Around the Word

Love child lit: Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger is in full scandal retreat, and Maria Shriver is pleading for space for her and her family to heal, it's safe to assume both will have a fair amount of time on their hands. To help keep the star-crossed couple occupied, and the rest of us titillated, the Los Angeles Times has compiled a tailor-made reading list of love child lit. Included are five titles on infidelity (for Schriver), five titles on fatherhood (for the Governator), and a bonus book -- Joint Custody with a Jerk -- for the housekeeper who had Arnold's child.

Follow the "lead": Our good friend David Murray at Vital Speeches of the Day suggests in his latest blog post that speechwriters take a page out of the journalist's handbook and replace the term "introduction" with "lead." Referring to the first few sentences of a speech as a "lead" gives it more urgency, starting off with the most important information instead of a boring list of introductory thank yous. For inspiration, Murray says, look to President Obama's announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden -- he draws the audience in by getting right to the point.

LinkedIn for lit fiends: For those of you looking to e-longate your e-networking connections, GalleyCat compiled a list of 45 LinkedIn groups in the publishing industry. Editors, publishers, writers and illustrators can all find a home in one of these many LinkedIn groups, which connect you with other like-minded professionals. Once you are logged in, you may want to take a few cues from social media guru Chris Brogan on how to spiff up your profile.

Ask not what you can do for your publisher. . . : With so many publishing types wringing their hands about the looming death of the book biz, it's nice to see that there are forward-leaning folks like  Meghan Ward thinking creatively about what could be done to help save it. Today on her blog Ward suggest 10 small things that literary lovers can do on their own to keep the reading lights on. Her main advice: Buy book. Read book. Repeat.

How to fun up your fan page: If you're like most people, you probably spend more time scoping out your high school gym teacher's Facebook page than scrutinizing your own profile. Well, as our friends the Book Doctors advise, most of us in the writing field might be wise to take a moment to take stock of our fan pages. On their blog today, the good Doctors offer several tips for getting the most out of this under-utilized tool -- from setting up your landing page to increasing traffic to maintaining your privacy. Do it right, and you'll soon be a time suck for your visitors.