Links for the week:

Some good stuff about writing to be found out there this week, beginning with Nathan Bransford’s post: Do You Suffer from One of these Writing Maladies? It’s worth reading for the Old Spice Guy Effect/Excessive Rug-Pulling section at the end.

The gem of the week: Marcus Sakey’s, How to Ensure 75% of Agents Will Request Your Material. If you’re working on a query letter for a novel, it’s definitely worth checking out!

In a time when some say the book tour should be replaced by blog tours and other online ways of getting your work seen, novelist Alix Strauss came up with an interesting idea for a book tour: holding appearances in hotels. Granted, a hotel plays an important role in Strauss’ latest novel, but it still shows that tours can work if you think a little different about where you hold appearances.

The best reason for sticking with writing you’ll read this week.

My friend, Erik, is writing a novella. I asked him what it was about and he told me he’s using an old screenplay as the basis for the novella. My first novel, which I’m planning to podcast soon, was a screenplay before it was a book. My favorite link this week was Chuck Wendig’s Hate Outlining? Start with a Screenplay.

And I stumbled upon this oldie but goodie again this week: About that Book Advance…

I hope everybody had a great week of writing; if not, here’s to next week!

Before tackling the first adult novel I remember reading, John Irving’s The World According to Garp (Modern Library) (affiliate link), the first adult fiction of any kind I remember reading was James Thurber’s short stories,  “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” and “The Catbird Seat.”

I read them because they were available, and they were short.

Also in the bookcase was a collection of John Cheever short stories. I didn’t read them all, but I wanted to read the books my mom, sister, and stepfather read that were in the bookcases in our house. The shorter introduction to more serious fiction was the perfect segue to bigger things (which consisted of John Irving, Stephen King, Richard Adams, and Robert Pirsig at the time).

I love reading short stories, and I love writing them.

I recently saw Cal Morgan of Fifty-Two Stories (among many other things), speak at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference. Since then, I’ve been catching up on short stories on the site.

Some of my other favorite places for very short writing (some of which aren’t short stories, but still…they tell a story, sometimes, better than something much longer):

@veryshortstory – One of my favorite writers online.

@hellobigfoot – Not necessarily stories, but Bigfoot’s Twitter feed puts some funny stories in my head!

Six Sentences Blog – Stories told in six sentences.

Unhappy Hipsters Blog – You may not agree with me, but one of the best writers online!

Ballard Street – Some of Amerongen’s strips say so much with so little.

This week’s roundup:

Blog/News Finds

I got my writing start with comic books. I am fascinated by the marriage of words and pictures, and believe writers can learn so much about writing by looking at artists and listening to their take on things.

I liked this short interview with Maurice Sandak.

[Along the lines of writers getting good advice from artists, if you've never read Chuck Jones's Chuck Amuck, it's one of my favorite books about writing...even though it's not about writing, but animation.]

Writers can also do well to listen to what works for musicians. This post by Amanda Palmer should get any writer thinking differently about ways to promote their work.

I devoted this week’s blog entries to writing criticism. Like it or not, sometimes harsh news is the best news. I loved this Editorial Ass blog post about the weeks leading up to a book’s publication.

Joe Konrath was nice enough to share some Kindle sales numbers with readers. (I found this through lee Goldberg’s A Writer’s Life blog.)

And finally, a New York Times piece about the Wal-Mart/Amazon book price war and what it could mean to the industry. One thing’s for sure, publishing’s changing. It’s a scary and exciting time to be writing!

The week’s favorite links.

Blog Finds

I know people who loathe Twitter. They say it’s annoying; they say they just don’t get it.

I think many of these people view it as a quicker replacement for Facebook and shy away. For me, Facebook is where I keep in touch with people I actually know. Twitter is where I share bits of information with like-minded people.

I also make Twitter work for me.

I follow people who seek out and share writing information so that when I come home from my day job, I can check my “Writing” filter on TweetDeck and quickly find writing news that interests me. In a matter of minutes, I’m handed more writing related news than I’d find on my own in hours.

Twitter is a great place for writers. I loved Jane Friedman’s Twitter for Writers blog post.

Even better than that was Jane’s Secrets to Publishing Success. Easily one of the best one-stop sources for publishing advice and thoughts out there.

Whether writers like it or not, the industry is changing. I liked Maria Schneider’s Editor Unleashed blog post about Giving Yourself Permission. While the logical thing for me right now would be getting back to articles and nothing but articles, I’m writing what I want to write, and I’m writing it for myself. I’ve given myself permission, and in doing so, I’m working toward a goal that’s generated new ideas for getting things out there that it will help any writing I do.

Also from Editor Unleashed this week was Lisa Abeyta’s guest post about Life After Magazines. Focusing regionally with non-fiction and doing things totally on your own with blogs and iPhone apps — if nothing else — gives you control in a time when magazines and newspapers seem to be spiraling out of control.

A couple other blog posts I loved this week: TravelersNotebook –  Thoughts on Plot by Famous Writers and Newtonville Books’ Questionnaires with Writers.

Twitter Finds

While it’s not always writing related, I love the way @eriklundy set up his Twitter feed and Web site to work together. A writer and stand up comedian in LA, Erik’s tweets pique curiosity and the links to his Web site are short and funny.

If you’re a comic book geek, follow writer @billwillingham on Twitter.

My favorite Tweet of the Week: @jasonpinter: “Last month in my twenties. Time to go on that month-long bender. Let’s start with a fifth of…ooh, lots of neat open houses this weekend!”

Currently Reading

Carl Honore’s In Praise of Slowness

I recently posted about the Free Library of Philadelphia having to close many branches and end most of its programs.

Good news!

The Free Library of Philadelphia received a flood of support. Here’s a thank you from library president and director, Siobhan Reardon.

There has been a lot of talk about electronic media taking over print. I think it’s great that a library (print) with such history was saved, in large part, by the efforts of the online community (electronic).

A $100,000 book advance sounds nice, doesn’t it?

That sounds like enough money to quit your day job, spend a few hours writing each day, and then using the remainder of your time talking about creative things — with creative friends — over coffee or tea the rest of the day.

Right?

Wrong…

I recently read an article in the New York Times about book advances. In the article, it mentions that Dave Eggers received a $100,000 advance that put just $39,567.68 in his pocket.

If it takes several years to write and sell your own work of staggering genius, when you break that sum down over three years, it’s a nice supplemental income, but not enough to support most people.

The average book advance is much less than $100,000, leaving most writers with enough money for Web hosting and supplies, maybe attending a writer’s conference, and a nice, celebratory meal.

Most writers have a day job for a reason.

The trick is to find happiness and order in juggling your day job with writing regularly and enjoying life.

Odds are the $100,000 advance will never come your way.

But if you’re realistic about it from the start and find a good balance along the way, you’re more likely to write on a regular basis and increase your chances of finally making it.

Granted, he works with a couple co-authors, but even still–17 books in 3 years is a lot of work, even for a fulltime writer like James Patterson.