2010 Workshops on the Future of Writing

The year 2010 will be known as the year, not only when the e-book penetrated the mainstream, but when the conversation about the future of the book became ubiquitous.

If you're a Canadian author and you want to join the conversation, take note of these upcoming conferences and workshops (pencil in or Google Calendar):

• Feb. 18 to 21, 2010: The Banff Centre's In(ter)ventions: Literary Practice At The Edge. An innovative conference open to writers, new media artists, students, critics, educators and others. Recent GG-winner Kate Pullinger, Daphne Marlatt and J.R. Carpenter will be among the presenters.
  

• February & March 2010: The Writers Union of Canada's Secure Footing in a Changing Literary Landscape. A full-day event held at various locations across Canada to help writers navigate the print-based and digital literary landscapes from a creative and financial point of view. Open to the general public and reasonably priced at $45.
  
  
• June 4, 2010: Likewise, the Writer's Union 37th AGM and annual conference will also feature two forward-looking workshops. "The Future of the Word" will be a conversation with publishers, book sellers and authors on how the word will appear and how it will be sold, and "An Author's Guide to Navigating the E-World", will be a practical session on the power of social media and collaborative tools that authors can use to create, promote and communicate. These workshops will be open to the public for a fee and free to Union members. 
  

In addition, stay tuned for news on the 2010 editions of BookCampToronto and BookCampVancouver.

How about a Google Sidewiki-specific search?

I concur with sideshow's comments on Sept. 29 - that Sidewiki could supplant comments on blogs since people will be able to comment on a Web page regardless of whether their comments are formally welcome or not.

The fact that one can simultaneously post to one's blogger accounts (and I have two), and through those accounts to various other social networking profiles, gives it great flexibility for the user.

I also like how I can sneak in basic HTML code. ;)

Nice to have

Where there is more of a critical mass of posts, I'd like to be able to search Sidewiki by topic rather than have to click on a Sidewiki username to see their previous posts. As well, I don't want to have to visit every page on a website seeking out the tiny blue text box that indicates to me that a comment has been left on that page. I'd want access to a specific search or app that could monitor and convey to me how many pages of my site (or any site) have been commented upon through Sidewiki, when was the latest comment, etc. This will be crucial for site owners to have in order to respond these comments so that the Sidewiki doesn't become a one-way sounding board.

in reference to: Google Sidewiki (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Tools for authors

Booknet Canada's blog post on effective Google tools for book publishing is an excellent resource for the publisher but there are a few other tools which suit both the author and the publisher.

Google Alerts

First, I heartily agree with BCNet that Google Alerts was and is an effective way to stay on top of book reviews and author mentions. Many lit bloggers, particularly of the librarian ilk, post "new releases" where they list books of the genre that interest them. If they happen to mention your book, send them a review copy. You might get the result you want - a review.

Downside for Google Alerts? Unfortunately, the title of my book, Girl #3, did not translate well into the Google algorithm. The "pound sign" (aka the twitter "hashtag") was ignored by the Grand Search Engine and would serve me daily dispatches from around the globe of unpleasant tragedies that had befallen three-year-old girls -- soul destroying. I turned it off and used my name instead as search term -- better results.

Creative use of Google Alerts? Use it in the research stages of your writing as well as to test out titles and subjects. I never would have guessed the return from my book title name when sent out over the "network". Come to think of it, it'd make a good premise for a short story...

I've never used Google Trends to track general trends. Instead, I go straight to Google's free keyword tool to uncover how la grand public searches for specific topics. You'll get search track, synonyms and more. You can also use it to select Google Adwords, if you decide you'd like to fork over cash in return for site traffic.

More Google Tools

Google Maps is a fun app for writers who use real life settings for their fiction. I Google Mapped the actual places in my novel where the most poignant action takes place. "Twas a fun exercise and while you're at it, you can add links to images and multimedia that add depth and background to your story.

You can list your upcoming readings and book tours on Google Calendar and share the information with the public at large or a select private group as determined by you.

There's Google Docs for those who like to collaborate on writing and sharing with editors.

And, of course, now we have Google Sidewiki - a fun way to respond to your critics, your fans, your peers and to share intel and creativity with everyone else.