Did my title catch your attention? Or was it the photo of a noble and proud Neal Stephenson? Anyway, I have an offer to make you. I don't want to speak for you, but like me, you probably find that being a fiction writer in the publishing world is like being caught in the worse traffic jam of your life with every other driver yelling to the top of their lungs: "QUICK, HURRY, I HAVE TO GET THERE FIRST." Is it like this for you too?
Anyway, you guys might also be like me and read blogs from insiders of the industry that suggest you create an online presence even before publication. That is a good idea. As you can see on my public stats, Dead End Follies is approaching the 10 000 visitors in eight months of existence. Not too shabby for a guy that was a total unknown in 2009. A writer can do good for himself with a blog, as long as he keeps it smart, but what I'm talking here is to get to the next level.
My dear unpublished writers, I suggest that we unite. Create a group blog and help each other out to enhance our visibility. They say great minds feed off each other so let our respective fans enjoy each other's work. I'm looking specifically for:
-Crime Fiction (mystery, noir, thriller)
-Science-Fiction
-Literary, Mainstream Fiction.
-Any type of stories that got a crude, visceral feeling to it.
-Humble, dedicated writers that want to improve and share ideas.
I don't want:
-Fantasy (knights, wizards, trolls, etc.)
-Romance or Erotica
-Weird Fan Fiction (I'd say any type of fan fic, but a good concept can be fun)
-Young Adult Twilightish stories
-People that lack serious and motivation
-Lack of flexibility in temper (explosions, flame wars in the comments section)
Male of female writers are welcome to participate. I'm thinking of taking in four people (that would make us five), so that we could alternate posting and keep the blog alive without having to spend our entire lives trying to make it work. Individual blogs would be linked to the group, of course.
What I'm looking for in terms of blog posts is:
-Fiction stories (duh! Of Course, Serials or stand-alone short stories)
-Notebook entries (research on a theme, a character, anything related to your work)
-Book and movie reviews (respecting a format we'll establish together)
-Comments on relevant internet findings (a crazy, inspiring story in the news for example)
-Anything that you guys feel is relevant to an unpublished writers blog.
Do you think you fit the model? If so, drop me an email at: benoitlelievre@gmail.com with a link to your blog and a few samples of your work. I take on myself to pay for the domain name, go through the blog creation process and make the daily updates to the site.
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