Monday Mentionables: Short Reads!

Happy Monday!

For all my writer friends, The Long and the Short of It is seeking out short, sweet romance stories for their "Thrifty Thursday" blog posts. Info here:

The Long and the Short of It is looking for short (1300 - 1500 words), sweet romance
fiction for our Thrifty Thursdays, where readers can come and read for free
(http://tinyurl.com/njyoeh

In exchange for your short romance story, we offer $5 (payable on acceptance and
via Pay Pal only) and a free ONE MONTH book cover or banner ad (a $10 value).
The author may also choose to substitute a TWO MONTH cover/banner ad (a $20
value) in lieu of monetary payment. The author will also receive a link on our
website to their personal webpage and/or blog.

All genres are welcome as long as the story has strong romantic elements.
Additionally, all the stories accepted at Long and Short Reviews MUST have love
and romance as central. A "Happy Ever After" (or at least "Hopefully Ever After"
) is also a required, fundamental part of all the stories we publish.

More information, including how to submit your story, may be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/29p5gba

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And speaking of short/free reads, many authors swear by them, to keep readers interested in between longer releases and/or just to whet the interest of new readers. Check out my friend Liz's blog for one that does just that: link here.

And I'm curious: what do you think about free reads on websites/blogs? Do they make you want more from an author? Have you ever bought a book/story because you first read a freebie by that author somewhere?

(P.S. - It''s yet another maketing tool, for all you authors out there!)

Friday Fun Facts

Some random facts, in no particular order:

1. I really liked the Romance Writer's Report article on writing dialogue, in the June 2011 issue. Specifically, the reminder that people tend to talk in "code" (think of married people discussing conflict in front of others) was a good tip.

2. Brava is having a contest for all unpublished authors - they're calling for novellas in any genre. More information here.

3. I was really glad I made the bed and straightened the house yesterday before work, because the crazy-high winds blew in a window screen...which triggered our house alarm...which summoned the police to our place. On a walk-through with them, I realized I failed to put away my lingerie on the drying rack, but oh well. Almost everything else passed muster :)

4. This fairly large snapping turtle was digging a hole near the bottom of our driveway. Getting ready to lay eggs? Maybe, which would be kind of cool. I've seen turtles everywhere this spring, on the side of the road, IN the road, crossing parking lots. More sightings than ever before. Wonder why?

Writers' Wednesday: WD Top Websites for Writers

Every year, Writer's Digest rounds up the websites it considers best for writers, in a wide variety of genres and subject areas. So if you don't subscribe to WD, the May/June 2011 is definitely an issue you want to pick up! I won't list them all (there are over 100), but here are some that I visit on a (semi) regular basis and can vouch for their appeal/helpfulness:

Agent Query - find any agent here, listed by subject area/interest

BookEnds - agents Jessica Faust and Kim Lionetti run this blog

Pub Rants - agent Kristin Nelson has run this blog for years. Hugely helpful in terms of what agents are looking for, and she has a few series of posts regarding query letters, pubbing, etc.

Media Bistro - offers tons of resources & industry news for freelance writers

Preditors & Editors - lists agents and publishing houses along with questionable news, those who are fraudulent/not to be trusted, etc. A must-check before writers query ANYONE

Nathan Bransford - used to be an agent, now a writer, has friendly, easy-to-read posts on the inside workings of the publishing world.

WOW - Women on Writing - I freelanced for them a few times. Website devoted to supporting women's writing endeavors, really it just provides some great writing tips, industry news, etc, that anyone could find useful.

Absolute Write Forums - I check in there at least once a day. You can find information on just about any area of writing you're seeking. Forums for newbies to multi-published authors and anyone inbetween, with just about every genre and sub-genre covered. Awesome!
Happy writing/reading/researching/web surfing!