July 12, 2005
A WriterOnLine Publication

My dearest readers,

Schools and tools, tools and schools – that's the focus of this issue of WriterOnline.

I am a believer in education. Or, let me put that a bit differently – I am a believer in life-long learning. The latter encompasses the whole gamut of learning possibilities: formal classroom, web-based, distance learning, self-taught, and so on. And these days, there are all sorts of new models for us adults to continue on with our formal education. One model requires two meetings a week, one in class and one in a team, or study group. Courses generally run 5 or 6 weeks, and continue one right after the other. It is a grind, but once you get into the swing of it, it becomes a lifestyle.

Then there is the weekend college set up. Here you go to school Friday nights and all day Saturday, every other weekend and the course duration in usually half a traditional college semester.

Third are low residency programs, which are springing up all over the place, many offering MFAs. For these, you attend several residencies on the college campus each year while the rest of the work is done from your home. In addition, there is usually an exchange of work between you and a mentor or mentors as you proceed through the material and demonstrate your competence.

And last are independent study programs where you plot out a unique and completely individualized program with a mentor. I am just finishing up my masters in one of those, and I tell you from the bottom of my heart that it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I designed a program in liberal studies with the mentor from heaven and for the last few years I've sucked up every bit of information on all sorts of stuff that I can find. As some of you know, my thesis topic is in Rhetoric and Literacy for the Digital Environment. I am already grieving the end of the program, and fool that I am, am actually thinking of going on for a doctorate.

So for the purposes of our topic focus, I'm going to propose that we all dedicate ourselves to learning in whatever way works for our style and situation. In fact, without a propensity for learning, as writers we'll be quickly passed by our more learned colleagues who manage to keep themselves generally literate amid the torrents of information with which we are deluged even on a daily basis.

Which brings us to Part 2 of our topic: Tools. I can tell you a lot more about education that I can tools. I get by, but I tend to use some pretty klugey ways of keeping myself organized, so I'm not even going to attempt to go there with you.

So how about if we do this instead: let's hear from you! What tools do you find help you as a writer. It could be anything, just as long as it helps you. So tell us what it is and then tell us how it helps you. Please send to me at editor@writer-on-line.com and we'll publish your responses in our next issue.

Last issue we asked you to tell us about your favorite summer childhood reads, and you responded with great gusto! Add to your summer reading lists after checking out Summer Reads.

I can't go without commenting on the review in this issue authored by our very own publisher, Corney Vanhelden. (We'll make a writer out of him, yet!! J ) Several months back, he purchased this software product called Visual Thesaurus which is as its name suggests. And ever since he got it, he's been telling me that EVERY writer should have it, it is fantastic, etc. Since he told me this quite often, I suggested he write a review, and presto – that's what you've got! I've not had the chance to use it, but from what I'm hearing, I'm going to get myself a copy ASAP.

Read more about it.

LEARNING CENTER SUMMER SESSION

Remember – we are offering some great savings on our Learning Center courses for the months of June, July, and August. Sign up for any one course and save 10%, two courses – 15%, and three courses – 20%! What a way to spend the summer, brushing up on your writing skills or learning to do a kind of writing you've never done before. Go for it!

Read on, my friends, enjoy, and until next issue, keep that ink flowing and those keyboards a'clacking

My warm regards,
Mary Anne Donovan

P. S. Have you seen Writer Online Learning Center lately? Just like here at WOL, the Learning Center has a whole new look, not to mention a new name. We have 25 courses, covering a broad range of interests and subject matter. New to the line up is Fiction Know-How, taught by Deborah Sutton. Check out the course description. Another cool course is Writing Poetry Inspired by Landscape or Place, taught by Jodi Rowland. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, check out Digital Communication Methods and Introduction to Technical Writing taught by yours truly.

IN THIS ISSUE

 

For those of you looking for a tool to enhance your sales, read “The ‘Best’ Tool for Magazine Article Sales” by Michael Sedge. He offers exceptional advice that is easy to carry out.

Always with some great tips-of-the-trade, Peter Bowerman doesn’t fail in “The ABCs OF E-MAIL MARKETING Tasty Tips For Maximizing Your E-Marketing (While Preserving Your Reputation!).”

All fired up about equal rights, Pamela Beers shares her opinions in “The Curmudgeon Speaks: Equal Rights: Up In Smoke?”

Every writer needs one: a thesaurus. Well, according to WOL’s publisher, Corney Vanhelden, the solution is simple. Check out his article “Visual Thesaurus,” which takes a look at this innovative tool—one that no writer should live without.

Offering solid tips on writing and publishing in “Writing and Publishing Made Smarter, NOT Harder,” Terrie Leigh Relf provides a tool any writer could use: know how.

In the genre of fiction, and across the board, the art of synopsis is vital. So why is that not all writers thrive in this art, or even take advantage of it? In his column “RANDOM ACTS OF LANGUAGE: Writers, Books and Everything,” Nick DiChario explains the importance of writing a good synopsis. Make sure to read his article “TO SNYOPSIS OR NOT SYNOPSIS.”

There’s a saying that goes something like: nothing said is new, because everything has already been said. Looking at Christina Hamlett’s “PRE-EXISTING INSPIRATIONS:Part 1,” this sure seems to fit. In her essay, Christina provides some tools on how to avoid copy right infringement, while still accessing the inspiring words around us.

According to Jennifer Brown in “Author Knows How to Put it On Paper,” the book PUTTING IT ON PAPER: The Ground Rules for Creating Promotional Pieces That Sell Books by Dawn Josephson is a useful tool in setting up a media kit for your recently published book.

From Nancy Drew to Jack London, you shared some of your favorite childhood authors and books. Take a peek at WOL’s readers’ favorite childhood Summer Reads.

Holly J. Hughes’ poems, “Double Bluff,” “All the Wary Oppositions,” “Desire is never on the map,” “Sometimes at night I can’t sleep,” and “Blessens,” are breathtaking. From colorful images to the moment of words, these poems will have you coming back to read them again and again.

If you like anagrams, then you’ll sure enjoy this issues puzzle, Summer Knows. Even if you’re uncertain about your skill with anagrams, the given clue should have you unlocking this puzzle in no time.

Have you been searching for the right moment and person to air your grievances or show your gratitude? Well, perhaps college was decades ago, or maybe it was only years, either way, here’s your chance to tell WOL about your experiences. This issue’s contest, Airing Some Laundry, offers you the opportunity to write a personal essay from the prospective of leaving college, rather than the usually required admissions essay.
Brushing up on some education? Distance learning seems to be the route to go these days, but how about an on line fitness class? Find out more by reading News by Shelley Bueche.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SAVINGS: LEARNING CENTER SUMMER SESSION

They're back! Those infamous lazy, hazy days when many of us writers tend to languish on our front porches sipping mint juleps and scratching at mosquito bites. Instead, this summer, swat those mosquitoes, switch to iced tea, and hone your writing skills with a course (or two, or three) from the WriterOnline Learning Center. And take advantage of our special Summer Session pricing:

• Take 1 course, save 10%

• Take 2 courses, save 15%

• Take 3 courses save 20%

Decide which courses you want to take, and we'll be back with sign up details in our next issue!

MISCELLANEOUS

 

News Flash

Below is information for a Web site that offers interesting services:

BookConnector Helps Authors Find Signing Venues
BookConnector.com has launched a new service that will help authors find unique (as well as traditional) venues for book signings and readings. The complimentary service, called Connect to Book Signing Venues, identifies venues in the author’s area. Once a reading has been held, authors can rate the venue and management according to their book signing value. Visit BookConnector on the net at http://www.BookConnector.com.

BookConnector Helps Authors Find Signing Venues
Authors have traditionally held signings and readings at bookstores, occasionally at cafes or grocery stores. Now they’re cropping up in unique, non-traditional locations: retail stores, airports, malls. It makes sense if you’re an indie author scrambling to build a readership. BookConnector.com has launched a new service that will help authors find unique (as well as traditional) venues to do their book signings and readings. The complimentary service, called Connect to Book Signing Venues, not only identifies venues in the author’s area. The flip side is that once a reading has been held, authors can rate the venue and management according to their book signing value. Visit BookConnector at http://www.BookConnector.com.

Press Release:

BookConnector Matches Small Press Authors to Book Signing Venues in Novel Way

Authors have traditionally held signings and readings at bookstores, occasionally at cafes or grocery stores. Now they’re cropping up in unique, non-traditional locations: retail stores, airports, malls. It makes sense if you’re an indie author scrambling to build a readership. BookConnector.com plans to help writers get in front of that readership.

Their complimentary new service, called Connect to Book Signing and Reading Venues, not only finds appropriate, newly discovered venues in the author’s area, but encourages them to rate the stores and management according to their book signing value. And the service, like all those offered by BookConnector, emphasizes the need to share information.

“Anyone can find a list of bookstores to hold a signing,” says Paul Petrucci, founder of BookConnector and himself a mystery novelist. “That’s the easy part, and that’s the traditional way. But for indie authors it’s a more difficult prospect. We need to share experiences in order to get an edge.”

Those experiences include not only who to talk with to get the book signing gig (a task that is harder for small press authors) and which stores pay promptly, but how to find untapped new venues. In the brave new world of indie authorship, department stores, toy stores (if you’ve published a children’s book), and music stores (if your book has a music theme) are all in the running for places to sign books. Once an author discovers a niche signing spot, BookConnector can become the repository for that knowledge.

“The community aspect of the BookConnector site is a key to its success,” says Petrucci. “Authors who hear about a venue – usually provided by another author – can pay the favor forward by adding their own venues and signing experiences to the list.” Thus, they help their fellow scribes to reap book signing rewards.

About BookConnector
BookConnector.com is a book promotion portal used by authors and publishers to match their published manuscripts with a large database of book promotion resources. The new Connect to Venues service is similar to its flagship Connect to Book Review Sites service in that it customizes search results (for sites, venues, etc) based on the characteristics of the book and author (venue location, genre, etc). BookConnector is on the net at http://www.BookConnector.com.

Contest

 

Airing Some Laundry

Remember the agony of the college application process? Those 500 word personal essays that were suppose to tell those prestigious, or not-so-prestigious (depending on your opinion) academic institution admissions boards why you should be accepted over the hundreds, or even thousands of others who were applying. Read more

Puzzle

 

The Summer Knows…

It's anagram time!! We've compiled 10 book titles and scrambled them into anagrams! But we're going to give you one really big, fantastic clue – each book title has the word "summer" in it. So this one should be really easy! Read more

News

By Shelley Bueche

Who Needs Botox?

More Summertime Fun Around the Country

Read This, Do Five Jumping Jacks and Call Me in the Morning!