Sites I’m visiting
This changes every now and then. During the time I’ve been reading writing blogs many have risen and fallen. People seem to have a blogging “threshold” - for some reason it’s often a couple of years – and then their output seems to fall off.
There are many blogs I first started following two or three years ago that used to post new content several times a week, if not daily, and I would always wonder “How do they do it?” The answer seems to be, they can’t – not forever – there is a breaking point and things then slow down.
So, what reading / writing sites am I following and enjoying these days?
My main ones are:
1) The Passive Voice. This one amazes me as it appears in my inbox every day. EVERY DAY. How? I like it because it’s a real round-up of different types of news about publishing, books, writing, reading, etc. I don’t agree with all the featured posts - I don’t think one single person COULD agree with all of them – but they’re all interesting and skimming through it every day provides an overview of what different people are thinking and saying. Plus, the commenters are NUTS. Really. You have never seen more nit-picky crazy commenters. I would NEVER want something I wrote to appear here because those people will rip you to shreds!
2) Because the above-mentioned Passive Voice, comes directly into my inbox, I occasionally have to go back and Google the actual site to refer back to something I read earlier. In doing so, it’s easy to stumble across PassiveAggressiveNotes.com which is just plain funny from the standpoint of anyone interested in word use combined with human nature (aka writers).
3) I also subscribe to Janice Hardy’s The Other Side of the Story. I particularly like her “Real Life Diagnostics” in which she offers critique on works in progress. If the advice strikes a little too close to home, that may be a good thing!
4) I also read Joe Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. If you have ever had a wonder, thought, question about self-publishing or e-publishing or publishing with Amazon, it’s probably addressed here, along with many things it never occurred to you to ask or think of. There are so many extreme attitudes in publishing right now – traditional publishers are antiquated and obstructionist, self-published work is terrible, Amazon is setting out to rule – and then destroy - the literary world as we know it, there are “right” and “wrong” reasons to write, there are “right” and “wrong” ways to publish, etc. etc. I don’t need to tell you none of these are true, and anyone who says they are is the one with the problem. Joe Konrath is an example of somebody getting it VERY right in his own particular publishing path who is willing to share his lessons learned. Pretty cool reading.
5) Another one for fun. I’ve recently discovered Lousy Book Covers. A visit there almost always makes me cringe while, simultaneously, being very satisfying. A visit there also makes me love my cover designer, Daniel Choi, at Red Deer. Thank you Daniel!
What writing / reading sites do you like to visit? Please share!
