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T A B L E  O F  C O N T E N T S

1. [Editor Notes]
2. [Resources]
3. [The Digital Writer]
4. [Career Advice]
5. [At C/Oasis]
6. [My Virtual Space]
7. [Markets]
8. [Community]
9. [Acknowledgments]

E D I T O R  N O T E S

An excellent book is available to writers who are interested in the online writing world. It's called, Developing Online Content: The Principles of Writing and Editing for the Web by Irene Hammerich and Claire Harrison.

It was published in 2002 and covers Web writing and design principles. Tips and common sense advice appear throughout the book.

Many of the items they cover can be adapted by writers who are running their own sites, even though it's written for professional Web writers in charge of large, commercial sites. It has an excellent chapter on "The Business of Web Writing/Editing."

This link provides a good introduction to the problems faced with writing on the Web. What the researchers are not looking at is the learning curve people are engaged in to make the Net exactly what they want it to be. Reading patterns will shift as people get used to it and the resolution quality improves on computer monitors.

More usability and text links are in the technical resource section.

The authors make the point early on that the Web is audience driven. While that is true with all publishing, on the Web it's dictated finally and absolutely, since the reader controls the experience on the page. If a reader buys a book, at least they're going to invest time in getting out of it what they can. But, on the Web, with so much information that is free, the reader becomes very fickle.

To startle good readers of Sunoasis, let me mention that in a recent article it was reported that Matt Drudge is making close to $800,000 a year with his simple Web site. It's just he and his partner. He doesn't do anything very complicated but he does have information sources that often trump normal news channels.

The key to the Drudge site is that it offers something unique you can only get through him. Plus, he has a professional ad firm that handles the selling of ads. I mention this because I think as the Web gets more sophisticated, individual talents will be successful like Drudge. It won't be easy.

I'm convinced that the Web can take a smart, talented but resource-strapped group of people and permit them to use their smarts and talents to make more money.

I like this change I see going on: Writers are publishing print-on-demand books, getting some traction from the market, and then larger publishing houses are stepping in to pick up the contract. It puts the writer at the center of the marketing game and requires that he or she develop that skill. Aside from the awful thought that it turns serious people into clownish ones, it seems necessary.

Marketing is a most difficult subject. The ideal, of course, is that the Net is the publisher. This is an ideal that depends on an efficient Net and two sophisticated users on either side of the interface. I think in the long tomorrow it will occur and our current publishing system will be a mark in history like the Hanseatic League is to the Middle Ages. But, it entails the ability of the writer to assume responsibility for his or her own efforts.

A few weeks ago I had dinner with an old friend, a writer and professor who has written a scientific book on "Human Sexuality." It's a textbook that costs $90 and he only gets a fraction of it for each book sold. However, if its adopted by a college he can make pretty good money on it. So, he is busy going around to market it. What does he do? He lectures on the subject to prove his credibility and lets that do the marketing for him.

That's certainly one way. I asked him about a web presence for the book and he sounded rather vague even though he's been on the Net longer than anyone I know, since the early 80's. "My publisher takes care of all that." Yes.

Book reviews are one excellent way to market so check the resource area below.

One thing I love about the Net is that it allows a person the feeling that they are part of an historic turn while all the while pursuing their self-interest.

Speaking of history it's fun to go over the best-seller lists from 1900 to 1995. Illuminations about the reading public in the United States. One observation: Great fiction has fallen from the lists.

Robert Reich has some things to say to bookstores about how to sell books these days.

T e c h n i c a l  R e s o u r c e s 

Writing for a Web audience, written in 2001.
19 links to writing styles.
Writing for readers who scan, written in 2001.
Designing Web Usability
25 tips for better web writing
The good Merry Bruns has an excellent list of resources.

In other words, study poetry or copywriting but forget novels. I would add the aphoristic style of Nietzsche or Wittgenstein to the study list.

I've harped on this for several years: The Web is as good as the person using it. There is a superior core of resource on it that is difficult to access. There is more flexibility, and more creativity on the Net if you know what you're doing. And the vast majority of people on the Net aren't at that place as yet. They do not, like myself and other fools, view it as a profession.

There is also the untidy business of changing habits. Readers, writers, publishers, among others all have to lose old habits and gain new ones to make the change. It will happen over time; I am sure of it.

Even though I'm an indentured servant to the beast, having spent seven long years in servitude, I still get a thrill by taking writing I never thought would see the light of day, getting it ready, putting it in a Web form, uploading it to the server, and then viewing it through a browser. I never take that for granted.

The Net is still a puppy, wounded by its first scrape with reality. It's entering into its adult life. For the middle-aged among us its a new shot of adrenaline so necessary now when the working life and writing life are going to extend beyond the normal years.

The feedback we've gotten is superb. We're proud of the quality of people who have subscribed to Sunoasis 2003. So, please continue!

R E S O U R C E S

GetBookReviews.com is a new Web site that helps authors and publishers find book reviewers interested in reviewing their book.

Speaking of getting reviewed these places are highly recommended if you want to get your material in libraries:

Booklist/Book Links/Reference Books Bulletin
c/o American Library Association
50 E. Huron Street, Chicago IL, 60611;
telephone 800-545-2433, ext. 5716)
review books, videos, CD-ROMs, computer software, and other materials for school libraries and small- and medium-sized public libraries.

Choice
100 Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457;
telephone 860-347-6933
reviews scholarly works recommended for college libraries.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
University of Illinois Press,
1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820;
telephone 217-333-8935
reviews books for children and young people for public and school libraries

The Horn Book Magazine
The Horn Book, Inc., 56 Roland Street, Suite 200, Boston, MA 02129;
telephone 800-325-1170;
fax 617-628-0882
looks at children's books for public and school libraries.

Kirkus Reviews,
VNU eMedia, 770 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003,
Attn: Tamra Gross;
telephone 1-888-900-3782, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST;
fax 646-654-5584
provides adult/young adult and children's book reviews.

Library Journal/School Library Journal
245 W. 17th Street, New York, NY 10011;
Library Journal telephone 212-463-6818/
School Library Journal telephone 212-463-6689)
review fiction, non-fiction, reference books, video tapes, audio cassettes, CD-ROMs, and computer software, and usually include a recommendation for type of library collection.

The New York Times Book Review
Editor,
The New York Times Book Review,
229 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036;
telephone 212-556-1234
reviews adult fiction and non-fiction for public and academic libraries.

Publishers Weekly
245 W. 17th Street, New York, NY 10011;
telephone 212-463-6758;
fax 212-463-6631
forecasts forthcoming fiction, non-fiction, children's, and paperback books for public libraries and the book trade as a whole.

Generally, reviews are great if you can get them. More than 40,000 books are published every year in the United States. Fewer than 10% of them are reviewed. Be timely and persistent.

Dictionary.com

CBS News disaster links.

We are on the cusp of a Web publishing boom and tools are being prepared.

Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing

American Communication Association

Edit-work.com

How much should you charge? This article covers that and more.

Some Basic Writing Resource Sites

Authors Guide Index

The World Factbook

GigaLaw.com has information on copyrights and contracts.

T H E  D I G I T A L  W R I T E R

The Digital Writer was telling his good and curious friend why he hadn't pursued money and fame in the writing game. "Well, you go along your path as best you can." He thought a moment and added. "The first step along that path is a very telling one..."

Click for full column!

C A R E E R  A D V I C E

I continually enjoy dipping into the Daniel Pink book, Free Agent Nation. Pink is a former speech writer for Vice-President Gore and extolls the virtue of going the free agent route. He mentions one guy who, at 40 years old, was sitting in his house in Australia and thinking of the awful commute, obeying the dictates of sometimes insane people, the strictures of dress, etc. He decided he couldn't take it any more and dropped out, moved to America and, after a period of recovery, started a new business. It's one of the great acts of freedom: The ability to say, I don't want to go this way. I want to go that way and go and do what you can for yourself. Isn't that what the wars are fought for?

There's no question that dealing with the world as a free agent gives you a sense of power; a sense of confidence. I think it will become a greater feature of the work force. He mentions that some people, when they design a career for themselves, view the normal 9-5 job as a step in their education, teaching them skills they will need to become a free agent.

I've had my share of awful jobs. The worst was probably working in an electro-coating plant. It's hard to say. I was a motorized messenger in San Francisco and that was pretty bad. I nearly became an operator for a smelting plant and that would have been pretty horrible. But, for all of that, I have to admit that each one taught me a valuable lesson, a new habit, or a new skill that has helped me ever since. So, keep in mind that the career path is not a straight arrow any longer.

I keep reminding people that Sunoasis Jobs is filled with a great deal more resource than it first appears. On every regional page there is a link to an association or group that hosts free writing, journalism ads. Take advantage of the fact!

Ask a question about your career!

A T    C/ O A S I S

We have a story by Mark Mazer called, Guiding Star, that a few writers can relate to.

The featured poet this month is Karyna McGlynn from Seattle. Her two poems, "Just Nod, Diane," and "The Cambridge Cuckold," show an emerging talent.

Michael Lohr is a writer, university researcher and folklorist. He has published articles, short stories and poems in over 25 countries and in 20 languages. He presents an introduction to Shamanism, the root religion.

The Poetry Editor enlightens us about the coming of Spring!

There's always an assortment of surprises so look around and enjoy yourself.

M Y   V I R T U A L   S P A C E 

Of course, the hypothetical citizen wasn't plopped down in the middle of a city, on a bright afternoon from some previous age. He was not magically conjured from the bowels of a distant time when Americans were farmers and knew all their neighbors. No, he lived in a time of furious denial of all he believed, surrounded by the lingering anger of two types of people: Read on

M A R K E T S  A N D  L E A D S

Job Links for new leads!

New Magazine Launches:

HR INNOVATOR MAGAZINE
1010 Magazine
MARCH MAGAZINE
LAW FIRM INC.
ATM GLOBAL
GREAT CHEFS MAGAZINE
BALANCE
DIGITAL HOME magazine
ALAMEDA MAGAZINE
AUTOMATION WORLD
BUDDHADHARMA: The Practitioner's Quarterly
URBAN DIALECT
SPEAKEASY
HOMELAND SECURITY SOLUTIONS
TAMPA BAY ILLUSTRATED
TELEVISION WEEK MAGAZINE
NETWORKING TIMES
RealPhilly MAGAZINE
WAX POETICS
DESIGN NEWS
THE NEXT AMERICAN CITY
FREEDOM CHRONICLES

If you have any suggestions about markets you want guidelines for, just drop a line

C O M M U N I T Y

The Austin International Poetry Festival, the nation's largest non-juried poetry festival, will happen between April 10th and 13th. Register by March 15th for the event in which over 200 poets descend upon Austin, Texas... Live Music Capital of the World, Spoken Word Capital of the World..

20 April 2003: Digital News Management: Strategic Thinking for a Multi-platform World Location: Virginia, USA

WYOMING WRITERS, Inc., (WWI) will hold its 29th annual conference in Cody, Wyoming from June 6-8, 2003. The presenters and workshops provide writers and poets with learning opportunities and a chance to network with editors and other writers. Attendees can read their work in open mike sessions each evening and meet published Wyoming Writers, Inc. authors at the annual booksigning.

Shaw Guide for Writing Conferences in April.

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Over the past several months subscribers have asked if they can donate anything to keep the publication going. I've resisted going this route, but now that Amazon has set up its "Honor System," those interested can donate to the maintenance of Sunoasis 2003.

F Y I

Put an ad in Sunoasis 2003 and reach its 4,400 subscribers. Just $25 a month! Contact mailto:eide491@earthlink.net

Take advantage of 20 years of professional Information 
Technology experience. Research/writing/proofreading 
assignments wanted: 
> articles, columns, white papers, presentations, and 
marketing literature for 
- Host connectivity  
- Legacy-web Integration  
- Enterprise Application Integration 
- eBusiness  
- eCommerce  
- Synergy of business & IT strategy 
- articles and columns about space exploration and 
utilization 
>Qualifications and samples at 
http://www.jeffkrukin.com
Contact: Jeff Krukin at 
jkrukin@bellsouth.net

Master speech writer and trainer: Make your speeches inspire and motivate your audience. With years of training and experience in speech writing and delivery, I can help you develop the perfect speech for any occasion. Coaching for delivery is also available. call 306-546-5717 or email jhillyer@devry.com

Sunoasis--You're amazing! A mere five hours after I sent in the text for my classified ad I got a call for a writing project, and within two days, the project was mine. Thanks so much for your invaluable services! Debbie Lerman, freelance writer
http://www.sunoasis.com/classif.html

E T C/ E T C/ E T C

Editor/Publisher: David Eide
C/Oasis
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E-mail
My Virtual Space

Sunoasis 2003 is fully protected by copyright. Sunoasis 2003 can be distributed in any way deemed intelligent by the reader as long as it is distributed in full for non-commercial uses. Reprint rights belong to the authors. Contact them if you wish to use their material. Unauthorized use of any material is strictly forbidden.

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You can always reach me at eide491@earthlink.net Please do if you have any advice; anything you'd want to see put into Sunoasis 2003. If there is any problem with the delivery in your mailbox, let me know. I try to format it correctly but problems can arise.

Let's all meet again in March 2003!

David

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