I’m inundated with writing information

I get posts from the sites listed below either daily or weekly. They take over my email stream. And if I read each and every one of them every day, I wouldn’t have time for anything else – including what I’m sitting down to do – WRITE! 

Mind you, this list doesn’t include posts from blogs I regularly follow, a daily poem, and other various emails from the Writer’s Market, Amazon, Powell’s Books, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter – the list goes on and on.

So what do you think? Which ones should I continue getting? Which ones should I toss? Also, are there any that I’m missing? I’d love to hear from you.

Storyfix is about getting real with your writing dream. About writing the kinds of stories that attract a readership through an understanding of craft and harnessing the power of the underlying principles that make it so.

“If you want to publish your work, if you want a career as a writer, then you’ve come to the right place.” ~ Larry Brooks

Copyblogger has been teaching people how to create killer online content. Not bland corporate crap created to fill up a company webpage. Valuable information that attracts attention, drives traffic, and builds your business.

The Write Practice is here to kick-start your practice. You have to write millions of words no one is ever going to see before you can write the ones that will change someone’s life.  

The Story Circle Network is dedicated to helping women share the stories of their lives and to raising public awareness of the importance of women's personal histories. We carry out our mission through publications, a website, classes, workshops, writing and reading circles, and woman-focused programs. Our activities empower women to tell their stories, discover their identities through their stories, and choose to be the authors of their own lives.

Seth’s Blog Seth Godin is a writer, a speaker and an agent of change. American Way Magazine calls him, "America's Greatest Marketer," and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual. As Seth says, “Choose wisely. It's perhaps the most important decision we make, every day.”

Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why, bringing you things you didn’t know you were interested in — until you are.

  

She Writes Press is an independent company founded to serve members of She Writes, the largest global community of women writers online, and women writers everywhere. Its regular emails include articles by successful authors and an opportunity to write something related to your writing in six words.

 

Writer’s Digest includes prompts, articles about writing and publishing, competitions, and info about conferences and workshops.

Author Marketing Experts blogs about book marketing, publishing, social media, writing, author and book promotions.

Guide to Literary Agents Part of the Writer’s Digest family, it includes posts about all aspects of writing and provides lists of agents looking for new books. I had a guest post there, so there are opportunities for you. Chuck Sambuchino is very accessible.

CRWOPPS Creative Writers Opportunities List Group provides daily lists of publishing and writing contest opportunities.

HARO Help A Reporter Out  is your exclusive publicity genie, delivering you three free email alerts daily, straight from journalists and media companies on a deadline who want your story and expertise! Plus, with HARO, you can submit unlimited pitches to top journalists from local, regional and national media outlets. I’ve had a couple of successes here, including a paying gig.

My Name is Not Bob  provides guest posts and writing and marketing tips by Robert Lee Brewer, who describes himself as Father. Poet. Editor. Curator. Occasional slap-happy smack talker.

BookBaby is a small team of authors, bloggers, programmers, and dreamers. We're dedicated to helping authors make the journey from composition to publication. Includes lots of writing and publishing tips in its blog.

Call to action

Now that I’m back from vacation it’s time to get back to work. And the work I have in front of me is to make a decision about my book. Should I continue on the road to finding a new publisher or should I self publish?

My tendency is to look for a new publisher (in case you didn’t know, my publisher Lucky Press went out of business at the end of April) and to that end I’ve already sent out seven queries to the publishers suggested by my social network contacts. As has been my experience queries don’t get answered very quickly. And the two answers that I have received already are big NO’s. They were nicely put, though. One doesn’t take any unsolicited manuscripts, and one doesn’t publish memoirs.

I’ve also gotten advice about where to get a self-published book produced and distributed. It boggles my mind: Bookbaby, Lulu, Createspace, Lightingsource. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and look at the fine print for each and figure out if what I need is what they have to offer.

So, where do you my readers come in? I’d like your advice. I’d like to know what publishers you’d suggest for my book, Leaving the Hall Light On: A Mother's Memoir of Living with Her Son's Bipolar and Surviving His Suicide (please click on the link to find out more about the book and read some fabulous reviews). Some of you must know of one or two publishers? Some of you may even be publisher yourself.

I’d also like your advice about self publishing. If you’ve self-published your own book, who did you go with and why?

I hope you don’t mind that I decided to ask you to get involved. I figured if I don’t ask my readers these questions, who am I going to ask?