From time to time, I’m going to highlight some of the great online communities for writers. Today I’ve picked PublishersCafe, the message boards hosted by indie press PublishingWorks, Inc.

From their description:

Welcome to PublishersCafe, the unique authors’ and readers’ on-line coffeehouse where the ups, downs, positives and negatives of writing-related topics and publishing are discussed. Here you will discover the knowledge and experience to help you grow as authors, writers, publishers and agents.

For more info as well as PublisherWorks updates, follow @corb21 on Twitter.

So how did you all do with your daily wordcount challenges since the last check-in?

Lots of gleeful iPad-bashing out there.

Interesting to compare the comments to early reactions to the launch of Apple’s iPod, which ended up selling over 220 million units by Sept/2009:

From a Wired article:

The iPod is expected to hit Apple’s online store and the company’s retail outlets on Nov. 10. It will cost $399. For all Jobs’ excitement, though, Apple users at Mac discussion sites seemed a bit crestfallen that the device wasn’t as revolutionary as the company had promised last week.

Indeed, many said it was over-priced and under-powered.

“Apple has introduced a product that’s neither revolutionary nor breakthrough, and they’ve priced it so high that it’s reminiscent of the Cube,” a post on MacSlash said.

The message then offered some ideas for what “iPod” might stand for. These won’t make Jobs happy: “I Pretend it’s an Original Device,” it suggested, or “idiots Price Our Devices.”

From MacRumors comments (check out one of the original threads for more iPod-bashing):

‘I still can’t believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently! Why oh why would they do this?! It’s so wrong! It’s so stupid!”

“Sounds very revolutionary to me. hey – heres an idea Apple – rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, why dont you spend a little more time sorting out your pathetically expensive and crap server line up? or are you really aiming to become a glorified consumer gimmicks firm?”

All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve’s mind if he thinks for
one second that this thing is gonna take off.

From commenters after Slashdot announced the Apple iPod:

And I was all excited they were going to release a OS X based wireless web pad. Instead we get yet another portable MP3 player .. “groundbreaking” I think was the term I heard them use to describe this new secret product the other day. How “groundbreaking” can something be when I can walk up the street and buy something with similiar (and in some cases, additional/better) features?

Keep in mind it’s $400 right now becuase the Apple Fanatics will have to have one. They’ll pay anything for the latest cool toy from Apple. In 6 months, hopefully the rest of us will be buying the 20GB version for $200.

I am very sad that Apple seems to be repeating the same mistake they made with the Cube – great, nifty product that anyone would love to own, except that it’s burdened by an unbelievably poor price/performance ratio.

Unfortunately $400 is about twice as much as I’d want to pay for something the size of a pack of cards.

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

I don’t see many sales in the future of iPod.

Me? I’m still excited, and I’m holding off doing an iPad review until I actually have had a chance to use one.

Also see the comments posted in http://ipadgirl.posterous.com.

One of my favourite sources of retweet material is Darcy Pattison’s blog, Fiction Notes. If she was on Twitter (as far as I can tell, she’s not), I’m sure she’d be one of the most retweeted writers ever.

(Edit: I’ve switch the link for this book to Amazon at Darcy’s request since she says that indie bookstores may find it hard to obtain.)

Hm, and I notice she has a book on revision: NOVEL METAMORPHOSIS: UNCOMMON WAYS TO REVISE. Anyway, do visit her site for excellent tips on the craft of writing:

http://www.darcypattison.com/

After posting short stories to Textnovel.com, Shannon Delany (previously writing as Saoirse Redgrave) ended up with a St. Martin’s Press book contract for 13 To Life, a new YA paranormal werewolf novel. Shannon kindly agreed to answer a few questions about her experience:

What got you interested in cellphone novels?

I was a naysayer to Textnovel.com until they changed their contract to make things fairer for authors and then I decided to test the system by posting two stories.

How did you find out about Textnovel (http://textnovel.com/)?

13 to Life started as just a title and a very vague set of characters. I wrote it “by the seat of my pants” and even had readers participate in polls so I could use some of their choices to challenge my preconceived notions of where the story might go and how characters might look. I posted 2 brief serial sections daily, each with a “hook and a hang.” I incorporated the internet where and when I could to build more depth and interactivity (those links are now gone, though).

Could you give me a one-sentence description of what “13 To Life” is about? How long is it? How long did it take you to write?

My main one-liner is : A tale of teenage love, loss and–oh, yeah–werewolves. I went with this because although the werewolf presence is significant in the books, I’m dealing even more heavily with plain old humanity and our many mistakes and struggles. 13 to Life is not what many traditionally consider a standard werewolf (or monster) novel. I’ve had a number of authors who are generally not fans of werewolf stories say they loved mine because it wasn’t the norm.

The Textnovel version of 13 to Life took me five weeks to write (posting two short sections most days, morning and early evening). Then it was an additional month to flesh it out so I was generally satisfied.

After copyedits I think the debut novel in the series is right around 370 pages (a far cry from the original cellphone novel which was probably around 50 pages).

What was the Textnovel contest called? What were the rules? How much did you win?

Geez. Hmm. In 2008 it was the only contest Textnovel ran, so I think it was simply Textnovel 2008. Rules were simple–you needed a certain number of “chapters” (I believe it was 20), you needed a decent popular vote (but didn’t need to be the most popular), needed to show a strong marketable story and voice and integrate the technology available in some way (that last bit being more of a suggestion than rule). Two of my stories wound up in the top group as the contest was getting ready to close and I focused my attention on 13 to Life.

I won $1,000 (which definitely helps on a farmstead during winter when hay’s running tight).

You mentioned that you got agency representation — was this part of the contest winnings?

Yes, I still sort of chuckle when people ask how I got my agent and I can say, “I won him.”

Were you nervous about being the agency’s first client? What is the agency’s name and what’s your agent’s name?

Yes, I was definitely nervous about being the first client. I figured I’d be the guinea pig and that the third and fourth clients would benefit a lot more because of what my agent learned through working towards getting me published. I had a long phone conversation with him and (having heard a talented friend bemoaning the fact agents were nearly impossible to find) decided having someone in my corner was better than not having anyone. And, frankly, I’m a big believer that there’s still a lot for me to learn about all this (and I hope folks have patience with me) so having patience with someone else as they start out is just sort of what I’d expect.

How did your agent approach St. Martin’s Press? Did he/she just send them your winning story? Propose a full-length book? etc.

He actually put out a press release about the contest win and St. Martin’s Press contacted us before queries were even out. Yes. I know. It all sounds crazy.

Wow, exciting that a movie producer and another major publishing house contacted you as well! Did your agent approach them? If not, how did they find out about you? What made you decide on St. Martin’s Press?

Yeah, the sudden attention blew my socks off. And all that attention was totally unsolicited (just that press release). I remember giggling a lot during those first few months because everything was so richly surreal. My agent chatted with all of them and asked me if I didn’t think 13 to Life could be a series. I had actually been chatting with my husband about that and knew I could get 4 or 5 books out of my characters and scenario with absolutely no stress, but I only really had three firmed up, so we asked about three and St. Martin’s Press agreed. I think the thing that really made me say yes to St. Martin’s Press was knowing how excited they were about my series and getting to talk to my editor quickly. Communication is VERY important in this business. Knowing my opinions and concerns are being listened to are big things for me.

Was it difficult turning your cellphone novel into a “traditional” novel? How long did it take you?

It took about a month. I knew from pretty early on what I really wanted to do with 13 to Life so it wasn’t like I needed to build brand new subplots or deepen characterization–I just needed the time and space in word count to make it work. When I started 13 to Life on Textnovel.com it was November 24 and I only had until December 31 to complete it (and watch my son and run our farmstead)–there was no way I could pump out the quality and quantity I needed at that point for a full novel.

Why did you decide on the pseudonym Saoirse Redgrave?

I did it because I figured there’d be some backlash from people. One of my CPs told me repeatedly she didn’t think my participation was a good idea and I wanted to be able to just walk away if the whole experiment was a failure. 13 to Life was what I call a “cannon fodder” story initially. I was just shooting stuff out there to see if I’d get anywhere near target. I had almost nothing invested in it initially–until I really found Jess’s voice and I realized she and I have a bunch in common. The pseudonym was also partly because I know some people who have a real issue with fantasy or paranormal elements in writing and I balked at having them discover I was writing werewolves. Saoirse means “freedom.” I think every author and artist should have that. But it’s also miserable to spell, so now I’m being listed under Shannon Delany (Delany means “dark” or “defiant”). Eh. “What’s in a name, right?”

How are you publicizing the book before its June 2010 release?

I joined 2k10
(a great group of YA authors making their debut in 2010), I’m lining up a blog tour thanks to some great authors who want to host me, I’ve reserved a spot at Free Book Friday Teens, I’m speaking at RT Booklovers’ Convention in Ohio and I’m making it clear that I’ll happily chat with nearly anyone who wants to talk to me or have me as a guest blogger. I was a teacher and I firmly believe that creative writing–and the arts overall–are necessary to encouraging the development of more creative personalities instead of destructive ones. Know a book club or creative writing group that wants a speaker? I’m game. We’ll have at least one more book trailer for book 1, and I’m also being mentioned in a couple magazines between now and then. Once book 1’s out and book 2’s on its way we’ll make an even bigger push (signings, a couple events to help service groups and charities I support–all that tie into the books) and the website will become much deeper and much more interactive for folks who want a more involved experience in the town of Junction.

You can find out more about Shannon and her book on the Class of 2K10 site
.

Writers with iPhone should check out Write Chain, an app which provides motivation by storing word counts for each writing session and tracks the total words written across all sessions.

The “chain” part of the whole strategy is to try to write for as many days in the row as possible. If you miss a day, you break the chain…unless you change the settings to allow yourself some leeway.

Cost of the app: FREE, at least right now. Check out the rest of the How Now Not To Write site for helpful tips for writers from Jamie Grove.

Found out more about this app at the Write Chain site.

Related: List of other iPhone apps for writers.

So how did you all do with your daily wordcount challenges since the last check-in?

From Fox News: Clayton Morris and fellow reporters use the Apple iPad, examining the e-book functionality.

Rumor has it that the iBooks e-reader currently does not let readers choose an “unjustified text” format. I hate reading justified text but am assuming that future version of iBooks will fix this. From a post by John Gruber:

iBooks uses full-justified layout for books, with no apparent option to switch to ragged right. It doesn’t do hyphenation, so you wind up with very unsightly word-spacing gaps. No e-reader I’m aware of does justice to proper book typography, but I was hoping for better from Apple. It’s decent web-caliber typography, not print-caliber typography.

I was excited about the idea of an Apple tablet long before the hype began. I remained excited despite the build-up hype. And yes, I’m STILL excited now that the announcement’s been made and people are scrambling over each other to dissect, critique and mock.

I’m not a tech guru, so can’t defend the iPad against some of the criticisms about what the iPad should have had.

I also don’t claim to be an e-reader device expert, so won’t attempt to do a detailed comparison of the iPad with other e-readers at this point.

No, I’m not crazy about the name but heck…it’s just a name. My focus will be on how well the iPad is going to work for me.

I’m mainly excited about the Apple iPad because of its e-reading possibilities. Yes, it’s backlit. But so is the iPhone, and I’ve been reading e-books on my iPhone for a while now, with dozens of e-books on my virtual bookshelf. I’m looking forward to having a sleek, portable device with more screen space that’s easy to carry around. I will always love the sensual joy of holding a print book, but I also love the idea of being able to carry around a library of books without the back strain and arm strain that comes with it. As someone with occasional tendinitis issues, this is a major boon.

I’m disappointed that the iBooks store isn’t available in Canada yet, but I figure that since iPhone apps will work on the iPad, I’ll just keep reading e-books the way I do now…but on a larger screen. Plus as with the Kindle, I figure Canadians will get access once Apple sorts through the red tape.

The Stanza and e-Reader people probably started revamping their products for the iPad as soon as the specs came out. The iPad’s built-in reader supports the ePub standard, a standard adopted by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) as an open-standards-based format for digital books. I’m curious to see how Apple handles copy protection, especially if they’ll allow iPad users to import unprotected ePub documents.

I’m also excited by the glimpse of some of the other features we saw in the Apple presentation, especially the calendar. I use iCal right now, and that’s a pain to use on a small iPhone screen.

(Update, after talking to Alice Ching-Chew: The iPad would be GREAT for sheet music! Much easier than carrying around my binders of printed out music.)

But most of all, I’m excited about the idea behind the iPad. The science fiction nerd inside me loves the idea of holding so much information and functionality in something the size of a thin book (about 9.5″ x 7.5″, 1/2 inch deep). I’m excited to see future versions as Apple continues to tweak and improve, and can’t wait to see what comes next.

Jeff pointed out that the iPad delivery date roughly coincides with my birthday at the end of March. Yay!

I’m going to be pouring most of my fangirl ravings pre- and post-iPad arrival into @ipadgirl and ipadgirl.posterous.com. Warning: my posts will not always be objective and may occasionally devolve into way too many exclamation marks. If you don’t mind that, feel free to follow.

For those who missed the liveblogging from the Apple announcement, here are some good summaries:

AppleInsider’s overview of iPad specs and info about AT&T’s no-contract iPad data plans, which run $15/mo. 250MB, $30 unlimited.

Apple iPad Just Tried To Assassinate Laptops:

It’s the ‘internet device’ vision of a decade ago all over again, except now Apple can offer what is arguably the best user experience for internet and media consumption combined with a very reasonable (for a brand new gadget) price.

BNN blog transcript: Steve Jobs presents the Apple tablet

Mashable: Apple Introduces iPad Tablet Device

Boy Genius Report: Apple iPad recap

Need more iPad goodness? The iPad video is now on the Apple site.

Am I getting one? Oh, yes. I’ve also started a new Twitter feed called iPadGirl.