Hello all!
What an awful day it is – well, in Melbourne anyway.
I myself have been at home all day, because *I am stupid* I cooked with off milk yesterday, and woke up this morning feeling quite ill. So after a morning in bed, I got up and continued and finished my bestie’s 21st present. Hoorah! Then, one of the girls I tutor came over to be tutored, and now I am blogging.
Overall, a pretty slack day. Although I am annoyed that I was up all night working on an assignment that was due today, that I didn’t hand in due to obvious reasons. Gah!
Firstly, those writers out there should hop, skip and jump over to Nathan Bransford’s blog, because he’s holding a first paragraph competition. As with all Nathan’s competitions, there’s already some 850 enteries, but you have to be in it to win it!
I entered with,
Can I start by saying we were never together? Can I say that? I mean, I would have liked to be, sure, but that just wasn’t Penny. Penny was the only child of a teenage mother, and had grown up with little rules, her mother’s perception of the world and a rose in her hair. She was the wild flower child. I always used to like going to her house, it was much less strict than my own.
I’m not overly happy with it, but meh.
As promised, Steph has posted our BookChat on her blog. Be quick, there is a comp to win a copy of the book we chatted about, Chenxi and the Foreigner!
There’s also a funny Q&A on Ed Anon about what not to include ina query letter. To about 99% percent of the population, it will be irrelvant, but for that 99% it will be hilarious!
Jessica from BookEnds has a really interesting post on writing in two different genres, and if you should keep them seperate or not.
Chip MacGregor has a really lost post on marketing questions! Def a must read if you need help in that area.
One of the questions was,
John noted, “I have a popular blog, and I’m curious what you think about having links on it. Do they help? Should I include them?”
Yeah, you should. They’ll bring in traffic, and they’re part of what makes the blogosphere a social network. I happen to think Mike Hyatt’s blog is great, Jenny B Jones’ blog is a riot, and Rachelle Gardner’s blog is insightful. So I include links so others can visit them. Maybe they return the favor (maybe not — doesn’t matter to me), but it gets people visiting other sites and that brings readers to my own site. That’s the essence of social marketing.
Firstly, I find it hilarious that it’s about links on your blog and Chip is saying they are a great idea, and he doesn’t link to those blogs he mentions that he likes!
So, in the interest of potentially finding new and exciting blogs, here are his links:
Rachelle Gardner (although regular readers will know that I love her blog and regulary link it!)
Mike Hyatt
Jenny B Jones
Secondly, I must say I believe Chip – if its not obvious enough, I love putting links on my blog! In fact there are already eight in this post so far, haha.
I think that it’s good to post links. It encourages readers to check out other blogs, which they may find interesting. Also I like to share posts that I found helpful/interesting.
Speaking of Rachelle, she has a fantastic post on when an agent offers you representation – but you haven’t heard back from other agents yet. It is really interesting, and I think that it would have helped Steph out of her problem! Haha
Gilda’s Club NYC as an essay contest open now. Enteries close in ten days, and any high school student in America can enter:
Essays must be postmarked by Friday, October 23, 2009. The contest is open to all high school students who are legal residents of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Subject to official rules available at the site. Or write: Gilda’s Club New York City, c/o “It’s Always Something” Teen Essay Contest, 195 W. Houston St., New York, N.Y. 10014. The essay winner will receive a $250 Apple gift card. A ceremony for all participants will be held at Gilda’s Club New York City on January 14, 2010.
If you want any more details, email me (literary.life@hotmail.com) and I can pass you on the press release.
Also, yesterday when I was on my way to tutor another girl I tutor, I stopped via a bookstore and found Time of My Life on sale for $7. SCORE! Remember, I displayed the awesome new Allison Winn Scotch covers a few days ago?
I think that I’m slightly starting to freak out. I have 5000 words due for one subject on Thursday week, I have another 5000 due in just under a month, and I have 3000 due on Monday for another subject.
That 13,000 words. ARGH.
Anyone feel like writing that for me? Please?
*Sighs*
Well, I guess I’d better go and get on it.
Have a great night!