Twitter, a collective

by Joan

At my true writing best, I am alone. Mind focused, hands on the keyboard, set off on my lone creative mission. And yet, I crave interaction with like-minded literary types. For me, this journey is more than a solitary endeavor. So I continue to seek out others, in person or online, to connect, to share, to commiserate, to celebrate. Sometimes I feel like I am part of the Borg, one drone in a collective we call 'writing community.' 

My collective encompasses my blog partners, author and other writer acquaintances, FaceBook friends, workshop participants and professors, to name a few. I like being part of this vast network. 

Dani Shapiro says "I am here, and you are there, and we are in this thing together."

I started scoping out Twitter about a year ago, but I’ve only recently begun connecting with people and following groups. My lone writing still comes first, but when it's time to catch up on the publishing world, I turn to Twitter as a first stop, craving my feed like a news junkie. And I find the compressed nature of the tweets actually saves me time. (How's that for justification!) 

On Twitter I see what books everyone is raving about, read reviews and essays I might not find on my own, learn about author readings and signings, get the scoop on what's going on with my favorite novelists and bloggers, and track treasures that museums and libraries are digging up from our literary and artistic past. Oh, and I stalk agents and publishing houses, too.

The list of whom I am following is still growing, but I thought I’d like to share a few I’ve found helpful and interesting.

Granta Magazine @GrantaMag

Ploughshares Literary Magazine @Pshares

The Paris Review @ParisReview

LA Review of Books @LAReviewofBooks

NY Review of Books @NYReviewofBooks

NY Times Books @NYTimesBooks

Kirkus Reviews @KirkusReviews

The British Library @BritishLibrary

The Bodleian Library (Oxford) @Bodleianlibs

Guardian Books @GuardianBooks

News and reviews from the other side of the pond

Powell’s Books @Powells

Politics & Prose  @Politics_Prose

Washington, D.C. independent book store

NPR Books @NPRBooks

Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly 

Publisher's Lunch @PublishersLunch

Lit Chat @LitChat

An all book chat Twitter feed from author Carolyn Burns Bass

Goodreads @Goodreads

Galley Cat @GalleyCat

Book publishing news and tidbits

Writer Unboxed @WriterUnboxed

Wisdom about the craft and business of writing

The Rumpus  @The_Rumpus

Source for book reviews, interviews, and essays

And us, of course (those of us who tweet)!

What Women Write @WhatWomenWrite
Joan @JoanMoraWrites
Julie @JulieKibler
Kim @ KBullockAuthor
Pamela @PamelaTHammonds
Susan @SusanPoulos1

Who's in your collective?