It’s time for another edition of Link Love. Twitter is a great place to gank all kinds of websites, and I’ve included the most interesting here. To shake it up a bit, I’ve also included either the referring website or the Twitter profile of the people who were kind enough to Tweet these fabulous sites in the first place.

How eBooks and Digital Publishing will Disrupt Traditional Book Publishing from my good friend Angie Haggstrom at Freedom Freelance. It’s a great article that explores how digital publishing is impacting the traditional route.

All Things Harry Potter from openzine. If you’re a Harry Potter freak, this is the website for you.

Top Ten Dirtiest Hotels from fantomaster. If you travel, you’re going to want to know what to avoid. Ewww.

Check out this really great flash piece: Black Velveteen, Tweeted by eMuseZine.

Trapped by Monsters has a fabulous article regarding agents and Tommy’s Top Tips about them. Tweeted by the one and only, literary agent Colleen Lindsay.

The Dead by Billy Collins: Tweeted by Staci J. Shelton. It’s a fantastic piece of animated poetry. You’ll love it – I did.

Aesop’s Fables: An oldie but a goodie, Aesop’s Fables are a mainstay of inspiration. Thanks to Twitterer quips and tips.

Waiting: This was one of the most inspirational stories I’ve read in a long time. This is the first part; read on for a most satisfying conclusion. Thanks to Bronwyn at A Day in the (Fat) Life. One person CAN make a difference.

Free Celtic Music: Free Celtic Music in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, via Katadhin.

Great sites all; check them out, and if you’re not following the Twitterers, you should be. Lots of information, inspiration, and some free stuff thrown in for good measure.

I love the Interwebz.

I am  a Link Hound, a Research Ho, and I’m going to share with you some of the best links I’ve found on the ‘net the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, there’s something here that will inspire you, help you, or amuse you. If so, please leave a comment on the site you visit, or leave me one here . Enjoy!

Helpful:

A brand new forum of internet marketers, Simple Machines Forum promises to be THE place to be for all things related to getting your business off the ground and running. It’s in the early stages yet, but there’s the potential for a great meeting of the minds and an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I’ll definitely be picking some brain cells here.

About Freelance Writing – Anne has a great website  for freelancers. She sends out a newsletter twice a week with the jobs she’s been able to scour from the ‘net. Definitely worth signing up, and I have never received any spam.

I advocate the use of social networking sites to get your brand and your name out there, and Twitter has been great for that. Using TweetDeck, an application that helps you manage your Twitter feeds, allows you to filter searches and connect with other people with similar interests. Of course, I must have my toys, and to make it easier for people to follow YOU, here are some free Twitter Buttons for your site and some free backgrounds to pimp up your Twitter profile.

Blogging Tips is a fabulous resource for bloggers. They have a cast of professionals publishing articles on everything from article marketing to how to set yourself up for 2009 looking for freelance work. Their newsletter is crammed with good information from some of the best in the business.

If you’re on FaceBook (if you’re not, you should be!) check out this freelancing group, where freelancers meet and share job links and information. There’s strength in numbers, and in the Wild World of Freelancing, we all have to stick together.

Insipiring:

Long Distance – I have been an admirer of this man’s work for some time, but this particular story tugged at my heart, and hard. I’m a lover of flash fiction, and this is actually the best I’ve read in a long time. Leave him some comment love if you have a mind — it’s really an excellent story. Flash can teach us a lot about writing in general, and to me, this is a brilliant gem.

Did you know most of H.P. Lovecraft’s work can be found online for free? Neither did I! Sure to steal at least a few nights of sleep, almost his entire body of work can be downloaded for your reading pleasure in a handy-dandy zip file. I am not responsible for the nightmares — enter and read at your own risk. (Thanks, Eric!)

I’ve loved this book since I read it in middle school. In my opinion, it should be required reading for every person. Here it is some thirty-some years later, and this story still resonates with me. That should tell you something (other than the obvious fact that I’m OLD. Like, O-L-D. *sigh*)

Amusing:

Let’s face it, we all spend a lot of time on the ‘net. A LOT. Every once in awhile, you have to let the brain cells rest, lest they overheat and cause a fire with smoke and flames. When I get to that point, I’ll meander over to Crazy Days and Nights for my celebrity-trash fix. The blogger is hysterical, pulls no punches, and it’s refreshing to read about people with money and fame that are worse of than I am, poor and unknown. Heh.

If that doesn’t blow your whistle, then I’d recommend getting a free reading from the Tarot. No, I don’t know what the hell it means either — I keep getting swords, and THAT can’t be good. Oye. You can earn Karma coins, although I’m not sure how, and I’m not getting that involved. I just like to peek in on the Universe and see what it’s up to.

Of course, one must have music to work. Open Pandora, and tweak to your heart’s content, creating a radio station that plays ONLY WHAT YOU WANT. How cool is that? If you’re all set with music, head on over to Jams Bio and read some spectacular memories other people have of the very same music you’ve heard. There’s plenty of inspiration there as well — it’s amazing to me how different, yet how similar, we all are.

Those are my top picks for this round. Leave me a comment if you’d like to see this as a regular feature, and I’ll make it so. Meanwhile, if you visit, don’t forget to leave a comment to thank those that put out such quality work. It encourages them to keep doing so, and we all benefit.

Karma, yanno.

Image via Wikipedia

Do you have a way with words? Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be here. The question is, what is the best vehicle for your wordsmithing?

The writing world is much bigger than you may realize. You might start out in fiction, but don’t let a definition limit your possibilities. The sad truth is, you can starve to death writing fiction, but if you know the basics of telling a story, you can market your work in a variety of venues.

1. Fiction: Again, you may starve to death before you make a living writing fiction (and we’re talking short fiction, here,) but once the fiction bug bites you, you are never the same again. Writing fiction for money as opposed to “for the love” is a long-standing debate between writers. The general consensus seems to be if the publication has a good reputation, and generates good exposure, negligible payment is acceptable. It’s a chance to build your own reputation and start a portfolio of work.

Read your favorite e-zines, and check out Duotrope for a complete listing of publications, what they’re looking for, and what they pay.

2. Articles: The possibilities for simple articles are limited only by your own imagination. There is a constant need for fresh, unique web content on an endless variety of subjects. You might consider placing a listing on Elance, or GoFreelance. Other options include writing and marketing your own PLR (Public Label Rights) packet (subject for a future post) or writing and marketing an Ebook on a subject you are educated on or passionate about. Remember, if you are interested in a subject, it’s likely a lot of other people are interested, as well.

3. Copywriting: The booming internet market has a need for talented copywriters. Writing a compelling sales page that converts can command big bucks…it’s not unusual to hear of $10,000 paid for a ten page sales letter. However, you really need to know the psychology of sales to pull this off — if you have a background in sales, writing sales pages can be quite lucrative.

Start small, build your portfolio, and study the greats, like Gary Halbert, Clayton Makepeace or Michael Fortin. If you can tell a good story, you’re well on your way to writing a good sales page.

This is just a small sampling of the things you can do if you have a way with words. Don’t let a label or narrow expectations limit your horizons. A wordsmith is a wordsmith — talented and skilled, there are many avenues to explore.

So get going! What are you still here for?

If there’s a topic or question on which you’d like more information, please let me know in the comments section.

Now go! Write!