Linda Aksomitis

Our Saturday morning presentation was by Linda Aksomitis. Her topic? The Internet. Seems we can't be authors anymore without it. The internet has changed 'the writing life.' No longer do we write in solitude - well we do, but now we have more ways to get distracted. Linda gave us a list of 17 different 'writerly' applications of the world wide web. The information she shared was quite overwhelming, actually. Luckily we don't have to use all the ways she talked about - just what we feel comfortable with. (And for me that appears to be limited to blogging.)

The internet is a great way to promote yourself and your book. At the very least, she recommends taking advantage of the page profiles in professional organizations like CANSCAIP, Manitoba or Saskatchewan Writers' Guilds, etc. Blogs, of course, are also free, user-friendly and inter-active.

Then there's the newer, shorter way to communicate - Twitter. Don't forget Myspace and Facebook.

One knew thing I must try out is the Ping-O-Matic! It's a way to let the blogging service know you have news. (http:/pingomatic.com/)

Linda is not only an online guru, but she's written many books and been published worldwide. Her most recent one, Longhorns and Outlaws, was selected to be in 2008's McNally Robinson's Christmas catalogue.

The information that Linda shared was vital for today's children's writing and I learned so much. Thank you, Linda!

8 comments:

Linda Aksomitis said...

You're very welcome, Gabe! The CANSCAIP weekend was awesome - thanks so much for all the work you put in as one of the organizers.

Gabriele Goldstone said...

I learned so much and I love Saskatchewan! And this internet connecting really works!

Dianne Young said...

Okay, so Linda pointed me in the direction of your blog (which I love!), so now what do I do? Can I subscribe to it? Or do I just have to check back all the time. Blogs are one (of many) aspects of the internet that I have not attempted yet. Please educate me, Gabe! :)

Dianne Young said...

Okay, I think I've figured it out. I guess I'll know if I can find this again tomorrow! :)

Gabriele Goldstone said...

Thanks for visiting, Dianne.
I don't blog daily - just once or twice a week - because I don't usually have that much to say. But I'm trying to cover the conference - sort of a public debriefing (for myself).

And Dianne - if I can blog - anyone can! :) Let me know when you have one.

And for the record - it was Sharon who really, truly made that conference happen.

Gabriele Goldstone said...

And Marie and Joss (it was a group effort) - but Sharon was our true leader.

Barrie said...

I've enjoyed reading about the conference!

Gabriele Goldstone said...

Thank you, Barrie! Maybe you'd come to the 2011 one?

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