Publishers on Twitter

“Then Wear the Gold Hat”

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!”

(The epigraph for Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.)

Writers – especially those who are just starting out – have to wear different hats and jump all sorts of hurdles to get noticed.  Unpublished authors (oftentimes with not much more than just an idea for a book) are expected to work on building a “platform” or “fan base” right from the beginning.  It appears that an opportunity to “just write” is wishful thinking.  You have to promote yourself.  You have to “tweet your own horn” whether you like it or not.  Sad.  On the other hand social media can be fun, too.  And it does present writers with something invaluable: an instant connection with fellow writers, agents, publishers, and readers. 

  

So, to paraphrase Fitzgerald:

Go start your own blog, connect on Twitter;

To bounce super high do Facebook too,

Till they cry “Writer, gold-platformed, high-scoring writer,

We must have you!”

Here’s a list of publishers you can follow and connect with on Twitter (the link was tweeted by Collin Kelley @CollinKelley):

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/52656-twitter-and-publishing-how-the-industry-is-faring-in-2012.html

Good luck!


Live for the Love of it,
The Happy Amateur

"A garden" (abecedarian, poem)

A garden

Begins with

Cracked soil

Dead leaves

Ethereal reminders of the 

Fallen

Gardens of the past. That’s

How

It begins.

Just when you think you

Know it all

Life triumphs 

Morbid thoughts reduced to

Nothing

Only love

Prevails

Quietly

Raggedly

Stoically

Till the 

Universe in its

Vastness, a

Wondrous garden, today and

X number of days from today, fulfills 

Your everlasting, all consuming

Zest for life

Live for the Love of it,

The Happy Amateur

http://namingconstellations.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/reverie-twenty-five-and-a-half-up-the-garden-path/

A Square Poem

I simply had to try this.  The form is a Square Poem, Lewis Carroll style.  (Well, not exactly - there's only one Lewis Carroll - but the mathematical principle behind the form is the same.)

I so love this liberating feeling – 

So uncontrollably the new me emerging.

Love the fresh perspective getting strong.

This new perspective sets me free,

Liberating me, getting me powerful, fearless.

Feeling emerging – strong, free, fearless, happy.

Now try looking at it this way:

I	so	love	this	liberating	feeling
so	uncontrollably	the	new	me	emerging
love	the	fresh	perspective	getting	strong
this	new	perspective	sets	me	free
liberating	me	getting	me	powerful	fearless
feeling	emerging	strong	free	fearless	happy

You can read it from left to right and from top to bottom!  Isn't this a cool form?

I had a lot of fun with it.

For more on Square Poems (including Carroll's original one) go over to dVerse:

http://dversepoets.com/2012/06/28/form-for-all-square-poems/

Live for the Love of it,
The Happy Amateur

On the Language of Social Media

A super post @such&such Best ever stuff indeed!

It’s fab! It’s great! It’s just too much! A wicked cool must-read!!!

Have you ever received a tweet (or two) similar to this one?  Are you “guilty” of tweeting something similar yourself?.. 

I am.  I used “great” more often than I should have.  In fact, I should not have used it at all.  When I wrote “great” I meant it.  However, in retrospect, I should have stayed away from the word. 

There’re only this many characters in a tweet.  They shouldn’t be wasted on “fab best ever must-reads.”  Let us not be pushy.  Let us allow others to decide what they must or must not read.  Let us make our tweets more concise.  More meaningful.  More grownup.

Next time I’m tempted to use what seems to be the “norm of social media language” – I’ll think again.

Here’s a link to a great article (oops!) scratch that – simply an article on the topic:

http://writerunboxed.com/2012/06/23/social-over-the-top/

The article is by Porter Anderson. 

The link was tweeted by Jane Friedman. 

Find them on Twitter @Porter_Anderson @JaneFriedman

Live for the Love of it,

The Happy Amateur

"Untouched" (poem)

We Write Poems asked us to write a poem based on this quote:

What if there were a hidden pleasure
in calling one thing
by another’s name?

~Rae Armantrout

"Untouched"

He called her all things smooth and buttery

Honeysuckle, gummy-bear, syrupy

Feeding her graciously on words nectar

Always brewing, slowly pouring syllables

But his tongue dared not touch the name of hers

Never cut itself on the sharp contours

Of the edgy sounds in tune with her soul

Ragged and beautiful like truth itself

Live for the Love of it,

The Happy Amateur

"A Stolen Kiss" (poem)

Robert Doisneau – Le baiser de l’Hotel de Ville 1950

"A Stolen Kiss"

 

Robert Doisneau was always summer to me

Spring, winter, fall – always a hint of summer

Like kissing in the street, a taste of fresh air

Embracing the art of spontaneity

Then came forward an old lady, bless her heart

Took what was mine, it said so in black and white

Took it apart bit by bit, “Yes, this is I

And this is such-&-such, my ex, we broke up”

I heard her cackle between the printed lines

“The shot was staged.” I struggled not to listen

Pieced my memory together bit by bit

I try to look at it as if I had no

Knowledge, but I can no longer trust summer.

Live for the Love of it,

The Happy Amateur 

Visit Margo Roby for more "summer" poems prompted by images:

http://margoroby.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/summer-tryouts-it-must-be-tuesday/