While I try to find links applicable to a broad spectrum of people, lest I bore you with my writerly navel-gazing, in truth much of what catches my eye these days relates to the craft and business of being an author. Several of this week’s links, therefore, deal with issues facing writers today, but hey, I’ve thrown in a couple of completely-non-writing-focused links, too, just for the heck of it.
1. Why Blogging Is Key For Authors – When I first heard Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion that it takes 10,000 hours to be an expert in anything, I felt discouraged. How would I ever find 10,000 hours to devote to writing when I also wear the hat of mom and wife and taxi driver and school volunteer, etc., etc. Turns out a) I’ve been writing my whole life, and need to keep that in mind, and b) blogging not only lets me hone my skills even more, but means I have a chance of staying current in the eyes of my…9 followers (did you know you can follow my blog?). It’s all good, people. It’s all good.
2. Start Your Author Blog in 5 Easy Steps – So now you know you should be blogging (well, at least if you’re pretending to be a real writer like I am). How do you start? What topics should you address? Search no further, dear friends – here you’ll find a hilarious list of things to do (and, well, not do) as you start up your own blog.
3. This Is Why No One Follows You On Twitter – Wondering why you can’t get followers on Twitter? (Just as I’m wondering what steps I need to take to increase followership on this blog – one of which might include not using made up words like followership?) Here are several hints. And yes, can I please get an Amen on the one about sending DMs (direct messages) soliciting a book sale? Nothing sends me to the “unfollow” button more quickly…
4. Banned Romance: What’s So Bad About Happily Ever After? – Sure, Banned Books week may be over, but that doesn’t mean conversations about such books need to end, right? Here Maya Rodale takes on romance novels – in the modern sense, but also including classics such as Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterly’s Love to discuss what makes these type of books so scary in the first place. I don’t know – I’d take heaving bosoms over heavy artillery any day.
5. Things You Didn’t Know Women Invented – My mother would find this list lacking, as she has always informed us it was Katherine Green who invented the cotton gin, NOT Eli Whitney (apparently Ms. Green asked him to get the patent because, as a woman, she couldn’t legally do so – he did, and got all the credit, too.). Aside from that, though, this is a great list full of achievements by women – some of which I knew, many of which I didn’t.
6. The 35 Most Spectacular Wildlife Photos From The National Geographic Photo Contest – If a picture is worth a thousand words, you don’t need any more of mine here.