I’m gearing up for another series—this time on writing resources. One thing I totally forgot to do was ask for guest posts in my last series, so this time I don’t want to repeat that mistake. Today I’m asking for guest bloggers to help with my next series (because we’re all tired of listening to just me, right ?).

Here’s a bit more on what I’m looking for:

• For this series, posts on:
  • Writing craft books that really helped you
  • Writing classes or teachers that made a big difference
  • Workshops or conferences that made an impact
  • Writing friends or critique groups that affected your writing (for the positive!)
  • Posts that focus on both the experience of reading/participating as well as the actual lessons learned.
• Posts between 300 and 800 words in length (though I’m flexible on the long end).
• A short bio (up to three sentences) of the author (ie you) with up to three links. (Links are allowed in the post itself, too, but if I get too much of a sense of self-promotion I may edit them.)

If you’re up to the challenge, send the post in the body of an email (if you can code in HTML, I’ll love you forever; if not, just include the URL of the links) to contact at jordanmccollum.com . I’ll probably only have room for the first three posts, and I’d need them by Friday, March 19. If that’s too little notice, don’t worry, I’ll have another call for guest bloggers at the end of May (if not before).

But for future reference, if ever you’d like to do a guest post here, go for it! I may not always post them—but don’t worry, I don’t do the whole no-response-means-no thing, so you’ll be free to use a post somewhere else. If you’re not familiar with guest blogging, check out my article on maximizing your guest blogging, as well as this more recent post on guest blogging from Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.

Questions, comments and suggestions for future series welcome!

Photo by Andrea

Happy New Year! I got to finish out my year with a much-needed pat on the back from one of the fantastic members of our community:

Andrew named this blog as one of his top 9 writing blogs of 2009 for content, community and the “it” factor—you know, me . Aside from including me, I can vouch for the quality of his list: I already read more than half of those ranked, and have learned so much from them this last year.

As kind of a post-script to our series on bad advice, I also want to point out a little good advice, such as highlighted on Romance University this week.

We’ll talk about setting goals on Monday. For now, just enjoy the novelty of the year and the long weekend! Feel free to share the best writing advice you’ve received—but I have big plans for that topic later in the year.

And good luck with the last days of Nano!

Photo and cardboard turkey by Bre Pettis

A few reminders today: we’re almost done with our website review series—just two reviews left. Several people have asked about getting on the list. We took volunteers back in July—but Kathleen and I are both surprised at how well-received this series has been. We’re planning to do this again, but it probably won’t be for a couple months. (So subscribe to make sure you don’t miss this call for volunteers!)

Another reminder: don’t forget to vote for the writing craft book club book. Don’t make me just choose one!

How many websites should you have?

A writing blog. An in-world children’s picture book website. A website for your steamy romance ebooks. A site for your nonfiction aspirations. A personal blog. How many websites can one person have?

The answer, of course, is as personal as your websites should be—you can have as many websites as you can handle (and please, no more! A neglected website is sometimes worse than no site at all.). But how many do you really need?

I’m of the opinion that you should try for as few sites as possible. At its simplest, this would be one website, with a blog as part of that website (if you truly feel you can maintain a blog).

However, in some situations, you will need separate or nearly separate sites. These situations might include:

• Genres that are completely incompatible—where writing in one genre could permanently alienate readers in another genre (like the above example of picture books and hot romance).
• Writing under different names—especially in conjunction with the above example.

Note that I also said “nearly separate” sites—rather than completely separate sites, you could try doing “minisites.” For example, if you’re writing in very different genres but under the same name, you could have Mystery.YourDomain.com and UrbanFantasy.YourDomain.com . The sites would have at least one or two links to one another, and to your main site, but would remain mostly separate.

And then there’s the question of personal stuff: does it have a place on your professional site(s)? That also depends on your genre, the tone of your personal stuff, and your audience. If you have a “lifestyle” blog before you get published, then it’s fine to keep that and maintain the personal tone and the insights into your personal life.

However, if that’s not the kind of site and community you’ve already built, be cautious about sharing personal stuff. Introducing too much information, unprofessional presentation, or flat-out boring content can hurt your brand.

On the other hand, sharing some information about yourself—on a limited, interesting, professional basis—can help to make your website more personable and appealing. It’s a fine balance—and sometimes it takes some practice.

What do you think? How have you shared personal information in a way that appealed to your visitors? How many sites do you want/need?

Image credits: frustrated—John De Boer; character—Svilen Mushkatov

Today’s the big day: the Blog RSS contest conclusion. Did you see the secret message?

Well, someone did. <drum roll please>

Andrew Rosenberg

will get The Power of Point of View by Alicia Rasley AND Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.

But wait, there’s more!
Livia King, neuroscience grad student, writer, intrepid volunteer and very very soon to be bride, wins How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling by James N. Frey.

AND:
Deb Smythe wins How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II: Advanced Techniques For Dramatic Storytelling by James N. Frey.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats to our winners!

Note to prizewinners: if you already have a copy of your prize, then we can talk substitutions. Email me with your shipping information: jordan (at) jordanmccollum.com

And there’s still more!

Don’t be disappointed if you didn’t win one of our fabulous prizes (I know it’s hard, but please try.) I have something for everyone.

Our blog series on deep POV has come to a close, but there’s always more to learn. I’ve assembled the posts from the blog series into a free PDF guide to deep POV—with bonus features not found in the blog series.

All our guides will be available on the new Free Writing Guides page.

What would you like to see for future contests and prizes?