…
New Words.
“Hockey mom” and “Scooby Snack” are just two of the new words in the Oxford English Dictionary. I don’t know…it all seems a bit much to me. Slang is slang for a reason.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-icymi-dictionary-20160707-snap-story.htm
100.
Another awesome piece from Lit Hub: Kim Liao’s “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year” explains how the path to writing success is paved with rejection notices. This one changed my perspective on submitting work to journals.
http://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/
13 Questions.
As a practicing writer, one of the more critical decisions you will face is deciding where to submit your work.
Check out this new piece by Erika Dreifus on Literary Hub called “13 Questions to Ask Before Submitting to a Literary Journal.” It provides some sound advice on what you should look for as you’re searching for potential “homes” for your writing.
http://lithub.com/13-questions-to-ask-before-submitting-to-a-literary-journal/
Inclusive.
Don't miss this excellent piece by Zinzi Clemmons on Literary Hub today: "What It Means To Be an Inclusive Literary Journal."
http://lithub.com/what-it-means-to-be-an-inclusive-literar…/
Disaster.
From New Republic: Alex Shepard discusses what could happen if Barnes & Noble were to fold.
Spoiler alert – it is not a positive prediction.
Trim.
Eva Langston has a new article, “10 Words to Trim from Your Writing,” up on the Beyond Your Blog website. It’s a valid list of words you can reduce or eliminate from your writing to make it more effective.
#2 is my crutch word of choice, especially when I’m writing fiction.
http://www.beyondyourblog.com/10-words-to-trim-from-your-writing/
Bibliotherapy – Is this really a thing?
From The New Yorker: Ceridwen Dovey investigates bibliotherapy. Can reading make us happier?
I think so. :)
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier
Criticism.
From Writer’s Digest, a guide on how to deal with criticism in order to evolve as a writer: “4 Ways to Take Criticism Like a Pro,” by Tanaz Bhathena.
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/4-ways-to-take-criticism-like-a-pro
Damn.
This essay by Gabino Iglesias on Dead End Follies brings some heat to the literary establishment: Online Literary Magazines and their (Intense) Diversity Problem.
http://www.deadendfollies.com/blog/online-literary-magazines-diversity-problem
Where's Your Novel?
From a fiction standpoint, I’m a flash fiction/short story writer. As a result, I’ve often been confronted with the question, “But where’s your novel?”
So although I’m far from being a famous short story writer, I can identify with Amber Sparks’ article on Electric Literature: “Let Us Now Praise Famous Short Story Writers (And Demand They Write a Novel).”
Unsung Heroes.
Check out this feature on from Lit Hub: The Unsung Heroes of the Poetry World.
A feature on some of the hardworking folks who keep some of the small presses afloat. Interesting read.
The “Moist” of It All: A Look at Word Aversion.
A recent study by Paul Thibodeau, a professor of psychology at Oberlin College, examines the phenomenon of "word aversion"--the extremely visceral distaste that some people have in response to certain words, such as "moist," "luggage," and "phlegm." Check out this article about this study and the words that repel us. It got me thinking about the inherent power of these words and how I can use their “yuck factor” to my advantage in my writing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/science/moist-word-aversion.html?_r=1
Embrace the Embarrassment.
“To risk something real as a writer is to risk making a fool of oneself.” This essay resonated with me: Idra Novey talks about Learning to Be Embarrassed on the Page.
https://catapult.co/stories/learning-to-be-embarrassed-on-the-page
Thirty Poets.
If you want to get the scoop on some talented poets or are just looking for something new to read, check out this from Literary Hub: 30 Poets You Should Be Reading.