Resources for Authors
What is Resources for Authors? Well, as an author I thought it would be a good idea to put up some links that other writers to use.
While I'm no expert, I can certainly share what I've learned with others. If I've learned anything in this endeavor, it's that I'm not in competition with other writers. I'm in competition with myself. If my knowledge helps others, then so be it!
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
NaNoWriMo stands for the National Novel Writing Month, which is held every November. The idea behind NaNoWriMo is that you try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.
To give you an idea, a couple of examples of 50,000 word novels are Catcher in the Rye and Brave New Worlds. In order to complete 50,000 words in a month, you have to crank out 1,667 words a day and finish by midnight, November 30th.
There is a book that discusses this (also rounding out at about 50,000 words) called No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty. If you're a writer, I highly recommend the book and NaNoWriMo! It was exactly the catalyst that showed me that I was capable of writing a novel - period - let alone in 30 days!
I've participated in 2006, 2007, and 2008, achieving more than 50,000 words all three years.
You can read more about NaNoWriMo on their web site at NaNoWriMo.org. I hope to see you there, because I will certainly be participating again!
If you do sign up, look for me. My user name on the NaNoWriMo web site is dmac9000.
Agent Query is a web site that lists agents and their contact information. They advertise that they are the Internet's largest and most current database of literary agents.
You can check out this web site at www.agentquery.com.
Duotrope's Digest is a web site that lists markets for fiction writers and poets. This is one of the best market listings I have ever run across. It is way better than the book that gets published every year.
You can check out this web site at www.duotrope.com.
By the way, this web site is free but the they do accept donations. If you find their information valuable, then you might want to drop them a dollar or two so you don't get stuck with that book that gets published every year.
Okay, I can't claim to know much about this, yet, but I found the concept of this quite interesting and wanted to make a note of it, both for myself and others.
I ran across a web site of a publisher called Another Sky Press (anothersky.org).
The idea behind Another Sky Press is that they will let you download the book for free. They will also sell you the book at cost. All they ask is that if you like it, you donate to those individuals involved in the project.
I've said for a long time that I think that the publishing industry is due for change. I've speculated that Podcasts, I believe, are a part of that future. After seeing and reading about Another Sky Press, I think that they may also be a part of that future.
Creative Commons is a method of licensing artistic works, such as writing or podcasts, that allows free copying and distribution for noncommercial uses, while still retaining rights of the artist, such as copyrights.
If you're an author and you're thinking about distributing some of your work, think about Creative Commons.
The Creative Commons web site is at creativecommons.org.
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators — SCBWI for short — is an association for authors writing for children, teens or young adult. (SCBWI is for illustrators too, as the name implies, but being an author, I tend to focus on the writing.)
The SCBWI web site is at www.scbwi.org.
Horror Writers Association is — you guessed it — an association for horror authors. In fact, you have to be published or about to be published to even join.
The HWA web site is at horror.org.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America is another group that is designed at helping writers of those genres. SFWA has a very good resources available to writers, such as Writers Beware and Manuscript Preparation.
The SFWA web site is at www.sfwa.org.
Podiobooks.com, is something that I've just recently discovered.
The official Podiobooks web site is at www.podiobooks.com.
Podiobooks are like audiobooks except that they are in Podcast format. They are free, but there is a place where you can donate to the author. What a great concept. Listen to the book and if you like it, donate. If you don't like it, don't donate. This takes the idea of publishing in a whole other direction. I like the concept, even as an author.
Remember, you don't have to have an iPod to listen to Podcasts.