“In the Blogosphere” is a weekly series, which lists links to writing-related blogs I’ve stumbled upon throughout a given week. Most posts will be from that week, but if I find some “oldies but goodies,” I’ll throw those up here as well.
I never find as much time to read blogs as I want, but here are a few posts that struck me this week.
AGENT BLOGS
Here’s a great post on literary agent Nathan Bransford‘s blog. It would be of particular use to writers in the I’m-signed-to-an-agent-my-book-has-been-sold-and-I’m-now-editing stage of publishing, but it can also be helpful for anyone at any stage who has received feedback on a manuscript.
This post on lit agent Rachelle Gardener‘s Rants & Ramblings blog struck a chord with me. Despite what some disgruntled writers believe, literary agents aren’t out to get them. Gardener reflects on a blog conversation gone “snarky” with poise, class, and compassion—and everyone out there with a Web presence can take a lesson from her with regard to the power of words.
Here is a post from Bookends, LLC lit agent Jessica Faust, which complements the above Rachelle Gardener post. It addresses the issue of the us-vs.-them attitude writers and agents sometimes have as well as self-censorship and the idea of acting, speaking, thinking, e-mailing, blogging, Tweeting, etc., with professionalism.
Professionalism is the name of the game this week.
This post from a few weeks ago by Waxman Literary’s agent Holly Root quelled some fears I recently had. A firm believer in “the rules” and a people pleaser, I often get bogged down in all the do’s and don’ts out there.
In this post, Greyhaus Literary’s agent Scott Eagan clears up some questions all fiction-writers have had about fictionalization…
IN THE NEWS
…and this news story about New York Times best-selling author Haywood Smith’s libel suit shows why the aforementioned advice is important.
RESOURCES
Freelancer Debbie Ridpath Ohi lists Twitter chats for writers in this oldie-but-goodie post from July, complete with days and times. These weekly (and, in some cases, daily) online chats are great way resources for writers, so you’ll definitely want to bookmark this one!
JUST FOR FUN
Lastly, here’s YA author John Green‘s videoblog take on New Moon. I don’t wholly agree, but he amuses me so.
Ricki Cardenas 