Click Here! Holiday Edition

It's Memorial Day, so I know most people won't be around today. Tomorrow, however, you may be dragging from too much time spent at the ribs-and-Sam-Adams table, and you'll be looking for something--anything--to help motivate you back into work. Which is why I've decided to post a few downloadable programs to make your writing life easier.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to highlight a webpage, honing in on exactly the info you need whenever you reaccess the page? Do just that with enLighter software, and add comments directly to your highlights as well. Researching the 'net has never been easier. Free? You betcha!

Want more? Click Read More below and get more!

Google Labs has recently added a fabulous program called Notebook, which I think is just as useful as the Enlighter. Take useful sections from a site and insert the text right into your notebook to compile research. Not only does the text jump into your notebook, it brings its citation along with it - an added and very useful bonus for anyone who might want to revisit the site or who just wants to be meticulous about the quality of their information. Read about some of the other programs brewing over at Google Labs by clicking here.

Y!Q is a downloadable program that can run while you’re searching the Internet. If you find a website with pertinent information, you can select that phrase and click the Y!Q related search key, after which a listing of related websites pop up for you to expand upon your original search. Read more about it here and download the entire Yahoo toolbar, including Y!Q by clicking here.

Want help keeping track of your submissions? Check out this free downloadable program, called Sandbaggers Automated Manuscript Management Software. SAAMS offers some useful features, like providing a rolodex-style method for adding details about markets and contacts within those markets. You can also list all of your manuscripts, including the genre, word count, and all events surrounding that manuscript: contest entries, requests, calls, follow-ups, queries, rejections and more. Though the program was created years ago and is a very simple program, it provides a real service and is easy to download and run (it’s also compatible with Windows XP).

Not a download, but...

FURL provides an interesting Internet program that can help you create “your own personal web.” This is a great idea for people whose “favorite places” folder has become labyrinthine in complexity or who have a vague memory of coming across the perfect site a year or so ago but can’t—after seventeen exhaustive hours—dredge the link back up again. With FURL, you can save the site name and address online, then—and this is the best part—search for it with FURL’S own search engine using key words. You will never again lose the link to the Orlando Bloom cut-out doll your girlfriend thought were sooooo cute.

Enjoy the holiday, everyone!