A shameless plug...

I have a friend who is a lecturer at Essex University in the creative writing department and last night I had a long chat with him in Colchester. He asked me for details of the sites I use and said he would pass them on to the relevant people in his department. Below is an extract of the email I sent him this morning giving the details. I know this isn't going to directly help Junior UKA Cloggie but it may eventually filter down to some younger users. (ABCtales.com - the largest site I use, was set up by Gordon Roddick of 'Bodyshop' fame and John Bird of the 'Big Issue'. It has several thousand users and a large database of work by writers from all parts of the world. Several famous people use this site including Anita Roddick and Mo Mowlem. It's also well known that some large publishers prowl the site looking for likely bestsellers! It has the best, and easiest to use forum of any of the sites I use. They have meetings in London several times a year which are identical to folk club evenings with poetry/stories instead of f/song. UKauthors.com - a small site by comparison (approx 370 users) but a very nice place to spend time. There is a facility to post comments on work and some users are very enthusiastic about this. At the moment the site is immersed in the production of a hard copy anthology of work on the site. The closing date for submissions to this is the end of February so it's not too late to submit to this. There is also a 'junior' site for youngsters 16 and under. It isn't just a site for writers to post their work but is also a very useful resource site with links to small press printers and publishers, agents and practically anything else to help the writer. Publishers visit this site also and in fact recently 'Publish America' have offered contracts to at least two of the regular contributors. Thoughtcafe.co.uk - another small site but also very nice. It's going through a reconstruction at the moment because of it's success and the need for a better server and stability. Unlike the other two sites it's privately financed and has no advertising on it which helps to make it look very professional. Like UKauthors it has the facility to post comments and advice below posted work. A lot of users find this very helpful and enjoy the feedback. I like this site very much. )

Awwww, thanks Missus. One point though. UKA is also privately financed, and the only 'advertising' we have is a link to Amazon, Publish America/Publish Britannica (the guys who offered the publishing deal) and one link to Hammicks. None of which we get any dosh from :-(

Oh well, how am I sposed to know these advertisers don't cough up some dosh? I thought I was doing everybody a favour.