Sunday, July 18, 2010

Writer's Digest TOP Websites for Writers

Good morning! Pepper here and I’m so glad to welcome you to another week on The Writers Alley.


If you visited last week, you should have received a wealth of information and resources from Sherrinda and Mary. (Btw, if you haven’t read Sherrinda’s post from Tuesday on One Note, it’s a must-read. I started using it this week for my new novels and I. LOVE. IT.) And check out Mary’s post on a Treasure Chest of Resources.

Well, today, I want to add to the treasure trove of info with Writer’s Digest’s best websites for writers. If you haven’t subscribed to Writer’s Digest, I strongly suggest you do. There are some fabulous articles and resources.

In the May/June issue, Writer’s Digest listed the 101 Best Websites for Writers. Now, I’m not going to list all 101, but I wanted to give you the top few from each section listed in the article.

So – let’s see what the world wide web has to offer for the new and the veteran writers.

Writing Advice

A Newbie Guide to Publishing by thriller writer, J.A. Konrath – http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

Ask Allison by New York Times best-selling author, Allison Winn Scotch – http://allisonwinn.com/ask-allison

Chris Guillebeau – free downloads and writing info at http://chrisguillebeau.com

Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readershttp://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/

Writer Unboxed – craft advice – http://writerunboxed.com/

General Resources

Book Cover Archive – examples of book art and designs – http://www.bookcoverarchive.com/

Bookreporter.com – free email newsletter and up-to-date info on genre – http://www.bookreporter.com/

United States Copyright Office - this is a government site for all things copyright related – http://www.copyright.org/

Online Writing Communities

Writer Gazette – writing related articles, freelance job postings, writing tips and more – http://www.writersgazette.com/

Backspace – another great resource for articles, agent-editor info, (does require a fee). http://www.bksp.org/

Mike’s Writing Workshop – a place to post work and get critiques – www.groups.yahoo.com/group/mikeswritingworkshop.com

National Novel Writing Month – a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel within a month. http://www.nanowrimo.org/

The Writer’s Chatroom – chats with authors and lively writing conversations – http://www.writerschatroom.com/

Everything Agents

Agent Query – free searchable database of agents – http://www.agentquery.com/

Chip MacGregor – Christian book market agent with loads of info on the market – http://www.chipmacgregor.typepad.com/

Kidlit ¬– Children’s writers’ agent Mary Kole’s blog – www.kidlit.com

Query Shark – Agent Janet Reid critiques fiction queries (for free) at http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

Rants & Ramblings on Life as a Literary Agent – Rachelle Gardner’s blog has been a top visit of mine for a while , but it also made the top 101 list. Check it out at http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

Publishing/Marketing Resources

Author Tech Tips – A website that gives the basics for writers on social networking to blogging. http://www.authortechtips.com/

The Intern – “an honest, humorous, wise look at the good, bad, and ugly side of publishing” – http://internspills.blogspot.com

Michael Hyatt – Tommy Nelson CEO gives advice for first-time authors on this site – http://www.michaelhyatt.com/

Seth Godin’s Blog¬¬- learn tips to promote you and your work on this site. www.sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog

Genres/Niches

YA – The Purple Crayon – articles and resources for children’s writers – www.underdown.org

Fantasy/SciFi- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America – www.sfwa.org

Mystery – Mystery Writing is Murder- http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com

Romance – Romance Divas – www.romancedivas.com

Spiritual – Christian Story Teller – www.christianstoryteller.com

Women’s Writing – Literary Mama – (writing moms take note) www.literarymom.com



I hope this is helpful. There are so many great sites out there and this is just a few. The longer I write, the more I learn. It’s so great to be with other writers along the journey.

And remember, each of The Writers Alley gals have their own website/blogs where they post info on writing and book reviews too. If you haven’t checked them out, stop by sometime:

Sherrinda- Her Write of Passage

Pepper – Words Seasoned With Salt

Mary – God Loves Kids

Casey – Writing For Christ

Krista – Reflections by Krista

21 comments:

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

Good morning! What a treasure cove of resources! We definitely need to add these links to the Resource Page. :)

I follow some of these blogs, but haven't heard of all of them. GREAT list, girl!

Sidney W. Frost said...

Thanks, Pepper. Lots of great links today.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for including the info for Children's Writer's! Great resources :)

*Sharon*

Casey said...

Great links, Pepper, looks like a lot of work, so thank you very much!! :)

Pepper said...

Hidee Sherrinda - glad to have you back :-)
I had to check out the sites to make my recommend list ;-) Fun stuff. And way too much info for my brain to comprehend on the first fly by.

Pepper said...

Sidney,
So glad you liked the links. It's difficult sometimes to weed through all the options for the best info. I'm so glad The Writers Digest provided some direction :-)

Pepper said...

Hey Sharon,
DEFINITELY look into that link. You are such a talented artist (both in writing and drawing) - SOMEONE needs to find you. seriously. and then I can bask in the glow of your success ;-)
Talent like yours is definitely God-given

Pepper said...

Case,
Is that a new picture - because it's WAY cute.

Katie Ganshert said...

Great list of links!

Anonymous said...

Awe, thanks for the compliment and encouraging words :)

Beth K. Vogt said...

Lots of great links. I just don't know which one to click on first! (And I really need to be focused on editing.)

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Pepper,
Nicely done!
Hey, what do you think about dedicating one of the tabs at the top to a resource page. If one of the gang is willing to organize it...others could add ideas in the comment section then the new ideas could be melted into the common list.
This way anyone could just click on the tab at the top.
Just a thought.
You did a great job. I'll be hopping over to quite a few of these sites.

Krista Phillips said...

Mary, that's a WONDERFUL idea... I think we actually already have one don't we? Not sure who put it together originally...

Pepper, great post! Loved the links!!!

Pepper said...

I think it is called The Prints and the Blog Cybernook :-)
It's webbased resources.
I'll try to post the info in there

Pepper said...

Katie,
Hidee!! Thanks for stopping by.

Pepper said...

Beth,
Isn't it SOOO easy to get distracted from editing. Sorry to contribute to that ;-)

Casey said...

LOL, yes it is. And thank you. :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for linking my blog, even thought it was inadvertent, as you meant to post the link for Literary Mama, but typed my URL instead. ~Literary Mom

Anne said...

I love the coloured illustration on this page. Does anyone know the artist's name who created it?
tincollector@gmail.com

Pepper said...

Anne, isn't it beautiful. This link should give u the info you are looking for http://www.faysampson.co.uk/

Chris said...

What about a section on tools for writers such as the free editing tool Pro Writing Aid