Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers -- December 2, 2016 Edition

Looks like there are a bunch of new subscribers: Welcome! If you don't already know, Friday Fridge Clean-Out is me clearing out links I've gathered in the past week (or more)...much like how I sometimes feed my family on a Friday night, pulling leftovers out of the fridge. Enjoy!

> Jane Friedman with good (and in many cases, overlooked) advice about "How to Smartly Evaluate a Small Publisher." Just because a press is traditional (and not a self publisher), doesn't always translate to a desirable partner.

> Check out Christelle Lujan's "20 Apps for Writers Who Want to Get Serious" at SheWrites. I definitely need a few of these!

>Is an official book launch worth the effort? Dorit Sasson weighs in with some recent experience.

> At WOW! Women on Writing, Chelsey Clammer encourages submission, and offers her 1,278 rejections since 2011 as proof that the prize (in her case, 150+ publications!) goes to those who stay in the game.

> If you like Pinterest: a whole bunch of nifty lists and cheat sheets here with writing, revision, and editing advice.

> Short stories printed on wine bottle labels! What's not to like? (Okay, they're in Italian...)

> Finally: breathe. Or at least have a laugh with Daveena Tauber's "Post Election College Paper Grading Rubric" at McSweeney's.

Have a great weekend!

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons-Rusty_Clark

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers -- August 5, 2016 Edition

 > At the L.A. Review of Books, Tarn Wilson takes a close look at "How to Write a Collage-Style Memoir" by examining the craft and structure in A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice by Christine Hale. (Tip: Don't let #1 fool you!)

> Wondering what college students will be reading this fall? (Humor me, I have one of these species.) NPR rounded up some of the books being read campus-wide at a variety of universities.

> Yet one more site that rounds up links of interest to writers on Fridays -- Being Rudi.

> Has anyone (I'm thinking about you, list essay writers) explored (or tried posting at) Li.st? 

> Now that Oprah has named his new novel, The Underground Railroad, her newest book pick, Colson Whitehead talked to the New York Times about "Slavery, Success, and Writing the Novel That Really Scared Him."

> Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. My nonfiction narrative, "The Amazing Technicolor Horse Dream" appears in the July Hippocampus Magazine (part of their "Firsts" theme issue). It's my second essay on the site; I'm proud to have my work appear in the same venue beside so many excellent examples of the creative nonfiction genre. Have I mentioned (maybe only a zillion times!) that last summer Hippocampus put on a stellar first conference for CNF writers, one where every writer, at every level, was made to feel welcome? And that I'll be presenting once again when the second installment convenes next week in Lancaster, PA?

Have a great weekend!

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers -- May 27, 2016 Edition

A big bunch of links to last you through the long weekend. Enjoy!

> Richard Russo and Jenny Boylan team up in a Studio 360 podcast, on "Plot Twists in Books--and Life," and I can't think of a better writer-friend combo to tackle this topic.

> From the front lines (or front office, anyway) of the O.Henry Prize Stories, Kelly Luce reports, in Electric Literature, on "12 Things I Noticed While Reading Every Short Story Published in 2014-15 (or, Extremely Long Titles That Are Complete Sentences Are Still Very Much a Thing)" 

> Authors, need help coordinating book promo events? Check out Have Book Will Travel, which is "connecting authors with reading series and venues."

> On Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29, you can listen in on, and ask questions, during a select few live sessions at the Creative Nonfiction Magazine Writers Conference including "Write This Way: How to Find and Develop a Niche in Your Writing" moderated by Keysha Whitaker, with Shannon Reed, Jason Bittel, and Christina Marusic; and "Ask an Editor Panel," moderated by Ellen Ayoob, with Hattie Fletcher, Geeta Kothari, and Jessica Bylander.

> The new app Litsy aims to be a place to "share and discover your favorite books with your favorite people." At Book Riot, Brenna Clarke Gray characterizes it "as if Instagram and Goodreads had a beautiful, perfect baby."

> Looking for more places to find good links for writers? Try this "Afterthoughts" newsletter from Chantel Hamilton.

> New Pages is now doing Lit Mag Reviews. (Correction: STILL doing reviews! Don't know why I thought they were a new feature at the New Pages site. I stand corrected. Still excited to know of this resource.)

> In Britain at least, The Guardian reports that paper books are outselling ebooks.

> At the Los Angeles Review, Corey Ginsberg weighs in with some rules about rejection for writers--and for editors, too.

> Finally, earlier this week, I had a horrible, no-good, very bad Monday of rejections--four in my inbox before lunch! The next morning I found Kathleen Siddell's great funny/not-funny piece, "How to Face an Inbox of Rejection" on the Brevity blog. Bravo.

Have a great weekend!

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons - Billie Grace Ward / wwward0

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers, January 11, 2013 Edition

> Want to access literary journals on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch? Check out the LitRagger app.  Among those available are: Bellevue Litearary Review, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, and more.

> At Magical Words, some tips for keeping your dialogue real (hint: by making sure it isn't).

> The poet who will write for Obama's inauguration worked as a civil engineer before his writing career gained traction. In the New York Times, Richard Blanco's work is described as "laden with longing for the sights and smells of the land his parents left behind (Cuba)."

> When submitting to literary journals, it never hurts to review the most common reasons for rejection, offered in this post at Inkspill.

> With her characteristic wit, grit, and candor, nonfiction author and college professor Sonya Huber answers writers' most frequent questions in one terrifically engaging post.

> At My Journal Coach, Jeanne Westervelt Rice offers tips for journal writing, including a worksheet for those affected by storms. 

> Finally, I do hope my corraded Friday links list today will not too badly jargogle your mind. Perhaps this last link will even make you kench. Writers, go forth and have a day in which you avoid perissology and aspire to scriptitation. If those lines have not put you into a widdendream, wander over to Matador Network for "20 Obsolete English Words That Should Make a Comeback." 

Have a great weekend!