Friday, May 18, 2012

I eLove my eFriends

In my search for agents to query, I have discovered gold. Many agents use twitter accounts and blogs, which enlighten readers (writers) on innumerable concerns regarding the art and business of publishing.

When I first heard of twitter I regarded it as a vapid space to promote the Kardashians and other hot mess celebrities. But an enlightened colleague (Thank you Amy Gibson) demonstrated it's all in who you follow and who follows you. Occasionally I am followed spambots trying to promote their products or arrange a good time. I don't follow them back. I adhere to (sorry, I got tired of using the word follow) poets, writers, agents, periodicals, newspapers, news sites, independent bookstores, agencies, educators,publishers, libraries, librarians, reference sites and the incidental amusing person. I love my tweetdom. Unlike facebook, where I have actually met 99% of my "friends," I have only personally encountered a handful of my followers and followees. Yet I gain so much from these intelligent strangers. Rich Kiker never sleeps, and posts fascinating posts on education and elearning. Sherman Alexie and Steve Cushing are fun to read. Buffy Hamilton and Mizgibson help make me a better librarian. Nietzschi Chu and I share a love for Haruki Murakamai, and Jonathon Gunson provides writing advice (and he's easy on the eyes.) Friday Reads reminds me of the power of weekend reading, and Scintilla forces me to write every day.

My favorite tweeter I follow is Maria Popova, self described as "Interestingness hunter-gatherer obsessed with combinatorial creativity." Through her I learned that monks scribbled comments in marginalia of the illuminated manuscripts.

After I followed Kristen Nelson, I linked to her blog. She posts specific advice and has useful links
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

If you are not already tweeting, sign up for an account, and expand your world.

Happy Writing.