Be Your Own Editor

I’m back after a lengthy hiatus during which I moved into a new home, which I am gradually turning into a writing/blogging sanctuary for those brief snippets of time I find now and then to write/blog. Will let you know how that goes.

Meanwhile, I was inspired to return to the airwaves when I learned of a very useful Google search tool that I can’t believe I didn’t know about before.

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As I’ve preached before, anyone who wants to be a successful writer in the days of e-everything should be web-savvy. And if you’re web-savvy, you probably know what a podcast is. If not, you should be spending more time online, both creating your own online presence and taking advantage of the many creative writing websites and, yes, podcasts out there to advise you on both writing and the book business.

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Some of you may have read my posts on my experience taking a Fiction I class last winter at Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Joan sends in this follow-up question:

Would you advise enrollment in an online Gotham Writers’ class?

A little background—I have zero education in creative writing and am really afraid of feeling like a loser in a class packed with MFA types. My self-esteem is solid except where writing is concerned. Any snobby mention of my elementary style will send me quivering to the corner.

So, two sides to my question—is Gotham online worth $445, and do you think a writing class will brutalize my ego?

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Here’s a sign that publishers are beginning to rethink their business model in the face of new methods of book promotion and distribution: the Author’s Guild isn’t happy with a change in the standard book contract at Simon & Schuster, effectively granting the publisher rights to a book well beyond the point when a book would, under most current contracts, be considered out of print. (Rights to out-of-print books normally revert to the author.) S&S now wants to retain rights if the book remains available in any form, including digitally or via print-on-demand.

Chances are they’ll come to some sort of compromise in this case, but it signals the beginning of a inevitable restructuring of the legal and financial relationship between publisher and author in the age of the internet and print-on-demand. Something to keep an eye on.

Check out GalleyCat for a good summary of the situation and industry reaction.

I came across the fairly wacky website SeventhSanctum.com recently and can’t help sharing. It’s mostly a collection of “generators,” described by the site as “tools for writers, gamers, and artists; randomly assembling names, concepts, and more for when you need inspiration, or just a bit of amusement.” If you’re searching for your next idea (big or small), you just might find it there. Or something that leads you to it.

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Time for an information technology break. My company’s IT department recently sent out a dire-looking announcement regarding some features of Microsoft Word’s “Track Changes” feature, and it got me thinking… Many writers probably use Track Changes to, you know, track their changes. Many writers may also be e-mailing documents—manuscripts, query letters, etc.—to agents or editors or friends or teachers. If you don’t want those agents or editors or even your friends to see every step you took on the road to the finished product, read on for a few simple tips.

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