Read, Eat, Drink: Link Roundup and a Twenty-Minute Asian Noodle Soup

Read:

Literary Agent Advice

There is so much to read! Here’s the scoop this week on platform-building, publishing, reading, working, and Facebook eating the Internet:

Why The Best Reading App Available Today is Not What You Think (Michael Hyatt): This ties in perfectly to last week’s Read on Why We Can’t Read Anymore. Now that the ebook market has plateaued at about a quarter of the overall book market, we’re starting to see how the gain in efficiency of ebooks can also mean a loss of deep comprehension. The real question is: do we want to read a greater volume of words, or do we want to dive more deeply into those words?

The Future of Remote Work Feels Like Teleportation (Christopher Mims, WSJ): “Given how geographically diffuse our Internet-centric tools have already made many companies, it is hard to see how these technologies won’t someday transform how we work just as thoroughly as email and the telephone did.”

Facebook is Eating the Internet (Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic): “Facebook, it seems, is unstoppable. The social publishing site, just 11 years old, is now the dominant force in American media. It drives a quarter of all web traffic.” More on why a Facebook page is an integral part of a platform.

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If Querying Isn’t Working for You: Troubleshooting & Resources

Typewriter

As I’ve been talking about on my Twitter, yesterday afternoon I finally caught up on all queries as of February 1, 2015. Writers: if you submitted a query to me before that date and haven’t received a response, please re-send. It may have been lost in the cosmic Internet shuffle!

I’ve also been hearing back from many writers who are looking for a bit more guidance about how to build their platforms, so here’s a quick round-up of resources and articles you might find helpful:

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Why Design Matters for Your Website

 

Author website design

Today I’m over on Jane Friedman’s wonderful blog talking about why design is such a big, big deal for blogs and websites. If you’re just starting to build your platform, or want to take your work to the next level, you’ve GOT to make it look appealing. Design is your brand, and you only have about 10 seconds to win over someone who wanders through your online home. (According to #science, no one has an attention span  anymore…) Click here to read about the 7 things you need need on your site to make a strong first impression.

And while you’re there, poke around Jane’s blog–it’s full of fantastic resources for aspiring authors, creatives, and entrepreneurs. I think you’ll find it bookmark-worthy.