Is That You God? Make The Palin Stop…
Posted by admin on September 24, 2008
Extra points if you get the reference…
Remember: Your fiction has to make more sense than reality because, well, because of stuff like this.
Superman Needs our Help
Posted by admin on September 18, 2008
I Live in the Cleveland Area. Actually, I live in Youngstown, Cleveland’s Uglier, nastier step-sister. So this video hits a little close to home, both as a resident and a writer. Please watch and pass it on.
Authonomy Open Beta: HarperCollins is looking for writers
Posted by admin on September 12, 2008
Authonomy’s Open Beta went live last week, and is looking to be a pretty exciting opportunity for aspiring writers.
Authonomy looks to be heavily inspired by Zoetrope: It allows authors to post their work in the hope that it generates community buzz. If it does HarperCollins, the site’s owner, will review it for possible publication.
Authors upload at least 10,000 words from an unpublished work. They do basic Promotional work on the text, such as crreating an image/cover and a short blurb. The work is then posted on Authonomy and other users can critique and comment on it. Users are limited to 5 books at a time, so you van’t just grab a bunch of free reading.
Authors can control the comments on their works by “Cherry Picking.” While they can’t erase or delete user comments, they can feature those they like at the top of their work’s comments.
Then once a month, HarperCollins’ Editors will take the top rated books and review them for possible publication.
Your Work is safe: Authonomy will disable cut and paste functions, and they’re pretty open about the rights you’re giving up. according to the FAQ: Not much. You continue to own your work and they only take the right to post it on Authonomy and you can remove your work at any time.
So.. Build an audience, get read, own rights. Sounds good Doesn’t it?
Stay Home and Earn A Masters Degree
Posted by admin on September 8, 2008
Every year it seems there are more schools offering distance learning Master of Fine Arts degrees in creative writing. It only makes sense: Why ask your students to relocate or put the rest of their life on hold when the important thing is for them to sit their butt down and actually produce something?
Most of these are low residency programs. Students meet on campus one week or so a semester and then write at home the rest. Some require a fifth semester at the school to complete the degree requirements.
So, here’s a list of what I’ve found so far:
Antioch College- One of Atlantic Monthly’s top five.
Ashland University- “Cross Genre” track in Ohio.
Bennington- VT Based. Site states “rigorous: Course of study with Studdents expected to complete 25 hours of writing per week. Way to Sell!
Carlow College- Pittsburgh based with summer in Ireland.
Chatham College- Focus on Nature and Travel writing.
Goddard College- The Original Low Residency Program ( 1976).
Farleigh Dickinson- NJ based, Residency available in England.
Hamline University- YA Program In the Twin Cities
Lancaster University- Single Summer Residency at the midpoint of the program and propietary Conferencing software. Pretty Neat program.
Lesley University- MA Based Low Residency Program
Murray State- 4 Year Program for Working Professionals
Naropa University- Summer Residency in Colorado at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Need I say More?
Pacific University- Oregon. One of Atlantic’s Top 5 Low Residency Programs
Palm Desert- Focus on Commercial fiction in Creative Writing or Writing for the Performing Arts.
Queens University of Charlotte – MFA In creative writing.
Ranier Writing Workshop- What’s with all the programs in the Pacific Northwest or Vermont?
Seattle Pacific University- Two Residency periods- One in New Mexico, One on a Pacific Island in Washington.
Seton Hill- Offers MFA In Popular fiction. Work with a well Known Genre Writer as a mentor.
Spalding University- Has an option for Writing for Children and YA
Stonecoast MFA Creative writing- Residency in Maine.
Transart- MFA in Studio Arts, but Writers welcome. Residency in Austria
University of Alaska- Another Pacific Coast one!
University of Nebraska- Extensive Program- 25 hours per week, 5 residencies
University of New Orleans- Low Residency MFA with Summer abroad opportunities in Mexico, France and Italy.
Wilkes University- Relatively New Program.
Whidbey Island Writers Association MFA- Not associated with a College? Got my interest.
Get A Job You Worthless Lazy Bum! – Freelance Job Boards for Writers
Posted by admin on September 5, 2008
Ready to get off the couch? Your Vampire/Werewolf/Romance just not getting done? Job sucks, kids hate you and dog has worms? Tired of Explaining the difference between a Venti and a tall? C’mon man, I feel your Pain. Sure the Classifieds Suck, but that’s why Tim invented the teh innernets- to make it easy to find paying jobs for freelance writers.
Bizreef- A Freelance Auction Site. Charges a small fee to freelancers for the contact.
Constant Content- An Internet Syndicator. Post your toss-offs here and hope someone buys them. Free to sign up and post.
ELance-Like Ebay for creators-Get it? Post a profile and submit bids on jobs. Read ‘em carefully, cause if you underbid, you still have to perform.
FreelanceWritingJobs- Professional Blog with Daily Gigs.
The Golden Pencil- Scours Craigslist and feeds the results to you.
Guru- Billed as the world’s largest online Service marketplace
Helium- Choose a topic, post, and maybe get paid.
iFreelance- Good For You. Lots of little one-offs.
MediaBistro- Full Time Positions and Freelancing- One of the best. Complete their extensive, free registration to get the jobs to come to you.
Project4Hire- Not a lot for writers, but shows average bid on jobs
SunOasis- Barebones site with a good selection of jobs. Has a few networking sites on ning.
