Getting all linky with Maree... again

GETTING ALL LINKY WITH MAREE... AGAIN By Maree Anderson (for Writers Gone Wild)

Hi all,

Before I forget....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Or,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Or,

HAPPY [INSERT MEANINGFUL GREETING THAT

COULDN'T POSSIBLY OFFEND ANYONE, HERE]!

On the personal front, you know how things were basically shite in Maree-land when I last posted? Well, I'm happy to report that DD's operation went well, and she's slowly but surely recovering. The surgeon saw her again today, and we're all hopeful that the procedures have worked a treat and she'll be back to playing hockey and doing karate and going to school, and just generally hanging out without feeling sick and nauseous and in varying degrees of pain all the time.

I can't ask for a better Christmas present than that! (But damn, I'm sure gonna try my best to appreciate the heck out of the Kindle I bought for my DH to give me for Christmas *g*)

Anyhoo, I thought it was about time I shared some more of my favorite websites. Yes, my friends, it's time for Maree to get all linky again.

***

First up is Chuck Wendig's blog "terribleminds" -- specifically this post:

25 Things Writers Should Know About Rejection.

*Warning: Do not have drink in hand while reading. Especially do not risk actually drinking anything while reading.*

Here's a sample of the delights ahead should you choose to click the aforementioned link:

4. Rejection always stings. It stings me, you, everybody. Nobody likes to be rejected. A writer who likes being rejected is a writer who is secretly a robot and must be smelted down into slag before he tries to kill us all because he hates our meat. Pain is instructive. And it’s not permanent. Not if you don’t let it be. Some writers savor misery like a hard candy endlessly sucked in the pocket of one’s cheek, but fuck that.

6. It’s not about you. It’s about the work. I mean, unless it is about you. I guess it could be personal. If you send a story off to an editor, and you once shat in that editor’s fishtank, well. That might be personal.

13. Objective rejections will take you to task for two primary things: one, you didn’t follow the submission guidelines. (Can I just say: always follow the goddamn submission guidelines? Even if the submission guidelines are like, “Each corner of the manuscript must be dabbed with the urine of an incontinent civet cat and the writer must write his name backwards for the magic to take hold,” you do that shit because you’re not a pretty pretty unicorn, you’re a horse like the rest of us, goddamnit.)

***

Second up: Joe Konrath's "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing" -- specifically, this post:

Konrath's Resolutions for Writers 2012

He adds to the list every year. This one from 2008 resonated with me:

"I Will Feed My Addiction

Life is busy. There are always things you can and should be doing, and your writing career often comes second.

So make it come first.

Right now, you're reading A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. Not A Newbie's Guide to Leading a Content and Balanced Life.

You want to get published and stay published? That means making writing a priority. That means making sacrifices. A sacrifice involves choosing one thing over another.

If you can't devote the time, energy, and money it takes to pursue this career, go do something else."

And this one from 2012:

5. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You're a writer. You're in this until the day you die. As long as you continue to write good books, you'll find readers.

***

Another great blog to check out is Passive Guy's: "The Passive Voice: Writers, Writing, Publishing, Disruptive Innovation and The Universe"

PG (Passive Guy) takes relevant chunks from a huge variety of blogs--anything from The Washington Post, to Amazon, to the mega-successful indie author team of Saffina Desforges, and posts them in one handy dandy place for you to peruse. He may or may not provide a commentary on those posts--and if he does volunteer an opinion, it's always worth a read.

He provides links to the full blog posts, so you can check them out in their entirety if you like (i.e. if you have enough hours in the frickin' day!)

Here's an example: "How Not To Blog: 22 Things For New Bloggers To Avoid."

For this post, PG selected five little gems of wisdom from the list of 22. (There are full explanations of why these are big, bad, no-nos for newbie bloggers, but I'll just list the titles here):

1. Ignoring comments

4. Whining

5. White text on dark backgrounds

13. Acting like you're a rock star from Mars

21. Letting blogging take over your life

And if you have a burning desire to read the full list and explanations, the link to Anne R. Allen's blog post is provided.

I like PG's method of posting snippets, because when I'm busy, I can scan the summary post and see immediately whether the full post will interest me and it's worth clicking on the link to the full post.

For example, PG posted this one: "How much should an ebook cost?" The article was by Seth Godin and it began like this:

"This is the wrong question.

The right question is: How much will an ebook cost?

Because the answer isn’t up to one author or one publisher or even a price-fixing cartel. It’s up to the market, which is a far more complicated entity. There are no shoulds in the market, just reality."

And although a few more paragraphs were quoted, that intro was enough for me to click through to The Domino Project, and read the full article by Mr. Godin.

***

Last on today's list is Joel Friedlander's "The Book Designer".

Joel's blog is a Mecca of excellent advice from anything from Getting Ready To Publish, Understanding Fonts & Typography, Self-Publishing Basics, EBooks & EReaders, to his weekly This Week in the Blogs summaries.

For those dipping their toes in the wonderful world of blogging or designing covers, here's a good one:

Finding Photographs for a Book or Blog Gets Better, where he talks about a couple of little interface enhancements that have made shopping for royalty-free photos on stock photo sites a whole heap easier.

I also learn a lot from checking out his monthly e-Book Cover Design Awards. What I especially like about this site is that Joel will generally only comment on covers that he really likes, or feels could be improved with some practical advice. They're not open to commenters, so that cover you've slaved over won't be ripped to shreds by a bunch of people who don't "get" the genre.

Here's the link to his November e-Book Cover Design Awards & October eBook Cover Design Awards. (Pssst. If you scroll through October's, you might see a couple of covers submitted by a Wild Writer *g*)

And last but not least, a word of wisdom from an unknown dog... who doesn't seem to mind his owner doing weird-ass things to his face while someone takes a photo which goes viral.

Smile while you still have teeth :)

See you next year!

Hugs,

Maree