Barack Obama Joins the Red Room - Social Network for Writers

Recently, I joined the Red Room - a social network and professional hub for writers, after I reviewed the site here on WritersCrunch. But unfortunately, I haven't been 100% active with the social network for reasons beyond my control. I've been a member since 4 weeks.

Today, I recieved an email from the Member Services Manager of Red Room. No not what you're thinking...I wasn't about to be reminded that I've not logged in for weeks. Nor was my membership about to be cancelled for not using the service.

It was an announcement that Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Senator and U.S Presidential Candidate had joined the Red Room community. As you know, Barack Obama is an accomplished writer and was recently awarded his second Grammy Award last Sunday for 'Best Spoken Word Album' for the audio recording of his bestseller, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

In his author's page, you will find his blog, media speeches, reviews, published works, etc. Check out Barack Obama's Red Room page here.

How's Life After NaNo?

Now that the mayhem of NaNoWriMo is over, what are you doing with your life? For veteran Nanos, getting back to the real life might not be much of a big deal. But, how about 'Baby NaNos'?

Of course, it may be difficult to get over the post-NaNo blues, which veteran participants feel it lasts within a couple of days up to eleven months after NaNoing. But as tempting as it is to try and keep the blues at bay by tackling another huge writing project right away, what your body and brain would really need at this point is rest. Besides, the holiday is just here again!

Even if some of the greatest novelists like John Grisham had to squeeze in time before going to the law office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel, duh, you'd be doing yourself a lot of good, if you could gradually start working on your first novel now (based on your NaNo project - except it sucks - haha) instead of participating in any other writing contests.

Some NaNo participants like Writer-Mommy even confessed that starting up a blog and Nano-ing during the same month is not the best idea. Without doubt, NaNoWriMo writing contests could make you a good writer, so to get the writerly ball rolling again after your hangovers, you could explore the December and Beyond forums, dedicated exclusively to life after NaNo. There's always room to network!

There are also NaNoFiMo, JaNoWriMo, NaNoEdMo, JulNoWriMo amongst others, if you are interested in firing up your passion for writing.

Red Room Raises More Funds

The social network site for authors, The Red Room, has raised $1.25 million from angel investors, including Craig Newmark, author Rober Mailer Anderson and Nion McEvoy, CEO of Chronicle Books. With a small army of authors already supporting The Red Room, its social network looks to be going in the direction of a promotional hub for writers.

The site offers tools, such as blogs and book tour calendars for writers to promote themselves and connect with their fans. Thus, we can say that it serves authors the same way MySpace serve bands. Red Room(mates), Alice Walker and Amy Tan are just some of the high profiled authors that have pages on The Red Room.

As the social networking fever is gripping web enthusiastes, it is not surprising to see a growing trend for authors seeking networking and promotional tools on the web. Meanwhile, sites like Helium, StoryLink,TurnHere, BooksConnect , BookTour, Shelfari, amongst others continue to create online spaces for writers and authors to promote themselves with more web 2.0 tools.

The founder of The Red Room, Ivory Madison, also started the Red Room Writers Society - a place for writers to work on their projects and take part in seminars and workshops.

Oddpodz Creatively Connects People With The Muzeum

Oddpodz, is a social networking site for creative people. Oddpodz launched its Beta site earlier this year and in six months, the network has grown rapidly with creative thinkers. What could be the attraction to Oddpodz?

Well, Oddpodz social networking members are not teenagers, in fact, their average age is 37. They are from all over the world; they're super creative and they primarily work as professionals in creative service industries, such as ad and marketing agencies, PR firms, and many are business entrepreneurs. They want more purposeful content that provides information to help grow their businesses; they need help locating trusted resources; and they would like to have a place online to go to be inspired to tackle creative challenges. And that has not been a challenge for Oddpodz.

But could there be something else? My curiousity paid off as I found out a place where creatives from around the world meet new friends, socialize, find inspiration, collaborate, express themselves, get entertained and do business - The Muzeum.

The Muzeum has interesting features such as the lobby, lounge, auditorium, triage, exhibits, pod garden and basement. There is also Cash for Creative, where members can get cash for their creative ideas.

Oddpodz, LLC was founded in January 2006 by entrepreneurs Karen Post and Jocelyn Ring. Karen is an international branding expert, consultant and speaker. She has been featured in a broad range of media outlets -- including Bloomberg TV, CBS Early Show, The New York Times, The New York Post, NPR, Fast Company and The Boston Globe, and her writing is published internationally, including a monthly column she's been writing for FastCompany.com since 2004. She is also the author of Brain Tattoos: Creating Unique Brands That Stick in Your Customers' Minds (AMACOM 2005). Jocelyn Ring is a former investment banker and brand strategy consultant.

WGA Resume Talks Today

As the Writer's Guild of America strike enters it's fourth week, both parties involved in the negotiations are set to resume contract talks today. The WGA went on strike Nov. 5 over payment for TV shows and films being sold on Internet sites such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

Striking TV and movie writers kept up the pressure on studios by picketing and intensifying an Internet campaign that uses the very medium at issue in the contentious negotiations. On the other hand, studios, networks and producers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, say it is too early to know which business model will succeed on the Web. They want flexibility to experiment without having to be locked into payment formulas.

For the past three weeks, writers use social networking sites, including MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, to communicate among themselves, post short videos, create blogs etc

One of the most popular efforts has been the video "The Office is Closed," which was shot on the picket lines by Peter Rader. The video features the show's writer-producer Greg Daniels and cast members belittling a TV network claim that reuse of episodes on the Web is merely "promotional". That video as shown below was posted on YouTube and has been viewed more than 520,000 times.

Update: The next United Hollywood Live broadcast will be today, November 26th, from 12-1:30 p.m. Covering all aspects of the WGA strike, the interactive show will include interviews, live reports from the various picket lines and video clips. Visit United Hollywood for more details.

Online Community for Writers at Helium

Helium is an online community of fellow writers who have a career in marketing but know more about killing crabgrass than anyone else; people who work in the post office but have raised five honors students; ex-teachers who love to write and writers who love to teach.

At Helium.com, writers can connect with other writers who have similar interests or mentor a new writer. Members can join a moderated discussion forum, in order to discuss trends in writing or improve their writing in the Writers’ Workshops or ask questions of a Team Helium member or just share their thoughts.

Helium’s Marketplace is the only place on the web where publishers are posting the titles they need articles for right now. Helium's partner publishers pay from $20 to $200 for each selected article, so writers can earn more when their article is the one picked by the publisher.

Members can also participate in fun and interesting writing contests at Helium which inspire writers to greater heights and increased earnings.

Does video game violence cause it in real life? Should smoking be allowed in public places? Who would win in a fight: Superman or Batman? Whatever the subject, Helium brings civility back to the Internet. Pick your side in a debate, write a compelling article and compete with others for the best argument.

Sign up and start having fun!

Social Networking for Writers & Filmmakers at StoryLink

The Writers Store®, the premier resource center for writers and filmmakers worldwide, has announced the official launch of StoryLink - the first social networking website specifically created for screenwriters and filmmakers.

StoryLink offers members countless opportunities to network with professional and aspiring creatives and to promote, share and market their materials or services. StoryLink is the only online destination that combines the crafts of screenwriting and filmmaking in one community.

A unique feature of StoryLink, is that it allows members to hire expert freelancers and professional firms geared toward their creative needs - a feature found in GetAFreeLancer. Thus, members rate their service professionals and companies with a unique five-star system for the benefit of the entire StoryLink community.

Since its beta launch in March 2007, over three thousand media creatives have joined StoryLink. To date, over two hundred contests and hundreds of events have been listed.

Visit StoryLink and get linked!