Friday Fridge Clean-Out: April 16th Edition

► One of the many nonfiction writers I admire is Susan Orlean. She’s sending out an occasional e-newsletter detailing progress on her next book about of all (non)things, Rin Tin Tin.

►January Magazine has an interesting blog.

► This Mediabistro summary has links to several items examining 2009 publishing stats, including an eye-opening report which found that NONtraditional books outnumbered traditionally published ones by nearly three to one, and that 74 percent of traditionally published books were the product of only 10 publishing houses.

►Speaking of self-published books, a new MediaShift piece examines the many pitfalls.

►Essayists in or near Manhattan -- on April 24, get thee to: In Praise of the Essay: Practice and Form - First Annual Symposium, co-sponsored by Welcome Table Press and Fordham University’s English Department and Creative Writing Program.

► How much do I love writing prompts? A lot. Over at Write it Sideways, there are 50 new prompts perfect for creative nonfiction writers, including several I’ve never seen before.

►My web wanderings often take me to these sites, and if I had more time, I’d read every single word at Narrative Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Narrative Digest at the Nieman Foundation for Narrative Journalism at Harvard, and Brevity Journal.

► The great part about pre-ordering a book months before publication is that when it finally arrives, it’s the nicest surprise. That’s what happened when my friend Kathy Briccetti’s first memoir, Blood Strangers, arrived the other day. Even though I read the final draft, the book is now calling to me.

► Finally, although I’m on a conference-diet this year, the Writers Conference at Marymount Manhattan College on June 3 is mighty tempting. Were I to go – and I’m not, not, NOT going – I’d opt for the panels on humor, small presses, agents and nonfiction editors.