Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2012 - The Winners When we asked you to nominate your favorite writing blog as one of the top 10 blogs for writers, we got a huge response! Great to see how passionate readers are about their favorite writing blog. As you’ll see there are some previous winners, as well as some talented new bloggers in the top 10 of 2012. How were the winners selected? Initial qualification: A site must have been nominated more than once by multiple individuals. Jeff Goins Writer Positive Writer The Creative Penn Make a Living Writing The Write Practice Live Write Thrive Moody Writing The Romance University The Renegade Writer The Writers [Inner] Journey Congratulations to all the winners! The badge of distinction: If you are a winner, display the badge you see above on your blog and link the badge back to this page. Readers, be sure to check out these awesome blogs! And please help spread the word. We’ll be inviting the winners to guest post on WTD so that all our readers can get to know and enjoy these excellent bloggers.
Reading Is Alive And Well At Social Reading Site Goodreads, Which Just Hit 10M Members Goodreads,the site that lets you share the books you’ve read, are reading, and want to read, says it has just hit the 10 million member mark. That means the company has doubled its registered user base in a little more than a year — 15 months, to be more precise. It took Goodreads four and a half years to reach 5 million members back in May 2011. Co-founder and CEO Otis Chandler tells me the “main accelerant of our growth this year” has the company’s new Facebook Open Graph app. He also says Goodreads’ book recommendation engine, which it launched in September after acquiring Discovereads.com, has played a big role in the growth. Chandler notes that “the publishing industry has a huge discovery problem, because books are going digital” and brick-and-mortar bookstores are disappearing. Goodreads claims to have more catalogued 360 million books, with 22 million (and climbing) added per month. The company also just moved into a new 6,000 square foot office in San Francisco.
Welcome to CrowdMed Book of Imaginary Beings From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Work by Jorge Luis Borges The Book of Imaginary Beings was written by Jorge Luis Borges with Margarita Guerrero and published in 1957 under the original Spanish title Manual de zoología fantástica ("Handbook of fantastic zoology").[1][2][3] It contains descriptions of mythical beasts from folklore and literature. In 1967 the authors published an expanded edition retitled as El libro de los seres imaginaros. Borges collaborated on the first English translation, which was praised upon its publication in 1969. Contents[edit] Although a work of fiction, the book is situated in a tradition of Paper Museums, bestiaries, and natural history writing.[4] In the preface, Borges states that the book is to be read "as with all miscellanies... not... straight through... Versions[edit] The original 1957 publication of Manual de zoología fantástica contained eighty-two entries. Original editions[edit] Manual de zoología fantástica. English translations[edit]
Amid Lawsuits From Publishers, Boundless Launches A Free, Open Alternative To Textbooks Since it first appeared earlier this year, Boston-based educational startup Boundless has been on a mission to ensure that college students have a free alternative to the pricey and bulky world of physical textbooks. The startup believes that an oligopoly of textbook publishers has been driving up costs for years (as the four top publishers currently control the lion’s share of the market) and so it set out to change that. Naturally, as a result, Boundless has found itself on the receiving end of litigation — courtesy of three of those top textbook publishers. Leaning on the $8 million it raised in April from Venrock, Nextview, Founder Collective and Kepha (and nearly $10 million total), the startup has since gone on the offensive, filing a motion to dismiss two of those claims last month, as it buckled down to fight its accusers. But to give you some quick background on Boundless: During its private beta, the startup emerged as a product (or proponent) of the Wikipedia Era.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crowdsourcing: Aliza Sherman: 9781615640928: Amazon.com: Books Fuck Yeah Character Development! StoryBundle Pay-What-You-Want Book Sale Launches With Sci-Fi Titles StoryBundle is just one of a few new “pay-what-you-want” book deals blossoming from the ashes of traditional publishing like ferns after a forest fire. This service, run by former Gizmodo pop star Jason Chen, is one of the cooler offerings out there right now and they started out with the Big Bang package featuring up to seven sci-fi books for your perusal and purchase. You can donate as much (or as little) as you want and a portion of your cash can go to a charity. You can also stiff StoryBundle itself, giving all the cash to the author. Your choice. “My dream is two-fold,” wrote Chen in a blog post. Services like this closely mirror similar services in the gaming and media space including the Humble Bundle aimed at raising awareness of indie games and music. We covered competitor Snug Nugget last week but I think StoryBundle is definitely a bit prettier on the surface and the book offerings seem a bit more polished.
Forensic Psychology Back to Main Index / Back to Forensic Index / Back to Psychology Index Forensic Psychiatry / Profiling Important note: This whole section has been compiled from books and websites, with occasional help from people working in this field. Like the rest of Deep Background (of which this is only a small part), this information is designed for writers of X-Files fiction, and covers only those things that they might be expected to need. It is not a comprehensive guide to the subject. Forensic Psychiatry Forensic psychiatrists work with prisoners and criminals to assess their mental condition, treatment, and whether they are fit to plead or to be released. In particular, they establish: Is the defendant fit to plead? For the defendant to plead insanity he is admitting guilt - sauing that, yes, he did the crime, but here are the mitigating factors. Psychological Profiling As we all know, this is what Mulder did before the X-Files. For further information, read "Mindhunter" by John Douglas. Stress
Contently: Empowering and connecting quality reporters and publishers. Social Networking Sites for Writers, Message Boards for Writers We know Facebook and Myspace are used by many writers, but we listed new and old sites that are geared to writers. There are other social networking sites out there for film-makers and musicians and on and on, but these are the ones pointed directly at writers. Story Link Social Networking community for writers that allows you to create profiles and join groups. They also have experts that write informative articles. The Writing Room Social Networking community for writers that allows you to create profiles and join groups. My Good ebook Social Networking community for writers that allows you to create profiles and join groups. Urbis Post your writing, create a profile, join groups. AbcTales Write your story, post a story. Writertopia Social Networking community for writers that allows you to create profiles and join groups. My Creative Content Social Networking community for writers that allows you to create profiles and join groups. Ning Create your own social networking site.
Book Country: Discover New Fiction with the Genre Map Publishers, booksellers, and readers describe books by their literary categories, or genres. It's how books are placed in stores and sold online. We created the Genre Map to help you find the right genre for your book. Roll over the map with your cursor to see the different genres. Please contact us if there's a category you'd like to see on the Genre Map. The Author's To-Don't List From established to aspiring author—typically in an interview format, you never see the advice go much further than: read, write, and learn as much about the craft as you can. It’s rather standard, often recycled, and although I agree with it, I’d have to say most of my more memorable lessons came through trial and error. Specifically, these are things you shouldn’t do as per the trial and error of others. Not simple blunders, mind you, but large lapses in judgment that pay lasting damages. Don’t lie and say it’s non-fiction Also known as: Pulling a James Frey. Don’t lash out on reviewers Also known as: Pulling a Jacqueline Howett. Don’t post naked pictures of yourself on the Internet You’d think that’d be common sense, right? Don’t have a public meltdown Things are not always going to go the way you want them to. Don’t burn bridges The most popular example of this is when an author has been rejected by a certain lit mag enough times that they begin publicly bashing their publication.
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