Friday, December 11, 2009

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: December 11 Edition

► Let's get the grim news over with first: Kirkus Reviews has folded.

Pictory is a new site combining – as its name implies -- excellent photos with story.

► I'm not much of a technophile, but this – sending an email directly from a print publication page -- sounds quite cool. Be sure to watch the short video.

► If you want to keep up-to-date on what's happening in the rapidly developing e-book
industry, you might want to check this new Mediabistro blog (and daily free email) on the topic.

►Some literary journals still insist on snail mail submissions, and if you don't own a postage scale, this handy new site will calculate the postage based on number of pages, envelope size – even if there are paper clips and a SASE.

►Save the date – April 24, 2010. Welcome Table Press will hold a day-long symposium, In Praise of the Essay: Practice and Form, at Fordham University (NYC). (More to come on this in a future post.)

►Nearly every writer has taken jobs that pay the rent. But working for the online writing mills probably shouldn't be one of them. What do you think?

►Debra Schubert discusses her journey to landing an agent over on MFA Confidential.

►Self-editing got you grumbling? The Crabbit Old Bat (a.k.a. British novelist Nicola Morgan) has some cheeky advice. Somehow I think anyone who calls herself a crabbit old bat finds it somehow satisfying and charming to talk about killing her darlings.

►Ever thought someone should invent a platform that hooks on a steering wheel so you can write in the (hopefully parked) car? Well, someone did and this somewhat alarming device, along with 19 other cool or kooky items, are on this list of gifts for journalists.

►If I were anywhere within reasonable commuting distance of northern Wisconsin, I'd seriously consider this February Mother Words Writing Retreat, organized by Kate Hopper.

► And finally, what has Twitter taught you? (Even if you don't actually tweet, you may enjoy this Simon Dumenco essay/rant.

Have a great weekend.

5 comments:

Mummy mania said...

Loving the journalist toys and the mummy writing retreat - any in Ireland????? Thaqnks for these.

Jenny said...

Fun links. Thanks!

njdevilsfan24 said...

Nice job Mom!

kate hopper said...

Thanks for the shout out, Lisa! I appreciate it!

Best,
Kate

Susan Bearman said...

Just FYI, the postage calculator has been taken down at Fiction on Demand as of 12/20/09:

http://www.fictionondemand.com/mailingguidelines.htm