Tools

LinkedIn, a member of the Internet-networking old guard, is a vast database of 10 million professionals connecting and furthering their careers.
It’s a great resource, but intimidating for the uninitiated. Luckily, Penelope Trunk, columnist for the Boston Globe and author of “The Brazen Careerist,” is here to help. In collaboration with the site, she’s created a list of 10 ways to leverage the network.
Our favorite suggestions:
3. Build a network without making networking your full-time job
6. Confirm a rumor
10. Promote your book!
Now if only we could just write that novel, we’d be in business.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion's Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook's Morin Oluwole, and bitly's Tim Devane. Register now.

Cellphone Video Gets Longer
All mb features

Try it out here at the Eat, Shoots & Leaves game.

Write a Novel is a form of open courseware: Learning materials placed online for free use by anyone who wishes to do so. At this point, it is an experiment; if it succeeds, Capilano College may create more such guides, along the lines pioneered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The guide contains 18 items, PDF documents that give you some basic information on topics related to writing fiction in general and novels in particular. Each item includes one or more assignments based on the material you’ve read.

I have no idea if it’s useful or not but I have to admire its layout and amount of material. Let me know if it works for you!

Do freelance writers need little handheld toys like Blackberries and PDAs or are those more fun accessories than necessary tools? I asked this question on Ask Metafilter. Here are some of the answers:

I don’t have one, and while I recognize the inconvenience, I also recognize the freedom it affords me. Because I like to be available via e-mail during regular business hours, I have to stay close to home during the day; I won’t leave for more than an hour because I want to make sure that I am responsive to written communication. On the other hand, everyone I know who has a Blackberry ends up answering e-mail all day and night. My laptop gets shut off promptly at 5:00pm and isn’t opened again until 8:00am the next morning, and that’s just how I like it. I don’t want to know if someone’s written me in the evening, because I’ll feel compelled to respond. I vote no on portable devices, but I’m also in the minority; most of my colleagues have them.

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I’m just passing this tip along. I haven’t tried it nor am I endorsing it. If any of you have found the catch, let me know.

“Finally” was what I thought when I downloaded the new version of iTunes which prompted me to back up my music. I need constant reminders to back up, and I like programs that provide them to me.
Backing up your work is becoming easier, too. Walter S. Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal checked out two online backup services that offer unlimited capacity — no quotas or limits at all — for around $50 a year.
See his thoughts here (Post-Gazette.com)

A few years ago my aunt passed on to me an old Underwood typewriter that my grandmother used to use. I don’t use it very often, mostly because it lives at my parents’ house. It’s definitely heavy enough to kill any crazy sycophant who might happen to hold me hostage in her snowbound house should that ever arise. But it’s also just a cool thing to have.
Today not one but two other posts popped up in praise of the old-timey typewriter. The Morning News features a writer’s remembrance for the dented Olympia of his youth by Michael Erard.
And then coincidentally I found this link for purchasing the Olympia SM8&9 at a site called MyTypewriter.com. Will the typwriter be making a comeback? Considering how I wished I owned a license and a gun to fire at my computer today, it’s possible.

Have you been considering taking an online writing, pitching, freelancing, what-have-you course? Perhaps even of the mediabistro type? Even though the purpose of the online class is to cater to busy people’s schedules, you still have to make sure you have the time and energy to get your money’s worth. Victoria Groves at Writers Weekly has a few bits of advice on how to make sure you pick a class that’s right for you at a time that’s right for you.

Links and things for your enjoyment and edification and whatnot.
Best Blogs of 2006 that You (Maybe) Aren’t Reading at Fimoculous.
One of these sites is Copyblogger, which in turn published their Top 10 Blogs for Writers.

Online Opportunities for Young Writers at, um, NoodleTools.
iJot is in its beta phase which means it’s free–another place to store and share your writing online. Never a bad idea to have backups out in cyber space.
And finally, two tips from Lifehacker: Taking a page from the Book of Google, Microsoft has added book-searching capabilities to Live Search. And also, if you’re interested in Microsoft Vista but have questions, let Lifehacker know as they’re going to be talking directly with the Microsoft folks.