Notes For May 17th, 2011

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The Internet's Public (Domain) Libraries

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Everybody knows that the Internet is an incredible repository of information. It's like the world's largest public library, and just like any public library, one can obtain books and even audiobooks on the Internet, free of charge. And yes, it's completely legal. Why? Because it's all in the public domain, which means that the material is not protected by copyright law. Therefore, distributing and downloading it is perfectly legal. And there's a tremendous amount of material in the public domain - more than you'd ever imagine.

E-Texts

In 1996, not long after I first became an active user of the Internet, I came across the Project Gutenberg web site. Named after Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the mechanical printing press, the site hosted an impressive archive of public domain books in plain-text format. While it was nice to be able to read some classic novels that I didn't have in my bookcase, slogging through incredibly long plain text files on a computer screen was far from easy on my eyes - or my nerves, for that matter.

Imagine what it must have been like back in the 1970s, when college student Michael Hart founded Project Gutenberg at the University of Illinois, typing up texts and storing them as ASCII files on the university's Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer. Hart's first e-text? The Declaration of Independence. His original goal was to digitize 10,000 commonly referenced public domain texts - novels, short stories, plays, non-fiction works, and other texts - and turn them into searchable ASCII files that could be stored on a computer. Today, the collection has grown to well over 30,000 texts in various languages.

The University of Illinois' Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer was one of fifteen nodes on a network that would serve as the precursor to the Internet. In the 1980s, the age of telecommunication would find Project Gutenberg e-texts spread through bulletin board systems. For those of you too young to remember, a bulletin board system was simply a personal computer running software that enabled others to access information stored on it via a dial-up modem. The bulletin board system was a kind of mini-Internet, its software providing familiar features such as electronic messaging and the ability to download and upload information.

By the late 1980's, the invention of optical scanning technology and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software enabled Project Gutenberg's volunteers to digitize texts must faster and easier than manually typing them in. When recordable CD and DVD media came about, Project Gutenberg made its collection available on disc.

In the early to mid 1990s, when the Internet evolved from newsgroups to the World Wide Web, the e-book was an intriguing, virgin concept. Now, some fifteen years later, e-books have become a popular alternative to print editions. The technology for reading e-texts - both software and hardware - has evolved and gotten much better. Gone are the days when reading an e-book meant loading large plain text files into your word processor or Notepad and scrolling down, down, down to infinity while you read.

Today, you don't need a computer at all to read e-text. There are hand-held electronic devices with viewing screens for reading e-text, like the Sony Reader and Amazon's Kindle. The new model, the Kindle DX, offers a much larger viewing screen and wireless Internet access capabilities for downloading e-books. I'm waiting for the price to go down, and it will as the popularity of the device increases.

While I'm waiting, I still read e-books on my PC. I've found a great repository for e-texts. It's a site called Munseys.com and it takes Project Gutenberg's concept in a new and exciting direction. Hosting thousands of free, public domain e-texts in various languages, Munseys has lots of obscure titles that you'd never find anywhere else - not even at Project Gutenberg. You want to read a seedy 1940s pulp fiction novel? They've got lots of them. Are you looking for a copy of Atlantic Monthly magazine, circa 1861? It's here. How about a children's health class primer from 1885? They've got it.

Munseys is packed with tons of rare public domain texts in a variety of subjects: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, it's all here. And if you're looking for more familiar classics like L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Leo Tolstoy's War And Peace, Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, or the text of your favorite Shakespeare play, they've got all that, too. Some of the books, like the 1940s pulp fiction novels, include scans of the original covers.

Where Munseys really shines is the way that the e-books are presented. Just select the format you want from the drop-down box and click Download. That's all there is to it. But what a format selection: HTML, Acrobat PDF, eBookwise EB1150, Rocket Ebook, Plucker, Sony Reader, Mobipocket / Kindle, Isilo, Microsoft Reader, Adobe Mobile / EPUB. Whether you read your e-text on your computer or on a handheld device, it's all here. No more are you confined to those endlessly long, ugly plain-text files. Whatever format you chose, the text is presented attractively and is easy to navigate through.

Munseys also includes a means of reviewing or commenting on e-books, plus a message board forum and a blog. If you're into e-books, you must see Munseys.com - the best e-book site on the web!

Audiobooks

With the popularity of public domain e-texts on the Internet, it was just a matter of time before somebody came up with the idea of public domain audiobooks. In August of 2005, Hugh McGuire, a Canadian writer and web developer, founded LibriVox, an organization dedicated to producing free audiobook recordings of public domain texts.

LibriVox provides a large catalog of audiobooks that are free to download and keep. The subjects include novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and non-fiction. You can download all the files directly, subscribe to LibriVox's podcast, or get the files free from iTunes. The sound files are divided by chapter and provided in three different formats: 64kb MP3, 128kb MP3, and variable bit rate OGG. Even at 64kb, the sound quality is great.

All of LibriVox's audiobook titles are unabridged. Though the primary language is English, they have many titles in a wide variety of other languages, which can be useful for those who are studying foreign languages. All of LibriVox's titles are in the public domain and are recorded by the readers. LibriVox readers are volunteers from around the world.

If you would like to become a LibriVox volunteer reader, all you need is a computer, a microphone, recording software, and your voice. If you don't have sound recording software, there's a great freeware sound recording and editing software package called Audacity that you can download. Complete information is provided on the LibriVox site, which includes a message board forum for readers and non-readers alike.

How good are the LibriVox volunteer readers? Surprisingly good - much better than you'd expect, considering that they aren't actors or professional readers. They're book lovers, and you can tell that they put their hearts into it. Some of them are downright fantastic; I'm currently listening to LibriVox's unabridged recording of Mark Twain's classic memoir Life on the Mississippi, and the reader, John Greenman, has the perfect voice for it. He makes it sound like Twain himself is reading the book!

You can browse LibriVox's catalog of titles on their web site, but their audiobook files are hosted by the Internet Archive, which is the Internet's largest repository of public domain material - everything from e-texts and music to audiobooks, old time radio, software, and even movies!

Go to the Internet Archive's Librivox collection, and in addition to downloading the audiobook files, you can also listen to them via the Archive's streaming audio feed. If you want to burn the audiobooks to CD, you can also download printable cover art for each title at the Archive.

Founded by a book lover for book lovers, LibriVox is a great way to enjoy audiobooks at no cost. Classics fans take note: their catalog will make you salivate!

I encourage you all to explore the incredible wealth of information available in the public domain.

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Quote Of The Day

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"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." - Chinese Proverb

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Vanguard Video

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Today's video is a two-part presentation about the LibriVox public domain audiobook project. Enjoy!

The Big Boys and Electronic Submissions

Three major players in the literary magazine are now accepting electronic submissions.

• Agni

Guidelines
Submission Manager

• The Missouri Review

Guidelines
Online Submissions

• The Kenyon Review

Submission Guidelines
Online Submissions

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Be aware The Missouri Review charges $3 to submit online.

WordHustler.com

I received a note from a friend and fellow IWW member saying, "I was just about to clunk $20 on the new Writer’s Market book, but stopped when I read one of the reviews stating it was out of date. The reviewer wrote, “Recently, I found a site that has good listings (for free. i know. i almost passed out), just like the Writers Market, but helps with the rest of the writer's dilemma- mailing, tracking, etc.(which they do charge for, but inexpensive) It's called WordHustler.com- it's about time someone helped writer's catch up to the Age of Informatioooon!”

My friend concluded her note with "I did check it out and looks good."

Shine Like Chrome

Google has entered the browser wars with a system named "Chrome." Prospective users can read David Pogue's piece ...

State of the Art
Serious Potential in Google’s Browser

... in the New York Times and decide whether it's worth downloading and using.

Finding the IWW

• I found your writing group through www.underdown.org.
• I found out about you through Google.com
• I learned about IWW viat the "Poets and Writers Speakeasy."
• I found you : http://www.writing-world.com/links/critique.shtml
• You were found in a nondescript yahoo search.
• I have a creative/writing blog listed below and I believe I originally found you through Blogger while looking for fellow writers on the Blogger network.
• I have been looking for an online writing group for some time now, but unsuccessfully until this last week's Willamette Writer's conference in Portland. I found you by checking out one of their forums on online writing groups; it was very outdated BUT someone had posted your link there. I'm cautiously optimistic!
• I found your site at http://www.writing-world.com/links/critique.shtml, which I found using StumbleUpon.
• After finally getting one to a point where I thought it was publishable, I searched Google for children's writers critique groups and found your site.
• He originally heard about IWW on an old Pony Express flyer he found many years ago, but has a link to IWW on his blog, so it was easier this time to find the site and sign up.
• I don't quite remember how I found IWW. It must have been from my many google searches, hunting for exactly this. So I really am happy to have found you.
• I found this group looking for a place that i could submit my work and get feed back so as to imporve a skill that I think I can be quite well at with some effort and help.
• I found the list via Google.
• This list was highly recommended to me by a writer-friend.
• I found you on the suggestion by Mary C. Nelson of Sharon, MA, who is a member of one my local writing groups. Mary is also a member of IWW.
• As to how I found you, I really don't recall as I've had you in my 'favourites' list for some time, although it was probably from a Google search.
• On the WD list of 101 websites for writers.
• I found you by Googling writing workshop.
• I found the IWW the old-fashioned way, through google.
• I found your site from the Writer's Digest 101 Best sites.
• maxbarry's website.
• I found your site while searching the internet for a YA writing group.

"LinkedIn, the social network for professionals"

If you're in the writing business -- let's say, "if you're writing to make money" -- you should probably forget Facebook, MySpace, and other similar social networks and sign up for LinkedIn.

At least, that's the scoop from the New York Times ...

But LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, is dull by design. Unlike Facebook and MySpace, the site is aimed at career-minded, white-collar workers, people who join more for the networking than the social. Now, in the midst of Silicon Valley’s recession-proof enthusiasm for community-oriented Web sites, the most boring of the social networks is finally grabbing the spotlight.

And ...

The four-year-old site is decidedly antisocial: only last fall, after what executives describe as a year of intense debate, did the company ask members to add photos to their profiles.

That business-only-please strategy appears to be paying off. The number of people using LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, Calif., tripled in May over the previous year, according to Nielsen Online. At 23 million members, LinkedIn remains far smaller than Facebook and MySpace, each with 115 million members, but it is growing considerably faster.

• Read the complete article here.

A Resource for Writers

Dustin Wax's lists of ...

• 9 Free Apps Every Writer Should Consider
• 10 Online Apps and Services Every Writer Should Check Out
• 10 Sites Every Writer Should Bookmark (Besides Lifehack)
• 30 Lifehack Posts Every Writer Should Read
• 5 Online Communities Every Writer Should Join

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• And don't worry. One of the IWW admins recently nominated the IWW for inclusion as one of the "Online Communities Every Writer Should Join." But it wouldn't hurt to second the motion.

Stumbling over Gold

I went looking for the email address of Jennifer 8. Lee, a reporter for the New York Times. I wanted it because I wanted to ask a question about The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, a great little book I'm reviewing for the April Issue of The Internet Review of Books.

I didn't expect to find it. Whenever I've contacted a Times reporter previously, I've noticed that there is an mechanism that does not reveal personal email addresses.

But while browsing the Times site, I found a wonderful resource: The New York Times Newsroom Navigator.

Researching? Check out some of the links you'll find on this great page:

• Fifteen web search tools.
• Collections for Journalists, both government and nongovernment.
• Telephone and email directories.
• Publications on the Net.
• Political Resources.
• Travel, Entertainment, Sports, and Recreation.

Instructions for Every Writer's Toolkit

• Hope Clark's FUNDS FOR WRITERS: "Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007" - one of my favorite websites and free newsletter (also available in a subscription version).
• FLASH FICTION FLASH: The Newsletter for Flash Literature Writers - Newsletter devoted to markets, contests, publishing news for short-short literature, including short-short stories, prose poetry, creative nonfiction, haibun, flash memoirs, flash plays.

National Novel Editing Month

Raymond Cuttill (aka iPhoneiscool), sends us this:

"I am writing to you about National Novel Editing Month. Editing is a chore that some writers have difficulty doing. National Novel Editing Month, NaNoEdMo for short, is a group dedicated to the idea of editing a novel throughout March. It is completely free and run by dedicated enthusiasts. The idea is to have a definite deadline and because everyone does it. In March there is also mutual support and a community via the website .

"This can make editing a pleasant or at least pleasanter activity. Often this is done on a novel written during National Novel Writing Month, a separate group, the previous November, but it doesn't have to be. I was hoping you might post this or mention it on your mailing lists, and perhaps some of your writers might like to have a look at it.

"We would also be interested in articles from writers, say 500-2000 words, about editing they would be willing to put on our site. The article could of course include mention of the writer's site or book, etc."

"The site is here. You can register now and the forums are open. Editing starts on 1st March. I can be reached here if there are any queries."

IWW Members Published and in Print

How about that! A bumper crop of IWW members' successes, and
after all these weeks I get to post one of my own. :-)


Peggy Duffy

Congratulations to Ann Hite for putting out another fine issue of The
Painted Door. I'm pleased and flattered that she invited me to be her
featured writer this month. I sent her four of my favorites, from flash
fiction to longer short story. "He Cut Deep" won the Mary Roberts
Rinehart award when I was in grad school and was later published by
DOJ, a now-defunct online journal. I'm pleased to have the story
reappear in Ann's e-zine since it no longer appears anywhere online.

Since we've been talking about money and writing, I'll say I've made
the most money from this short story than any other piece of fiction
I've ever written. The Rinehart award was a $1000 and DOJ later
paid me $350 for it. The money was nice, but the validation was way
more meaningful. It was a very different story for me at the time I
wrote it; I experimented with voice and it has what I call a floating
narrator. When I workshopped it in an MFA class, feedback by the
instructor and the class was pretty much unanimous that I should
choose one narrator and stick with it--the sister was suggested. But
I believed in the story and another writing teacher whose criticisms
were harsh loved the story and felt it had a certain magic to it.
Which is not to say I didn't revise heavily before submitting it to
the contest, but I stuck with the voice. It was a valuable lesson to
me in believing in your own vision and your own voice.

When it comes to publishing, I value the acceptance of my stories not
by how much money they receive, but by the quality and prestige of the
publications which accept them.

I'm in good company at The Painted Door.
Peggy


Peg Frey

Hi All!

I'm happy to report I'll be joining Julie McGuire on the pages of the
Birmingham Arts Journal. Reed has accepted my fiction entitled
"Even the Gods Can Be Wrong" for the journal's January, 2008, issue.
Thanks to Louisa Howerow, who first suggested this market.


Dawn Goldsmith

It has been months since I sent out any queries, and I was surprised
last week to receive two responses! MONTHS later. So I guess we
should never set a time limit on editor responses. One was from Bark
Magazine; they want to buy my essay about an old dog and new tricks.
The other was from The Writer, which has no funds to purchase
anything until 2008, but is interested in a query I sent them for next
year.


Kathy Highcove

Hello group; I've just been informed that my flash fiction piece "Even
Trade," written for and critted by the Practice List, will be in
LongStoryShort on Jan. 7. This week I was asked to write a restaurant
review for a local paper. I was a little startled, but decided to try. A
week later I have had a Chinese meal to die for, a large sack full of
leftovers in my refrigerator, and the editor's praise on my answer
machine. High five time, gang! Talk about having your fortune cookie
and eating it too, heh, heh. Moral: try something different--it may be
a step forward in your writing career.

Cheers, Kathy



Ann Hite

My story "Sleepover," originally sent through the Fiction list in fall of
2002 as "Christmas Perfect," was accepted by Long Story Short for
their December Issue. It's one of my dark Katie Parsons stories.

A book review also has just been published by Feminist Review.

I'm also excited that my book review of The Almost Moon appears in
The Internet Review of Books. This site is wonderful, and I've
enjoyed reading all the reviews. Take a look. It will be well worth
your time. And of course read my review.



Kristen Howe

Hooray, everyone! Last week I Yahooed for my three poems for Long
Story Short. Well, it turned out to be two of them instead for the November issue.
Here are the links:
http://www.alongstoryshort.net/POETRY2NOV07.html and
http://tinyurl.com/ypggeh.


Carter Jefferson

I'm delighted to report that "Real Life,"an old story of mine that I like
a lot, is reposted in the November issue of The Painted Door. My
thanks to Ann Hite, and to anybody who reads it.

I'm particularly pleased because it's the first story I ever got paid for.
B.J. Lawry, then editor and publisher of LoveWords, was so wise she
recognized my immense talent and made me very happy.



Martha S. Martin

I had a haiku published in Authspot, and my article about MS and
horseback riding is online at Healthmad. No word if I'll be paid for
these endeavors, but what the hey?


Julie McGuire

My essay "Tattoos and Butterflies," written in memory of my
grandfather, has been accepted for January's issue of the
Birmingham Arts Journal.

I'm thrilled! Thanks to all of you on Practice and Non-fiction who
helped shape this piece.


Sarah Morgan

I'll tag along behind Ann Hite and say that my book review of Mark
Doty's book Heaven's Coast appears this month in The Internet
Review of Books. You can find me in their "Second Glance" section.

The editors are very patient and great to work with. No pay yet, but
this is a wonderful undertaking by dedicated group of people who
support writing and reading. I wish them all the success, and a yahoo!


Roger Poppen

After a long dry spell, two of my stories have been accepted for
publication in Webzines. "Christmas at Aunt Betty's" will be in the
December issue of The Painted Door, and 'Peacocks and Dragons'
will be included in the Winter issue of Ducts. These were critted long
ago on Fiction, and thanks to those who helped polish them. I am
particularly pleased because these are both longer pieces, which I've
found more difficult to find homes for than flash.



Wayne Scheer

I'm finding new homes for old stories.

Sniplits has accepted "Naked Lady in 3"and its sequel "And Now for
Something Completely Different," two stories reviewed in Fiction a
while back. Sniplits even pays--$75 for one story and $50 for the
other.

I will also be joining Peg and Julie at Birmingham Arts Journal. They
accepted a revision of a very old story, "The Love Song of Langley
Moran."

Conceit Magazine will reprint a story, "A New Life," in January,
2008, and a nonfiction piece, "A Quiet Man," in May, 2008. The
editor advised me to send him something right away before he
begins his 2009 edition.

Finally, the last of three flash pieces published at 7 Beats a Second,
"Haunted by Jack Kerouac's Ghost," is up. To find it, you have to
scroll about three quarters down.

And I just discovered that my 55-word story, "Someone Important" is
up at Pen Pricks. It takes only a few minutes to read through the issue
of twenty or so 55-word stories and it's well worth the time. Some of
the 55-worders are very good.

Thanks.


Mona Vanek

My heartfelt thanks to all members of IWW's community for writers.
A couple of weeks ago, The Palouse Journal published my guest
editorial, "A True Life Save at Rockford Fair." Take a bow!!
Without your wonderful crits "my" words surely wouldn't have
sparked the many expressions of admiration and thanks floating
around this northwest rural farming area. The editorial brightened a
number of lives, including fire department volunteers, bank clerks,
town hall employees and one postmaster, delighted beyond words that
her EMT friend, featured in the editorial, received public
recognition.



Ruth Zavitz

My short story "Perfect Marriage" is up in the November issue
of The Painted Door. I am in wonderful company there. It was an
attempt to write a story completely in dialogue.


Thanks to Ann for providing another venue for us to exhibit our work.

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How I Found the IWW

• How I found you: Google.
• I was referred to the workshop through a fellow Writer's Guild member.
• I found your website while searching for a writing critique group that could offer advice.
• I found you through an online nature writing class I've taken with Wendee Holtcamp.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

The great Ernest Hemingway once waxed poetic about such a place, and, as one of the administrators of The Internet Writing Workshop, I can attest to the benefits of its virtual equivalent -- the critique lists of the Workshop.

An incident last week reminded me that the critique lists of the IWW are monitored groups where administrators work hard to provide a safe, friendly, supportive environments for writers to improve their craft.

Reasons?

• We don't allow personal attacks.
• We demand that people critique writing rather than indulge in personal opinions.
• We keep all list traffic on point.
• We have material to help members with formating and posting issues.
• We work hard to see that members post cleanly formatted and readily legible posts.
• We encourage good karma -- "Want critiques? Do critiques!"
• We follow up if a submission receives no critiques.
• We take action when things go wrong.

Know someone seriously interested in improving their skills. Send them to the Internet Writing Workshop.

NetLibrary

Discovering a New Resource
by Eric Petersen, IWW administrator

I'm currently enjoying a free Internet library service called NetLibrary.

If your local library is participating in this program, (most here in the US do, I don't know if it's offered in Canada or elsewhere) you can log into the site, enter your library card number (you have to have a valid library card from your local library) and set up an account. From the NetLibrary site, you can then download Ebooks and audiobooks.

The files are protected and will expire after the checkout period ends, which is three weeks from the date of download. After that, the files will no longer be useable and you simply delete them from your computer.

The audiobooks come in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, with DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection. You can play them with the built-in Windows Media player or any other player that supports the WMA format and DRM licensing. I use Winamp. Much better sound quality.

You can download the audiobook files in CD Quality or FM Radio Quality. FM quality files are smaller for dial-up users. The drawback is that each audiobook comes in one WMA sound file. All the audiobooks offered are unabridged, so, if you download a title like Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is 17 hours long, you'll get a 17-hour long WMA sound file. So, be sure to use a WMA player that features bookmarking.

I think this is an interesting concept, being able to borrow books and audiobooks from the library without leaving your house. This may well be how all libraries function in the future.

Blog by the Funds for Writers Editor

Many of us are long-time subscribers to C. Hope Clark's Funds for Writers email newsletter, which has writing tips, notes about contests and grants, and other material of interest to freelancers. You can also read it on-line.

Clark now also has a blog where she says "Here you'll find snippets of my writing life, and a daily listing of a fund to help you as a writer. This is a segment of C. Hope Clark and FundsforWriters.com that you won't find anywhere else."

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CONTACT FUNDSFORWRITERS:

• SUBSCRIBE: 30604-subscribe@zinester.com
• UNSUBSCRIBE: 30604-unsubscribe@zinester.com
• ARCHIVES: http://archives.zinester.com/30604

The 2008 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

The 2008 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop will be held April 3-5, 2008 in Dayton, Ohio. Online registration will open Sept. 10, 2007 at noon EST. The 2006 workshop sold out in 12 days, so please reserve your spot early.

The 2008 workshop registration fee is $350, which includes all sessions and meals (three dinners, two lunches, two breakfasts). Keynote speakers include Garrison Keillor, Martha Bolton, Mike Peters, Connie Schultz, Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan.

Take a look at the complete speaker list and schedule.

We've asked some of our favorite instructors to give all-new sessions, so returning attendees shouldn't get much repetition from the 2006 workshop.

2008 workshop sessions include:

HUMOR WRITING

• How to develop and use humorous anecdotes
• Raising your humor writing IQ
• How to take your humor writing from amusing to amazing
• Humor writing: What works and what doesn't
• Are you SURE you want to be a humor columnist?
• How to write humorous greeting cards

HUMAN INTEREST WRITING

• Shaping your life experience for the page
• How to touch readers' hearts with your words

MOTIVATION

• How to survive and thrive throughout the creative process
• Networking for writers

FREELANCE WRITING

• Freelance writing for the greeting card industry
• The renegade writer's guide to breaking into magazines

MARKETING

• Podcasting for writers
• Using online video to market your books and yourself
• How to create an Amazon.com bestseller

BOOK PUBLISHING

• Book proposals and literary agents
• How to choose the right self-publishing company

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Read the Humor Writer's current newsletter here and sign up to receive it free.

How I Found the IWW

• I heard about the IWW in the forward to the new Diane Diekman book on Faron Young. Several months back, as I started my research on Bud Isaacs, I e-mailed Ms. Diekman for advice. Not knowing me from anyone off the streets, she was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and encouraging. When I saw the mention in the foreword of the book, I decided to check it out based on the great experience I have had corresponding with her.
• I learned about your site from Max Barry, an Australian writer published in the US, who is a member of your site. I've been looking for a operating writing workshop for some time and I'm glad to find a site that's organised with rules for membership etc.
• I found this group through google looking for people to help me fix my little editing problem, I think this may be the key to whether or not I should keep this up!
• I found this group because even though I have not talked to Mona Vanek since I was a child -- I have read some of her writing on the Internet. Mona spoke very highly of this group. So I came to the site and decided to join too.
• Just a line to let you know that I found the link to your site at forwriters.com.
• Thank you for the membership and opportunities.
• I found this page via Yahoo search.

How to Critique Fiction

A new member responded to our question "How did you find us?" by noting that the Internet Writing Workshop is mentioned on the Web pages maintained by Victory Crayne,
Victory Page for Fiction Writers, an independent editor, writing coach, and mentor.

Exploring her site, I found this resource -- "How to Critique Fiction."

In it, Crayne covers everything from the simple to the complex, ranging from openings, conflict, plot, point of view, to grammar and spelling. She even has her own take on that favorite subject of discussion, Show versus Tell.

The IWW welcomes new members continuous, and it's sites like Crayne's that provide a quick but thorough resource to jump-start participation. If you use her site, I suggest sending a message to thank her -- and to tell her to send more budding writers our way.

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Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

How I Found the IWW

... Or "Another Love Letter to Google"

• I found you via the internet and have been on an off some lists for the last couple years.
• To be honest, I think I was just googling away with no specific destination in mind. Luckily for me I stumbled across this invaluable site. I'm new to the craft and so don't think I have much to offer in terms of critting others, but will certainly try my best anyways. Am looking forward to honing my skills though.
• I was looking for critique groups and fell upon Miss Snark the literary agents blog which numerous writers listed good sites to visit- this was one of them.
• I've researched several forums through Google - this site appears the best.
• The Writer's Network Blog.
• I found this by reading a quilting book by author Jennifer Chiaverini. She gives this site credit for her beginnings in her acknowledgments.
• I found your group by making a general Internet search for writing critique groups.
• I found your website by using a google search.
• I was introduced to this site by a former member the old AOL writer's site by Wvcheers known to me by first name Wayne.
• I was directed to this group by Julie Vogt whom I've been discussing writing with.

Safe Computing

The Internet Writing Workshop's list server does not process attachments, and so members participating in the various lists generally feel they are in a safe environment.

Nevertheless, if we write, we research. We send emails. We upload and download files. And there are bad guys out there. We need to protect ourselves and our computer systems.

A non-writing list in which I participate recently had a discussion about spyware, cookies, and viruses that can damage computer systems, and, as it happened, the membership of that list includes several computer professionals.

Here are a few of their recommendations, all of which are available as freeware or shareware.

• AdAware
• Spybot-Search and Destroy
• AVG
• CCleaner
• SPYWARETERMINATOR
• AVAST Antivirus
• Windows Defender

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Disclaimer: As with anything we recommend on the Internet Writing Workshop Blog, we note neither the individual administrators or members of the IWW nor the IWW as an entity can be responsible for the truthfulness or usefulness of the material anyone finds on the sites to which we link. We are all responsible for ourselves and the consequences of our actions, and the best approach to Internet activities is caveat emptor, even if something is free.