Writers and Editors

The fall 2009 newsletter of the Center for Digital Storytelling ("listen deeply, tell stories") lists five core areas it's going to cover: Stories of Health, Silence Speaks (stories to fight gender-based violence), Read More 

Check out Mosaic Magazine (an archive of articles published by the National Science Foundation's flagship magazine, 1970-92) and Like a Phoenix (Earle Holland's "On Research" blog about that period of rich science writing)

In How to Write a Great Novel, WSJ reporter Alexandra Alter interviews 11 top authors on their methods for getting the story on the page. Junot Díaz writes in the bathroom, Nicholson Baker dresses in character, Amitav Ghosh uses black ink Pelikan  Read More 

Watch the production process for the deluxe version of a classic visual dictionary in John Carrera's video Pictorial Webster's. Price per volume: $4600. Great way to see how a linotype press works and how a craftsman does fine binding.  Read More 

Do you want to hire (or be) a developmental editor, substantive editor, copy editor, production editor, assignment editor, or proofreader (to name some choices)? Read up on the differences and different levels of edit:

• Becoming an Editor (from the blog, This Crazy Industry)
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Writing about food and meals is a good way of getting at family dynamics and core memories, because so many of our interactions with family, good or bad, are associated with shared meals. For foodies, a good food memoir or biography offers delight on several levels and often sends us into the kitchen to recreate a scene! I've departed from listing only memoirs  Read More 

So many people ask "Where can I find photos (or reprints) of X" that the website page Telling Your Life Story contains a list of Sources for images. I'm posting the links below as well  Read More 

Sometimes examples of media inattention to copyediting cry out for public comment. Take the lead sentence in this ABC News story: "Police in Washington state captured a schizophrenic killer who had escaped during an outing from the mental hospital where he had been committed to a state fair."  Read More 

In a terrific albeit not cheerful essay about book publishing today, former Random House exec Daniel Menaker, in Redactor Agonistes, talks about insecurity and unhappiness in the book biz, but also explains why and how it has changed so much, and  Read More 

The Federation of Genealogical Societies asks that you help try to one of the most important state libraries in the country. On the budget-chopping block: The cohesive Library of Michigan collection, with over 180 years of Michigan history, literature and culture records, which reflects the lives of not only those who remained to raise their families within  Read More