ThePublishingSpot: January 2007 Archives

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Jan31	How To Survive As A Struggling Writer Jason Boog January 31, 2007 Know More: Writing Resources 2.0, Writing Resources Remember me? I used to post here every day! Sorry about the lapse in posts yesterday. I lost heat in my apartment, and everything has been placed on the figurative back-burner while I fix that problem. In the meantime, I suggest you read BookForum's harsh, but thoughtful, essay about novelist Paul Auster. Not everybody loves Auster's quiet storytelling style and private detective plots, but reading his books changed my writing style forever. I even wrote a story about it. For me, the essay reminded me of the best lesson about Auster's life: Don't give up, it's never too late to build a writing career. Check it out... "He emerged as a genuinely popular novelist and superstar cultural export only after respectable if obscure beginnings as a poet, critic, and translator in the '70s—his story is yet another refutation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's dictum about American lives having no second acts." Thanks to Steve Bryant for the link. Posted at 7:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan29	Shooting Your Stories Jason Boog January 29, 2007 It's time for storytellers to start shooting. Shooting video, that is. Our friendly neighborhood web video guru, Steve Bryant, noted last week how Google and YouTube are finally working together. Google searches will now turn up links to YouTube content.That's... Continue Reading Posted at 7:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Otherwise, you will look back with regret" : The Secret To A Happy Writing Career Jason Boog January 29, 2007 Until I started this website, I used to think that successful writers had some secret super-human lucky power. Take Tony D'Souza. He wrote an extremely well-reviewed book (Whiteman) and published essays in my favorite publications. I was sure he... Continue Reading Posted at 6:05 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan26	We Lost 17,000 Jobs Last Year Jason Boog January 26, 2007 According to UPI, we lost over 17,000 media jobs last year. That's thousands and thousands of writers losing employment in a century where we can publish anytime, anywhere. What is happening to us? Michael Calderone has been covering New York media all... Continue Reading Posted at 7:37 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Follow the ebb and flow of inspiration" : How To Balance Writing and Daily Responsibilities Jason Boog January 26, 2007 "If you take a hot pin and stick it into amber, the smell of million-year-old pine resin floats out at you, fresh and alive. The pinprick of the word 'dad' was like that for me--it sent memories streaming, filling the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan25	How To Cure Blogger Pox Jason Boog January 25, 2007 My novel editing has stalled ever since the holidays. I think I may have a case of Blogger Pox. Blogs help you publish and find an audience faster than anybody ever dreamed. Paradoxically, this beautiful technology can doom you to... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Recharge Your Relationship with Language" : How Poetry Can Help Your Writing Jason Boog January 25, 2007 "Paris Hilton's storage unit contents, which were auctioned off in 2005, much to the celebutante's chagrin, are now avaialable for viewing online for $39.97 a month. See how lucrative self storage auctions can be!"That's our featured guest, Gayle Brandeis (at... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan24	Feel Lucky, Punk? Jason Boog January 24, 2007 Feel lucky, punk? Susan Henderson is having a marvelous conversation over at LitPark about the role of luck in a literary career. As somebody sitting in the wacky world of New York publishing, I gotta say, makes a good point... Continue Reading Posted at 7:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"One Big Messy Creative Gush" : How To Turn a NaNoWriMo Project Into a Real Live Novel Jason Boog January 24, 2007 "Whitman was a master at imagining himself in other skins. I am large, he said. I contain multitudes. He could see himself as a soldier, a slave, a mother giving birth, a blade of grass. That didn't come as easily... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan23	How To Stop Writing Long, Long, Long Posts Jason Boog January 23, 2007 Look at my last long, gangly post. In this content-mad world, I sometimes forget to keep it simple. Today Jeffrey Yamaguchi--a zen master blogger compared to our sprawling posts--introduced me to the elegant site, Making Happy. For the last four... Continue Reading Posted at 8:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Other Is Not So Other After All" : How To Write with Compassion Jason Boog January 23, 2007 "Words for aspiring authors? Don’t forget to look to the small publishers or independent presses. Believe me, I would have loved nothing more than a large advance from a big publisher because I really want an Infiniti FX 35 and... Continue Reading Posted at 6:29 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan22	Publishing Spotted: David Lynch!!!!!!!! Jason Boog January 22, 2007 Ed Champion reports that his 100th episode of the Bat Segundo Show (the most elaborate, probing book podcast on the Internets) will feature film-directing genius, David Lynch. Over on his blog, Nick Mamatas delivers a simple post about the probabilities... Continue Reading Posted at 7:55 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Key Word Is Passion": How To Write Socially Conscious Fiction Jason Boog January 22, 2007 "I half-expected spirits to swirl out of the box, a' la Pandora. Angry ghosts, maybe the ectoplasm Noodle was so scared of. Instead, a vaguely floral smell drifted up, a surprisingly clean smell. I slipped my fingers into the gap... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan19	Writers Who Draw Jason Boog January 19, 2007 Ever since I was a kid, a good comic book would always cheer me up. So imagine my happiness to discover two graphic events taking place right underneath my nose...Smith Magazine just released the first installment of Josh Neufeld's webcomic,... Continue Reading Posted at 12:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Craft the Best Fiction Possible Jason Boog January 19, 2007 It is a rare thing to take a peek inside the mind of a writing judge. Besides being one of the first interview victims on this site, Jeff VanderMeer is a web-savvy speculative fiction writer offering book and music recommendations, exercise... Continue Reading Posted at 12:05 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan18	"We Must Be Ready To Do Something Radically Different": How To Build Readership on Community Websites Jason Boog January 18, 2007 "Kimberlee is an astounding woman. She is a gifted journalist and poet, has an intellect built to intimidate and has a wicked sense of humor. Confident enough to tell the truth, even when it's ugly, she would make an... Continue Reading Posted at 9:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Mortality Rate Was Terrible" Jason Boog January 18, 2007 Time Inc. took some devastating lay-offs today, and scores of writers are now out of work. Gawker has provided the best coverage of the damage so far.When these publishing disasters occur, I like to re-read a quote from the story,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:07 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Power Is In Your Hands" : How To Survive as a Journalist in a New Media World Jason Boog January 18, 2007 "My advice is to ONLY hire people whose skills cross media platforms. Look for people who not only understand and are enthusiastic about online media, but who also can serve the print edition well. If a job candidate says she... Continue Reading Posted at 6:50 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan17	"Get Over Yourself" : How To Collaborate on Writing Projects Jason Boog January 17, 2007 "We started out writing our stories to relieve the pain, fear and struggle we experienced daily. There is also incredibly strange to see your 'ordinary' life replayed as a motion picture ... The end result a remarkably real and honest... Continue Reading Posted at 6:35 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan16	Collaborate Right Now Jason Boog January 16, 2007 Nobody can make it alone in the writing world. Why not work together? "This week’s question: Have you ever tried an artistic collaboration of any sort? Tell me how it went for you..." writes Susan Henderson over at LitPark this week.Twenty... Continue Reading Posted at 7:37 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"I would never be happy at a 'regular' job" : How Citizen Journalism Affects Writers Jason Boog January 16, 2007 If the strong showing of the movie of Freedom Writers proves anything, it shows that people are hungry for more ways to tell personal stories.The film records how a group of high school kids learned how to tell their personal... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan15	"How could I write about hope if I had none myself?" : How One Writer Beat Some Incredible Odds Jason Boog January 15, 2007 As we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., I'd like to introduce a very special writer who helped encourage a new generation of storytellers. Web journalist and editor Kimberlee Morrison is the air-traffic controller for the Know More Media... Continue Reading Posted at 8:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan12	Tell Your Story... Jason Boog January 12, 2007 I, for one, am overjoyed to see this weekend arrive. I'm going to relax and try and write a storytelling story. Why don't you join me? My friends at the The Antagonist Art Movement will be hosting the Fahrenheit reading on... Continue Reading Posted at 7:42 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Brave New Publishing World? Jason Boog January 12, 2007 Touchstone and Simon & Schuster and Gather.com have initiated the world's first novel-publishing contest, helping writers ride the American Idol wave.It's pretty simple. You can submit the first chapter of your novel and win a publishing deal. The whole contest... Continue Reading Posted at 6:26 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan11	Cannibals and the People Who Love Them Jason Boog January 11, 2007 Fan fiction and regular fiction have the strangest relationship. Sarah Weinman linked to a Telegraph article speculating that novelist Thomas Harris may have been influenced by his legions of fan fiction writers. For years, fan fiction authors have written about... Continue Reading Posted at 6:02 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan10	How To Build Your Own Community Jason Boog January 10, 2007 I spend so much time talking about community at this website, but I just found a group of people who are actually doing something about it. Thanks to Susan Henderson over at LitPark, I discovered a group of writers who... Continue Reading Posted at 2:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Flash Video Storytelling Jason Boog January 10, 2007 You got 15 seconds to tell me a story... Our ReelPop buddy Steve Bryant just showed me the CBS/YouTube contest that gives viewers 15 seconds to tell the world anything. The winning video entry will be shown during the Superbowl, which... Continue Reading Posted at 7:39 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What Sitcom Is Your Website? Jason Boog January 10, 2007 If this site was a sitcom, which sitcom would it be?I vote that the metaphorical sitcom for The Publishing Spot is Get a Life: funny in a quirky way, cheery, and not outrageously popular--but kept afloat by a small, supportive... Continue Reading Posted at 6:25 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 9	Grow a Thicker Skin! Jason Boog January 9, 2007 "It's been shocking, honestly. I've never had a very high opinion of the MFA experience, as I've heard many tales from friends of mine who have been through some pretty prestigious programs -- and I've read plenty of mediocre stories... Continue Reading Posted at 7:29 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Buy Your Domain Name Jason Boog January 9, 2007 "I don't think most people, first starting out working with the web directly, understand the implications of selecting the name for where to place their work...Thinking through a bit on what you want for your site and its name will... Continue Reading Posted at 6:40 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 8	Writing Sucks! Jason Boog January 8, 2007 Writing sucks. You live with long hours, few rewards, and near-constant threat of rejection. But we still do it! Over the weekend, I discovered Keri Wood's blog, Writing Sucks. It's the diary of a young writer trying to break into the... Continue Reading Posted at 8:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Become "The Free Spirit Roaming the World" Jason Boog January 8, 2007 "How many of us stood in front of similar classrooms and saw those young faces arriving with the dawn? How many of us could have written the same sentiments — though not the same sentences — home? And how many... Continue Reading Posted at 7:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why You Should Buy Your Domain Name Jason Boog January 8, 2007 Does it matter if you own your domain name? Imagine yourself at a cocktail party, telling an editor about your wonderful new idea. They ask where they can see your work. You grab a napkin write down your webpage address: www.johndoeisagreatwriter.bloghoo.googpress.com.net.Who's... Continue Reading Posted at 6:42 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 7	Free Post Rock Sampler For Writers Jason Boog January 7, 2007 Last year, in The Great Writing Music List, Part One, I asked all my readers "what do you listen to when you write?" That's one of the most important questions anybody can ask you about writing. A great song can... Continue Reading Posted at 2:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 6	Lit Bloggers Ponder A Publishing Disaster Jason Boog January 6, 2007 Disaster struck the publishing industry last week, and I've neglected to pass along the links. Advanced Marketing Services (AMS), the distribution and wholesale company responsible for circulating books between giant chain stores and smaller publishers, just declared bankruptcy. Everybody from... Continue Reading Posted at 2:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 5	How To Turn Bad Christmas Books into a Writing Goldmines Jason Boog January 5, 2007 Too often, people give bad books for holiday presents. Thusly, too many people start the new year with a pile of oddball gifts: Chicken Soup for the Starving Writer's Soul or the latest bestseller you never wanted to read in... Continue Reading Posted at 7:54 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tell Your Story Jason Boog January 5, 2007 I'm always working to create more real-world writing community through this blog. You can sit in your room writing every day for the rest of your life, but without a solid community you'll miss out on the best perks of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 4	How To Find Baby Boomer Web Writers Jason Boog January 4, 2007 Earlier this week, we wondered when would the baby boomer web writers arrive? Turns out they were here already. I just received a note from The Boomer Chronicles--a site written by the baby boomer journalist named Rhea. She features nostalgic... Continue Reading Posted at 7:59 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Read Like Crazy Jason Boog January 4, 2007 Nobody interviews writers with quite the same enthusiasm as Susan Henderson at LitPark. Over the course of a typical author's feature, Henderson includes: family pictures, first-person memoir, book graphics, imaginary conversations, and random stories about her family. When she reads a... Continue Reading Posted at 7:58 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 3	How To Name Your Fantastical Characters Jason Boog January 3, 2007 I'm the worst name-maker-upper I know. On every page of my novel, I struggle with character's names--trying to come up with organic, yet wonderful-sounding, names for the people populating my book.Today, BoingBoing pointed me towards a great name-making resource. The... Continue Reading Posted at 8:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How Do You Eat An Elephant? Jason Boog January 3, 2007 Over at Smith Magazine, Larry Smith just answered that question for writers.He showed me an obsessive new creative writing site, and I love linking to obsessive writers. The crazy folks over at Word Count Journal have a new plan that... Continue Reading Posted at 7:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 2	What Should Young Journalists Be Learning Now? Jason Boog January 2, 2007 As the publishing industry struggles to strike a new balance with digital media, students are still pouring into journalism school. Are these fledgling writers being taught the right things? I'm a j-school graduate myself, and the question bugs me. Over at... Continue Reading Posted at 9:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The Baby Boomer Web Writers Are Coming Jason Boog January 2, 2007 Do you know a techno-phobic baby boomer writer who needs your help with digital publishing? I don't spend too much time thinking about demographics here at The Publishing Spot, but a blog post just reminded us about baby boomer writers who... Continue Reading Posted at 9:31 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Build a Better Podcast Jason Boog January 2, 2007 Welcome home, true-believers. Let's get down to business this brand new year. I hope you had a safe and happy holiday. Ed Champion will open the 2007 Edition of The Publishing Spot, exploring (along with a couple blowhards) this Book TV... Continue Reading Posted at 6:38 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »

Jan31	How To Survive As A Struggling Writer Jason Boog January 31, 2007 Know More: Writing Resources 2.0, Writing Resources Remember me? I used to post here every day! Sorry about the lapse in posts yesterday. I lost heat in my apartment, and everything has been placed on the figurative back-burner while I fix that problem. In the meantime, I suggest you read BookForum's harsh, but thoughtful, essay about novelist Paul Auster. Not everybody loves Auster's quiet storytelling style and private detective plots, but reading his books changed my writing style forever. I even wrote a story about it. For me, the essay reminded me of the best lesson about Auster's life: Don't give up, it's never too late to build a writing career. Check it out... "He emerged as a genuinely popular novelist and superstar cultural export only after respectable if obscure beginnings as a poet, critic, and translator in the '70s—his story is yet another refutation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's dictum about American lives having no second acts." Thanks to Steve Bryant for the link. Posted at 7:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan29	Shooting Your Stories Jason Boog January 29, 2007 It's time for storytellers to start shooting. Shooting video, that is. Our friendly neighborhood web video guru, Steve Bryant, noted last week how Google and YouTube are finally working together. Google searches will now turn up links to YouTube content.That's... Continue Reading Posted at 7:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Otherwise, you will look back with regret" : The Secret To A Happy Writing Career Jason Boog January 29, 2007 Until I started this website, I used to think that successful writers had some secret super-human lucky power. Take Tony D'Souza. He wrote an extremely well-reviewed book (Whiteman) and published essays in my favorite publications. I was sure he... Continue Reading Posted at 6:05 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan26	We Lost 17,000 Jobs Last Year Jason Boog January 26, 2007 According to UPI, we lost over 17,000 media jobs last year. That's thousands and thousands of writers losing employment in a century where we can publish anytime, anywhere. What is happening to us? Michael Calderone has been covering New York media all... Continue Reading Posted at 7:37 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Follow the ebb and flow of inspiration" : How To Balance Writing and Daily Responsibilities Jason Boog January 26, 2007 "If you take a hot pin and stick it into amber, the smell of million-year-old pine resin floats out at you, fresh and alive. The pinprick of the word 'dad' was like that for me--it sent memories streaming, filling the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan25	How To Cure Blogger Pox Jason Boog January 25, 2007 My novel editing has stalled ever since the holidays. I think I may have a case of Blogger Pox. Blogs help you publish and find an audience faster than anybody ever dreamed. Paradoxically, this beautiful technology can doom you to... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Recharge Your Relationship with Language" : How Poetry Can Help Your Writing Jason Boog January 25, 2007 "Paris Hilton's storage unit contents, which were auctioned off in 2005, much to the celebutante's chagrin, are now avaialable for viewing online for $39.97 a month. See how lucrative self storage auctions can be!"That's our featured guest, Gayle Brandeis (at... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan24	Feel Lucky, Punk? Jason Boog January 24, 2007 Feel lucky, punk? Susan Henderson is having a marvelous conversation over at LitPark about the role of luck in a literary career. As somebody sitting in the wacky world of New York publishing, I gotta say, makes a good point... Continue Reading Posted at 7:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"One Big Messy Creative Gush" : How To Turn a NaNoWriMo Project Into a Real Live Novel Jason Boog January 24, 2007 "Whitman was a master at imagining himself in other skins. I am large, he said. I contain multitudes. He could see himself as a soldier, a slave, a mother giving birth, a blade of grass. That didn't come as easily... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan23	How To Stop Writing Long, Long, Long Posts Jason Boog January 23, 2007 Look at my last long, gangly post. In this content-mad world, I sometimes forget to keep it simple. Today Jeffrey Yamaguchi--a zen master blogger compared to our sprawling posts--introduced me to the elegant site, Making Happy. For the last four... Continue Reading Posted at 8:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Other Is Not So Other After All" : How To Write with Compassion Jason Boog January 23, 2007 "Words for aspiring authors? Don’t forget to look to the small publishers or independent presses. Believe me, I would have loved nothing more than a large advance from a big publisher because I really want an Infiniti FX 35 and... Continue Reading Posted at 6:29 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan22	Publishing Spotted: David Lynch!!!!!!!! Jason Boog January 22, 2007 Ed Champion reports that his 100th episode of the Bat Segundo Show (the most elaborate, probing book podcast on the Internets) will feature film-directing genius, David Lynch. Over on his blog, Nick Mamatas delivers a simple post about the probabilities... Continue Reading Posted at 7:55 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Key Word Is Passion": How To Write Socially Conscious Fiction Jason Boog January 22, 2007 "I half-expected spirits to swirl out of the box, a' la Pandora. Angry ghosts, maybe the ectoplasm Noodle was so scared of. Instead, a vaguely floral smell drifted up, a surprisingly clean smell. I slipped my fingers into the gap... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan19	Writers Who Draw Jason Boog January 19, 2007 Ever since I was a kid, a good comic book would always cheer me up. So imagine my happiness to discover two graphic events taking place right underneath my nose...Smith Magazine just released the first installment of Josh Neufeld's webcomic,... Continue Reading Posted at 12:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Craft the Best Fiction Possible Jason Boog January 19, 2007 It is a rare thing to take a peek inside the mind of a writing judge. Besides being one of the first interview victims on this site, Jeff VanderMeer is a web-savvy speculative fiction writer offering book and music recommendations, exercise... Continue Reading Posted at 12:05 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan18	"We Must Be Ready To Do Something Radically Different": How To Build Readership on Community Websites Jason Boog January 18, 2007 "Kimberlee is an astounding woman. She is a gifted journalist and poet, has an intellect built to intimidate and has a wicked sense of humor. Confident enough to tell the truth, even when it's ugly, she would make an... Continue Reading Posted at 9:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Mortality Rate Was Terrible" Jason Boog January 18, 2007 Time Inc. took some devastating lay-offs today, and scores of writers are now out of work. Gawker has provided the best coverage of the damage so far.When these publishing disasters occur, I like to re-read a quote from the story,... Continue Reading Posted at 7:07 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"The Power Is In Your Hands" : How To Survive as a Journalist in a New Media World Jason Boog January 18, 2007 "My advice is to ONLY hire people whose skills cross media platforms. Look for people who not only understand and are enthusiastic about online media, but who also can serve the print edition well. If a job candidate says she... Continue Reading Posted at 6:50 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan17	"Get Over Yourself" : How To Collaborate on Writing Projects Jason Boog January 17, 2007 "We started out writing our stories to relieve the pain, fear and struggle we experienced daily. There is also incredibly strange to see your 'ordinary' life replayed as a motion picture ... The end result a remarkably real and honest... Continue Reading Posted at 6:35 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan16	Collaborate Right Now Jason Boog January 16, 2007 Nobody can make it alone in the writing world. Why not work together? "This week’s question: Have you ever tried an artistic collaboration of any sort? Tell me how it went for you..." writes Susan Henderson over at LitPark this week.Twenty... Continue Reading Posted at 7:37 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"I would never be happy at a 'regular' job" : How Citizen Journalism Affects Writers Jason Boog January 16, 2007 If the strong showing of the movie of Freedom Writers proves anything, it shows that people are hungry for more ways to tell personal stories.The film records how a group of high school kids learned how to tell their personal... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan15	"How could I write about hope if I had none myself?" : How One Writer Beat Some Incredible Odds Jason Boog January 15, 2007 As we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., I'd like to introduce a very special writer who helped encourage a new generation of storytellers. Web journalist and editor Kimberlee Morrison is the air-traffic controller for the Know More Media... Continue Reading Posted at 8:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan12	Tell Your Story... Jason Boog January 12, 2007 I, for one, am overjoyed to see this weekend arrive. I'm going to relax and try and write a storytelling story. Why don't you join me? My friends at the The Antagonist Art Movement will be hosting the Fahrenheit reading on... Continue Reading Posted at 7:42 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Brave New Publishing World? Jason Boog January 12, 2007 Touchstone and Simon & Schuster and Gather.com have initiated the world's first novel-publishing contest, helping writers ride the American Idol wave.It's pretty simple. You can submit the first chapter of your novel and win a publishing deal. The whole contest... Continue Reading Posted at 6:26 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan11	Cannibals and the People Who Love Them Jason Boog January 11, 2007 Fan fiction and regular fiction have the strangest relationship. Sarah Weinman linked to a Telegraph article speculating that novelist Thomas Harris may have been influenced by his legions of fan fiction writers. For years, fan fiction authors have written about... Continue Reading Posted at 6:02 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan10	How To Build Your Own Community Jason Boog January 10, 2007 I spend so much time talking about community at this website, but I just found a group of people who are actually doing something about it. Thanks to Susan Henderson over at LitPark, I discovered a group of writers who... Continue Reading Posted at 2:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Flash Video Storytelling Jason Boog January 10, 2007 You got 15 seconds to tell me a story... Our ReelPop buddy Steve Bryant just showed me the CBS/YouTube contest that gives viewers 15 seconds to tell the world anything. The winning video entry will be shown during the Superbowl, which... Continue Reading Posted at 7:39 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What Sitcom Is Your Website? Jason Boog January 10, 2007 If this site was a sitcom, which sitcom would it be?I vote that the metaphorical sitcom for The Publishing Spot is Get a Life: funny in a quirky way, cheery, and not outrageously popular--but kept afloat by a small, supportive... Continue Reading Posted at 6:25 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 9	Grow a Thicker Skin! Jason Boog January 9, 2007 "It's been shocking, honestly. I've never had a very high opinion of the MFA experience, as I've heard many tales from friends of mine who have been through some pretty prestigious programs -- and I've read plenty of mediocre stories... Continue Reading Posted at 7:29 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Buy Your Domain Name Jason Boog January 9, 2007 "I don't think most people, first starting out working with the web directly, understand the implications of selecting the name for where to place their work...Thinking through a bit on what you want for your site and its name will... Continue Reading Posted at 6:40 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 8	Writing Sucks! Jason Boog January 8, 2007 Writing sucks. You live with long hours, few rewards, and near-constant threat of rejection. But we still do it! Over the weekend, I discovered Keri Wood's blog, Writing Sucks. It's the diary of a young writer trying to break into the... Continue Reading Posted at 8:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Become "The Free Spirit Roaming the World" Jason Boog January 8, 2007 "How many of us stood in front of similar classrooms and saw those young faces arriving with the dawn? How many of us could have written the same sentiments — though not the same sentences — home? And how many... Continue Reading Posted at 7:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why You Should Buy Your Domain Name Jason Boog January 8, 2007 Does it matter if you own your domain name? Imagine yourself at a cocktail party, telling an editor about your wonderful new idea. They ask where they can see your work. You grab a napkin write down your webpage address: www.johndoeisagreatwriter.bloghoo.googpress.com.net.Who's... Continue Reading Posted at 6:42 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 7	Free Post Rock Sampler For Writers Jason Boog January 7, 2007 Last year, in The Great Writing Music List, Part One, I asked all my readers "what do you listen to when you write?" That's one of the most important questions anybody can ask you about writing. A great song can... Continue Reading Posted at 2:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 6	Lit Bloggers Ponder A Publishing Disaster Jason Boog January 6, 2007 Disaster struck the publishing industry last week, and I've neglected to pass along the links. Advanced Marketing Services (AMS), the distribution and wholesale company responsible for circulating books between giant chain stores and smaller publishers, just declared bankruptcy. Everybody from... Continue Reading Posted at 2:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 5	How To Turn Bad Christmas Books into a Writing Goldmines Jason Boog January 5, 2007 Too often, people give bad books for holiday presents. Thusly, too many people start the new year with a pile of oddball gifts: Chicken Soup for the Starving Writer's Soul or the latest bestseller you never wanted to read in... Continue Reading Posted at 7:54 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tell Your Story Jason Boog January 5, 2007 I'm always working to create more real-world writing community through this blog. You can sit in your room writing every day for the rest of your life, but without a solid community you'll miss out on the best perks of... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 4	How To Find Baby Boomer Web Writers Jason Boog January 4, 2007 Earlier this week, we wondered when would the baby boomer web writers arrive? Turns out they were here already. I just received a note from The Boomer Chronicles--a site written by the baby boomer journalist named Rhea. She features nostalgic... Continue Reading Posted at 7:59 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Read Like Crazy Jason Boog January 4, 2007 Nobody interviews writers with quite the same enthusiasm as Susan Henderson at LitPark. Over the course of a typical author's feature, Henderson includes: family pictures, first-person memoir, book graphics, imaginary conversations, and random stories about her family. When she reads a... Continue Reading Posted at 7:58 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 3	How To Name Your Fantastical Characters Jason Boog January 3, 2007 I'm the worst name-maker-upper I know. On every page of my novel, I struggle with character's names--trying to come up with organic, yet wonderful-sounding, names for the people populating my book.Today, BoingBoing pointed me towards a great name-making resource. The... Continue Reading Posted at 8:01 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How Do You Eat An Elephant? Jason Boog January 3, 2007 Over at Smith Magazine, Larry Smith just answered that question for writers.He showed me an obsessive new creative writing site, and I love linking to obsessive writers. The crazy folks over at Word Count Journal have a new plan that... Continue Reading Posted at 7:41 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jan 2	What Should Young Journalists Be Learning Now? Jason Boog January 2, 2007 As the publishing industry struggles to strike a new balance with digital media, students are still pouring into journalism school. Are these fledgling writers being taught the right things? I'm a j-school graduate myself, and the question bugs me. Over at... Continue Reading Posted at 9:34 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The Baby Boomer Web Writers Are Coming Jason Boog January 2, 2007 Do you know a techno-phobic baby boomer writer who needs your help with digital publishing? I don't spend too much time thinking about demographics here at The Publishing Spot, but a blog post just reminded us about baby boomer writers who... Continue Reading Posted at 9:31 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	How To Build a Better Podcast Jason Boog January 2, 2007 Welcome home, true-believers. Let's get down to business this brand new year. I hope you had a safe and happy holiday. Ed Champion will open the 2007 Edition of The Publishing Spot, exploring (along with a couple blowhards) this Book TV... Continue Reading Posted at 6:38 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

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