Thursday, December 30, 2010

Kindle lending is now live

Have you heard the news? As Amazon said they would, they now have e-book lending enabled for Kindle. I haven't tried it yet, but here's the link with how-to information:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200549320_receive?nodeId=200549320

There are some publisher restrictions on which books are eligible for lending.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Year End Sale at Wooden Horse

WOODEN HORSE PUBLISHING

http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/about.html

If you write for magazines, check out “the Horse.” Meg Weaver’s free weekly e-mail has highlights on what’s happening in the industry, including which editors have moved where and details on selected magazines. The Horse has a searchable database of over 2,000 magazines with contact information, guidelines, reader demographics, and, if available, editorial calendars so you can submit when and where you have the best chance for acceptance. The free newsletter updates you when magazines submit new editorial calendars. You can sample what the database offers for just $1.99 for 24 hours. If a manuscript has been rejected and you don’t know where else to submit, the database is a great resource. Yes, you might find this information online by checking web sites and writing for editorial calendars, but the database is a big timesaver.

They have a winter sale going on at least through the end of 2010. Here are the coupon codes for the database discount: 1 year: Regularly $149; use coupon C1B354EM1Y and pay only $119; 6 months: Regularly $89; use coupon C1B354EM6M and pay only $79.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

King On Writing

Courtesy of the library, I read Stephen King's On Writing about five years ago and thought it contained good advice. I asked Santa for a copy of the new 2010 edition and I was not disappointed.

I took some time this afternoon to relax and read a portion and found a quote on page 57 from his first editor that is worth sharing: "When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story."

Sunday, December 19, 2010

What do you read on your e-reader?

Because I've been very good this year, Santa agreed to bring my gift early: the $189 Kindle "latest generation" in white. I chose white instead of graphite because many people reported the printing on the keys wearing off on the graphite version. So far, I've read only fiction on it, and I think that will be my pattern.

I don't often reread a novel, so buying one at a reduced price or downloading one for free makes sense. But as a writer of nonfiction, I sometimes purchase books for research purposes. I want to be able to easily flip back and forth between sections or have multiple sources open at one time for comparison. Even using the Kindle notation feature, it isn't so easy to jump around inside a book to the chapter you want. It's a lot easier to leave a sticky note on a key section or sections. Later I can just pick up the book and instantly go to the marked page. On the Kindle, I have to turn it on, find the book in my list, and hope I remember what kind of notation I made on the section so I can find it easily.

I do love reading fiction on my Kindle. I don't miss the "book experience" as I thought I might. The Kindle is easier to hold than a book, and there are no bookmarks to fall out. I read faster, probably because the line length is shorter so there is less eye movement. (At least that jives with the Evelyn Wood speed reading theory.) Because they were free, I've read books I never would have read otherwise. When I did not like the free books and quit reading part way through, at least I had not wasted nay money. Being able to download classics for free saves me trips to the library. In its neoprene sleeve, my Kindle is easy to safely tuck in my purse so I have something enjoyable to read while waiting at the doctor's office.

Do you have an e-reader? What do you read on it? Are you happy with it?

Friday, December 10, 2010

Outshine Twitterzine

OUTSHINE
www.shineanthology.wordpress.com/outshine-submission-guidelines/

OUTSHINE is a Twitterzine looking for prose poems of optimistic, near future (2010 – 2060) Sci-Fi that fit within the 'tweet' limits, i.e. maximum 140 characters long. Haiku is fine, too. They publish (Tweet) one poem a week with a short author bio, and you are free to submit one per week.

Pays $5 for each accepted poem through PayPal. That pay sounds low until you calculate the amount per word.