I have to admit I’m getting depressed with watching the publishing industry implode. Rampant layoffs, imprints closing, magazines folding, it’s almost too much to bear.
Seeking some good news, Nathan Bransford has really been inspiring me lately, especially with the positivity week on his blog. I love that he’s not giving in to all of the doomsday talk surrounding publishing. Instead he’s using his platform as an agent to uplift writers. Read his last week’s worth of posts if you haven’t already.
So Nathan’s blog inspired me to think about what I could do to help the cause of not giving in to the publishing industry depression.
In that spirit I’d like to offer a few suggestions for how we can help other writers out through these difficult times.
Here are 10 ideas for how to inject a little positivity and help uplift the writing world. All of these things will cost you nothing but a bit of your time.
10 ways you can Write it Forward:
1. Offer to critique a writer’s work.
2. Visit writers’ blogs and leave supportive comments.
3. If you have a blog, mention other writers and link to their sites.
4. Write book reviews on your blog and link to the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
5. If you Twitter, link to an undiscovered writer’s site.
6. Get active on social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and submit your favorite writers’ blogs.
7. Be on the lookout for new writers at local bookstore readings and events.
8. When you find a new writer you enjoy, send them an e-mail and let them know you appreciate their work.
9. Join a writers’ board and answer questions for new writers who are just finding their way.
10.If you already have a platform, use it to help promote other writers.
You’ll be amazed at how meaningful any of these seemingly small gestures can be when it comes to helping out a writer.
If you have any more ideas, please leave them here in the comments. And thanks for helping the cause!
-Maria Schneider
Flickr photo by weeping-willow
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Great ideas! Love your blog overall, too.
It’s hard to stay positive all the time huh. Thanks for the advice.
Paying it forward is great in any walk of life. Great blog!
Great attitude.
I love this and will definitely take it on board.
You are correct in pointing out that while these acts sometimes might seem small they register in a greater way – I don’t think others understand how these small acts have given me boosts right in moments when I needed them and to what degree they impacted me.
I love this post & the attitude that we should be supporting fellow writers instead of feeling a need to compete or be threatened by their successes. I’m a big fan of lifting others’ spirits in any aspect of life (I’ve got some sort of dominant cheerleader gene – minus the coordination part) but in writing this is even more crucial since it’s so often a solitary pursuit and self-doubt can become so crippling. Hooray for you for spreading a positive message!
Great post – some points well worth remembering there. Thanks for working for the positivity cause! Also, as well as reviewing on your blog, it’s nice to post those reviews on Amazon and elsewhere if you can.
Maria, love your “write it forward” twist on the pay it forward phrase. You’re right — we need to help each other every chance we get. Thanks for posting on the topic!
Maria, what a great way to end the week. Thanks for the positive vibs. I need them. Mary
ps. Love the quilts–they have always been a symbol of working together and each of us contributing whatever gift we have.
Good advice, Maria, for both seasoned and novice writers alike.
Great stuff on Bransford’s blog, Maria! I wasn’t familiar with him, but he’s a good read, and it’s helpful to see an agent not quaking about the brave, new world of electronic publishing. And thanks for the nudge on supporting writers; as Allegra indicated, small acts of thanks that take but a moment can have powerful impact.
And another way to support writers: buy books! But I don’t suppose I need to say that here…
Well, Maria, you’ve done your good deed for the week! What an inspiring post. It’s just what I needed at the end of the week from hell — waaay better than happy hour. (I work in the publishing industry, too.) Thank you! :-)
Thanks for a great post, Maria. I do a lot of the above already – it’s all good karma, and fun besides. And while I think it’s great to buy books (I do, and a lot of them), I’ve decided to put my money where I’d like others to put theirs if ever I become a published novelist – the debut author. It’s getting that first book out that is the hardest and most critical in a writer’s career, and frankly, the big houses rarely put the marketing muscle behind the newbies that they do the tried and trues.
So this is my small contribution: Once a month I buy a book from a DEBUT AUTHOR who has preferably published with a SMALL PRESS and (if possible) I purchase the book from an INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE (or Powell’s or some other site that focuses on small presses and indy bookstores). Then, I read the book and around the middle of the month I review it on my blog http://leftbrainwrite.blogspot.com
Two reviews in, third one up in a week or so. The authors appreciate my reviews, as do the presses, and I have (selfishly) discovered a new writer and another outlet that might, someday, decide to gamble on me.
I challenge all of you pre-pubbed and recently published writers to champion emerging writers. Peace, Linda
Great post, Maria. I do a lot of the above because it’s good karma and fun besides.
I think one of the best things we can do as prepubbed and pubbed writers is to buy books. But even better (mho) is to buy the books of debut authors. The first book is critical to a writer’s career and the big houses often do not put that much marketing muscle behind newbie authors. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to buy a book by a DEBUT AUTHOR, preferably from a SMALL PRESS and (when possible) from an INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE or the press itself. Then, around the middle of the month I post a review of the book on my blog (http://leftbrainwrite.blogspot.com), along with links to the author, the press, other reviews, and how to purchase.
Two reviews in, and the authors appreciate the bit of sunshine, as do the presses. I’m happy to get a little exposure to writers whose work I’ve stumbled upon and respect and exposure to the presses I’d love to publish with some day. And it’s fun! Peace, Linda
Sorry for the double post, Maria. My computer froze on the first one and I didn’t think it went through. Guess I made my point!
Linda, I love your ideas. What a great way to help new authors, local bookstores….
There is research that says that the way to feel less depressed, less overwhelmed by life is to take positive action. We have little control over the stock market, the greed of the banks, the war…. but we can take individual actions of empowerment for ourselves and others. I recently chaired a project with my writer’s group to send boxes of writing and school supplies to the soldiers in Afganistan. On the news, when I see the scroll of the names of soldiers who died this week, I still feel sad. I know I can’t stop the war, but I can believe that there are at least a couple soldiers and children who were helped by this small action.
Maria, I think Linda’s post would make a great blog article. How do we empower ourselves and take little actions that can help?
I just want to break out in a round of Kumbaya. ;)
Nice tips, Maria. Hopefully we’re all doing many of them already. I really do like what Linda is doing on her website with the debut authors and small press. These kinds of things are long and well remembered by the recipient of the act. Plus they are good for the soul.
I really did enjoy Nathan’s positive blog week. I am in complete agreement with him – ebooks will ultimately be a VERY good thing for the author. Might not be so great for publishers, distributors, and book sellers, but will be a boon for the folks that actually put pen to paper (at least figuratively).
~jon
If people spent less time with their technology (let’s start with facebook, twitter and the Internet in general; ipods, itunes, mobile phones, blackberry, email and move on to various other forms of ‘cannot live without’, modern pollutants — gyms, tesco/walmart/amazon/ebay, blogs & blogs & blogs, pornography, DVD extras, celebrity gossip, reality television, commercials, self help, chat shows, oh my god, I feel sick…) and more time with a good book and a comfy chair, it would definitely improve matters :-)
I have to admit I’m getting depressed with watching the publishing industry implode. Rampant layoffs, imprints closing, magazines folding, it’s almost too much to bear.
I feel the same way….
I’m really sad about the fate of Plenty and Hallmark magazines. And, I was working on querying both of them. :-(
So, it’s nice to find positive ways to “write it forward”. Love the 10 tips!
:-)
Michele
What a really nice idea. I shall go away and do at least one of those things now.