New self-publishing possibilities

I've just discovered knol, a newly invented word which I suppose comes from "knowledge on line". It's all explained in the link I just gave you. Basically, it's a software program similar to Blogger but designed for posting longer articles that may be of more lasting interest. I'm intrigued by the idea, and expect that I'll be creating some "knols" of my own. In the old days, before Internet, I devoted a lot of time, energy and anxiety to writing queries and then articles to send out to editors at magazines and newspapers, and sometimes I would get published and paid, but more often I would not, and even when I succeeded (see my Notes & Essays for samples, or my C.V. for a more complete list), the pay was meager. For those of us who write for motives other than money, which (Dr. Johnson to the contrary notwithstanding) is almost everybody who writes seriously, this is an attractive alternative to sending articles to an editor. Maybe my first knol will be about self-publishing, what it has meant historically (I just read a life of William Cobbett) and what the new technologies may portend, for the publishing industry and for political and social thought.

Meanwhile, I'll keep blogging. I like the short, ephemeral form. Which may not be so ephemeral, since things posted on the Internet seem to last forever.

Newsvine & new media

I just discovered Newsvine & am using it in two ways: Posting articles to see if I get any more readers, and reading some of the interesting stuff they collect. (You can see my page, with the articles posted, here.) It's free and easy. Makes me worry about the future of news media, though. If newspapers disappear, or morph into electronic diffusion of free info, who's going to pay for serious investigation?

There will be a solution -- we humans have always found a way out of whatever jam we've created for ourselves -- but I don't yet see what it will be. Probably a mix of things: university-based think-tanks, foundations (like the Fund for Investigative Journalism only bigger?), or funds gathered by interested NGOs (which would include all the neo-fascists as well as the people we like). The changes in our world of information are immense. The pretense of objectivity of the select few papers (Le Monde, New York Times, El País, Herald Tribune, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and a couple of others have always insisted on their independence), while maybe never more than a pretense, will erode to nothing. Maybe that's all right -- in a free-for-all of people shouting at each other, some few thinkers may be able to filter the sensible from the insane. Diderot did it, in the 18th century, so maybe we can too.

See Poynter article, Facing the News Business Model Crisis.

Freelancers' travails

A colleague in the National Writers Union forwarded this NYT column by Abby Ellin. When you can't think of anything to write, write about writing, or not writing.

Another NWU colleague writes:

When first investigating an unknown publisher or agent, always check at
least these three places:

National Writers Union (naturally)
Preditors and Editors
Writer Beware

It also wouldn't hurt to plug the name into the Google search engine, both for the web and for groups, especially groups, to see if there are any bad reports.

Another good place to check and to post a query is the sff.net newsgroup, sffNet WebNews.

Looking for e-zines

For the past few months, all my fiction energies were going into my novel, A Gift for the Sultan. Now it's time to come back up and try to get other work published. So I've been checking out the e-zines. Starting out with the ones I know because they've published me in the past: In Posse Review continues to be very attractive. Editor Rachel Callaghan published a fable of mine there in Issue 9, "Melliflua and the Fauns." The fable was written for a particular pre-adolescent girl, but with an adult subtext. Besides fiction and poetry, they publish short literary essays, so I just sent Rachel the note below, on the "fiction factory." Exquisite Corpse continues its manic existence. The Corpse published a short story of mine, "A lua no céu da Baía," in Issue 5, but it's not currently accepting submissions. But you don't want to hear all this. I'll just do what I have to do, and make a note if something happens. But check this out: When Literature Goes Multimedia.

For writers trying something new

For new writers or writers breaking into a new genre, Pat Gallant writes:

You might want to try Byline Magazine. They're a magazine for writers that sponsor monthly competitions in all genres. The good thing about them is if you win, they DON'T publish your work (you get credit and a cash award.), therefore leaving open the opportunity for first print pub. elsewhere. They're an excellent barometer of if a piece will sell. They're staffed by writers,editors, teachers, etc. and are sticklers for grammar, form, etc. which is a good thing. I found what I used to enter there, reflected editors' tastes. If Byline gave it a thumbs down, seems editors did , as well. What won was picked up by some great publications. Check out their website and good luck.

For writers--A colleague recommends

Writers in power

Yesterday's news of the retirement of Czech playwright Vaclav Havel from the presidency of the Czech Republic brought to mind other creative writers who have held political power: novelists include Benjamin Disraeli, several times prime minister of Britain; Rómulo Gallegos, briefly (1947-48) president of Venezuela; Sergio Ramírez, vice president of Nicaragua during the Sandinista government (1979-89), and no doubt others. Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) and Pablo Neruda (Chile, on the Communist Party ticket) both ran for president but lost, so they don't count.

All this reminds me also of the prophecy made by my 8th grade teachers, in a pre-graduation ceremony at Seventh Avenue Grade School in La Grange, IL: I was to become president of the USA. Now, you may think that unlikely, but I did make a start: last year I won national office, in the National Writers Union. Well, as I wrote when it was over, the job wasn't all fun, but it could have been a stepping stone. Anything could happen -- Gallegos and Ramírez weren't expecting the posts they got, and I'm not sure Havel was seeking it, either. So I'm wondering just what might be the chain of events that could thrust me into state power. Any suggestions?

Reasons for optimism

Happy new year! Reasons for optimism in 2003:
1) Hugo Chávez will probably survive the employers' strike in Venezuela, which is good, and will also have to pay closer attention to the demands of the middle class, which is also be good.
2) Luiz Inacio da Silva, "Lula," is sure to advance economic democracy in Latin America's largest country, Brazil.
3) The Russians' stupid repression of Chechens, and the Chechens' reckless assaults on Russians, may so exhaust the patience of Russian citizens that they force Putin to change policy or get out.
4) Good people in Africa will keep trying (against terrible odds) to make democracy a habit -- Kenya may be the latest example.
5) The Israelis will run out of ways to punish Palestinians and out of patience with their own aggressive settlers, so more of them will demand that the government seek peace.
6) Palestinians are running out of families willing to sacrifice their children in suicidal attacks, so more of them will be willing to respond.
7) My latest novel, just completed, will become a best-seller and a movie, which will make me and my friends very happy.