Writing. Com: Creative Internet Strategies to Advance Your Writing Career

Shows how to take advantage of the information and opportunities found on the Internet, and covers online research, electronic rights, online learning, Web site construction, promotion, and online publishing

"One of the big fears about the Internet," says Moira Anderson Allen in Writing.com, "has been that it would (or will) replace traditional markets for writers." Instead, it seems not only to have increased the number of markets for writers, but also to have made the process of writing for traditional markets easier. Research can be conducted from the privacy of your own home (and the information found, though at times questionable, is more likely to be up-to-date). Potential markets can be checked out online. You can schmooze with other writers without buying a cup of burnt coffee at your nearest bookstore café. In short, the Internet saves writers time and money. Allen divides her book into three sections: researching online (including evaluating and using search engines), communicating online, and publishing online. Her appendixes include 500 "excellent" writing sites.

Can you query via e-mail? How about conduct an interview? Are online critique groups and classes worthwhile? The answer to all these questions is a qualified "yes." Allen's most resounding "yes" is to the writer who asks whether it's necessary to have a Web site. Why? To post clips, "to establish your expertise and/or educate readers," to promote your books, and to educate writers. Don't be daunted; Allen tells you what a writer's Web site should and shouldn't include (leave out the snapshot of Fido), as well as how to construct and then promote a Web site. Yes, publishing online has resulted in some significant losses of rights for writers, which are clearly discussed in Allen's book. But it can also bring you worldwide exposure, even if you live in the middle of nowhere. Just be sure your chosen nowhere is supported by a decent ISP. --Jane Steinberg