Fishbowl Initiatives

Throughout the month of December, mediabistro.com is offering daily deals on a slew of its courses starting in January. Today’s deal is one we think FishbowlNY readers will really enjoy.

Sign up now for the online short story writing course using the special code DAILY1202 and save $75 off the registration fee.

The six-week introductory course, starting January 12, will help you learn the fundamentals of fiction and how to get your stories published. During the course, you’ll write two short stories and get feedback on each piece from instructor S. Kirk Walsh, who has worked at The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Details, Entertainment Weekly and Self. Kirk will also discuss where and how to submit your stories for publication, whether you want to be published in literary magazines or somewhere on the Web.

Learn more and sign up here.

You only have a few more hours to take advantage of this special one-day promotion being offered by mediabistro.com’s education department.

Sign up today for this class, a five-week course on writing for New York publications taught by former New York Daily News columnist Betty Ming Liu, and receive 30 percent off.

Just follow the link below and use the promo code SAVE30 when submitting payment to receive your discount.

Writing for NYC Publications

New York has no shortage of media reporters. But we thought, hey, why not add just one more?

Meet Drew Grant, the newest contributing editor to grace these virtual pages. We have brought her on to help us cover the biggest names in New York media, breaking industry news and the most happening events.

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The FishbowlNY homepage has gone through some changes, and if you read us on an RSS feed, it’s worth a trip over to see our new enhancements.

Our search and subscription features are now easier than ever to find, just right up at the top of the homepage. You’ll also notice bylines right under the headlines.

But the best new features are at the bottom of each article. It’s now easier than ever to share your favorite FBNY stories. You can send a story to Twitter with just one click, or share it in a number of ways, including through Digg, Facebook or Delicious.

We’re pretty excited about our new look. We hope you are, too.

A few weeks ago, we asked our freelance readers to tell us where you like to spend your work days — outside of your apartment. With coffee shops around the city cracking down on laptop use, finding a good spot to sit down, plug in and caffeinate can be a problem.

You sent us lots of good responses and we’re going to try to visit them all and let you know how they all stack up. This week, our first visit was to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho.

Read on for the lowdown

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Yesterday, a story we came across in The Wall Street Journal got us thinking: where do New York’s laptop-toting freelancers and bloggers like to work when they step out of their home offices?

Coffee shops, cafes, delis, libraries, book shops and even bars offer wireless Internet access, but it seems that more and more are making those of us looking for a place to work feel unwelcome. Wouldn’t it make your life easier if there was a list of the best places to work in the city?

Well, we’re on the case. Send us an email or leave a note in the comments letting us know your favorite laptop-friendly haunts. We’ll gather all your tips, take a trip there ourselves and compile the results for you. We’ll rank places based on quality and reliability of the Internet connection, friendliness of the staff, selection of coffee and snacks, access to electrical outlets, difficulty finding a place to sit, and any other factors we decide are important (if we missed anything, let us know).

We can’t wait to hear from you and start investigating the best places to work in the city.

Related: New York Coffee Shops Hate On Laptops

Starting today, you’ll never be far from FBNY. Now, when you visit any MediaBistro blog on your iPhone, BlackBerry or other mobile device, you’ll see this beautiful mobile-optimized screen.

Now there is no excuse for not keeping current on New York media news from FBNY. Let us know what you think in the comments.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you’ve probably noticed a new fishie up in this ‘Bowl. Let’s make it official, shall we? Meet your new FishbowlNY editor, Amanda Ernst…

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Are you feeling as confused about your future as the young Polish elephant? Why not check out our job boards. Check out this snapshot of what’s up today.

Don’t panic when the Empire State and the Chrysler building go dim tonight, it’s all part of “Earth Hour” a worldwide movement aimed at drawing attention to global warming. More than 4,000 cities around the world are apparently participating. While we’re at it we’d also like to draw your attention to our job boards, which are not dim at all!