By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 2/27/2008
Click image above to see a bigger version. I’ve also posted about my time management experiment where I tried going two hours at a time without e-mail or blog access. The results were enlightening and a little embarrassing!
What about the rest of you, especially those who write at home? How do you control your e-mail and blog reading time?
By: Jason Boog,
on 11/20/2007
By divine orders, all lit-bloggers are now contractually obligated to have an opinion about the new Amazon e-reader, a fancy device called Kindle.
You can watch the video for more information on how it works, and you can check in with MediaBistro for a report on what the early-responder bloggers are saying. I only have one thing to add. Kindle ain't a computer!
While it comes bundled with downloading powers and a high-tech internet connection, this e-book reader lacks the power to go online like a real computer.
In my opinion, the e-book reader that succeeds will let you look up your author on Wikipedia, download the author's readings from YouTube, and visit the author's blog for free. I don't think people will give up books until a machine can offer them all that functionality in a book-sized package.
For my money, Ed Champion has the best Kindle reporting, writing about arrangements between bloggers and Amazon:
"Here is a list of Kindle blogs. This blog does not appear to be listed, but Galleycat, Overheard in New York, Jossip and Boing Boing are. It appears quite likely that arrangements have been made with these respective outfits ... Jason Kottke has additional links, including the revelation of bloggers getting 'a revenue share with Amazon, since it costs money to get those publications.'"
By: Jason Boog,
on 5/29/2007
Why should your new book just sit there? Why not take advantage of the web and create a new kind of reading experience?
Earlier today we saw haw Larry Doyle built hypertext links for an essay in a normally paper-driven magazine--what you might call a networked essay.
Today, Galleycat explored more recently published examples networked books. It's an interesting list, and well worth reading. Check it out:
"Of course, it's possible to take this model even further, and Harvard University Press has just published an edition of McKenize Wark's Gamer Theory that incorporates feedback from readers who saw an earlier version of the book online last year. It also features "visualizations" of Wark's concepts, including this nifty bit of colorized ASCII art by Ben Delarre that renders the entire text of Gamer Theory as a Mario Bros. level"
As I reported last year, The Institute for the Future of the Book coined the term networked book. Last year they published a comprehensive list of networked books on the web, places where writers and readers hash out grand interactive experiments.
In my recent spree of lists, I just built my own, highly subjective list of the Top Five Networked Books I've read. Add your favorites in the comments section.
By: Jason Boog,
on 5/10/2007
Ed Champion reports on a company-wide restructuring at the publisher, Perseus Books Group. The shake-up will cut at least 12 jobs, and leave two quirky presses in limbo. His links round-up the lit-blog response to the announcement: "More from Jeremy Lassen, who calls this 'sad, scary news for genre publishing,' including a link to this letter to Avalon employees. Sarah observes that this is bad news for mysteries too."
We've explored the genre of fan fiction pretty extensively on this site. What about anti-fan fiction? The good folks over at GalleyCat delivered this choice post earlier this week: "Well, according to the Bookseller, Serpent's Tail has no plans to get out of J.K. Rowling's way when it releases an adult-oriented "anti-Hogwarts" novel at the same time as the final Harry Potter at midnight on July 19th. Danny King's SCHOOL FOR SCUMBAGS takes place in a boarding school, but instead of learning magic, boys learn thievery. 'It's Harry Potter on crack,' the publisher said.'"
Kathleen Maher just posted about the untimely shut-down of Steve Clackson SandStorm blog. "Each individual voice deserves respect, and in a better life, even some attention," she writes. Read her post for a little bit of encouragement to keep going, even when it seems nobody is reading.
Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.
Oh, you mean I’m supposed to control those things?
Seriously?
It’s a mood thing. I’ll catch up on e-mail and read a few blogs and then I’m itching to get back to the fiction.
Usually.
Sometimes.
Yeah, like I said. It’s a control thing?
I probably spend to much time writing and visting blogs so I’m not the person to answer, but love the carttons.
I keep my email minimized so it shows how many unread emails I have. It works as kind of an instant alert that I have a new email, so I don’t have to go check it.
I start my day by reading the news and a few online comics, like this one. I allow myself a couple of hours for that, then it’s time to work.
The only blog that I follow regularly is Neil Gaiman’s, and I’ve actually learned how to use that to make myself work. Before I go to bed each night, I check to see if he has a new post, but I don’t read it. When I get up in the morning, I tell myself, “Okay, there’s new Neil, but you can’t read it until you finish the story (or research lobotomies, or submit the story, or whatever’s on my schedule for the day).” And when I finish that task, I scurry over and read Neil’s post. It’s incredible motivation!
Unfortunately, I have the will-power of a crack addict. So, I go to a cafe where there’s no free internet access. If I’m highly motivated and enthralled with the piece I’m working on, I can write at home, but most of the time I have to remove the temptation.
During the day I’m forced to control my online time, because my manager can view my computer monitor from her desk.
Evenings, however, I’m an Internet junkie.