Writers’ Roundup: June 4

As much as I love you all, it was nice to get away from the blog and Twitter and the noise of the Internet during my trip to Amsterdam. But now I’m back, knee-deep in my Google Reader and Twitter links to bring you my favorites.

• Chris Brogan says Your Blog is Not Your Job. Something to keep in mind when you (and by you, I mean me) spend too much time blogging.

• The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how self-publishing is changing the game for authors.

• Briefcase to Backpack offers tips on how to make traveling look good on your resume, including understanding how your travels contribute to who you are.

• How to throw an awesome book launch. Practical advice (my favorite kind) from Editorial Ass.

• A Book Blogger’s View Inside NYC’s Publishing Houses, courtesy of Maw Books.

• The First Draft brings us six movies to ignite our wanderlust. Anybody seen all six?

• Marianne Elliott, a fellow travel memoir writer, explains why she’s rewriting her book in the present tense. I’ve been considering this lately, too.

This weekend I’m running my favorite 5K race, the Freihofer’s Race for Women in Albany, N.Y. (which I wrote about last year). Should be a fun one.

Writers’ Roundup: March 26

If you’re new here, Writers’ Roundup is a weekly Friday feature with links to blog posts, news stories, etc. about writing, travel, journalism and anything else I find useful and entertaining. It’s the best of my Google Reader and Twitter links!

What have I found this week?

• On the evolving role of the travel writer: “It is not enough anymore simply to describe a landscape; we must root out its meanings.” At World Hum. (Via Write to Travel.)

• Follow the Reader has a cool interview with a social media consultant on Building Reader Communities.

• Will endorsements really help sell your book? Chip MacGregor gives tips on which endorsements to go after and which to forget.

• Writer Abroad says what needs to be said: You’ve gotta make your own luck.

• A great piece on the future newsroom: lean, open and social-media savvy. From Mashable.

• Travel bloggers: TBEX, or Travel Blog Exchange, is holding its annual weekend event July 26-27 in New York City. Looks like some cool panels and guests — might be worth attending.

• At Guide to Literary Agents, author James Dashner chimes in with 7 Things I’ve Learned So Far — one of the best so far in the series. Networking is key to getting breaks in publishing, he says. And, I’d say, in life.

• How long will it take to land an agent? Get your first book contract? See your first check? Literary agent Rachelle Gardner has the answers.

• Remember Reading Rainbow? It’s back… Once again, GalleyCat has the goods.

• At Getting Past the Gatekeeper, an anonymous literary agent has good ideas about strategic querying.

I’m in D.C. for a few weeks, scouting jobs and places to live. Hoping to make the move permanent soon! Will keep you posted.