Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Wednesday Web Browser: Promotion, Publishable Poetry, and Philip Roth

This article by J.A. Konrath, on using technology to promote one's work, goes a little too far for my comfort. For example: For some reason I've avoided the MySpace frenzy. Sage practicing writers, do you think it's essential? Thoughts on the rest of the article?

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And here's one from the Writer's Digest archive: Miriam Sagan's helpful hints on writing "poems that get published." I'm certainly considering her advice!

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No, I'm not going to link to every review of Exit Ghost. James Wood's will certainly do. But one thing I'm realizing as I read through many of the discussions of this book: I am very glad that I finally got around to reading The Ghost Writer this fall. Seems as though that might be the essential "prequel" to have read among all Roth's Zuckerman novels to best appreciate this one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

While I agree with JA Konrath that writers need to do what they can to promote themselves and their writing, his style of self-promotion just isn't for me. And that's okay... if we were all doing the exact same things, it would be that much harder to stand out among the crowd.

I regularly receive comments from visitors that they like my website because it's different from other writers' sites they've visited.

I don't get the whole MySpace thing and I currently have no intention of creating a MySpace page.

I do participate in some on-line forums and have the url to my site in my signature. Visitors have arrived at my site that way. But I didn't join those forums in order to self-promote. I joined because I was looking for like minded people.

I may try some of his other suggestions, once I have a published novel. But I'll taylor those to what I feel comfortable doing; to what fits my personality.

Erika D. said...

Thanks for your very thoughtful comment, Susan!