iPhone app for writers: Dragon Dictation

I've been using voice-activated software from time to time, mainly when I'd like a break from long periods of intensive typing. I find voice dictation useful mainly for first drafts, not editing, but it's great to be able to "write" while I'm walking around in my office (my headphone/microphone set has a long cord). I use MacSpeech, which uses dictation technology from Nuance, the company that makes Naturally Speaking, voice dictation software for Windows. When I'm away from my laptop, I've started using Dragon Dictation for the iPhone (which is FREE right now) and I'm really impressed. The text in the screenshot above/left was dictated by me a few minutes ago, with no edits. You can dictate up to 20-30 seconds at a time, with the text accumulating on the iPhone screen. When you're finished, you can e-mail yourself the text or copy/paste it into the iPhone app of your choice. Like any voice-activated software, the transcription isn't always perfect, but it beats the heck out of trying to thumb-type text while you're walking or having to manually transcribe a recorded message later. You can read some reviews and find out more info here: Review: Dragon Dictation -- iPhone voice transcription by Dragon NaturallySpeaking MacRumors.com review Some useful tips for Dragon Dictation (be sure to read the comments section, too!) NOTE FOR THOSE NOT LIVING IN THE U.S.: At present, you can only buy Dragon Dictation for the iPhone from the U.S. iTunes store. Here are Apple's own instructions for how to create an iTunes App Store account without a credit card. Dragon Dictation for the iPhone is FREE for a limited time, so be sure to buy your copy soon!

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Transport Canada bans books from flights?

CARTOON EMBED CODE: (Before embedding, see my cartoon licensing info.)

Apparently Transport Canada is banning books and periodicals from their flights unless passengers buy them after going through security. Eek. Makes me even happier about being able to read e-books on my iPhone! Hope this ban doesn't last long. Also see: Books Banned on Canada-U.S. Flights (January Magazine) Stop Dumbing Down: Allow Books on Airplanes (Facebook Group)

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Travel writing contest, no entry fee, cash prize

From Charles Carroll, editor of www.xtremetravelstories.com: Are you fed up with travel writing as it exists today? Are you looking for a fresh approach to this medium; one that focuses on the extreme nature of traveling as opposed to the “Club Med” stories that so often fill the pages of travel writing these days? If so, this contest is perfect for you! Send us your story, any language, any topic; as long as it’s original and interesting it constitutes as Xtreme! The winning author will be awarded a $100 cash prize! This is our inaugural competition and it will run quarterly. In addition to submitting your crazy travel experiences in written form- we are accepting Xtreme photos and videos for equal consideration. We’d eventually like to receive enough photos and videos to have a separate competition, but for now written and visual work will go head to head! Our viewers will vote for their favorites and XTS will award the winner on March 1, 2010- no strings attached, no questions asked. If your worried about creative license, the authors of the work on our site retain all rights to their art and, if they so wish, can ask for it to be removed at any time. Give it a shot, you’ve got nothing to lose! www.xtremetravelstories.com DEADLINE: March 1, 2010 PRIZE: $100, (quarterly competition) LIMITATIONS: None CONTACT US: xtseditor@gmail.com For more info about the contest: http://www.xtremetravelstories.com/index.php/en/competition

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The Weird Book Room

Thanks to my friend Ray for pointing out the Weird Book Room on ABeBooks. If you're looking for some literary diversions, it's worth a visit. I would have loved to have eavesdropped on the editorial or sales meetings for some of these books.

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So who's going to join me in the 1000 Wds/Day Challenge in 2010?

To those who took up the 1000 wds/day or 500 wds/day challenge last year, how did you do? And how many of you want to join me in the challenge THIS year? For those who haven't heard of this challenge, the goal is to write 1000 words a day, at least six days a week. If you miss the occasional day or days, that's ok -- the goal is to keep up the motivation even if you sometimes slip up. Too often, I find that writers start motivational challenges like NaNoWrimo with enthusiasm and good intentions, but give up when they start missing their daily targets for more than a few days in a row…undermining their confidence and defeating the purpose of the original challenge. You can read more about the 1000 Words A Day Challenge here. You can also aim to write 500 words a day instead (or you want to drop down from 1000 during the year) or the 250 Words A Day Writing Challenge (just added!).

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Online Community For YA Writers: YALitChat

YA author Georgia McBride has started up a community for YA writers on Ning called YALitChat. YALitChat is named after the #YALitChat group on Twitter, founded by Georgia:

#YAlitchat is a weekly twitter chat for anyone involved in the writing, editing , marketing or publishing of Young Adult literature. #YAlitchat takes place at 9PM EST and goes until 10:15PM. There is a guided discussion three weeks out of the month and one week each month, there is open discussion. For daily tweets relating to Young Adult literature that may be of interest to our writers, I have started a #YAlitchat Twibe. Our Twibe is a twitter group for #YAlitchat members. Visit http://twibes.com/YALITCHAT to join. There is also a larger community where you can connect and share twenty four/seven on ning at http://YALITCHAT.ning.com without worrying about the limitations of twitter.

If you're a YA author, I strongly recommend checking out this community. Georgia regularly posts up-to-date info about markets and industry news relevant to YA writers. And feel free to add me as a friend! You can find me at http://yalitchat.ning.com/profile/inkyelbows.

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