With the long weekend ahead here in Canada and the RNC finally over, a little light reading is in order. Recently, I’ve discovered the blogs of three writers that you might like to check out.
Max Barry is the author of the supremely wicked and anti-corp satire Jennifer Government. His website is his blog and is loaded with lots of good stuff from Max and is an fine example in how to create a community around your work. Max builds games based on his books and offers great advice to new writers. His first book, Syrup, was snubbed by Canadians, but I’ll let Max tell you about it:
“In the last six months of 2003, Canadian Syrup sales were: 6.
Six!? I?ve bought more copies than that! If it was zero, I?d think maybe the book wasn?t available at all, but six?six! It?s enough to make me want to catch a plane to Vancouver and buy an armload full of copies, just to treble national sales.”
Writers and readers should definitely pay attention to Max’s blog and his books (and watch out for the new Jennifer Government movie.)
When veteran authors like Jane Yolen start a weblog, you know things are getting serious. Jane Yolen put wizards in schools with Wizard’s Hall long before Harry Potter got that tattoo on his forehead. She’s written more great books for young readers than I’ll ever have time to read and her blog is a treat for fans and writers alike. Yolen calls her blog a journal and doesn’t use any blogging software, so linking to specific posts isn’t possible and a shame. She’s got some great views on writing and publishing and is an advocate for writer’s rights. Check it out and scroll down to the Sept. 1, 2004 entry for a great post about the demands of publishing on writers and the commodification of children’s writing.
Also new to the land of blogs, but not new to publishing or the internet is MJ Rose. She’s the author of five novels, including the newly published Halo Effect and recently started the Buzz, Balls and Hype weblog over at PublishersMarketplace.com. Like Yolen, MJ Rose doesn’t have permalinks, so all I can say is check it out and scroll down to the Aug 31, 2004 post “They do it with Bibles!” post for some interesting ideas on what to do when a publisher decides to shred all the unsold copies of your first novel. MJ is an ebook pioneer, who made her name by publishing her first manuscript as an ebook and marketing it. Writers looking for marketing tips would do well to subscribe to Buzz, Balls and Hype.
Update: I just received an email from MJ Rose, informing me that she does have permalinks at the typepad version of Buzz, Balls and Hype, which is mirrored over at PM.com. My mistake and thanks for getting in touch, MJ.
Have a good weekend, whether it’s long or short.
