Writing without distractions

I don't know about you, but whenever I write I'm never quite able to switch off that tiny voice at the back of my mind reminding me of the countless other (often trivial) things I could be doing instead. And so I end up, taking 'breaks' during which I chat, compulsively check my eMails, surf Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., which cuts into my productivity. Don't get me wrong, I adore writing, but the Internet is a fine and highly addictive invention even the best of us can't resist. Luckily, my search for ways to keep me from switching on my airport and checking Hotmail yet again has helped me find great software to aid a writer in resisting the near constant stream of virtual distraction. The software mentioned below is simple with the sole intention of providing a black screen so you can get on with your writing, and nothing else.

OMMwriter is a MAC program that simply takes over the entire monitor and furnishes a minimalistic, zen-like environment. This one's really helped me focus for several weeks now.

Dark Room is the Windows equivalent, running on Win 2000 through Vista. With its simple black screen, it's less chic than OMMwriter, but it does a great job at being about just you and your text.

Finally, there's RubyRoom with a few more additions. All three software programs come with word counters, but in RubyRoom the user can't switch it off, so if that feature's yet another distraction, then you're probably better off using one of the other options. You should also have basic Linux knowledge before diving into this one.

If you have any suggestions, please free to share your recommendations.

To your publishing success!

Note: I consciously decided not to mention any download links. The software mentioned above is available for free on the Internet. Before downloading .exe or .zip files always make sure your anti-virus software is up to date. Please scan the files before you install them. If in doubt, always back up any important files before installing anything downloaded from the Internet.

Review sites worth considering

Most authors, whether self- or traditionally published, will have to spread the word about their book at the beginning of their career. Searching the internet for review sites can take a long time. To save you time, I've put together a list with a few sites that should get you started and keep you busy for a few days. You won't be able to get your book featured in each and every one of those, but a few good reviews should spark some major interest in what you have to sell.

General interest:

• About.com - Literature: Contemporary. Several reviews of new books each week.
• The Agony Column. Reviews and commentary.
• American Book Review. "Dedicated to reviewing books from independent, small, and university presses." Limited online availability -- and in the dreaded pdf format.
• Anglican Media Sydney. General interest fiction.
• Anthony Campbell's Book Reviews. Over 400 reviews, good selection.
• Armchair Interviews. Thousands of reviews.
• The Bactra Review. Over 100 reviews. Serious, eclectic.
• The Barcelona Review. Good, small archive, interesting selection
• Barnes & Noble Review. "Aims to bring serious readers smart and useful appraisals of current books, music, and films (on DVD), as well as reconsiderations of important past works."
• berniE-zine. Eclectic, small, fairly literary.
• Between the Pages. Small, popular titles. Also other content.
• Bibliofemme. Good, fairly extensive general site.
• BiblioReview.com. "A gateway to book reviews and author interviews". Impressive collection of links to reviews.
• Black Star Review. "Books - Politics - Popular Culture".
• Blether. Thousands of reviews of popular titles, very mixed bag.
• Boldtype. "An email-based review, presenting each month a short list of books worth reading."
• The Book Barn. E-mail book discussion list with extensive review archive.
• The Book Brothel. Over 100 reviews, mainly popular fiction.
• BookLoons. "Book reviews across genres". About 1200 reviews, popular focus
• bookmunch. Small, interesting selection, nicely done. Also some author interviews.
• BookPleasures.com. "Reviews, interviews, and more ...", especially strong on travel-related writing
• Book Reviews by Scott London. Non-fiction, especially media and politics.
• Book Reviews by Kristen Voskuil. General interest.
• Bookslut. Monthly. Includes author interviews and other features.
• Brothers Judd. Good, large selection of reviews (with links !), now relatively easy to use.
• California Literary Review. Reviews, some additional material.
• Cambridge Book Review. Limited number of reviews.
• Crescent Blues. Mainly genre fiction.
• The Critical Flame. "A Journal of Literature and Culture". Bi-monthly.
• Curled Up With a Good Book. "Book reviews of literary and mainstream fiction, fantasy, science fiction and nonfiction".
• The Danforth Review. Limited number of reviews.
• Danny Yee's Book Reviews. An eclectic list, largely non-fiction. Over 1100 reviews.
• Emerging Writers Forum. Decent selection.
• ex libris reviews. Small collection.
• Flak Magazine. Limited number of reviews, but good selection, nicely presented.
• Fresh Fiction. Genre focus.
• Front Street Reviews. Popular focus.
• goodreports.net. Canadian, but also general interest coverage.
• Green Man Review. Good, fairly large selection.
• Harriet Klausner's Book Reviews. Something (almost always very good) to say about what seems like every new book published.
• Heartland Reviews. "Scientifically-based book reviews from the heart." Unwieldy.
• IMHO. In My Hysterical Opinion. Decent selection of reviews.
• Internet Book List. "Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive and easily accessible database of books". Sci-fi top heavy, and very uneven coverage
• Internet Review of Books. "Reviewing books in the fields of science, social science, history, art, music, and current affairs with attitude and passion: An Intelligent Guide for Intelligent People."
• Jacket. Ca. 200 reviews, mainly poetry.
• January Magazine. "Book reviews & author interviews".
• John's Book Pages. Over 450 reviews. Serious, literary.
• Just Book Reviews. "It is composed of a small nucleus of academics and intellectuals who have expert knowledge of specific areas"
• Large Print Reviews. Fairly extensive selection of reviews of books available in large print editions.
• Midwest Book Review. Good, very broad coverage and large archive, but brief reviews, very unwieldy presentation (and only semi-useful search capability).
• Montreal Review of Books. Bi-annual, limited number of reviews.
• Mostly Fiction. Good, extensive coverage -- and with links !
• MyShelf.com. Decent selection.
• NewPages. Good collection, small press focus.
• The New York Journal of Books. Daily reviews.
• Open Letters Monthly. "An arts and literature review". Good essay-reviews.
• The Oxonian Review of Books. "Features reviews of recently published books in literature, politics, science, and the arts". Relatively few reviews.
• Palatinate Online. British, limited number of reviews.
• Paperback Frenzy. "We are just a couple of friends who like to read books and share them with others.".
• Parson's Review. "Independent fiction and nonfiction book reviews by pastor and freelance writer". Small.
• PopMatters. Interesting selection, decent archive.
• The Quarterly Conversation. Good reviews and longer literary essays.
• RALPH. The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities. Unwieldy, but interesting coverage.
• Readysteadybook.com. "Devoted to reviewing the very best books in literary fiction, poetry, history and philosophy." Good coverage of new titles.
• RebeccasReads. Somewhat messy site, but good, broad coverage.
• ReviewsOfBooks.com. Provides links to newspaper reviews of extensive number of recently released books. (Note that links open in annoying small, separate pages).
• The Second Circle. "A guide to contemporary literature". Interesting selection, but very small.
• Simon McLeish. Over 1100 reviews. Fiction (particularly science- and crime-fiction) and non-fiction (particularly science, history, music and literature).
• spike. Over 200 reviews, literary focus.
• Steph's Book Reviews. Fairly extensive, current.
• What I've been Reading. "Comments on books from Bob Corbett". Small, but good selection of literary titles.

Mysteries:

• Crime Time. British, focus on crime/mystery.
• Mystery Reader. A good site for reviews about mystery and suspense books, and thrillers.
• New Mystery Reader Magazine. Decent mystery coverage.
• ReviewingTheEvidence.com. "Thousands of reviews of mysteries and thrillers of all categories".
• Tangled Web. Ca. 1000 reviews. Annoying frames, but good coverage.

Poetry:

• The "Constant Critic". "tri-weekly poetry reviews".
• Contemporary Poetry Review. "Resuscitating poetry criticism". Only ca. 100 revs.
• Poetic Voices. Fairly small, decent coverage.
• Verse magazine's webspace. Blog format less than ideal, but good coverage.

Romance and women's fiction (including paranormal lit):

• The Romance Reader. Good coverage of romance books. Over 5000 reviews.
• A Romance Review. "Where Love Rules and Romance Rocks!!!!!!" Over 4000 reviews.

Science fiction and fantasy:

• The Alien Online. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror focus.
• Fantasybookspot. Fantasy focus. About 200 reviews, as well as other content.
• Science Fiction Weekly. Good science fiction coverage
• sffworld.com. Good coverage of science fiction and fantasy.
• SFReader.com. Reviews of science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels.
• Susan Stepney. Decent selection.

Please do your research and read the fine print before submitting to any of these sites as I can't guarantee they're all free. To your publishing success!