Is there a social networking site for writers?

January 2, 2007 12:03 PM

Is there a social networking site for writers?

There are lots of general social networking sites, like myspace, linkedin, etc. I have also seen some more specialized sites like dogster. Is there something along these lines for writers?

posted by kingtaj to computers & internet (13 comments total)

I've been wondering that too. The closest thing I've found this far is Art Conspiracy. I played with that site about a year ago, and there wasn't much to keep me interested.

There used to be a pretty interesting writing site called Written By Me. In addition to the expected kids, there were many serious writers who used the site as a place to think out loud and workshop their drafts. WBM foolishly adopted a pay model (with the intention of courting magazines and taking a cut of royalties), and faded away shortly thereafter.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:13 PM on January 2, 2007 [5 favorites has favorites]

I haven't seen anything of that nature, but it's definitely a good idea.

I'll post a few links for message boards just in case they might interest you:

Absolute Write Water Cooler
FreelanceWriting.com forums
Media Bistro Forum
Writers Weekly Forums
WritersNet Forum
posted by loiseau at 12:20 PM on January 2, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

Hmm... Googling for [social networking writers] turned up this:

Gather
MyCreativeCommunity for screenwriters
posted by loiseau at 12:27 PM on January 2, 2007

This is invite only, but when it launches to the public it might fit the bill:

http://www.writertopia.com/
posted by rsanheim at 12:38 PM on January 2, 2007

You could try the forums from NaNoWriMo, I suppose. They seem lively, though perhaps significantly moreso during the month of November. They are active year-round, however.
posted by terceiro at 12:45 PM on January 2, 2007

LibraryThing seems to have its own share of writers.
posted by mdoar at 12:57 PM on January 2, 2007

rsanheim: "This is invite only, but when it launches to the public it might fit the bill:

http://www.writertopia.com/"

Ooh... interesting. Do you know how invites are procured?
posted by loiseau at 1:04 PM on January 2, 2007

Ever heard of Usenet? There're groups for writers and for general bookworms.
posted by davy at 2:33 PM on January 2, 2007

You could give Urbis a try. It seems to be exactly what you seek - social networking for "creative people" (ugh).

I was poking about it a few weeks ago, with a view to maybe joining, but was put off by its having a 'credit' 'system' ("earn credits by reviewing people and spend credits when receiving reviews"). And by its name. Obviously.

And, a lot of the stuff on there is bad.

Although, you know, it seems to be fairly busy, and the interface is very slick and if you don't mind having to actually bribe people to read your work or that they use the term 'creative review engine' quite often, then yes.

Yes.
posted by Robot Rowboat at 5:23 PM on January 2, 2007

loiseau: I know the guy who founded it/was developing it. Its a really cool project, and I don't really even consider myself a "writer". His blog is here</a, if you want to try and get in touch with him.
posted by rsanheim at 6:25 PM on January 2, 2007

ABC Tales has always had quite a busy community buzz around it (though the forums can be very bitchy at times).

Disclaimer: I built that site [at least twice], but I don't own or frequent it.
posted by genghis at 7:34 AM on January 3, 2007

A lot of writers are connected on Myspace, and it's the only reason I finally swallowed the Myspace Kool-aid.

When I quit my corporate job to finish my novel (done) and get an agent (done) and write full-time, I also longed for a forum in which I could connect with other professional writers (or at least serious writers). It's tough to find and I suspect that they deliberately make it tough to find because places can get overrun with idiocy. Luckily, some kind writers saw me posting on a forum that met the description above, and referred me to other sites:

Backspace.net
Readerville.com

These are not free sites. There is a modest fee to participate. But to me, it is worth every penny. You can get a free trial to the first one, and the second one relies on an honor system, so you can spend some time to see if there is value for you.

Also, I did spend some time on Zoetrope.com - it's not just for screenwriters. Zoetrope also has a credit system, which I for one appreciate. It's not about bribing people to read your work, it's about making sure that people put into the site what they take from it. Otherwise, people would be uploading their scripts and asking for feedback and then never giving it. Plus, I like it because it requires me to read the work of people that I might not select to read. Sometimes it sucks, but it challenges you to give constructive feedback, which is also a valuable lesson to learn and practice.

You will find many of the same suspects on all three forums. :)

Of the other sites listed, I know many people enjoy Absolute Write and I have been there. But be very, very careful on writers.net. That's all I prefer to say about that one.
posted by micawber at 7:42 AM on January 4, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

You could also try www.greatwriting.co.uk
posted by badlydubbedboy at 2:09 AM on January 5, 2007