Monica Valentinelli's Blog: booksofm.com, page 124

Interacting with Celebrities or Authors? Don't be "that Guy."

One of the benefits of following your favorite celebrities or authors on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or through their blogs, is that you can interact with them like you would one of your friends.

Unfortunately, this accessibility also encourages the notion that these highly visible people are your personal friends. Friends that you can make recommendations to, ask for favors from and expect to publish or create specifically for you. Should you?

I've been involved with social media (both profession

Interacting with Celebrities or Authors? Don’t be “that Guy.”

One of the benefits of following your favorite celebrities or authors on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or through their blogs, is that you can interact with them like you would one of your friends.

Unfortunately, this accessibility also encourages the notion that these highly visible people are your personal friends. Friends that you can make recommendations to, ask for favors from and expect to publish or create specifically for you. Should you?

I’ve been involved with social media (both profession

Day Three: Good Karma and Laziness

So today I didn’t eat enough for breakfast, which translated to an egg breakfast sandwich (No, not from McDonald’s…) which tied me over to lunch. By that point I was feeling pretty good. Only two cups of coffee, and a strange sense of awesome came over me. One of my co-workers proclaimed that I was feeling all that “good karma” because I wasn’t eating meat.

Not sure about you, but I find that quite amusing.

Since I had the leftovers from last night, I thought I was going to make it through to the

Day Two: Soy, Portions and Mac-n-Cheese

Today turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would. I’m finding it’s pretty easy to have variety for breakfast and not eat meat products. There’s a place in my heart for my kitchen, and making muffins is actually pretty relaxing for me, so after lemon poppy seed bliss…I headed to work.

I knew that there were a few people at work who were vegetarian (or who knew folk who are) so I asked around a little bit for some advice. The big topic of discussion was the “evils of soy.” Really? I

Guest Blog Post: Brozek on Editing Anthologies

Readers, I asked Jennifer Brozek to offer a guest blog today. Jennifer is an editor, writer and a game designer who has recently done some work through Apex Books and Morrigan Books. This post is about her perspective on editing a fiction anthology. I know that many of you are looking for places to submit your short stories, and anthologies can be a great opportunity for you. Be sure to read Jennifer’s bio if you’re interested in learning more about her, too. Without further ado, I’ll turn this

Day One: My Pescatarian Adventures

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of sushi, but I’m also a fan of eating right. So I decided over the weekend to start on a 30-day excursion that I call “My Pescatarian Adventures.” Most vegetable-based (with the occasional sushi goodness) this is a shift for me from the chicken/carb/vegetable means I’ve been eating. I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve learned. For those of you who aren’t interested in these adventures, I’m going to start off each post with “Day + Number” so you c

The Hazards of "Getting There First"

As I'm sure everyone knows, there's a big shake-up happening in the world of traditional journalism. Print newspapers are shrinking — both their staff and their printed size — sending many journalists to the highly competitive world of online publishing.

Online publishing is fairly competitive, because in many writers' minds — in order to get your article read, you need to be the first one to break the story and publish it online. In theory, the idea that you need to "get there first" sounds no

The Hazards of “Getting There First”

As I’m sure everyone knows, there’s a big shake-up happening in the world of traditional journalism. Print newspapers are shrinking — both their staff and their printed size — sending many journalists to the highly competitive world of online publishing.

Online publishing is fairly competitive, because in many writers’ minds — in order to get your article read, you need to be the first one to break the story and publish it online. In theory, the idea that you need to “get there first” sounds no

Publishing's Future may be a Paradigm Shift

One of the hot topics over the past, few weeks as been the "future of publishing." At BookExpo America, the Future is Digital, according to the Washington Post. (You can also find a lot more information on the topic through Publishers Weekly.) While I'm offering my opinions related to the future of professional publishing and the digital market in this post, a word of caution — digital publishing is currently a tiny, tiny market. During a panel at WisCon, Tor Books relayed that of the entire boo

Publishing’s Future may be a Paradigm Shift

One of the hot topics over the past, few weeks as been the “future of publishing.” At BookExpo America, the Future is Digital, according to the Washington Post. (You can also find a lot more information on the topic through Publishers Weekly.) While I’m offering my opinions related to the future of professional publishing and the digital market in this post, a word of caution — digital publishing is currently a tiny, tiny market. During a panel at WisCon, Tor Books relayed that of the entire boo