Publishing in Library Land

Stumbled upon a really interesting article on the In the Library with the Lead Pipe website today. The author is well-informed, and goes over all the hoops involved with publishing a book in the ebook and internet "exploding text" age. The article can be found here.

One of the things she talks about is how complicated the process is, and how many different people have to have stamps of approval on the work. This is something that isn't commonly talked about among writers, but it definitely should be a necessary topic of conversation for those who want to market their work.

For those interested in query letters, here's a link with some useful tips. This focuses on publishing young adult fiction, but can likely be applied to most genres.

I'm interested in researching other ways to network in the writing world--with every Tom, Dick, Harry, Sally, and Molly trying to get published, this task seems even more daunting. More on this later.

More author blogs...

...courtesy of Goodreads.com

Fiction Writing

So I know it's been awhile since I posted. Thought I'd give up on the whole blogger thing, but have instead decided to refocus this blog and dedicate it to fiction writing.

One reason for the change is I'm editing my first novel, and am interested to hear from those who are in the same throes and snags. So, anyone else out there? I'll be interested in hearing what you've run into.

I've updated some blogrolls of my favorite authors as well. Hope you enjoy (if you haven't completely forgotten about this blog by now :))

The Writer Librarian

LIS Publications Wiki

Finally, a one-stop shopping wiki that allows you to reach colleagues and communities in the library publishing world. Say hello to the Library and Information Science Publications Wiki:

http://slisapps.sjsu.edu/wikis/faculty/putnam/index.php/LIS_Publications_Wiki

Note: This wiki is still new and somewhat underdeveloped. But, the more people who join, the more useful content it can have.

-The Writer Librarian

Quick, Easy Exercise for Fiction Writers

I know we've focused mostly on nonfiction writing thus far, but I know there are a lot of closet fiction writers out there too. For those in the midst of writing their first (or umpteenth) novel or short story, here's a good strategy for assessing the effectiveness of your descriptions:

1. Pick a significant piece of description that lasts at least a few paragraphs and contains no dialogue.

2. Read through the section and tally up the following:
-How many simple sentences?
-How many compound sentences?
-How many similies?
-How many metaphors?

3. Assess your numbers. The objective is to get the quantities of each as even as possible.

Note: Adding similies and metaphors help appeal to your readers' senses. If you're feeling gutsy, you can tally how many times you describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures.

As an example, I had too many compound sentences, which made it difficult for a reader to discern what was going on. Once I chopped down some sentences and placed periods instead of commas, the writing became infinitely better. By the same token, if there are too many simple sentences, feel free to whip out some commas and make for some sentence variety.

And for sentence compounders like me, don't be afraid to bend some grammatical rules in your fiction. It isn't technial writing, so grammar isn't held by the same restrictions.

-The Writer Librarian

Great Blog with Writing Tips

I stumbled across this blog that focuses on books and the publishing industry. One entry outlines ten common "rookie" writing mistakes, and is found here.

This is a good blog to follow especially for those looking to publish fiction. For those who are interested, here is a link to the RSS feed.

-The Writer Librarian

Conference conflicts, another call for authors

I had insurmountable conference obligations that got in the way of the "upcoming" post that I teased with a month or so ago. Now that the conference is over, more updates to the blog will be coming. For now, here is another call for authors, particularly useful for academic librarians:

"Good day all...

Instruction librarians are encouraged to submit book chapter proposals for the forthcoming monograph, "Best Practices for Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Courses." As the title suggests, we are soliciting proposals from librarians who have developed and implemented innovative and effective methods for teaching credit-bearing information literacy courses. We are particularly interested in the use of educational technologies, including smart classrooms and Internet communication tools. Other items of interest for this volume are: assessment; course design; lesson planning; history of the course in higher education; integration of the course into disciplinary and/or institutional curricula, and instructional methods.

The intended publisher for this book is Neal-Schuman, and the target date for publication is fall of 2010. Interested authors should submit a 1-2 page proposal as an email attachment to me at: cvh2@buffalo.edu. The proposal should include: author's name, full contact information, institutional affiliation, and list of professional publications; working title for proposed book chapter, and abstract for proposed book chapter (maximum of 200 words). Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 29, 2009.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Cheers!
-- Christopher Hollister
Information Literacy Librarian
Oscar A. Silverman Undergraduate Library
112 Capen Hall
University at BuffaloBuffalo, NY 14260
Phone: (716) 645-1323
Fax: (716) 645-3067
E-Mail: cvh2@buffalo.edu"