Words are fun, aren't they? You would think the English language would be enough for any writer. It does have 400,000 words, after all, far more than any other language on Earth. That's why the Oxford English Dictionary, originally supposed to take 10 years to complete, became a 49-year project. Allegedly, five years in, the compilers of the OED had gotten as far as the word "ant." (I learned these fun facts from a little book called Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara?)
Yet in the course of my writing, I've dipped into Chinese, Croatian, French, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish for vocab words. My favorite foreign tongues, though, are the Celtic ones. I have a fascination with Welsh, even though it's not my ancestral tongue. It's nearly St. Patrick's day, though, so the language of the hour is Gaeilge (pronounced gale-ga), which we English speakers know as Gaelic.
The ubiquitous Gaelic phrase on St. Patrick's Day decorations is Erin Go Bragh, or Eireann go braugh, which we all know means "Ireland Forever." I'd like to say that my father, whose ancestors came from Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1840s, purposely named me after our island homeland. The truth is, my mom named me after an actor on The Waltons. But I digress. Another common Gaelic phrase is 'S Rioghal Mo Dhream, oft translated as "Royal is my race."
Other helpful Gaelic phrases:
Slainte! ~ Cheers!
Go raibh mile maith agat ~ Thank you very much
Pogue mo thoin ~ Kiss my posterior midsection
Beannachtai na Feile Padraig ~ Happy St. Patrick's Day
Note the Irish form of the saint's name is Padraig, which is why I abbreviate the holiday as St. Paddy's Day, the Irish way, and not St. Patty's Day, the Anglicized way. Not that I have anything against the English way of saying things; it's my stock and trade, after all. But we're all Irish on March 17.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
XWave and The Journey to Wild Divine
Imagine a video game powered by your mind. You stare at an empty fireplace and try to meditate. You don't really know how, but when your brainwaves indicate some slight success, little flames start to burn. Partly through conscious learning and partly through unconscious conditioning, you acquire the ability to still your thoughts. At first the exhultation of partial success breaks the mood and douses the embers immediately. That stage passes, and eventually you stare at a roaring fire without even thinking about not thinking.
This finale is also a beginning, because it opens the rest of the game. You roam an imaginary world and play with symbolic toys that aid you to even more esoteric states of mind, which are also sought by some real Hindi and Buddhists.
Sounds too amazing to be true? I own this game, sort of. Journey to the Wild Divine comes with sensors that attach to your fingertips. Based on the electrical conductivity of your skin and other factors (I forget, it's old) the game attempts to measure your state of mind.
Does it work? Well. Since everyone's brain and skin is different, you calibrate it before you start playing. The first time you may be excited about your new game, creating more contrast and making it easier to convince the game you've achieved meditative quiet. In the future it may be different, making the game harder. Is it cheating to breath hard and try to feel excited while you calibrate the sensors, or is that how you're supposed to do it? Maybe just try to feel normal and average. What is that? The instructions don't say.
So one day you've having trouble, wishing you could find some cheat codes to light the fire with a blowtorch. Just as you're ready to give up and pull the sensors off in disgust, flames blaze up! Perhaps your acceptance of failure was a breakthrough.
More likely you moved your hand slightly as you got ready to pull off the sensors. That's the easiest way to make the flames blaze up. It would be silly to cheat yourself deliberately, but success conditions you, perhaps without your even being aware.
Will the Xwave sensors now being made for the iPhone change anything? They go on your head, so you don't have to worry about moving your hand. I wonder what happens if you move your head, and how you calibrate it.
Still a mind blowing concept, and I hope we don't have to wait for the sort of technology in my book. My novel is set in the future, and the nanotechnology in your blood can work with a helmet on your head to image and communicate with your brain. It's used for accelerated learning, communication, research, and as a collaborative tool. Gonna be quite awhile until that happens though, and my real interest is in human nature, our hopes and fears. Should we fear becoming Borg, or hope to unlock human potential?
This finale is also a beginning, because it opens the rest of the game. You roam an imaginary world and play with symbolic toys that aid you to even more esoteric states of mind, which are also sought by some real Hindi and Buddhists.
Sounds too amazing to be true? I own this game, sort of. Journey to the Wild Divine comes with sensors that attach to your fingertips. Based on the electrical conductivity of your skin and other factors (I forget, it's old) the game attempts to measure your state of mind.
Does it work? Well. Since everyone's brain and skin is different, you calibrate it before you start playing. The first time you may be excited about your new game, creating more contrast and making it easier to convince the game you've achieved meditative quiet. In the future it may be different, making the game harder. Is it cheating to breath hard and try to feel excited while you calibrate the sensors, or is that how you're supposed to do it? Maybe just try to feel normal and average. What is that? The instructions don't say.
So one day you've having trouble, wishing you could find some cheat codes to light the fire with a blowtorch. Just as you're ready to give up and pull the sensors off in disgust, flames blaze up! Perhaps your acceptance of failure was a breakthrough.
More likely you moved your hand slightly as you got ready to pull off the sensors. That's the easiest way to make the flames blaze up. It would be silly to cheat yourself deliberately, but success conditions you, perhaps without your even being aware.
Will the Xwave sensors now being made for the iPhone change anything? They go on your head, so you don't have to worry about moving your hand. I wonder what happens if you move your head, and how you calibrate it.
Still a mind blowing concept, and I hope we don't have to wait for the sort of technology in my book. My novel is set in the future, and the nanotechnology in your blood can work with a helmet on your head to image and communicate with your brain. It's used for accelerated learning, communication, research, and as a collaborative tool. Gonna be quite awhile until that happens though, and my real interest is in human nature, our hopes and fears. Should we fear becoming Borg, or hope to unlock human potential?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Dance With Dragons
According to Entertainment Weekly, the next book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is coming soon! I quote:
A Dance With Dragons will be published by Bantam on July 12, 2011. The manuscript is huge — the publisher estimates the hardcover edition will run more than 900 pages, putting it about the same length as the longest book in the series, A Storm of Swords. Schedule your summer vacation accordingly.
For those of us who want to create awesome, these books are worth thinking about. Of all the fiction stcuk in my head, this is the only one currently in the process of being created.
It shares many excellent features with lesser books. Fascinating characters, vivid description, vast scope, and wonderful adventures with many twists and turns. I don't think these are enough to keep the series in my brain for the six years since the previous installment though.
These books are extraordinarily real, and also a sort of reversal of Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's trilogy is about ordinary people discovering extraordinary strength. Martin's books are about normal well meaning people, who we can sort of imagine being, coming to do horrible things. It feels so real, and so little like a fantasy, that it makes suspension of disbelief very easy. Yet there is catharsis too, in knowing we could never be quite as bad as some of these apparently well meaning people.
Each character is ripped open, and each stereotype of high fantasy. Just as we want to believe one of them is good, not only do we learn the things they are capable of doing wrong, but we see why it should have been obvious in the first place.
A Dance With Dragons will be published by Bantam on July 12, 2011. The manuscript is huge — the publisher estimates the hardcover edition will run more than 900 pages, putting it about the same length as the longest book in the series, A Storm of Swords. Schedule your summer vacation accordingly.
For those of us who want to create awesome, these books are worth thinking about. Of all the fiction stcuk in my head, this is the only one currently in the process of being created.
It shares many excellent features with lesser books. Fascinating characters, vivid description, vast scope, and wonderful adventures with many twists and turns. I don't think these are enough to keep the series in my brain for the six years since the previous installment though.
These books are extraordinarily real, and also a sort of reversal of Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's trilogy is about ordinary people discovering extraordinary strength. Martin's books are about normal well meaning people, who we can sort of imagine being, coming to do horrible things. It feels so real, and so little like a fantasy, that it makes suspension of disbelief very easy. Yet there is catharsis too, in knowing we could never be quite as bad as some of these apparently well meaning people.
Each character is ripped open, and each stereotype of high fantasy. Just as we want to believe one of them is good, not only do we learn the things they are capable of doing wrong, but we see why it should have been obvious in the first place.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Great Books For Women's History Month 2011 (by Erin O'Riordan)
The month of March is so much more than an excuse to drink Guinness and pinch people who don't wear green on the 17th. It's also Women's History Month...a great excuse to look into these fascinating books. Each of these titles is from my personal library.
A Woman's Book of Life by Joan Borysenko. This explains all the big transitions in a woman's life in a way that makes sense biologically, psychologically and spiritually. My other favorite Borysenko volume is A Woman's Journey to God.
Feminist Fairy Tales by Barbara G. Walker (HarperCollins, 1996). Includes classic fairy tales most Americans will recognize from childhood, rewritten without the sexist overtones. They're more fun that way. Walker also wrote the incomparable encyclopedia mentioned below.
Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women by Jean Shinoda Bolen (Harper & Row, 1984). Another book that totally gets me--I'm a Persephone, big time. Using classical Greek goddesses as archetypes, it posits a theory of various female personalities. (It also works on fictional characters, like the ones in Twilight. Bella Swan is a Persephone too, Esme Cullen is a Demeter and Rosalie Hale is a Hera.)
Letters to Ms. 1972-1987, edited by Mary Thom (The Ms. Foundation, 1987). Okay, this is just an old book I bought for a quarter at a library cast-off sale, but it captures a huge variety of women's issues in voices from all around the country. It's remarkably intimate and diverse. The intro was written by Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. Magazine, whose work I respect and admire. (Also, I have a crush on her stepson, Christian Bale.)
QPB Anthology of Women's Writing, edited by Susan Cahill (QPB, 2002). Poetry, nonfiction, fiction and personal letters make up this more-than-600-page anthology, which covers women who wrote in English from Julian of Norwich (c.1342-1423) to Sandra Cisneros (born 1952).
Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages, edited by Mary-Ford Grabowsky (HarperCollins, 2002). Composed of prayers and other spiritual writings from many cultures, ancient times to modern. Priestesses of Inanna share its pages with Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, African and Native American oral tradition, and modern Hindu women.
She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll by Gillian G. Gaar (Seal Press, 2002). The title pretty much says it all. It starts with Big Mama Thornton and ends with Britney Spears.
The American Women's Almanac by Louise Bernikow and the National Women's History Project (Berkley Books, 1997). With all its vintage photos, artwork, quotes and fascinating sidebars, this one's tough to put down. The best section is the last one: "25 Things Women Have Done For Each Other." Examples: Alice Walker, appalled by Zora Neale Hurston's unmarked grave, bought her fellow writer a headstone inscribed "Genius of the South." Lucille Ball used striptease to cheer up a friend who'd had a miscarriage.
The Book of Goddesses by Kris Waldherr (Beyond Words Publishing, 1995). Waldherr wrote and illustrated this beautiful, multicultural children's alphabet book, with a goddess or goddesses for every letter of the alphabet.
The Great Women Superheroes by Trina Robbins (Kitchen Sink Press, 1996). Sure, you know Wonder Woman, but what about the other leggy costumed super-sheroes whose ideals little girls have aspired to? From Miss Fury to Action Girl, Robbins covers them all. Trina Robbins has also written Great Women Cartoonists and, one of my all-time personal favorites, Eternally Bad: Goddesses With Attitude.
The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker (Harper & Row, 1983). This is my go-to source for Pagan mythology, and I also sit around flipping through it, reading it just for fun. It's fascinating! If you've ever wanted to know the mystical meanings of lilies, the Himalayas, the moon...just about anything, it's in here, and so much of it connects to goddess-worship suppressed by the rise of patriarchal Middle Eastern-based religions.
Wild Women by Autumn Stephens (1992, Conari Press). A gallery of notable and infamous women from American history, arranged into categories like "Hatchet Queens and Pistol Packers" and "Holy Terrors and Pope Perturbers." Some of these women, like Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, are still well-known. Others make for fascinating historical footnotes.
A Woman's Book of Life by Joan Borysenko. This explains all the big transitions in a woman's life in a way that makes sense biologically, psychologically and spiritually. My other favorite Borysenko volume is A Woman's Journey to God.
Feminist Fairy Tales by Barbara G. Walker (HarperCollins, 1996). Includes classic fairy tales most Americans will recognize from childhood, rewritten without the sexist overtones. They're more fun that way. Walker also wrote the incomparable encyclopedia mentioned below.
Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women by Jean Shinoda Bolen (Harper & Row, 1984). Another book that totally gets me--I'm a Persephone, big time. Using classical Greek goddesses as archetypes, it posits a theory of various female personalities. (It also works on fictional characters, like the ones in Twilight. Bella Swan is a Persephone too, Esme Cullen is a Demeter and Rosalie Hale is a Hera.)
Letters to Ms. 1972-1987, edited by Mary Thom (The Ms. Foundation, 1987). Okay, this is just an old book I bought for a quarter at a library cast-off sale, but it captures a huge variety of women's issues in voices from all around the country. It's remarkably intimate and diverse. The intro was written by Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. Magazine, whose work I respect and admire. (Also, I have a crush on her stepson, Christian Bale.)
QPB Anthology of Women's Writing, edited by Susan Cahill (QPB, 2002). Poetry, nonfiction, fiction and personal letters make up this more-than-600-page anthology, which covers women who wrote in English from Julian of Norwich (c.1342-1423) to Sandra Cisneros (born 1952).
Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages, edited by Mary-Ford Grabowsky (HarperCollins, 2002). Composed of prayers and other spiritual writings from many cultures, ancient times to modern. Priestesses of Inanna share its pages with Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, African and Native American oral tradition, and modern Hindu women.
She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll by Gillian G. Gaar (Seal Press, 2002). The title pretty much says it all. It starts with Big Mama Thornton and ends with Britney Spears.
The American Women's Almanac by Louise Bernikow and the National Women's History Project (Berkley Books, 1997). With all its vintage photos, artwork, quotes and fascinating sidebars, this one's tough to put down. The best section is the last one: "25 Things Women Have Done For Each Other." Examples: Alice Walker, appalled by Zora Neale Hurston's unmarked grave, bought her fellow writer a headstone inscribed "Genius of the South." Lucille Ball used striptease to cheer up a friend who'd had a miscarriage.
The Book of Goddesses by Kris Waldherr (Beyond Words Publishing, 1995). Waldherr wrote and illustrated this beautiful, multicultural children's alphabet book, with a goddess or goddesses for every letter of the alphabet.
The Great Women Superheroes by Trina Robbins (Kitchen Sink Press, 1996). Sure, you know Wonder Woman, but what about the other leggy costumed super-sheroes whose ideals little girls have aspired to? From Miss Fury to Action Girl, Robbins covers them all. Trina Robbins has also written Great Women Cartoonists and, one of my all-time personal favorites, Eternally Bad: Goddesses With Attitude.
The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker (Harper & Row, 1983). This is my go-to source for Pagan mythology, and I also sit around flipping through it, reading it just for fun. It's fascinating! If you've ever wanted to know the mystical meanings of lilies, the Himalayas, the moon...just about anything, it's in here, and so much of it connects to goddess-worship suppressed by the rise of patriarchal Middle Eastern-based religions.
Wild Women by Autumn Stephens (1992, Conari Press). A gallery of notable and infamous women from American history, arranged into categories like "Hatchet Queens and Pistol Packers" and "Holy Terrors and Pope Perturbers." Some of these women, like Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, are still well-known. Others make for fascinating historical footnotes.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Zork Chronicles by George Alec Effinger
When clutter attempted to take over our apartment and force the humans out, we won, but at great cost. Many objects to which we were emotionally attached were ruthlessly frogmarched out, given to charity when possible, sometimes thrown into a dumpster. Most of the books I still have mean something to me.
The books lodged most prominently on my bookshelf and in my mind are not always predictable. I'm sure you saw plenty of media tie in novels on your last trip to the bookstore. The more prominent shared universes can afford to hire well known science fiction authors, but it is often done as work for hire without royalties, and considered unprestigeous. At any rate the constraints on the author's imagination often don't allow for great books which are remembered twenty years later.
The Zork Chronicles by George Alec Effinger are an exception to this rule, at least for me. The earliest Zork games were text only. 'Kill troll with sword' you type, and the computer responds, 'You can't see any sword here', then you die.
He mixes in his interest in mythology, and the various guides who often lead heroes on their quests in epic poems, and even his experience with Hugo and Nebula award nominations. The result is often hilarious, and he finds ways to joke about the occassional illogic of the game without breaking our suspension of disbelief.
Glorian is a guardian spirit, a young supernatural being, and a Campbell award nominee. The latter refers to Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' and the guides who help heroes along their journeys. Some of the attendees are quite well known. For instance, Shiva the Destroyer terrifies the hotel clerk into rediscovering Glorian's reservation. Despite the fun, Glorian is downbeat, feeling he is one of those destined to watch the winners then talk humbly about how it is an honor just to be nominated.
Then a mysterious envelope from the Powers That Be appears in his room, with the imprint of the Autoexec himself on it. Glorian is to guide a hero names Mirakles on a quest.
This quest is through the Zork universe, starting with breaking into the house and getting the equipment. They don't do everything quite as you're supposed to do it in Zork. Not having the Bell, Book, and Candle at the right time, they are forced to get a vast quantity of blood from their hotel room through drawer forwarding and perform a much more ancient ritual to get Mirakles out of Hades after he makes a boo boo.
I'm not going to give away too much of the plot, but there's real character development, and Mirakles son of Thrag the Well hated really learns things about himself. Somehow even the bit characters of Zork become real, and we understand the meaning of the tragic limits imposed on them in the name of game balance, which the programmers themselves probably didn't give much though to. Despite which, this is also a light fun adventure novel with a happy ending, and even the bit players come to terms with their fate.
I'm not sure if this novel is truly great in itself, or if people will take the trouble to read it when the Zork generation has passed away, but it is fun to read, and I've always remembered it because George Alec Effinger wasn't satisfied to sell his name and knock off a bit of hack work in exchange for easy money. He put a lot into this novel.
The books lodged most prominently on my bookshelf and in my mind are not always predictable. I'm sure you saw plenty of media tie in novels on your last trip to the bookstore. The more prominent shared universes can afford to hire well known science fiction authors, but it is often done as work for hire without royalties, and considered unprestigeous. At any rate the constraints on the author's imagination often don't allow for great books which are remembered twenty years later.
The Zork Chronicles by George Alec Effinger are an exception to this rule, at least for me. The earliest Zork games were text only. 'Kill troll with sword' you type, and the computer responds, 'You can't see any sword here', then you die.
He mixes in his interest in mythology, and the various guides who often lead heroes on their quests in epic poems, and even his experience with Hugo and Nebula award nominations. The result is often hilarious, and he finds ways to joke about the occassional illogic of the game without breaking our suspension of disbelief.
Glorian is a guardian spirit, a young supernatural being, and a Campbell award nominee. The latter refers to Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' and the guides who help heroes along their journeys. Some of the attendees are quite well known. For instance, Shiva the Destroyer terrifies the hotel clerk into rediscovering Glorian's reservation. Despite the fun, Glorian is downbeat, feeling he is one of those destined to watch the winners then talk humbly about how it is an honor just to be nominated.
Then a mysterious envelope from the Powers That Be appears in his room, with the imprint of the Autoexec himself on it. Glorian is to guide a hero names Mirakles on a quest.
This quest is through the Zork universe, starting with breaking into the house and getting the equipment. They don't do everything quite as you're supposed to do it in Zork. Not having the Bell, Book, and Candle at the right time, they are forced to get a vast quantity of blood from their hotel room through drawer forwarding and perform a much more ancient ritual to get Mirakles out of Hades after he makes a boo boo.
I'm not going to give away too much of the plot, but there's real character development, and Mirakles son of Thrag the Well hated really learns things about himself. Somehow even the bit characters of Zork become real, and we understand the meaning of the tragic limits imposed on them in the name of game balance, which the programmers themselves probably didn't give much though to. Despite which, this is also a light fun adventure novel with a happy ending, and even the bit players come to terms with their fate.
I'm not sure if this novel is truly great in itself, or if people will take the trouble to read it when the Zork generation has passed away, but it is fun to read, and I've always remembered it because George Alec Effinger wasn't satisfied to sell his name and knock off a bit of hack work in exchange for easy money. He put a lot into this novel.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Let's Talk About Agents
I never queried.
Don’t hate me.
I also no longer have an agent. Maybe it was a bad omen that “The Phone Call” where I was invited to sign with the agency came while I was at the awkward doctor, and my call went to voice mail.
But for a while there I thought I’d “arrived.” I’d spent a couple of years researching, writing, and finally polishing my manuscript. I wasn’t going to be “that” writer: the one who queried and then had to hurry to finish a draft to send off to an agent. In fact, I was near terrified of the query. People, I wanted to write fiction! I was as angsty about the query as my teen protagonist was about her boyfriend.
I hit the conference scene. An agent liked my sample chapter. A miracle. He requested the full. Four months later I’d signed with the first boy to say, “I love your book.” I had butterflies. I had visions of my book cover and my name in print. I was so nervous about real editors reading my sex scene that I would literally sweat when thinking about it. My parents might actually read that. I was GOING TO HAVE A REAL BOOK. My agent would make it so.
No.
After revising for months—first a different beginning, then a totally different ending—the manuscript was ready. FINALLY. It went out on submission. If I thought querying was going to be scary. Oh, lord. I’m positive there is nothing more stressful than having a book on submission. Who would say yes to my book? Who would offer the biggest advance? Which publishing house had the coolest authors for me to associate myself with? These were all the wrong the worries.
The rejections came in over months. Not days. Not weeks. Months! My book and my dreams were dying the slowest of deaths. Then one day my agent decided to take his career in a different direction. It wasn’t personal. It was business. But still.
Back to square one. I a few things to do: Write new novel. Find agent. Revise. Submit. Hope it works out. No guaranties.
And that’s where I am now.
Do I still believe it will happen? Yes. I think I can get published. Am I willing to do years of writing and potentially suffer another failed submission? Yes.
Sometimes I wonder if my hands really hold a printed book I wrote if I will feel the ecstatic first love feelings or if it will be more like, There, I endured it. But, I’m jumping ahead again. What makes either one of those outcomes worth it is that writing and yearning to get published make me feel like I’m living hard. I need to live hard and feel a lot. That’s life.
Jody Sparks is a struggling novelist who also writes web content for Angie's List, The Children’s Museum, and other fine clients.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Attracting More Reviews For Your Book
Writing a book and getting it published is a lot of work, but it’s only the beginning. Once the book is published, the marketing begins. One of the best ways to generate good word of mouth and increase your book’s visibility is to gather honest reviews.
Here are a few resources you can use to find quality book reviewers.
1. Examiner.com Though Examiner operates throughout the U.S. and Canada, many of its writers create local content. Find your local book or arts Examiner, or the Examiner who writes about your subject area, online. Visit his or her profile; many Examiners post links to personal websites through which you can get in touch with them. Find out if they’ll review and rate your book for Examiner.com. The writers often have a following of subscribers who receive e-mails about all their posts.
2. BloggerLinkUp Three times a week, BloggerLinkUp e-mails go out to subscribers. These e-mails include products for review. To call for reviews for your book, all you need to do is sign up at the BloggerLinkUp website, then fill out a brief submission form. Interested reviewers will get back to you via e-mail.
3. Gather.com Originally created as a social networking site for and by writers, Gather members place a strong emphasis on original written content. It’s easy to find readers on Gather, and many are willing to write reviews. Gather is also free, can be used (to a limited extent) for self-promotion, and rewards users with points that can be redeemed for gift cards or PayPal payments.
4. Author Meeting Place Advertising on this site is free. Reviews by AMP’s volunteer staff are also free if you’re willing to have your book placed at the bottom of the queue. Expedited reviews are available for a fee.
5. Writers Marketing Group Blog There are many Yahoo groups that can link you up with book lovers and reviewers. This one is especially for writers to exchange guest posts on one another’s blogs. It’s a good place to find a book to review in exchange for the author’s review of your book.
6. Reviews4Reviews Reviews4Reviews also allows you to choose from free and paying options, and is another place where authors can meet and exchange reviews.
7. Writer Gazette blog Author Krista Barrett maintains a list of reviewers and also accepts calls for reviews.
8. Manic Readers Manic Readers is also designed to connect writers and readers, and offers a variety of advertising options.
“Attracting More Reviews For Your Book” is a guest post by Erin O’Riordan. Erin writes the Pagan Spirits book blog.
Here are a few resources you can use to find quality book reviewers.
1. Examiner.com Though Examiner operates throughout the U.S. and Canada, many of its writers create local content. Find your local book or arts Examiner, or the Examiner who writes about your subject area, online. Visit his or her profile; many Examiners post links to personal websites through which you can get in touch with them. Find out if they’ll review and rate your book for Examiner.com. The writers often have a following of subscribers who receive e-mails about all their posts.
2. BloggerLinkUp Three times a week, BloggerLinkUp e-mails go out to subscribers. These e-mails include products for review. To call for reviews for your book, all you need to do is sign up at the BloggerLinkUp website, then fill out a brief submission form. Interested reviewers will get back to you via e-mail.
3. Gather.com Originally created as a social networking site for and by writers, Gather members place a strong emphasis on original written content. It’s easy to find readers on Gather, and many are willing to write reviews. Gather is also free, can be used (to a limited extent) for self-promotion, and rewards users with points that can be redeemed for gift cards or PayPal payments.
4. Author Meeting Place Advertising on this site is free. Reviews by AMP’s volunteer staff are also free if you’re willing to have your book placed at the bottom of the queue. Expedited reviews are available for a fee.
5. Writers Marketing Group Blog There are many Yahoo groups that can link you up with book lovers and reviewers. This one is especially for writers to exchange guest posts on one another’s blogs. It’s a good place to find a book to review in exchange for the author’s review of your book.
6. Reviews4Reviews Reviews4Reviews also allows you to choose from free and paying options, and is another place where authors can meet and exchange reviews.
7. Writer Gazette blog Author Krista Barrett maintains a list of reviewers and also accepts calls for reviews.
8. Manic Readers Manic Readers is also designed to connect writers and readers, and offers a variety of advertising options.
“Attracting More Reviews For Your Book” is a guest post by Erin O’Riordan. Erin writes the Pagan Spirits book blog.
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