Children’s Writing Web Journal

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One of the great things about being a writer is that you can do it pretty much anywhere. 

Charge up the laptop battery and you’re ready to go.  But to really go mobile, a “wi-fi” connection to the internet is the only way to travel.

These days, scores of coffee shops, bookstores and even fast food joints offer wi-fi service to their customers.  The tricky part?  Finding them.  I’ve looked at a bunch of directories, and I’ve found this one to be very comprehensive and reliable:

http://www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm

And here’s one that shows locations on a map:

http://hotspotr.com/wifi

Happy wi-fying!

Whoa, this is cool. Jott.com is a free service that does lots of things, but the most immediately impressive is its voice to e-mail feature.

Here’s how it works:

1. Set up a Jott account by registering your e-mail and your phone number.
2. Program Jott’s toll-free number into your phone contacts.
3. Whenever you want, call the toll-free number and leave yourself a message.
4. The message is transcribed and e-mailed to you, along with a link to the actual audio.

The possibilities are numerous.

You’re in the library or the bookstore and you come across some titles you’ll want to study later. Jott yourself all the info and it will be waiting for you in your inbox.

You’re at a conference looking for subjects to interview for your blog when you meet a famous author. Call Jott and conduct the interview using the phone as a “microphone”. The entire interview will be transcribed and sent to you along with the audio.

Needless to say, there are hundreds more uses, and Jott has a lot more to offer, including the ability to send RSS feeds to your phone. A killer resource!

http://jott.com

Some cool links…..

Big Universe - Online children’s bookshop where you can read and purchase electronic picture books, or create your own for online publication.  Their URL is http://www.biguniverse.com   Here’s a recent piece from Publisher’s Weekly about the site. 

JacketFlap - Terrific social networking site for children’s book writers, illustrators, librarians and publishing professionals.  Free and very easy to use.  Highly recommended.  http://jacketflap.com   (And, after you sign up,  visit our JacketFlap page to become added as one of our friends.)

drop.io - Awesome free tool that allows you fax any document from your computer - without fax software.  Lots of other neat ways to share files, too.  http://drop.io/

Authonomy - A new site, now in beta testing, from HarperCollins that has industry folks buzzing.  It will be a social network site that will allow writers to upload manuscripts, which will be read and judged by other members of the network.  The site will use “the public’s recommendations to search out the cream of the crop – and showcase those titles to the book world at large”.   The actual site will be at http://www.authonomy.com/   There’s a company blog up now which addresses common questions.  Here’s some of what the rest of the blogosphere is saying.

Snopes - Every day I get a forwarded message from some well-meaning person.  Bill Gates is giving money away…Barack Obama is this….John McCain is that….a new computer virus will suck your soul out of your body.  It usually takes me all of 3 seconds to determine that it’s a hoax, thanks to the venerable Snopes.com database of urban myths.  If you get a forwarded message, before you drop your entire address book’s contents into the CC: section and hit send, please, please, please check it out on Snopes first.  (Also, for writers, the site is a hoot — filled with all kinds of wildly imaginative stuff that you can you use to spark your own ideas.  Just be sure to put them in your next book rather than your next mass e-mail!)  http://www.snopes.com

Our little company was born 18 years ago in a Jersey City apartment, and, against all odds, it’s paid our mortgage, put food in our dog’s dishes and baseball cards in our son’s pockets.  If we’ve learned anything about building a business during this time, it’s this:

I didn’t always buy into that notion.  When we first put our website up (way back in 1995) it seemed crazy to give away so much information and I had to be dragged along kicking and screaming.  But, wow, I’m sure glad I got on board.  Since that time, we’ve given away a lot of stuff, asking only goodwill in return.  I have no doubt it’s one of the big reasons CBI is where it is today.   If you’re struggling to make it as a writer, I urge you to consider a similar path.  Give of your talents, help others who need it and be a mentor — and the big wheel o’ karma will surely spin your way.

Right.  Time to get off the soapbox and give you what you came for — free stuff!  We’ve got all kinds of goodies scattered around the web site and they can be tough to find.  I bet, for example, you didn’t know that we have a free ebook called Robert Louis Stevenson on the Art of Writing. It’s really an outstanding read and it’s waiting for you, along with a bunch of other things that won’t cost you a dime.

Here’s where to go to browse and take:  http://write4kids.com/freestuff.html

Enjoy!