Monday, September 19, 2011

Writing Hack: Use an E-Reader to Organize your "To-Read"

I wish I wish I wish I could remember who to credit with this ingenious idea. If I find them, I will of course link back. (And if it's you, please holler!)

I was reading around the net, perhaps an agent blog, perhaps Absolute Write, and came across the most wonderful suggestion for managing your "to-read" list. One of the wonderful things about e-books is that they often have that nice, twenty-page or so sample you can download for free.

When you get a book recommendation, rather than write it down, go ahead and nab the sample. You can put it on a to-read "shelf" (nook) or collection (Kindle, Sony). Then, when you have some time on your hands and money to burn, peruse that collection, and purchase the books you want.

I've been doing this on my Sony ever since I discovered this advice. For me it's even a little more cumbersome than it would be on a nook or Kindle, as I have to download the samples from the web and put them on my reader via USB. Yet still, I find it completely worth the effort. I get recs every single day from blogs, from friends, from goodreads...this is a super way to corral them and work through them in a very disciplined way.

Reading is a huge part of being a writer. Some advice says you should try to read 1,000 pages for every one you write. So, why not let technology handle some of the hassle for you?

Image from: www.droiddog.com

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