I have been thoroughly enjoying receiving the RSS feeds of several blogs lately, and I’d like to share a few of these with you. Though it is true that a blog is just that, a blog, and shouldn’t ever be taken as the gospel truth, I always appreciate that certain credentialed professionals are willing to share their areas of expertise with others.
I receive a feed from Mark Fowler, a lawyer who is also a freelance writer and editor. He tackles those questions that often come up in discussions with other writers in his blog called Rights of Writers. This week’s entry is about truth (or fabrication) in memoir, and the legalities around it. His commentary is never dull and always contains references and sources that can lead his reader on an educational journey where they can get a good solid understanding of the topic at hand. Add to this the fact that he is a good writer, an entertaining writer, and you’ve got a winning combination in your RSS feed in-box.
Alan Rinzler, a true giant in the publishing industry —I know him from the San Francisco Writers Conference—always has great things to say. He is deep inside the business, and listening to him can’t be a bad thing. I’ve been sending new clients one of his blog entries that he titled, “Good Day Sunshine for Writers” about the new-publishing trend that allows and even encourages self-publishing as a way to find an agent— unheard of just a few years ago! He is at the forefront of big change at the big houses.
The Behler blog comes from a smaller place than Rinzler’s. Written by Lynn Price, the editorial director for Behler Publications, she writes lots about acquisitions—the contents of which often remind me of my time at Andrea Hurst Literary Management—what not to do in a query letter, etc. She likes margaritas, hawks purses, and has a beagle, who apparently also likes margaritas. Her blog is quite funny, and provides insight from the perspective of a (very) small publisher.
RSS feeds enable those of us who can’t travel to all of the conferences to grow our networks and gain insights. I am quite thankful for them.