Word Nerd Army is about words in all their forms. Sometimes the words that are shared in song - from opera to rap - can hit home the hardest. Love to my Twitter friend http://twitter.com/kiddrussell for making it to MTV but more so for making this song in the first place. Hope it makes a difference.
Rebecca.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Monday, 9 November 2009
We Need a Literary Sensation
Books are sexy
Getting people excited about books is clearly something writers care about very much. At the weekend I blogged about the need for charismatic curatorial types, the literary equivalent of Jay Joplin, to do for literature what Sensation and White Cube did for art in the 90s. It provoked one of the liveliest debates I’ve had in a while. And when I asked how we get the public interested in literature – what our “Sensation” moment would look like – during Sunday night’s #writechat, the @replies lit up like the Vegas Strip.
As writers, we care. The problem is, many of the public don’t. so what’s the answer?
I should probably explain, as I realise that not everyone was around in the balmy days of the 1990s. Back in the mid 1990s a group of artists, mainly out of Goldsmiths & Central St Martin’s (yes, the St Martin’s College of the immortal Pulp lyric), started doing stuff that was new and cool. They became known as the Young British Artists (YBAs). Nowadays we think of them as rather staid and fogeyish, and of what they do as rather yeah yeah yeah, but it’s hard to overstate just how damn cool it was before some idiot went and used the phrase Cool Britannia.
And it was Jay Joplin, and his White Cube Gallery, that brought Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Rachel Whiteread, Gavin Turk and their like to the world. And when Damien cut a cow in two, and Tracey forgot to make her bed, and a whole bunch of them got together to produce an exhibition called Sensation that included a portrait of Mira Hindley painted with children’s handprints, there wasn’t a bus stop or a shopping queues or a, well, they didn’t have watercoolers really back the, but you get the idea, where people weren’t asking each other “yes, but is it art?”
People didn’t just care about this painting or that sculpture – they cared about art.
So how do we get people talking like that about books? How do we get them caring not about this or that book – there’ll always be a book du jour, and that’s great, but it’s not sustainable, it’s not going to secure the future – but about books. Full stop?
The answers to the question have proven somewhat more elusive than the desire to keep asking it and for there to BE an answer. Catch them young, work with libraries, get celebrities to say books are cool. All of them valuable points. But what we really need is our own Sensation. We need an “event”.
And for that we need two things. We need a group of writers doing something that hasn’t been done before. We need our very own Jay Joplin to bring them to the world’s attention in one place at one time. And maybe we need a third thing, for the tabloid press to be offended.
I want to go on a little diversion before ending with a clarion call to action. It’s not – pardon the heresy, books we need to get people excited about, lovely, wonderful objects though they may be. It’s what books contain – stories and ideas and, to be kitsch and sentimental for a moment – the alchemy of the communal soul. Books on their own are just pieces of paper. Sentimentalism and nostalgia for them are understandable, but they’re not what I’m about when I say I want people to be excited about literature. Just like the stockists are wrong to want people to be excited about paintings rather than “art”.
What we need is for people to care about ideas, about stories, about communicating our innermost fears and hopes; articulating our questions and seeking answers; having our insecurities reflected back with reassurance, and our securities questioned; being brought together by narrative. It is because they do all these things that books matter – and not vice versa.
So what will our event look like? I’ve had some great suggestions over the past couple of days. A second Blur v Oasis, trading heavyweights; a second Beat Poets tour; and, of course, our own Sensation. I don’t know what form it will take. But it will be an Event. And I won’t stop asking the question till I’ve found the answer – and tried and failed a few times along the way.
So, who wants to explore with me?
(Dan Holloway is a founder member of Year Zero Writers, a collective devoted to creating a direct relationship between readers and writers, and described by Nylon Mag as “cool”. The Year Zero website has new original fiction and articles about literature every day. Dan is also organiser of the Free-e-day festival. He is an outspoken self-publisher and futurologist of publishing, and an advocate of live performance prose. His current novel, Songs from the Other Side of the Wall, about a girl growing up in Hungary after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, is free to download in all e-formats, and £8 as paperback.
Getting people excited about books is clearly something writers care about very much. At the weekend I blogged about the need for charismatic curatorial types, the literary equivalent of Jay Joplin, to do for literature what Sensation and White Cube did for art in the 90s. It provoked one of the liveliest debates I’ve had in a while. And when I asked how we get the public interested in literature – what our “Sensation” moment would look like – during Sunday night’s #writechat, the @replies lit up like the Vegas Strip.
As writers, we care. The problem is, many of the public don’t. so what’s the answer?
I should probably explain, as I realise that not everyone was around in the balmy days of the 1990s. Back in the mid 1990s a group of artists, mainly out of Goldsmiths & Central St Martin’s (yes, the St Martin’s College of the immortal Pulp lyric), started doing stuff that was new and cool. They became known as the Young British Artists (YBAs). Nowadays we think of them as rather staid and fogeyish, and of what they do as rather yeah yeah yeah, but it’s hard to overstate just how damn cool it was before some idiot went and used the phrase Cool Britannia.
And it was Jay Joplin, and his White Cube Gallery, that brought Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Rachel Whiteread, Gavin Turk and their like to the world. And when Damien cut a cow in two, and Tracey forgot to make her bed, and a whole bunch of them got together to produce an exhibition called Sensation that included a portrait of Mira Hindley painted with children’s handprints, there wasn’t a bus stop or a shopping queues or a, well, they didn’t have watercoolers really back the, but you get the idea, where people weren’t asking each other “yes, but is it art?”
People didn’t just care about this painting or that sculpture – they cared about art.
So how do we get people talking like that about books? How do we get them caring not about this or that book – there’ll always be a book du jour, and that’s great, but it’s not sustainable, it’s not going to secure the future – but about books. Full stop?
The answers to the question have proven somewhat more elusive than the desire to keep asking it and for there to BE an answer. Catch them young, work with libraries, get celebrities to say books are cool. All of them valuable points. But what we really need is our own Sensation. We need an “event”.
And for that we need two things. We need a group of writers doing something that hasn’t been done before. We need our very own Jay Joplin to bring them to the world’s attention in one place at one time. And maybe we need a third thing, for the tabloid press to be offended.
I want to go on a little diversion before ending with a clarion call to action. It’s not – pardon the heresy, books we need to get people excited about, lovely, wonderful objects though they may be. It’s what books contain – stories and ideas and, to be kitsch and sentimental for a moment – the alchemy of the communal soul. Books on their own are just pieces of paper. Sentimentalism and nostalgia for them are understandable, but they’re not what I’m about when I say I want people to be excited about literature. Just like the stockists are wrong to want people to be excited about paintings rather than “art”.
What we need is for people to care about ideas, about stories, about communicating our innermost fears and hopes; articulating our questions and seeking answers; having our insecurities reflected back with reassurance, and our securities questioned; being brought together by narrative. It is because they do all these things that books matter – and not vice versa.
So what will our event look like? I’ve had some great suggestions over the past couple of days. A second Blur v Oasis, trading heavyweights; a second Beat Poets tour; and, of course, our own Sensation. I don’t know what form it will take. But it will be an Event. And I won’t stop asking the question till I’ve found the answer – and tried and failed a few times along the way.
So, who wants to explore with me?
(Dan Holloway is a founder member of Year Zero Writers, a collective devoted to creating a direct relationship between readers and writers, and described by Nylon Mag as “cool”. The Year Zero website has new original fiction and articles about literature every day. Dan is also organiser of the Free-e-day festival. He is an outspoken self-publisher and futurologist of publishing, and an advocate of live performance prose. His current novel, Songs from the Other Side of the Wall, about a girl growing up in Hungary after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, is free to download in all e-formats, and £8 as paperback.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Patience....
Is a virtue we must cultivate daily. As writers this is a critical piece of wisdom to store in the grey matter. In this day and age it seems we are always waiting for something - the economy to improve, companies to start hiring, test results, or that e-mail from an agent or publisher.
It's easy to get trapped in the cycle of just waiting in the name of patience. I think thats why many of us don't have patience, we get confused with waiting and patience. Why do I bring this up to the Word Nerd Army? We are here to change the sentiment of books, make an impact on the world through the use of literature and to see our fellow mates published one day.
All of these things take time and therefore, patience but don't get discouraged my fellow writers for Rome was not built in a day. I believe if we continue fighting on, writing, making ourselves heard we will see a change. How long will it be before we see this change? I can't answer that but each step we take moves us closer to that day when we see the benefits of our work.
If some one learns to read or a child gets a book for a holiday that is a sign of our work here. People talking about authors and books are just the ripples in the waters of society that started when we threw the first rock of information.
Patience is what we need to remember and hold on to as we move forward in this uncertain world and even in our private lives. Patience is a virtue, true, but it is also our friend. Don't wait on patience, patience gives you the access to follow through on other projects.
It's easy to get trapped in the cycle of just waiting in the name of patience. I think thats why many of us don't have patience, we get confused with waiting and patience. Why do I bring this up to the Word Nerd Army? We are here to change the sentiment of books, make an impact on the world through the use of literature and to see our fellow mates published one day.
All of these things take time and therefore, patience but don't get discouraged my fellow writers for Rome was not built in a day. I believe if we continue fighting on, writing, making ourselves heard we will see a change. How long will it be before we see this change? I can't answer that but each step we take moves us closer to that day when we see the benefits of our work.
If some one learns to read or a child gets a book for a holiday that is a sign of our work here. People talking about authors and books are just the ripples in the waters of society that started when we threw the first rock of information.
Patience is what we need to remember and hold on to as we move forward in this uncertain world and even in our private lives. Patience is a virtue, true, but it is also our friend. Don't wait on patience, patience gives you the access to follow through on other projects.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
The Meat Fisted Typing Robot
(picture courtesty of www.sho.com)
In my head I'm Hank effing Moody. In my head, there's still a need for alpha-writers meat-fisting their coarse words on a typewriter held together with self-belief and amateur misogyny, surrounded by the effluvia of insomnia-ridden haunted writers: a soft-pack of 20 cigarettes, a half-snarfed bottle of bourbon (the 20 year old good stuff) and some Warren Zevon blaring out of the stereo. Oh, and I'm dressed in black. Maybe I'm wearing shades. Maybe the detritus of last night's party is still asleep at my feet. Maybe I'm deluded.
In reality, I'm sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by clippings of interesting articles I'll probably not come back to, my vanity shelf (this is a line of CDs, newspapers, magazines, books and a record that I've been involved with). I've got a cafetiere next to me, cos you know, I got to be up in the morning to go to my job as a regular Office Joe. I'm wearing slippers and tracksuit bottoms. And maybe Radio 4's on, but more than likely, it's silent because too much distraction can throw me off my game, I've got 1000 words to write and it's nearly midnight and if I go to bed in the next ten minutes, I can get 7 hours and 30 minutes of sleep- that is, if I fall asleep instantly. The more likely situation is tossing and turning and disturbing my wife while I try to figure out why my character Nishant isn't working in my book, what to do with Larry who I introduced early on and never came back to even though he's got great lines, and when I'm going to find the time between writing and editing and working and relating to my wife and cooking and paying the electricity bill and watching my two new Lovefilm DVDs to find a blooming agent.
It's tough out here for a writer. It really is, and I've been lucky to have performed across the world and had my stuff published in sh*t-hot magazines but the above scene is pretty much my everyday life. I'm consumed.
But it's not all bad- no way, no how because this book I'm writing at the moment is something I would want to read in a heartbeat. And that is the ultimate winner, the goal the prize. Before the compromise of selling books, that initial rush and compulsion to sit down and put pen to paper is more often than not because, regardless of feeling you got a story to tell, it's more... you want to read what you have to say. You're the first customer for anything you do. If you're writing something and you know you wouldn't buy it if you needed to pick up a new book to read from your local independent bookshop, then you've lost, people. You've lost that compulsion, that hunger and necessity and drive and power and drive to write the best you can write. I write because I want to read what I got to say. Sounds selfish when you put it like that, but it's the truth. You're the first customer of anything you write; you got to sell it to yourself first.
And what I'm writing now? I love it. I think it's ace and I am loving it when I read it back. Sure it needs tightening and there are some saggy bits but the idea, the essence of it, is exactly what I want to read. In a second. I've won. And for that reason alone, tonight I'll go home, put on my writing slippers, brew two cups worth of decent hazelnut coffee in my cafetiere, fire up the laptop and pound the keyboards with my meat fists... because some things do never change.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
How Far Is Your Reach?
Hello Word Nerd Army! My name is Brian and like you I am a fan of the written word. It is amazing to see how far many of us have come in such a short time. This blog is an accomplishment of the forward progress made by Rebecca during her quest to publication. My journey to publication started very close to the same time Rebecca's did and, thankfully, the Internet roads crossed allowing us to meet.
I found it very ironic today when I saw a question posted by Rebecca on LinkedIn. In short the question was regarding new writers trying to break in to publishing during such a tough economic time. I believe this fits in very well with my article today. Please allow me to explain. My blog, the New Author, was created to allow me to connect with other writers in an effort to learn, motivate, and share with each other. I believe writing is a lonely endeavor but we need each other to tackle the overwhelming amount of information surrounding our passion. The blog has grown and I'm very thankful for that but it has also opened doors to meeting new friends and in my case a partner. In March of this year I partnered with a fellow writer to start Premium Promotional Services. Our main goal is to help authors who are starting out and struggling to be seen gain the exposure they deserve. Why did we decide this? It is becoming the status quo for publishing companies to place all the marketing and promotional work on the authors. Many authors have no idea how to go about promoting their books. As hard as we work to become published and attract the attention of agents/publishing companies this is truly the real problem we face. Why? Agents and publishers want clients and books they KNOW will sale. They do not want to gamble on a hunch or idea.
What do we do since we are not Stephen King or J.K. Rowling? We use all available tools to the max. The Internet has provided us with a great opportunity to establish our name to a broad audience. When used properly it can garner a leg up when approaching agents and publishers about our book(s). The goal is simple, reach as many people as you can. Agents and publishers see every follower, reader, subscriber as a potential book purchase.
I think it is safe to say that very publishing company place their client's books on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble (among others). This is because a massive number of books are being purchased online so this tells me that the Internet is truly the place to focus our efforts as we establish our name in the business. Do you think "The Shack" would have sold as many as it did without the Internet?
The bottom line here is this, it is hard to break in to the publishing business but that may not be because you are not a great writer. It may be that they feel you don't have enough name recognition and therefore your great book may not sale the numbers they need. Don't get discouraged, keep writing but at the same time think of ways to get your name out there. Never stop building your platform.
I do have an announcement to make before I wrap up. As I mentioned above, my promotional business was started to help authors. Recently I helped an author from England and I can honestly say, he wrote a great book. In talking to him about his book he mentioned how hard it was to gain exposure for his book here in the States and wondered if I could help with that. About a month ago his publishing company contacted me and asked if we could help them spread the word about their books. I am very happy and excited to announce that we have opened a second book store, which is sponsored by Pneuma Springs Publishing, called 'The London Connection.' This is just another step in shining a light on the authors who are struggling to be seen. By doing this we can extend the reach of these authors to a whole new audience.
In closing I go back to Rebecca's question, "what can we do to improve our chances?" Publishing companies will continue to be a bit harsh until the market improves but mid-sized publishers are actively searching and so are small publishers. The most important thing we can do (aside from writing a great novel) is to build an audience and keep building it. Reach out to every corner of the planet. Come up with new ideas to keep your name current. We know the hard work has been placed on our shoulders but we can carry this burden. We are the Word Nerd Army; failure to be seen and heard is not an option.
I found it very ironic today when I saw a question posted by Rebecca on LinkedIn. In short the question was regarding new writers trying to break in to publishing during such a tough economic time. I believe this fits in very well with my article today. Please allow me to explain. My blog, the New Author, was created to allow me to connect with other writers in an effort to learn, motivate, and share with each other. I believe writing is a lonely endeavor but we need each other to tackle the overwhelming amount of information surrounding our passion. The blog has grown and I'm very thankful for that but it has also opened doors to meeting new friends and in my case a partner. In March of this year I partnered with a fellow writer to start Premium Promotional Services. Our main goal is to help authors who are starting out and struggling to be seen gain the exposure they deserve. Why did we decide this? It is becoming the status quo for publishing companies to place all the marketing and promotional work on the authors. Many authors have no idea how to go about promoting their books. As hard as we work to become published and attract the attention of agents/publishing companies this is truly the real problem we face. Why? Agents and publishers want clients and books they KNOW will sale. They do not want to gamble on a hunch or idea.
What do we do since we are not Stephen King or J.K. Rowling? We use all available tools to the max. The Internet has provided us with a great opportunity to establish our name to a broad audience. When used properly it can garner a leg up when approaching agents and publishers about our book(s). The goal is simple, reach as many people as you can. Agents and publishers see every follower, reader, subscriber as a potential book purchase.
I think it is safe to say that very publishing company place their client's books on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble (among others). This is because a massive number of books are being purchased online so this tells me that the Internet is truly the place to focus our efforts as we establish our name in the business. Do you think "The Shack" would have sold as many as it did without the Internet?
The bottom line here is this, it is hard to break in to the publishing business but that may not be because you are not a great writer. It may be that they feel you don't have enough name recognition and therefore your great book may not sale the numbers they need. Don't get discouraged, keep writing but at the same time think of ways to get your name out there. Never stop building your platform.
I do have an announcement to make before I wrap up. As I mentioned above, my promotional business was started to help authors. Recently I helped an author from England and I can honestly say, he wrote a great book. In talking to him about his book he mentioned how hard it was to gain exposure for his book here in the States and wondered if I could help with that. About a month ago his publishing company contacted me and asked if we could help them spread the word about their books. I am very happy and excited to announce that we have opened a second book store, which is sponsored by Pneuma Springs Publishing, called 'The London Connection.' This is just another step in shining a light on the authors who are struggling to be seen. By doing this we can extend the reach of these authors to a whole new audience.
In closing I go back to Rebecca's question, "what can we do to improve our chances?" Publishing companies will continue to be a bit harsh until the market improves but mid-sized publishers are actively searching and so are small publishers. The most important thing we can do (aside from writing a great novel) is to build an audience and keep building it. Reach out to every corner of the planet. Come up with new ideas to keep your name current. We know the hard work has been placed on our shoulders but we can carry this burden. We are the Word Nerd Army; failure to be seen and heard is not an option.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Just when you thought the internet was full of advice...
Hello. I'm Nikesh and I'm a word nerd. I've been addicted to words for nearly thirty years now. I can't say exactly when it started or what it is about words that makes me feel so alive but I know that this addiction is ruling my life.
I'm Nikesh and I'm a word nerd.
I write. I read. I consume pretty much all the time. If I'm not online, I'm listening to podcasts or music or reading or watching quality television. I'm never switched off from pop art. I write all the time. I have three levels of writing, reflected by the three sizes of notebook I have with me at all times. The small one is where I collect fragments of ideas, like if I'm at a party and I'm talking to someone whose t-shirt reads 'You look like my next girlfriend' and that's an important detail to collect for a future story creep, I note it down. I have a medium sized notebook for lyrics. This is good for jotting down poems and lyrics for songs, for being able to make it look manageable and easier to balance on your knee if you're on planes, trains or automobiles. Then there's the A4 sized notebook which comes in handy in cafes and my mind wanders and I want to write my book or work on a short story or jot down sketch ideas. I go through each of these 3 a quarter. Check out my carbon footprint.
I could introduce myself properly and boast about the gigs I've done in India or New York or my award-winning film or the time I was on BBC2 busking in the rain on Brick Lane but that's what my website's for. This blog is to connect with you because you're more likely than not, in the same position as me.
I love words.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I want to write for a living.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I have written a book.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I'm finding it hard to get it published.... AGREE/DISAGREE
Even if you agree with one of those, you're in the right place. If you agree with all of them, then... errr... maybe you're actually me and I'm in some sort of temporal timeloop reading my own blog about my own experiences.
So, I could offer you advice and I have lots of positive experiences to share, both working in publishing for an organisation and as a writer but here are my handy top five tips for developing a profile, because, to be honest, we're all aspiring writers and we need to stand out. We may be fellow word nerds, but we're also competition and sadly, it's not just about the words at the beginning. That's not to say we're in competition. We're not, but you get what I'm saying.
1) Enter competitions and submit for magazines. People read these and look for writers there. Send off your stories. Find the print magazines and the good respected online magazines and submit to them a lot.
2) Write a blog. My blog is a collection of stories of my performing and writing and publishing, but also a collection of funny anecdotes because I want to write funny stuff and it's like a diary of bits to use, an aide memoire of characters, turns of phrase and events.
3) Read at events. Most independent bookshops have open mics and reading opportunities, there are an abundance of short story nights across the country. Go and read at them. Develop a reading voice and a stage personality and perform. Be more than the page, but with your words.
4) Read everyday.
5) Write everyday.
Why are you reading this blog? You know all this stuff already. Everyone's got an opinion and who cares about yours Keshla, you're stillunpublished? Yes. This is very abundantly true. But sometimes you need affirmation that you're heading in the write direction [sic].
Right, now, plug time: There's an awesome literary venue in Farringdon, London called Free Word Centre. On 11th December, I'm putting on a microfiction night there. The theme is 'THAT TIME OF YEAR.' The story should be 3 minutes/500 words. To take part, email me your story here and I'll choose the ten best to battle it out at Wham! Bam! Story! Slam!
Also, if you're on Facebook, sign up to the Book Club Boutique group. They're awesome. I'm extended fam. Salena Godden is mega-amazing and submit work to her to perform because this night is off the chain.
Write, I'm off.
Yours wordily,
Nikesh
I'm Nikesh and I'm a word nerd.
I write. I read. I consume pretty much all the time. If I'm not online, I'm listening to podcasts or music or reading or watching quality television. I'm never switched off from pop art. I write all the time. I have three levels of writing, reflected by the three sizes of notebook I have with me at all times. The small one is where I collect fragments of ideas, like if I'm at a party and I'm talking to someone whose t-shirt reads 'You look like my next girlfriend' and that's an important detail to collect for a future story creep, I note it down. I have a medium sized notebook for lyrics. This is good for jotting down poems and lyrics for songs, for being able to make it look manageable and easier to balance on your knee if you're on planes, trains or automobiles. Then there's the A4 sized notebook which comes in handy in cafes and my mind wanders and I want to write my book or work on a short story or jot down sketch ideas. I go through each of these 3 a quarter. Check out my carbon footprint.
I could introduce myself properly and boast about the gigs I've done in India or New York or my award-winning film or the time I was on BBC2 busking in the rain on Brick Lane but that's what my website's for. This blog is to connect with you because you're more likely than not, in the same position as me.
I love words.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I want to write for a living.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I have written a book.... AGREE/DISAGREE
I'm finding it hard to get it published.... AGREE/DISAGREE
Even if you agree with one of those, you're in the right place. If you agree with all of them, then... errr... maybe you're actually me and I'm in some sort of temporal timeloop reading my own blog about my own experiences.
So, I could offer you advice and I have lots of positive experiences to share, both working in publishing for an organisation and as a writer but here are my handy top five tips for developing a profile, because, to be honest, we're all aspiring writers and we need to stand out. We may be fellow word nerds, but we're also competition and sadly, it's not just about the words at the beginning. That's not to say we're in competition. We're not, but you get what I'm saying.
1) Enter competitions and submit for magazines. People read these and look for writers there. Send off your stories. Find the print magazines and the good respected online magazines and submit to them a lot.
2) Write a blog. My blog is a collection of stories of my performing and writing and publishing, but also a collection of funny anecdotes because I want to write funny stuff and it's like a diary of bits to use, an aide memoire of characters, turns of phrase and events.
3) Read at events. Most independent bookshops have open mics and reading opportunities, there are an abundance of short story nights across the country. Go and read at them. Develop a reading voice and a stage personality and perform. Be more than the page, but with your words.
4) Read everyday.
5) Write everyday.
Why are you reading this blog? You know all this stuff already. Everyone's got an opinion and who cares about yours Keshla, you're stillunpublished? Yes. This is very abundantly true. But sometimes you need affirmation that you're heading in the write direction [sic].
Right, now, plug time: There's an awesome literary venue in Farringdon, London called Free Word Centre. On 11th December, I'm putting on a microfiction night there. The theme is 'THAT TIME OF YEAR.' The story should be 3 minutes/500 words. To take part, email me your story here and I'll choose the ten best to battle it out at Wham! Bam! Story! Slam!
Also, if you're on Facebook, sign up to the Book Club Boutique group. They're awesome. I'm extended fam. Salena Godden is mega-amazing and submit work to her to perform because this night is off the chain.
Write, I'm off.
Yours wordily,
Nikesh
Monday, 12 October 2009
New Knights!
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The new knights were announced in the sidebar 'knights' section at the start of the month but I thought I'd put up a little post for them here too.
Our new knights are: Nikesh Shukla and Brian Knight (yes, he was already a Knight by name but now he also has the title!)
They've been given relatively free rein to do what they will with their month of power. Curious to see what they get up to - I will report back!
If you stumble across them on twitter - http://twitter.com/nikeshshukla and http://twitter.com/thenewauthor - don't forget to call them 'Sir' until 5th Nov :) Oooh! 5th Nov - Guy Fawkes Night - wonder who will be the next Knight of the Month. All nominations go into the comments section below.
By the way, when you're tweeting up the Word Nerd Army or our issues, there's a nice short URL you can use - http://tiny.cc/wna - thanks for all your enthusiasm and ideas. You can also now find the Word Nerd Army group on LinkedIn! Remember to look it up next time you're there.
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