"Thinking About Writing For the Internet?"

Have you ever thought about writing for the Internet and were afraid to ask how to go about it? Fret no longer, Moira Anderson Allen has probably written the bible pertaining to writing and the Internet.

Her comprehensive tome entitled Writing.Com Creative Internet Strategies To Advance Your Writing Career Revised Edition is an update of a previous book published in 1998. As she mentions in her introduction, "the purpose of the second edition is to take a fresh look at the Internet and answer the question, "What does it mean to writers today?"

A non- fiction book pertaining to a particular subject matter is worth reading, provided it painlessly imparts a great deal of information. This is exactly what Allen has managed to achieve in covering just about all you need to know and more about Internet publishing. In addition, the book comes with an electronic guide to online resources for writers. This guide offers nearly two thousand listings that are available as a downloadable PDF file. A password and URL site are provided.

Extremely well organized, complete with an alphabetical list of online resources and index, the book divides itself into eighteen chapters and two appendices. The author explores where writers and the internet are today, mechanics of the Internet, online research, writing communities, finding markets online, email queries and submissions, screenwriting and the Internet, electronic rights protection, piracy, scams, promoting your book, web sites, e-zines and newsletters, various kinds of publishing, e-books, and the future. At the end of every chapter, Allen provides Internet resources, where you can further your knowledge on the various topics.

What is interesting about Allen's writing is she never strays from what she is trying to explain. She neatly sums all the queries a novice or a veteran would like to pose about Internet publishing. Moreover, Allen's writing is crisp and clear, and she avoids using sophisticated technical terms that would turn off many a reader.

For example, a glance at the chapter dealing with networking online and joining the writing community, the reader is immediately informed that many of the people who contribute to these forms are top-name authors and editors. The reader is then given a list and explanation of all of the possibilities-newsgroups, forums, chat, blogs, advantages, disadvantages, and twenty tips on effective discussion. There is also within the same section an excellent analysis of critique groups, their advantages and disadvantages. All of this is followed by a list of Internet resources.

Another plus is that you don't have to start at the beginning to enjoy this book. Open any section and you will be intrigued by the abundance of interesting information exposed on the chapter's topic. If you are already familiar with copyright, you can move onto the next section without skipping a beat.

The book represents a welcome contribution to a greater understanding of the many opportunities the Internet presents to authors and writers. A must purchase by Internet publishing beginners as well as the more experienced.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted October 21, 2003

Summary

This indispensable resource tells writers of all kinds how to take full advantage of Internet technologies and resources to improve skills, increase sales, and build recognition. Both experienced and novice writers will learn how to use cutting-edge tactics to uncover new domestic and international markets; to communicate and conduct writing business successfully over the Internet; to find and use writers' groups effectively; to use a Web site to promote books and articles and attract readers; to start an e-zine; and much more.