2008 is Dead

At the year's end it seems fitting to observe THE DEAD by Billy Collins Poetry, American Poet Laureate


Discovered via The Wisest Possible Poetry Blog

Seasonal Salutations

GRAY APOCALYPSE Review

Calling all X-Philes, Zonies, Peaks Freaks, conspiracy theorists and science fiction lovers. This heart-pounding extra-exciting thriller offers the best of the weirdness tossed about in the Twilight Zone, Tales from the Darkside, X-Files and all the other books, movies, and TV series of the paranormal and the really "out there" offerings. Murdoch spins out the tale, but never out of control, in a well-written extension of some of the mainline madness that has so entertained sci-fi and horror fans for the last 40 years.

Read the rest here or at BlogCritics Book Review: Gray Apocalypse by James Murdoch

Only three days are left before Earth is theirs!

Writing Content

This is the third follow up article in the series Better Websites for Writing. Two of the key components mentioned in that first piece were "goal-directed content" and "highly targeted copy". Both fall under the rubric of Content Strategy as recently delineated by Kristina Halvorson in "The Discipline of Content Strategy", an article at A List Apart, one of the best websites on websites.

For Halvorson, writing for the web is one of the elements of content strategy:

Web writing is the practice of writing useful, usable content specifically intended for online publication. This is a whole lot more than smart copywriting. An effective web writer must understand the basics of user experience design, be able to translate information architecture documentation, write effective metadata, and manage an ever-changing content inventory.

If all that is too esoteric and complicated, just try to keep your site's viewers in mind. They all want to know WIFM? "What's in it for me?" You must dangle a little somethin' to keep them reading.

Visitors come to your site with a purpose in mind. It could be to learn more about your work or you, to find more information about the subject of your writing, or maybe to buy something. A few will come for the entertainment value, or to check out your web designer's skills--but those are a minority of viewers.

At the same time, and this is like juggling, you must also direct the content toward your targets: hire you, buy your book, love you madly, whatever it is that you hope to accomplish by having a website. Incidentally, "having a presence on the web" is too vague a reason. Personal websites are so yesterday.

The content spans the gap between viewers' needs and yours. Halvorson thinks web designers have ignored content way too long. She asks, "Do you think it’s a coincidence, then, that web content is, for the most part, crap?"

Don't fill your site with mealy-mouthed weasel words--more crap--make every word count, just like you do with your non-content writing. It's the content that fulfills the promise of a pretty design, just as the book must measure up to its lovely cover. Otherwise, they won't come back again, and that's one of the three overarching goals for your site: to attract and retain visitors and to induce them to return.

This article is an extension of Better Websites for Writing.
Previous articles in the series:
Writing Websites: Critical Listings
Writing Websites: Current Practices

Cats on Track for Success!

Deux chats sur un tapis roulant
Uploaded by worfrozenko

via Debbie Mack's Writing For Hire

Editors on Self-Publishing

Paul Krupin of Direct Contact PR, makes available the results of a survey of media people (editors, mostly) on the subject of self-publishing and self-publishers. It's still a mixed set of attitudes. In posting the link on a publisher's mailing list, Krupin wrote:

The key lessons learned is simple: Write a good book. Make sure it is a really good book. And then do a really good job telling the right people you wrote a really good book.

The survey responses as a .PDF file and web page.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: A Novel

One of the perqs of reviewing books is the bonus book that shows up on the doorstep like lost luggage or a foundling. I was pretty sure that's what the huge (567 pp.) book was that came tumbling out of a package from S&S because I would never have requested something titled ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA or billed as historical. Then I noticed the author's name: Colleen McCullough of THORN BIRDS.

"Oh, well," I thought, "this will be good anyway if it's by her."

It's a huge book. The cover is gorgeous. The back cover blurb is very interesting, especially the little bio on McCullough. The book is historical fiction about the named couple, a seventh volume in an epic Masters of Rome series. I didn't even know about the series, that's how much I'm not into historical fiction. Go look at it in a book store, and maybe you'll be drawn in.

I suppose that someone really into this genre or the time period would enjoy the work. I tried. I really did. I think the fact that I was so bored by the material made me focus on the writing, which I was surprised to see could be improved. I'll have to reread THORN BIRDS now with a more analytic eye to determine if this is a flaw in my critical abilities.

Did I say it's a big book?

Does A Writer Return?

Baby comes back! Well, not really. I'm not ready to rejoin the ratracetrack of daily posting -- too many holiday parties to attend, not enough progress on long term projects. The good news, though, is that this extended break from blogging has allowed the painful tendonitis in my right hand to subside. I don't even need to wear a band during the day and/or a brace at night now.

Meanwhile, for the holidays, I've reduced the price on my eBook Be a Successful Writer! to $14.95. It prepares a beginner for the practical side of the writing life, whether the interest is in freelancing nonfiction, creating a novel, or crafting poetry. The book provides the basics of what you need to know about selling your work, handling records and taxes, finding agents, and so much more. Read all about it, and give someone (or yourself) the gift of success!

During this pause in the blog, I used some of the time to move it to a new page named "Blog.htm" and remodeled the old index page to help newcomers find what they're looking for. I've also added new services to the page on Editing -- namely formatting manuscripts for self-publishing and consultations or help by phone and email.