Writers Write (R)
Your one-stop resource for information about books, publishing and writing.

WritersWrite.com

Featured Sections

· Advertise
· Author Interviews
· Bestsellers
· Blog Network
· Book Awards
· Book Blog
· Book Excerpts
· Book Giveaways
· Book Reviews
· Classified Ads
· Events Guide
· Feed List
· The IWJ
· Media Cynic
· Readers ReadTM
· Search
· Shopping
· Subscribe
· The Write JobsTM
· The Write NewsTM
· Writer's Blog
· Writer's Bookstore
· Writers' Strike

Jobs and Markets

Add A Job
Add A Publication
Contests
Guidelines Database
Job Listings
Writers on CallTM

Community

Message Boards
MyBlogLog
Online Polls
Readers Read
Readers Speak Out
WW Forums

Special Sections

Blogging
Book Promotion
Business Writing
Children's Writing
Epublishing
Fiction Writing
Greeting Cards
Journalism
Medical Writing
Poetry
Research
Screenwriting
Self-publishing
Songwriting
Technical Writing

Resources

Articles
Book Promotion
Book Publishers
Book Resources
Book Searches
Books to Film
Coming Soon Books
Computer Center
Film Releases
Grammar Search
Interviews
News Resources
Newsletters
Postage Tools
Reference Resources
Twitters
Webmaster's Corner
Webrings
Writer's Conferences
Writers' Groups
Writers' Organizations
Writing Contests
Writing Links

Search Tools

Baby Names
Books
Crafts
Dictionaries
Financial Advice
Grammar and Style
Greeting Cards
Health Information
Jokes Search
Legal Information
Medical Terms
Meta Search Engines
Pets Search
Profile Search
Product Searches
Quotations
Relationship Advice
Research Tools
Search Engine Links
Song Lyrics
Specialized Searches
Sports Data
Tech Terms
Video Search
Web Games
Web Search

Writer's Marketplace

Blogging
Books
Computers
Conferences
Contributors Wanted
Editorial Services
Email Products
Epublishing Services
Graphics Design
Illustrators
Literary Agents
Logo Store
Miscellaneous
Newsletters
Office Supplies
Photography
Printing Services
Publications
Publicity Services
Rentals and Retreats
Research Services
Screenwriting Services
Self-publishing
Seminars
Shopping Guide
Songwriting Services
Typing Services
Web Design
Web Hosting
Writers Only Store
Writing Accessories
Writing Contests
Writing Resources
Writing Software

Writer's Blog Archives

Recent Headlines
February, 2008
January, 2008
December, 2007
November, 2007
October, 2007
September, 2007
August, 2007
July, 2007
June, 2007
May, 2007
April, 2007
March, 2007
February, 2007
January, 2007
December, 2006
November, 2006
October, 2006
September, 2006
August, 2006
July, 2006
June, 2006
May, 2006
April, 2006
March, 2006
February, 2006
January, 2006
December, 2005
November, 2005
October, 2005
September, 2005
August, 2005
July, 2005
June, 2005
May, 2005
April, 2005
March, 2005
February, 2005
January, 2005
December, 2004
November, 2004
October, 2004
September, 2004
August, 2004
July, 2004















New on The Internet Writing Journal®:

-Article: Songwriters Anonymous - Part Six by Mary Darwson -Article: The Girls in the Basement by Lani Diane Rich
-Article: Learning to Write With a Sledgehammer by Alan Alda
-Book Review: Category 7 by Bill Evans and Marianna Jameson
-Article: To Outline or Not to Outline by Timothy Hallinan
-Article: Shoot the Rhino by Alex Keegan
-Book Review: The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson (Urban Fantasy)
-Article: Songwriters Anonymous - Part Five by Mary Dawson
-Book Review: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (Fantasy/YA)
-Book Review: The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks (SF)
-Book Review: Pendragon: The Pilgrims of Rayne by D.J. MacHale (YA)
-Book Review: The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva (Thriller)

Writer's Blog | Search this Site | Subscribe | Writers' Strike

Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device
Amazon Kindle Amazon.com is excited to introduce Kindle - a wireless, portable reading device with instant access to more than 100,000 books, blogs, newspapers and magazines. The Kindle's revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. It is simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing. Whether you're in bed or on the train, Kindle lets you think of a book and get it in less than a minute. Click Here!.

**Self-publishing Section
Don't miss our Self-publishing resource. With articles, features and links, this section will help you find out the information you need to self-publish. We've also got an entire section on book promotion to help you get the word out about your new book.

Gather.com Greatest Love Story Writing Contest Self Publish Your Book For Less!
Instantpublisher.com offers professional quality book printing at affordable prices, with great customer service. Choose from many options including 7 binding styles, color printing, 4 paper styles with quantities as low as 25 copies and much more. Click here for more information and instant online price quotes. to learn more!

Children's Writing Section
Do you think you might be the next J.K. Rowling? There are so many kinds of books for children: from picture books to chapter books and everything in between. How do you find the best resources on the Web for children's writing? Please visit our Children's Writing Section. With articles, interviews, features and comprehensive links, this new section can help you find the information you need to pursue your dream of being a children's author.

How To Make It As A Songwriter
Mary Dawson's new book, How to Get Somewhere in the Music Business from Nowhere with Nothing, gives you the inside scoop on how to make it in the music business as a songwriter. Mary teaches you all you need to know to make your songwriting dreams a reality.


Jeffery Deaver's Ode to Outlining

To outline or not to outline, that is the question. Bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has some pretty strong feelings on the subject. He's firmly in the pro-outline camp. Just hearing him talk about his intense writing technique exhausts us: we think we need a nap. Jeffery's next Lincoln Rhyme book -- which has great buzz -- is Broken Window.



Posted on May 15, 2008
Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati



TheNextBigWriter Online Writing Community
Looking for a place to meet other kindred writers, get feedback, and take part in exciting writing competitions? TheNextBigWriter is a private, online writing community for writers 18+. Workshop your writing, trade tips in the site forum, and enter the $2,500 Strongest Start Novel Competition. *Visit TheNextBigWriter Online Writing Community!*




Gospel Music Legend Dottie Rambo Killed in Bus Accident

Dottie Rambo CMT Music reports that Dottie Rambo was killed in a bus accident early Sunday morning. She was 74-years-old. Dottie Rambo was a prolific songwriter and a legend in the gospel music industry. The Kentucky Herald-Leader says Rambo was the queen of gospel music. She wrote over 2,500 songs during her lifetime and her songs were recorded by some of the biggests stars of country and rock including Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston.
Rambo, 74, was known as the queen of gospel music. Not only was she widely known for her own recordings, but some of the more than 2,500 songs she wrote were recorded by artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. It has been said that there's hardly a modern hymnal that doesn't have at least one Dottie Rambo song in it.

"It was hard to sing gospel music and not record a Dottie Rambo song," said gospel singer Kenny Bishop, adding that his family's first album included Rambo's song Too Much To Gain To Lose.

"Everybody knew Dottie's music," he said. "I've been around Dottie when there were bigger celebrities in the room and she didn't have to make her way to them -- they made their way to her."

Christian songwriter and comedian Aaron Wilburn said that Rambo broke barriers.

"She took gospel into country; she took it into pop ... I know in the Christian field she's the greatest female writer, probably of all time," Wilburn said.
You can sign Dottie's guestbook here on Legacy.com. Her official website can be found at dottierambo.net.

Posted on May 14, 2008
Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati



Your Ad Could Be Here!
Get your message out with a text advertorial. Text Advertorials consist of 50 words of text, a graphic and link to your website. Click here to request our rate card!




Michael Bay Blasts SAG

Director/Producer Michael Bay (Transformers) is disgusted with the Screen Actors Guild, which he says is trying to get its members paid more than the writers or the directors. He blogs:
Oh my god. SAG wants more than Directors and Writers? That's a smart tactic I guess. When are people going to understand, most importantly actors - we are at war -- we are facing a major recession -- our country is in dire need of being fixed - our country also has no money because we have given trillions to the Iraq war and we have NOT even started to pay for it -- it is just paid right now by printing more money on presses -- China owns our ass in every way. Why not strike on a business in a down fall. Just like the writer's they made pennies on the four extra months striking -- when you do the real math and they are paying the price for it still -- so many writer's (sic) out of work still!!! I want this business to thrive -- I know the studio heads and they will punish those that defy them. Okay, be an idealist -- but you will never get a better deal then the writer's (sic) or directors -- only the same -- the studio's (sic) will never allow it, don't kid yourself. The working actors don't want a strike - they have said so. Too many non working actors have a say which is crazy -- maybe there are just too many actors?? Gosh I'm even a member of SAG, but I don't feel I've earned the right to vote in this guild.

One hunch, the leaders of these guilds seem to like the limelight they get in the press, it becomes more about the ego in the room rather than something smart. Striking is not smart. Through the history in America, strikes in businesses have only gained the union worker 6% at the max -- so take the emotion out of it and go for the 6%. A path to strike is not smart for the the hundreds of thousands of people in this business. Sanity needs to prevail here -- talk real and talk the same talk as your union brothers -- not more!
Three of Michael's upcoming film project are remakes: The Birds, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. We predict that his Transformers 2 will make one zillion dollars. In the opening weekend.

Posted on May 13, 2008
Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati



More Angst Over Declining Network TV Ratings

The Associated Press on the story of disappearing audiences for television shows. The writers' strike is long over, but things aren't rebounding.
"The strike had a number of impacts," said Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universal research chief, "but as with everything it's never very clear or direct or black and white." ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC had nearly 9 percent fewer viewers in April and May so far than during the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Yet viewership declines are sadly typical for the big networks. Take the same period a year earlier, and the drop was more than 5 percent over 2006. People didn't watch less TV while the strike was on, they just watched cable more, said Steve Sternberg, an analyst for Magna Global. Shows with ongoing stories seemed to lose the most momentum from the strike; ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" on May 1 had its smallest audience since moving to Thursday night. Decisions by NBC to keep "Heroes" for next fall and Fox to delay "24" until next season may prove prescient, unless people forget about the characters altogether.

Comedies were hurt least by the strike. CBS was so buoyed by the performance of their Monday night comedies that the network is considering adding comedies on another night. CBS' rack of procedural dramas had done relatively well, at least until a week ago: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" had its second least-watched episode for a Thursday original, and "CSI: Miami" hit a series low for an original.

"There's no question that it could have been a lot worse," said David Poltrack, CBS' top researcher. CBS' strategy was to make as many new episodes of existing shows as possible until the season ends later this month so people got back in the habit of watching again. The explosive growth of digital video recorders, now available in 25 million homes, means more people are setting their own schedules.
We think that viewership is actually up, not down. It's just that people aren't watching network tv at the time that the shows are first broadcast. They are setting their TIVOs, downloading episodes off of iTunes and watching cable. Until the ratings systems evolve to track the actual habits of viewers, there will continue to be these doom and gloom stories.

The reality is that people love their tv shows, but they want to watch them on their own schedules with less commercial interruptions. With current technolgies, there is no excuse for the networks not to adapt to these new viewing habits. Adapt or die, we say.

Posted on May 12, 2008
Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati



Cartoonist Ted Key is Dead at 95

Cartoonist Ted Key has died at the age of 95. He created the cartoon strip "Hazel" which was turned into a hit sitcom.
He died Saturday at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Tredyffrin Township after a 1 1/2-year battle with cancer, his son Peter Key said Monday. "Hazel" was a popular feature in The Saturday Evening Post from the time it debuted in 1943. It evolved into a prime-time series in 1961 that starred Shirley Booth and ran for four years on NBC and one year on CBS.

Key also created the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman for producer Jay Ward. The time-traveling dog/scientist and his boy made their TV debuts in 1959 in segments on the animated show "Rocky and His Friends." He created cartoon panels called "Diz and Liz" for the Jack and Jill children's magazine and produced a number of other animal characters. He also wrote a play for radio, authored and illustrated books, and had freelance cartoons appear in Cosmopolitan, Better Homes and Gardens and Sports Illustrated.

Key literally dreamed up the concept of his wildly popular maid cartoon. "Like a lot of creative people, he kept a notepad near his bedside," Peter Key said of his father. "He had a dream about a maid who took a message, but she screwed it up completely. When he looked at the idea the next day, he thought it was good and sold it to the Post." Key randomly picked the name for the maid and was flattered that it later became synonymous with maids, according to his son.

Key acquired the rights to "Hazel" in 1969 and the comic was picked up for syndication by King Features. King still distributes the cartoon today, using those drawn by Key before he retired in 1993. "Hazel" was so popular that when the first collection of cartoons was published in 1946, E.P. Dutton sold 500,000 copies. In all, Dutton published eight collections of "Hazel" cartoons.
The New York Times obituary is here.

Posted on May 9, 2008
Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati



The Writers Write
Lifestyle Network


Bloggers Blog
Book Blog
Crafters Craft
Drivers Drive
Fantasy SF Blog
Gamers Game
Health News Blog
HowToWeb.com
The IWJ Blog
Lovers Love
Media Cynic
Petosphere
Pleasant Morning Buzz
Science News Blog
Shopping Blog
Singers Sing
Surfers Surf
Traders Trade
Video Nacho
Watchers Watch
Workers Work
The Write News
Writer's Blog

Free Email Newsletter

Find out about the latest happenings on our network! Subscribe to the Writers Write® Update, our free email newsletter. Writers Write, Inc. does not sell or distribute subscribers' email addresses to third parties.
Email:
Name:



Subscribe to our feed:

Add to MyYahoo

Add to MyMSN

Add to Bloglines

Add to NewsGator

Add to Technorati Favorites!




Search

 



Site Information

Advertise
Contact Information
Feedback
Linking to us
List of News Feeds
Media Coverage
Press Area
RSS Feeds
Sitemap
Subscribe





Writers Write Poll



Previous poll results



Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Click here for advertising information.

Copyright © 1997-2008 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved.