Tag Archives: miss snark

Oooooh boy, another list of books

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Via Miss Snark, the news that The New York Public Library has compiled a list of 25 books from 2005 that we’re all supposed to remember. And read, presumably.

I haven’t read any of them, so I’m heartened that many of the commenters on Miss Snark’s blog, who tend to be an erudite bunch, haven’t read any of them, either.

Anyway, I still qualify for a snob, I think. Off the top of my head, I know I read Fielding’s Tom Jones last year. And London, A Biography, by Peter Ackroyd, and 1491 by Charles Mann. And after I picked up (and read) an amazing 1932 edition of A Shropshire Lad in a junky antique co-op, I bought a copy of The Name and Nature of Poetry and Other Selected Prose by Housman, only I didn’t read all of that. So, half a snob, then.

This is true for life, too

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In an answer to one of her blog readers, literary agent Miss Snark gave out a piece of advice that applies as well to life as it does to navigating a writing career.

The reader was worried about the chances of being published after he/she gets an agent. Here’s Miss Snark’s advice:

Right now what you are doing is the equivalent of what 15th century mapmakers in Spain did…..they drew pictures of monsters at the edge of the map. Right now you’re in Spain preparing to set sail and you’re looking at the map seeing only the unknown. Just remember that where they drew monsters is present day Hawaii.

The unknown is just that — unknown. But we do tend to populate it with scary things, don’t we?

More tips for bloggers

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Kent Newsome has a post up titled “Five Steps to Good Blogging” which is a must-read. My favorite line, under the tip Don’t Act Like a Rock Star, Because You Aren’t:

If you start thinking you’re a big star just because a lot of other nerds read your online diary, you need to aim higher. Go outside.

lol

(Outside? What’s that? Is that the stuff on the other side of . . . the Door?)

Along the same lines, blogging literary agent Miss Snark (who has just announced a hiatus, but don’t let that put you off: her archives are a treasure trove for writers) passed along a few tips, as well, in a 2/1/06 post titled Trick questions:

I learned how to generate interest by inviting people to ask questions. I stole that directly from Agent 007. I learned that people will write back in the comments section more readily if you pose a question at the end of the post–I learned that by stumbling upon it. And I learned that posting a lot late at night allowed people to comment first thing in the morning, and thus build comment momentum during the day, and I learned that from Ron at Beatrice.com

Good ideas, all.

:-)