Writing.com: Creative Internet Strategies to Advance Your Writing Career

Have you ever thought about writing for the Internet and were afraid to ask how to go about it? Fret no longer, Moira Anderson Allen has probably written the bible pertaining to writing and the Internet. Her comprehensive tome entitled Writing.Com: Creative Internet Strategies To Advance Your Writing Career-Revised Edition is an update of a previous book published in 1998. As she mentions in her introduction, "the purpose of the second edition is to take a fresh look at the Internet and answer the question, "What does it mean to writers today?" A non- fiction book pertaining to a particular subject matter is worth reading, provided it painlessly imparts a great deal of information. This is exactly what Allen has managed to achieve in covering just about all you need to know and more about Internet publishing. In addition, the book comes with an electronic guide to online resources for writers. This guide offers nearly two thousand listings that are available as a downloadable PDF file. A password and URL site are provided. Extremely well organized, complete with an alphabetical list of online resources and index, the book divides itself into eighteen chapters and two appendices. The author explores where writers and the internet are today, mechanics of the Internet, online research, writing communities, finding markets online, email queries and submissions, screenwriting and the Internet, electronic rights protection, piracy, scams, promoting your book, web sites, e-zines and newsletters, various kinds of publishing, e-books, and the future. At the end of every chapter, Allen provides Internet resources, where you can further your knowledge on the various topics. What is interesting about Allen's writing is she never strays from what she is trying to explain. She neatly sums all the queries a novice or a veteran would like to know about Internet publishing. Moreover, Allen's writing is crisp and clear, and she avoids using sophisticated technical terms that would turn off many a reader. For example, a glance at the chapter dealing with networking online and joining the writing community, the reader is immediately informed that many of the people who contribute to these forms are top-name authors and editors. The reader is then given a list and explanation of all of the possibilities-newsgroups, forums, chat, blogs, advantages, disadvantages, and twenty tips on effective discussion. There is also within the same section an excellent analysis of critique groups, their advantages and disadvantages. All of this is followed by a list of Internet resources. Another plus is that you don't have to start at the beginning to enjoy this book. Open any section and you will be intrigued by the abundance of interesting information exposed on the chapter's topic. If you are already familiar with copyright, you can move onto the next section without skipping a beat. The book represents a welcome contribution to a greater understanding of the many opportunities

Definately worth your time if you are a writer trying to make it. The strategies are great and have given me hope about how I can get published. Of course, there isn't much writing practice in this book, so you should go elsewhere if thats what you need.

This is an example of a well-targeted book: a treatise on the Internet for writers. It is a book that writers will identify with. Allen describes where to conduct research, where to find markets, all about electronic rights, promoting your book online and much more. While the book is directed to writers, a great deal of the advice, tips and insight will benefit anyone who wishes to know more about the Internet. For a detailed description of the book's coverage, click on Table of Contents in the left-hand column of this page. The book also has more than 30 pages of valuable resources and an index. Moira Allen has been a professional writer of both books and articles for more than 20 years.As a publisher, author of 113 nonfiction books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I recognize the value of targeting your reading audience. Moira Allen is delivering her vital message to writers in a time of exciting change. [email protected].

I'm a computer-savvy fiction writer who has used the Internet extensively in connection with my writing. This book has really hit the spot for me, as I'm just beginning to formulate more comprehensive Internet strategies. I actually know a lot of the detailed stuff in the book, but no one has ever encapsulated my potential choices so well. The book is well laid out, well written, and imbued with the voice of experience. A must-have for writers keen to blossom in the age of the Internet

If you're a beginning, intermediate or advanced writer hoping to harness the power of the 'Net and advance your writing career, Moira Anderson Allen's book helps you do just that. Concise and informative, Writing.com is one book you'll want to add to your "writer's wish list" for the coming holiday season!