Saturday
Aug072010
New Websites Writers Should Hear About
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 09:00AM
While I realize I'm not the movingest, shakingest of people, I do consider myself to be perpetually curious. Especially when it comes to writing, and the ways in which writing sort of amalgamates with other things, be it linguistics, anthropology, cultural development, young people, or the internet.
It's the latter that seems to be popping up lately. Have you heard about Open Sky? It seems to be, if it's prevailing PR is to be believed, targeting itself toward authors and writers looking to expand and define their brand and sales base. Which is, um, awesome. The website (newly launched) isn't nearly so specific, and seems to be a broader minded Etsy prototype.
(Love me some Etsy. Just bought these geekery items there the other day:
SO CUTE!)
Back to OpenSky. All in all, a very cool idea that will take a minute (and, you know, an actual book to sell) to see if it's really going to have the impact that it's hinting at. I think it has a lot of potential, though, and writers should definitely be keeping an eye on it--sites like these could make self publishing a much more viable commodity.
And, a quick word about self pubbing, I was really fascinated by MoonRat's article (tweeted earlier this week; you should sooo follow me on Twitter), mostly because my favorite, most deeply obsessed with unreliable narrator EVER, Towner Whitney in Brunonia Barry's THE LACE READER, was self published. I NEVER KNEW THIS! And now I wish I paid more attention to how I heard about the book in the first place.
But I didn't.
Anyway, the other website I'm currently very curious about what it will mean for my curiosity and for the writing industry is Figment.com. This website is pretty fascinating because, while still in beta testing, it's centered on this pop Japanese trend that has teenagers writing prose via cell phones, to be shared and distributed via cell phones. It's like Twitter novels, except that, if the website is to be believed, it's wildly popular. Could something like this catch on in the states? Could Figment become the new Facebook for writers? It's totally possible, and I'm downright curious.
Also, here's a good list of the best Creative Writing programs in the States, including PhD, which I found very useful because a CW PhD is always in the back of my mind, but there are few decent programs.
And that's all for now. Happy Saturday. xx
It's the latter that seems to be popping up lately. Have you heard about Open Sky? It seems to be, if it's prevailing PR is to be believed, targeting itself toward authors and writers looking to expand and define their brand and sales base. Which is, um, awesome. The website (newly launched) isn't nearly so specific, and seems to be a broader minded Etsy prototype.
(Love me some Etsy. Just bought these geekery items there the other day:
SO CUTE!)
Back to OpenSky. All in all, a very cool idea that will take a minute (and, you know, an actual book to sell) to see if it's really going to have the impact that it's hinting at. I think it has a lot of potential, though, and writers should definitely be keeping an eye on it--sites like these could make self publishing a much more viable commodity.
And, a quick word about self pubbing, I was really fascinated by MoonRat's article (tweeted earlier this week; you should sooo follow me on Twitter), mostly because my favorite, most deeply obsessed with unreliable narrator EVER, Towner Whitney in Brunonia Barry's THE LACE READER, was self published. I NEVER KNEW THIS! And now I wish I paid more attention to how I heard about the book in the first place.
But I didn't.
Anyway, the other website I'm currently very curious about what it will mean for my curiosity and for the writing industry is Figment.com. This website is pretty fascinating because, while still in beta testing, it's centered on this pop Japanese trend that has teenagers writing prose via cell phones, to be shared and distributed via cell phones. It's like Twitter novels, except that, if the website is to be believed, it's wildly popular. Could something like this catch on in the states? Could Figment become the new Facebook for writers? It's totally possible, and I'm downright curious.
Also, here's a good list of the best Creative Writing programs in the States, including PhD, which I found very useful because a CW PhD is always in the back of my mind, but there are few decent programs.
And that's all for now. Happy Saturday. xx
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