Hey all, So I'm not strictly on vacation, but I am spending time with grandkids in North Dakota while I work, and having an hour without a grandkid interruption seems - unlikely at best. But I am doing cool things. I am hoping to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential library that just opened in Medora, North Dakota (where he had his big ranch), and spending some time with my partner's son on a drilling rig, research for a future story. I'm also writing, editing, and prepping for a big project. How's your week going?

Hi everyone! 👋 I just wanted to say a big thank you for welcoming me into this community. I'm really happy to be here and excited to connect with so many talented and passionate people. I'm Pamela Druckerman, an author of five books, including Bringing Up Bébé, which has been translated into more than 30 languages. Alongside writing books, I also write about life in France for The New York Times and contribute the Dress Code column for 1843/The Economist. I call Paris home, and writing has been one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I joined this community because I love learning, sharing ideas, and connecting with other writers and creators. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all, learning from your experiences, celebrating each other's successes, and contributing wherever I can. Thanks again for having me, I can't wait to be part of the conversations and get to know everyone!

If you didn't get that title, that's a joke from the Big Lebowski, a definite Plot Dude principle. Look, we want this whole durn community to be fun, enjoyable, and a safe space for everyone. So we have to set some rules to get started. Refer back to this post from time to time, but we'll try to announce any changes in separate posts. But here's our starting place: 1) Be kind. Don't dis on anyone else for any reason. There are some topics we just won't allow to be discussed here, but no matter what, kindness matters. That golden rule thing: treat others the way you want to be treated. No exceptions. This is the only rule where there won't be a warning: treat someone unkindly, and you'll get removed faster than the Dude can mark a gutterball zero. 2) No selling or self-promotion. Stacey and I are even "light" on this in this community. There are classes, some that will be free, others that are paid, in the classroom section. Most of the time though we will be posting about FREE things we offer, like free webinars, education, and our podcast. If you offer author services and want to be recommended by Print2Pro, contact us. You get one warning for this one. Continued self promo after that? You'll find yourself outside, and unable to look in. 3) No political or religious posts, even related to your current WIP. This is a politics and religion free space, not because we don't care about those things, but because they cause division. We're here to talk about writing craft and business. Stacey and I even differ in our religious and political beliefs, but we won't be having that discussion here. If you are insanely curious, and want to talk about those things, you'll have to book a paid consultation with us one on one, and we might have to charge you double. 4) Don't be annoying or be a jerk. Everyone is at a different stage in their writing career and has different goals. We like to teach gently, not in a condescending or mean way. Take 'er easy, dude. Keep things light and kind.

Okay, look. There are all kinds of writing devices and software out there. Which one is better? Well, you already know what I'm going to say: whatever works for you. There are those writers who don't want AI anywhere near their manuscript or in their software. There are options for you. But the industry standard for editing is Microsoft Word, and while you can turn AI off in Office programs, it's pretty integral at this point. You may need to find an old version, or the way to shut off all AI features to work with a pro editor. But when it comes to drafting, things like Scrivener or Ellipsus are solid, non-AI options. As to devices: writers are easily distracted, so distraction free devices like FreeWrite or my own favorite, Remarkable eInk tablets are a great choice. No WiFi, no browser, no email or social media, pure writing heaven. Of course, you can do that with any device - create a secondary user on your computer, and don't allow access to browsers, email, or even WiFi, and you have a distraction free device, since you have to swap users to access those other features. You still can, but at least you have to work for it. Right now, my distraction free device is a Remarkable with a keyboard folio. My travel device is a MacBook Neo (definitely worth looking at, for all kinds of reasons). And my desktop is a Mac mini. What are y'll doing, and how to you avoid distractions?

Hey there everyone, I just wanted to pass on a message from Ingramspark. Apparently, we have some scammers impersonating the company. Be hyper vigilant, my friends. "We have recently been made aware of bad actors fraudulently posing as our business through lookalike websites, emails, social media accounts, phone calls, and text messages. These individuals often request that the author pay them or provide sensitive banking information in exchange for publishing their book with IngramSpark. These impersonators are not affiliated with IngramSpark. Visit https://www.ingramspark.com/fraudalert for more information"