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I am a frustrated Civil War novelist, who has learned the cold hard truth about the publishing industry in our country today. If your name isn't instantly recognizable, then chances are you're not going to be published, no matter how good your writing is. So I decided to take my writing in a totally different direction. I have researched two novels, and heaven knows I've learned a lot about the war and the women of the Civil War era, which is my favorite topic. So, I thought, why not share my knowledge with others? I was ecstatic. No more mailings, no more waiting for responses from editors and publishers, just write an article or biography and send it off to the Internet. I just might get lucky enough to have someone actually read it, which is the fervent dream of all writers. I spent a whole afternoon researching article directories on the Internet. I have a blog, but I'm fairly new to the online writing biz, so I was very excited to see that there are many places to submit articles online. But my joy turned to disappointment when I discovered that most article directories don't have a category for history. Have we forgotten that there is alot to be learned from history? I find it fascinating to learn how people lived in the past. Does no one else? The recent success of books about the Civil War tells me that somebody out there is reading it. Almost every directory has a "writing" category. I can submit articles about writing, but there is no proper category for my writing. No history, no Civil War, no women's history. Crazy isn't it? Where do we amateur historians submit our writing? The first category in almost every directory is "Arts and Humanities or "Arts and Entertainment." There are always subcategories for poetry, photography, even pottery! When did writing get dumped from the arts? And isn't writing entertaining? As I continued my search, at a few sites I found some subcategories for history, but I don't want to be stuck under such categories as "Reference and Education." People had rather take nasty-tasting medicine than to go there. And how would you like to be classified under "other" or "miscellaneous?" Some put history under "Society" or "Politics." Would you look there for articles about history. A few sites have a history category or subcategory, but there are no articles in them. There are lots of clone directories, with the same categories and the same boring layouts, and few articles under any category. I guess they have to start somewhere. One site said to request a new category, which I have done. I don't mean to beat up on article directories. I encountered the same problem in submitting my blog to blog directories and web directories. Google and DMOZ have very nice categories and subcategories, where I can narrow it down to my little niche, Civil War Women. I realize that they are HUGE and can be much more specialized than article directories, and I'm sure article directories would be happy to add a history category if more writers get involved. And I think the blogoshere is just now evolving from primarily social blogs to informational blogs, which I think is great. Social and personal blogs still have their places. I just think the blogosphere is branching off in different directions, and I hope people find that fascinating as well. I was thrilled to find a small community of Civil War bloggers, and they have graciously welcomed me into the fold. Google it: Civil War blog, and check us out. We would all welcome the traffic. Maggie MacLean has written a Civil War novel, Tennessee Twilight, which she will serialize online in the near future. There is an excerpt at http://www.maggiemaclean.com She also has a new blog at http://civilwarwomen.blogspot.com Stop by and have a look.
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