This has been one hectic week for me while I got ready for the Polish Festival, but I did manage to find some goodies for you. Let’s see if you agree:

Social Sites, Networking, Promoting:

A new uber-cool tool on Goodreads called “Ask the Author” is going to amp up the ways we can connect with readers without having our time totally zapped off the clock. I intend to put it to use as soon as I have time to do it. Read about on DigitalBookWorld.

Michael LaRocca posted “7 Simple Truths About Successful Networking” on LinkedIn. One of the things he advises is to “shut up, but not really.”

And along this vein, Ralene Burke offers a series of questions to authors to help them hone their goals and develop strategies so your social networking is focused. She says, “Knowing yourself is the place to start.”

But one of the best posts I found about the social networks is one by Jeff Bullas. In a post called “How to Create Awesome Content for Facebook, Twitter, and Google+,” Jeff goes through the pros and cons of each and how best to work them. I have to admit, though, I’ve only come across one high school friend on Facebook (thank heavens!), so I disagree with that assessment of his. Caveat: He has an example or two in his article that some folks may find offensive. My advice is to ignore it and read the article.

Bullas links to a site that discusses “14 Great Tools to Create Engaging Infographs and Images…,” another article definitely worth investigation. In face, Bullas has several links embedded in his post that are worth investigation. Take some time with this one.

The Business Side of the Biz:

I couldn’t pass this up. We authors need to keep in mind that there is more to the writing business than just writing, editing, publishing, and promoting. We need to remember that it is, indeed, a business.  Jane Friedman hosted Helen Sedwick, a California business attorney, who discussed “What Every Self-Published Author Needs to Know About Taxes“–an article that traditional published authors would find helpful, too. I put her book, Self Publisher’s Legal Handbook on my wish list.

Agents and Agentry:

Sarah LaPolla, of the Bradford Literary Agency, answers gobs of query questions–everything that has ever crossed the mind of an agent-seeker. One of the most telling answers she gives is, “I average about 100 a week and request maybe 3-6 manuscripts a month.” Guess what the question is . . .

Jennifer Laughran, of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, goes further and answers the question, “You’re querying and you get an offer. Now what?” This is a gold mine, I tell ya, because she answers the “what to do in a sticky situation” questions that we sometimes face in our search for the right agent. You’ll like this one.

All About Writing:

Critique partner, K.M. Weiland, has a new book releasing soon, Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic. She has a great little video about it on her award-winning blog called “10 Things Writers Can Learn From Jane Eyre.” I can’t wait to get my hands on her book!

One of the fun posts I found told me just what it means to “put a sock in it.” Check it out on Writers Relief: “Common Expressions: Their Origins and History.”

This one’s creating a stir with the LinkedIn group I belong to: “The Periodic Table of Story Telling,” designed by James Harris. This would be a terrific tool for coming up with story ideas, etc. by mixing and matching the categories, but most of the conversation on LI centers around the idea that the author of this jewel is trying to make a science out of writing. Personally, I think it’s a hoot and a great way to blow time–wait. Okay, it will blow some time, so maybe you shouldn’t go there . . .

Moving right along.

Huffington Post has a fun article by Lisa Jensen: “6 Books that Tell the Villains’ Sides of the Story,” which gives me fun plot ideas. But with all the open manuscripts currently occupying files in my computer, the last thing I need is more plot ideas.

Finally, and a little more on the serious side, Zoe McCarthy reminds us that showing is best, but it doesn’t mean we can’t tell once in a while. What’s fun about her post is the illustration of a promotional tool. Check out her imaginative use of Click to Tweet.

So, there ya go. Happy link-jumping, and till next time:

Peppermint Hugs and Candy Cane Kisses!