Authors Who Tweet

Yesterday I shared that I am trying to strategize how to best leverage Twitter with getting totally narcissistic. So I looked around to see what other authors are doing.

Nathan Bransford was a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. from 2002 to 2010 and is about to become an author in his own right. JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, a middle grade novel about three kids who blast off into space, break the universe, and have to find their way back home, which will be published by Dial Books for Young Readers in May 2011.

There are two other things I can tell you about Nathan. He lives in San Francisco and he provides a lot of help to authors through his blog. I have read a number of his posts and his blog is saved in my bookmarks in a folder of blogs to visit regularly.

Nathan can be found on twitter and can be found at @NathanBransford, When I saw that he streams his blog through Twitter, I admit I copied the idea. Along with this I see that he has congratulated the achievements of other authors or promoted an interesting article relevant to the writing world.

I like this idea. There is a Jewish saying that the mark of a person is seen through their generosity and good deeds. I guess it is a case of what goes around comes around. Here I am promoting Nathan because he writes such helpful blog posts and because I am impressed by his desire to help others. Oh, and good luck with your book launch, Nathan.

Jody Hedlund is a romance author out of Michigan. Her new novel is The Preacher’s Pride and her blog and twitter also serve as a resource for writers. I love the way her articles are so realistic and that the goals she suggests are attainable.

Do you follow authors who use Twitter for anything other than promoting their blogs, careers and networking with readers? If so, please let me know. If you are an author who tweets, I would also love to connect.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com/ and on Twitter (#alonshalevsf).

Five Blogs About Writing and The Business

Personally, I’ve never thought of my writer’s life as a lonely one. There are simply too many great people around who are authors or writers. There are writers groups, writers clubs, conferences, and almost always a wannabe writer at any family gathering.

There are also a lot of good people online, who take the time to share their knowledge and experience. Here are five that I refer to .

1. A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Thriller author Joe Konrath writes not only about his genre, but about how a struggling author can make money in this economic and business climate.

2. The Book Deal: I frequently refer to Alan Rinzler’s blog for information. He has a lifetime of experience in the business and I consulted with him on The Accidental Activist. He suggested on the phone that when I come to see him, that I have my questions prepared and in a logical order. I prepare fastidiously for meetings at my day job, so I took him on his advice and was ready. At the end of the hour, we had covered a ton of questions and I felt like I had just been to the gym for a particularly vigorous workout. I certainly felt as though I had received my money’s worth

3. The Rejecter: This blog is run by a literary assistant who offers blunt though excellent advice about the process of submissions and pitches, as well as other posts about the industry from an insider. Not for the faint-hearted!

4. Nathan Bransford: is a YA author. He spends a lot of time using his own work and those of his contemporaries in the YA world to focus on the creative process. This is a great blog to help YA writers understand their genre in the publishing world. Nathan is also a Bay Area author.

5. Bookends, LLC: This blog is written by members of the Bookends Literary Agency LLC. I think there is a certain richness in shared blogs, especially when they are in sync with their respective perspectives. They offer a rich array of advice for how to get your book published. I particularly enjoy the guest posts by authors who have survived.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com