Category: E-books

2011 Best of Writing, E-books, Elements of Style, Future of Reading, Social Media platform, Strunk and White, Writing

2011 Best of Writing Articles and a Rap on Writing

Mona Alvarado Frazier

The year is coming to a close and with it another chapter in the book of my writing life. The generosity of writer’s, agents, and publisher’s who blog have helped me shorten my learning curve and fuel my desire to continue writing into 2012.
  
To help prepare one in the endeavor of becoming a writer I’ve done a little research on the best articles on writing and publishing. In the writing world the ongoing debate of e-books versus traditional publishing, the future of reading, and building social media platforms seemed to dominate the writer’s landscape. With all of that information it’s easy to get overwhelmed. 


To quickly get a ‘lay of the land’ here are two links to the best of 2011 articles on writing. And for those who need tough love and ongoing assistance follow The Evil Editor. This site focuses on queries, synopses, and the beginning pages of a story. If you are a non-techie but want to learn and improve in social media, podcasting, and other tech advice for authors, go to Author Media.


Writer’s Digest assembled The 18 Most Popular Articles on Writing. They culled through 1,300 articles and found the most widely read articles on fiction and non-fiction writing tips, agenting, publishing, and writing query letters.


From Jane Friedman we have the 12 Must Read Articles of 2011.


For those who are visual and auditory learners, this post ends with a refresher on Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. In rap. (Turn off the juke box at the bottom unless you want a real music experience).

I hope you feel prepared to march forward and give your computer chair a twirl, hover your fingers over the keyboard, and begin writing on January 1, 2012. (Even if it’s at 11:00 p.m.). 

Amazon Prime, Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet, E-book sales, E-books, E-readers, Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet

Mona Alvarado Frazier



Oh no, I just pre-ordered a Kindle Fire and now rumors say B&N will debut a new Nook tablet in just a few weeks . I skipped the regular Kindle in lieu of continuing to read “the good old-fashioned way,” until I tried Kindle on my phone. I’m not hooked, but it’s a great way to have books at your fingertips and in your pocket when you don’t want to carry around a one to three pound book in your purse. Plus I hate smudging up my books with the crap that makes its way into the depths of my bag, you know lipsticks, pens, cupcake crumbs. 

But back to the new Nook tablet. It’s about $69 more than the Fire that comes out on November 15, plus it has more memory and has goodies like Hulu. But it  looks like the FIre is still the better choice. Whew, I hate spending money and then finding something better for nearly the same price. 



I put a toe in the e-reader water because the e-book options and low prices are intriguing.This article on e-books tells the black and white story: adult hardcover and paperback sales are down 18% this year. The revenue from e-books has surpassed hardcover revenue this year. This makes for a tempting option to forego traditional “legacy” houses, the Big 6, and jump into the self-publishing world. The battle of opinions on both paths run wide and deep. 


The Wall Street Journal is heating up the debate with their plan to publish e-book bestsellers. Amazon is offering an e-book loan program for their Prime customers.These two items help push the envelop further in deciding whether to buy an e-reader or not and whether to enter the foray into publishing a book in e-reader format.


Everyday I’m tempted to go down the path of self-publishing but I have an agent who is looking at my two manuscripts. When the time comes for a thumbs up  or thumbs down, I’ll have to reevaluate my choices. Who knows, I may read my own novels on my Kindle Fire by next year.