With August quickly coming to an end, I thought we should take a moment to reflect on the books we’ve read this summer, and recommend any gems to our fellow readers.

Here are some brief descriptions of the 5 books I’ve read this summer, along with my thoughts on recommending them to other readers:

Something Borrowed, Emily Giffin

Genre: Chick lit

Description: A good-girl lawyer inadvertently steals her best friend’s fiance and must decide what matters more to her–a life-long friendship, or true love.

The Verdict: Fun, but fluffy. A quick read.

Read reviews of Something Borrowed, or order the novel here.

Abide with Me, by Elizabeth Strout

Genre: Literary

Description: When his wife dies, a quiet pastor is left to deal with his two young daughters and a once-supportive congregation who has begun to turn on him.

The Verdict: A thoughtful, but slow, read. I really enjoyed this one, although it might not be for everyone.

Read reviews of Abide with Me, or order the novel here.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Genre: YA fantasy

Description: (As if you need a description…) The new girl in town discovers her boyfriend and his family are vampires. ‘Nuff said.

The Verdict: Yes, I finally broke down and read Twilight. I can see the appeal for a younger audience or anyone with an interest in vampires, but I really couldn’t get into it.

Read reviews of Twilight, or order the novel here.

Rush Home Road, by Lori Lansens

Genre: Women’s fiction

Description: When tragedy strikes, a pregnant young black woman is forced to leave her home and family. She spends the rest of her life trying to make her way in the world, but in her twilight years, she gains closure by helping an abandoned child find her own way home.

The Verdict: This was a great novel. Very well written, but also a page-turner. I highly recommend this one for women who enjoy character-driven stories.

Read reviews of Rush Home Road, or order the novel here.

The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy

Genre: Mainstream literary

Description: A football coach from South Carolina travels to New York to help his suicidal twin sister by telling her psychiatrist the story of their troubled childhood.

The Verdict: I’ve read about 450 pages out of almost 700 of this book, but even though I’m not finished, I’m still going to recommend it. Pat Conroy writes some amazing prose, although I must admit some parts are overwritten, and I’ve been tempted to skim. I think this book could have been edited down to half its length and still would have been an excellent story. *Update* A note of caution: after reading further, I must strongly caution readers as to the graphic and disturbing content that appears later in the book.

Read reviews of The Prince of Tides, or order the novel here.

What books have you read this summer that you would or wouldn’t recommend to others? Please let us know the genres, what the books are about, and your recommendations.

Thanks, and happy reading!

Thirteen months ago, I was one of the most skeptical people in the world when it came to blogging.

After I’d written a few posts for Write It Sideways and started getting some positive feedback, I came across a free report from Leo Babauta (of Zen Habits fame) called, How I Got 100,000 Subscribers in Two Years: Lessons From Zen Habits.

Leo’s report brought to my attention a course he was offering called A-List Blogging Bootcamp, with the support of the talented Mary Jaksch. You may already be familiar with Mary’s work over at Write To Done.

The bootcamp looked really interesting, but–still the eternal skeptic–I wasn’t interested in spending money on blogging education. To my surprise, my husband signed me up behind my back.  He is a big believer in the importance of investing in yourself and your knowledge first (the short way), instead of learning only by experience (the long way).

It was the best investment I ever made.

Anyone can start a blog, but Leo’s original bootcamp taught me everything I needed to know about launching one people will actually want to read, in far less time than it would have taken me to learn it the hard way.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin

Ramp up Your Blog: Create Courses That Sell

August 8th to 12th, I’ll be involved in Leo and Mary’s latest bootcamp, entitled Ramp up Your Blog: Create Courses that Sell. I’m so excited about this opportunity to learn more about how to make money doing something I love–namely, writing!

To gain an insight into the experience and creativity that Leo brings to the table, I recommend reading his free report, How I Got Over 150,000 Subscribers: Lessons from Zen Habits as well as the personal blogging success story of Mary Jaksch of Write to Done and Goodlife Zen.

If you like what you see, I recommend you join me and book your place for Ramp up Your Blog: Create Courses that Sell.

Is There an Extra Bonus if you Join?

Of course! You know the drill with these types of offers

In return for your support after you sign up for the bootcamp, I will personally buy you a copy of the eBook, 101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips For Novelists and Screenwriters, by best-selling author Larry Brooks of Storyfix. Larry is an authority on novel writing and story structure, and I believe this resource will bring you one step closer to your writing goals.

As soon as you register and book your place in the bootcamp, shoot me an email with your details so I can send you your complimentary copy.

Registrations for the Bootcamp are now open and close at midday, 12pm on Thursday August 5th (Eastern time.)

To book your place, please click the image below – or click this link to sign up.

I look forward to connecting with you during the bootcamp!

P.S. In the interests of transparency, you should know I am an affiliate for the bootcamp. I choose to actively endorse the program because everything I’ve learned through A-List Bootcamps has had a positive impact on Write It Sideways.

The results are in.

Earlier this week, you answered poll questions about your genres of interest, and about a potential peer-critique feature on Write It Sideways.

The results for favourite genres of interest in our community are:

• Fantasy 44%
• Young Adult 40%
• Literary 35%
• Mystery 35%
• Women’s Fiction 23%
• Science Fiction 23%
• Romance 19%
• Other 19%
• Suspense 14%
• Children’s Fiction 9%

78% of you were interested in submitting an excerpt, and 83% of you said you were willing to critique others’ work.

Opinions on frequency of critiques were split between weekly (46%) and every two weeks (43%). Although ‘weekly’ won by a fraction, I’ve been leaning toward running this feature every second week during the trial period. Once the kinks are worked out, we’ll see if the majority would still prefer weekly critiques.

Thank you to those who’ve made suggestions on how to make this run smoothly. I’ve taken all your ideas into account, which is why some of the final details differ from my original ideas.

How to Submit

Submissions will be open for 48 hours: Thursday, June 24th at 8 am EST, until Saturday, June 26th at 8 am EST.

• During this submission period, please send only adult or YA fantasy, literary, or mystery. (Genres will rotate, but this is to help manage the number of submissions.)
• Excerpts should be approximately 250 words long (but don’t stop in the middle of a sentence).
• Paste your excerpt into the contact form. Your name and email address are required in the form, but excerpts will be published anonymously on the blog.
• Please only send one excerpt during a submission period. If your excerpt isn’t used, you can send it again during the next call. If your excerpt is used, please refrain from submitting a new piece for at least 2 months afterward.
• It is recommended you do not send an excerpt of something you intend to submit for publication or a writing contest. More on that here.
• If I decide to post your excerpt for critique, I will let you know via email. If you don’t hear back from me, please assume your excerpt won’t be used this time around. You’re free to send it again next time.

Rules and Guidelines

1. Subscribe. Before you submit a piece of writing for critique, please make sure you’re subscribed to Write It Sideways (by either email or RSS), to ensure you don’t miss your writing being posted.
2. Respect. The purpose of this feature is to give encouragement and constructive criticism to aspiring writers. That means feedback should be given with a spirit of helping each other. Any rude or disparaging comments will be deleted.
3. Give back. Submit your writing only if you’re willing to give back by critiquing others’ work. A few people indicated in the poll that they would be interested in submitting their own work to be critiqued, but would not be interested in giving feedback to other people. While I appreciate voters’ honesty, I don’t think that’s fair to everyone else.
4. Polish. Please don’t send unpolished work in an attempt to be first in line. If this trial period works out, I plan to continue peer-critiques for the long haul. There will be plenty of opportunity to submit when your writing is ready.
5. Keep it clean. I won’t use any submissions that contain offensive material. Keep them PG.

I’ll read through the excerpts and choose ones I think we can all learn the most from. The first excerpt will be posted later next week.

If you have questions, please leave a comment below, and I’ll get back to you soon.

Can’t wait to read your submissions!

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of internet articles related to writers and blogging.

Since marketing a book is largely being left up to its author these days, fiction writers are becoming more and more curious about whether or not to start blogs of their own.

Less than a year ago, I was in the same position. In fact, I was a complete social media moron until after I started Write It Sideways. Twitter seemed like a complete waste of time, Facebook fan pages looked silly–never mind all the other social outlets.

I just didn’t get it.

Now, I’m so happy I started blogging, even before I have a book published. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Professional Development

If I didn’t have to compose articles every few days, I’d be less motivated to spend time learning about the craft of writing. As it is, I know I’m expected to deliver quality information here, so it’s necessary for me to keep reading, learning, and sharing.

Professional development doesn’t just help me to write better blog posts–it helps me write better fiction, too. And of course, that’s my ultimate goal.

2. Accountability

Like all mothers, I’m terribly busy. Anyone could forgive me for not having time to write, perhaps even for days or weeks on end.

I could forgive myself for it too, if I weren’t here telling people that I write, and helping others to do likewise. How much of a hypocrite would I be if I allowed myself to put it off just a little too often?

There are definitely days I don’t have time to write, but knowing I need to set a good example for others helps keep me in gear.

3. Marketing

Sure, I don’t have a published book just yet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t build my marketing skills.

I didn’t know a thing about marketing before I started this blog, but this experience has helped me learn some key principles. By the time I get a publishing deal, I’ll be set to market the life out of my book.

Personally, I’d rather learn those ultra-important skills now than at the last minute.

4. Sharpened Prose

Being forced to write articles on a regular basis has helped me improve my prose in small, but meaningful, ways. I may have a degree in English, but this experience has made me more aware of weaknesses in my language.

Over time, I’ve seen a difference in the quality of my writing, the benefits of which obviously extend to my fiction.

5. Making Connections

Creating Write It Sideways has helped me connect with so many wonderful writers–both aspiring and professional. You can’t imagine how excited I was when, within a month or two of starting, author Larry Brooks first contacted me to say how much he was enjoying my blog!

I’ve also made friends around the blogosphere by guest posting on other sites, including Write to Done, Men with Pens, Storyfix, Nathan Bransford–Literary Agent, World’s Strongest Librarian, Zen Family Habits and Fuel Your Writing.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Do you think all writers should be blogging? Only those with a published book or other product to promote?

What are your own reasons for blogging?

Resources

Along similar lines, here is a short list of the blogging-related posts that have turned up in my feed reader recently. Whether you’re thinking of starting a blog, you already have one, or you’re yet to be convinced it’s a worthwhile venture, they’re all articles I recommend you read.

• What Should Fiction Writers Blog About? Jane Friedman for There Are No Rules
• Why Start a Website or Blog If You Have Nothing to Promote? Jane Friedman for There Are No Rules
• How Essential is an Online Presence to a Writer’s Career? Jody Hedlund for Author, Jody Hedlund
• Should I Start a Blog? Mary DeMuth for Wannabe Published
• How to Find Blogging Ideas, Jody Hedlund for Author, Jody Hedlund
• How to Find Your Blogging Voice–8 Tips for Writers, Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen for Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
• 17 Easy Steps to Brilliant Blog Posts, Jill Chivers for Copyblogger

What Next?

In my previous article, I outlined how several key reasons why my blog growth accelerated. Most importantly, I decided to invest in knowledge rather than try and learn everything on my own (who has time for that these days?). If you’re serious about fast tracking your own online presence like I did, then make the wise choice to invest in your own knowledge and learn from the some of the most experienced bloggers online.

Join me and sign up for Leo Babauta’s latest blogging bootcamp, How to Make Blogging Pay the Bills. Sign up closes May 14th, so don’t delay your blog growth any longer, click here to sign up now.

Ten months ago, I was one of the most skeptical people in the world when it came to blogging.

A couple of years back, I set up a site with a free host and template. I wrote nearly every day–to a whopping daily audience of about 10 visitors. I soon became frustrated by the lack of growth and the seeming impossibility of making any money from the venture. So, I quit.

Later, when my husband encouraged me to try again (properly this time), I balked at the idea. Wouldn’t it cost money to set up a domain and buy a theme? Where would I find time to write articles two or three times a week? Who would want to read what I have to say, anyway?

Nevertheless, he persisted, and eventually talked me into it.

After I’d written a few posts for Write It Sideways and started getting some positive feedback, I came across a free report from Leo Babauta called, How I Got 100,000 Subscribers in Two Years: Lessons From Zen Habits.

Leo’s blog, Zen Habits, is one of the most well known blogging success stories in the world.

Leo’s report brought to my attention a course he was offering called A-List Blogging Bootcamp, with the support of the talented Mary Jaksch. You may already be familiar with Mary’s work over at Write To Done.

The bootcamp looked really interesting, but–still the eternal skeptic–I wasn’t interested in spending money on blogging education. To my surprise, my husband signed me up behind my back.  He is a big believer in the importance of investing in yourself and your knowledge first (the short way), instead of learning only by experience (the long way).

It was the best investment I ever made.

Anyone can start a blog, but Leo’s bootcamp taught me everything I needed to know about launching one people will actually want to read, in far less time than it would have taken me to learn it myself.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin

Case in point: I had 23 subscribers when I signed up to the bootcamp in September. Now, I have over 700 subscribers, 20,000+ unique visitors per month, and the numbers continue to grow. Write It Sideways may be no match for Zen Habits, but I’m more than pleased with the growth I’ve seen since taking part in the bootcamp.

How to Make Your Blog Pay the Bills

May 16th to 20th, I’ll be involved in Leo and Mary’s latest bootcamp, aptly entitled How to Make Your Blog Pay the Bills. I’m so excited about this opportunity to learn more about how to make money doing something I love–namely, writing!

Wanna join me?

To gain an insight into the experience and creativity that Leo brings to the table, I recommend reading his free report, How I Got Over 150,000 Subscribers: Lessons from Zen Habits.

If you like what you see, I recommend you join me and book your place for How to Make Your Blog Pay the Bills. Keep reading, as I want to give you a free bonus if you do join.

In the interests of transparency, you should know I am an affiliate for the bootcamp. I chose to endorse the program because it’s had such a positive impact on my blog. Without the knowledge I gained, it’s unlikely you’d be following my site today.

I’m also part of the A-List Blogging Club, the members-only spin off from the bootcamps which provides ongoing support and professional development in the art of blogging.

Is There an Extra Incentive?

Of course! You know the drill with these types of offers

In return for your support after you sign up for the bootcamp, I will personally buy you a copy of the eBook, 101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips For Novelists and Screenwriters, by best-selling author Larry Brooks of Storyfix. Larry is an authority on novel writing and story structure, and I believe this resource will bring you one step closer to your writing goals.

As soon as you register and book your place in the bootcamp, shoot me an email with your details so I can send you your complimentary copy.

Registrations for the Bootcamp will open May 11th at 12pm and close May 15th at midnight (Eastern time.)

To book your place, please sign up using the banner ad below – or click this link.

I look forward to connecting with you during the bootcamp!

John Peragine is a freelance writer and author of ten non-fiction books, through Atlantic Publishing. When he offered to tell us about his experiences with an awesome resource for writers, I couldn’t refuse. Thanks, John!

When I was writing 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers and The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply, I decided to contact some winemakers to add some professional expertise to my books.

I make my own wine, but I wanted to include some really credible people in the book, and needed to find winemakers to interview.

I used Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a website that connects writers with expert sources, so they can conduct research for books, newspapers, magazines and blogs.

I posted a request for assistance from winemakers, and immediately received replies from all over the world.

Based on my experience, here are some tips to consider if you decide to use HARO:

1. Select the most appropriate sources for your project. I went through my email and focused on the responses from wineries that I was really interested in, and sent back replies.
2. Be specific about your needs. Many of the larger winemakers had publicists I had to go through. I threw them the pitch for my book and let them know what I would need from their clients. The results were outstanding. I was able to secure 1-2 hour interviews with some of the most influential winemakers on the planet.
3. Be prepared. I wrote 20 questions ahead of time for each of the interviews so I was prepared. During the interview, I allowed the winemakers to talk about their winery and their impressive credentials, but I always brought them back to the questions I needed for the book.
4. Remember legal concerns. I made sure they signed a release so I could use the interviews and photos in my book.
5. Keep helpful records. I recorded each of these sessions with their permission so I could have a conversation with them, and really concentrate on what they were saying, instead of being restricted by my own framework.

One of the best contacts and the highlight of my interviews was the opportunity I had to speak with John Langley, the creator of the television show COPS. He owns and operates a small winery in Argentina called Urraca Wines, with his children. I could have talked to him all day.

I was so nervous before speaking with him, which was complicated by the fact that I had to reschedule the interview with his publicist three times because of his production schedule. When we finally did connect, it was like talking to an old friend.

The biggest perk of these connections was that the publicists all sent cases of wine and champagne for me to sample.

This was a writer’s dream!

Editor’s note: What topics have you needed to research for your writing? Would you consider using a service like HARO?  Are there other great research tools you can recommend?

Check out John Peragine‘s books 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers,  The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply, and others at his website.

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. ~Ernest Hemingway

How strong is your writing?

No matter how good you think it is, there’s always room for improvement. In most cases, plenty of room. Luckily, there are some amazing websites out there that’ll help you take your writing to the next level.

Want to strengthen your story, empower your performance, and beef up on the publishing business?

Here are 23 sites (in no particular order) I look to for daily inspiration and advice:

PS If you find this list useful, please share it on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon – I’d really appreciate it!

1) Storyfix The absolute authority on story structure, written by author Larry Brooks (Note: I highly recommend Larry’s ebooks on writing.  Read my previous review on Larry’s Story Structure Demystified.

2) Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent A veritable gold mine of resources for authors seeking literary agents.

3) Janet Reid, Literary Agent Advice from a tough-talking professional in the industry.

4) Query Shark A query critique site you don’t want to miss.

5) Men with Pens Fantastic articles on copywriting and freelancing.

6) Ask Allison Writing and publishing Q&A by novelist Allison Winn Scotch.

7) Copyblogger The ultimate in copywriting advice.

8) Guide to Literary Agents Meet both new and experienced agents, and find out what they’re looking for.

9) Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent Informative articles from an agent who represents both Christian and general fiction/non-fiction.

10) Pub Rants Self-proclaimed “very nice literary agent,” Kristin Nelson, rants about writing and publishing.

11) Fuel Your Writing Articles on everything from freelancing to fiction, written by a panel of contributors.

12) Nail Your Novel A professional writer provides you with tools to…well…nail your novel!

13) About a Screenplay Plenty of great insight into scriptwriting, but great for novelists too.

14) Mystery Writing Is Murder Awesome storytelling advice for all genres–not just mystery.

15) Write to Done Personal and professional development for writers.

16) Procrastinating Writers A blog that helps you get started and keep on task.

17) So You Wanna Be Published Three awesome women writers provide help with critiques and pitches, and offer mentoring packages.

18) Alexandra Sokoloff Screenwriting tips and tricks for authors.

19) The Book Deal Editor and publisher Alan Rinzler writes from the voice of experience in the industry.

20) Writer Unboxed Practical articles on writing and publishing from several successful novelists.

21) Kidlit.com Wonderful advice for writers of children’s literature (but applicable to all writers, in many cases.)

22) Writer’s Digest The ultimate writer’s resource website.

23) Publisher’s Weekly My favourite place to read online book reviews.

This certainly isn’t a comprehensive list of all the blogs and websites I follow, but each of these consistently provides quality information.

What sites help you make your writing stronger?

Update: Check out my new list of 23 (More) Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger. It’s all new–no repeats from the list above!

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed there were certain topics writers just can’t agree on.

Discussion seems to be a huge part of the writing life, especially because there are so many hot topics to choose from. And, as we move toward the digital age, I believe the number of friendly arguments will continue to grow.

If you had to cast your vote for one side or the other, which would you choose?

1. (S)he, S/he, Him/Her vs. They, Them. Should ‘they’ be used in place of ‘he’ or ‘she’ when the person’s sex is unknown? If not, do you prefer to see said person referred to as ‘he or she,’ ‘he/she,’ ‘s/he,’ or ‘(s)he’?
2. Literary vs. Genre. Which style of writing are you committing your life to–literary or genre–and why? Which do you prefer to read?
3. Print books vs. E-books. Will E-books take over print books, or will they continue to be secondary? If you could only choose one format, which would get your vote?
4. Kindle vs. iPad. Devoted reading device, or multi-functionality? With all the recent hype over the iPad, do you think you’ll be converted?
5. Self-Publish vs. Remain Unpublished. If you knew you had a good book on your hands, but you were certain to never be offered traditional publication, would you self-publish and market your book yourself, or remain unpublished? Would your answer be different for fiction and non-fiction?
6. Plotting vs. Pantsing. Do you outline your projects before writing them, or do you pants your way through a number of drafts?
7. First-Person vs. Third-Person. Which point of view is more effective–first-person, or third-person? Does one POV work better for certain types of writing than for others?
8. Self-Edit vs. First Draft. Is it better to edit yourself as you’re writing (so you end up with a polished piece of writing on the first try), or to bang out a quick first draft (and be able to see the overall story before going back to add details and edit)?
9. Routine vs. Random Creativity. Do you commit yourself to either a strict writing regimen or a somewhat flexible schedule, or do you just write whenever the muse takes over? Do you force yourself to write even when you don’t want to?
10. Prologue vs. No Prologue. Are prologues more awkward and annoying than anything, or are they a useful tool? Would you include one in your current work, or should they only be used when absolutely necessary?
11. Library vs. Amazon. Would you rather grab a much-anticipated book from the local library for free (and maybe have to wait until it’s available), or fork out the money to purchase it online or from a bookstore?
12. Rhetorical questions vs. Not. Some agents claim to hate them in queries,  and here’s The Rejectionist‘s not-so-polite look at why rhetorical questions don’t work. Do you think a ‘no rhetorical questions policy’ is too harsh, or are there circumstances in which they’re effective?
13. Agent vs. Direct Submissions. When your work-in-progress is complete and polished, do you plan on searching for a literary agent to represent you, or will you go the route of direct submissions?

So, how do you vote?