Resources
From Category: Business and Technical Resources
A Literary Agent’s Guide to Publishing Terms Authors Should Know
Literary agent Mark Gottlieb currently works at Publishers Marketplace's #1-ranked literary agency, Trident Media Group. In this article from The Write Life, he explains seven essential publishing-industry and contract terms.
Agent Advice: The Complete Series at Poets & Writers
This page on the website of Poets & Writers Magazine, a leading source of writers' resources, collects their Agent Advice columns since 2010. Read top literary agents' responses to readers' questions.
Andrea Hurst & Associates Literary Management
This literary agency generously shares a wealth of industry information with the public. Literary agent Andrea Hurst's website features weekly interviews with publishing industry professionals, advice on book marketing, and manuscript consultations.
AROHO Books on Tour Newsletter
A Room of Her Own Foundation, a nonprofit that supports women's writing, publishes this e-newsletter to promote book tours by female authors. If you are a woman with a new book and would like to share your tour schedule with their mailing list, send AROHO an email with details about your book and reading dates. (See website for instructions about what information they need.) There is no fee to be listed. AROHO encourages women writers to build community and spread the word about each other's work.
Audiohoop
Audiohoop offers free audio downloads of literary works by emerging writers or public-domain classics. The site is also a networking resource for writers to connect with producers, actors, voice artists, directors, sound engineers, musicians, and other media artists to create audio versions of their written works. There are free contests with cash prizes for the most popular audio books.
BiblioCrunch
BiblioCrunch is an online marketplace that matches freelancers with projects in book design, editing, proofreading, and illustration. The basic service, which is free, allows users to post projects and receive proposals. Paid membership adds direct access to the directory of freelancers and the ability to message them directly.
BlueToad
BlueToad helps you publish your content on the web, tablets and mobile devices at a resonable price. A "Hands Free Package" is available if you need maximum support.
Blurb “Dream Team” Collaborators
Self-publishing service Blurb maintains this curated list of vendors of editing, design, ghostwriting, book coaching, and e-book conversion services. The list is free to browse on their website, whether or not you use Blurb's other services.
Book Editing Associates
Serving writers, literary agents, and publishers. Mainstream, genre, trade, and academic publishing specialists. Copyediting, developmental editing, proofreading, critiques, book proposals, query letters, book promotions, and creative writing instruction. Network coordinator Lynda Lotman takes extra care to screen her staff (read how at http://www.book- editing.com/FAQ.html).
Book Marketing and Book Promotion
Book marketing and selling advice from John Kremer, author of '1001 Ways to Market Your Books.' Informative website includes contact information for book buyers, publicity outlets and more.
Book Marketing Buzz Blog
Experienced editor and publicist Brian Feinblum shares tips about turning media exposure into sales, creating your author brand, using multimedia tools to market your book, and much more.
Book Trailer Design Advice from Zara West
In this blog post, romantic suspense author Zara West (Beneath the Skin) describes the basic elements of a successful book trailer and how to create them using public-domain music and images.
BookBub’s Ultimate Guide to Book Marketing
Self-publishing service BookBub has compiled this list of articles from their BookBub Partners blog, covering every aspect of the marketing campaign for your self-published or small press book. Topics include book and cover design, pricing, advertising, creating an online platform, author success stories, and how to track the results of your marketing efforts.
BookFunnel
BookFunnel is a reasonably priced subscription service for authors. It handles the technical aspects of distributing e-book review copies in multiple e-reader formats.
Canva
Canva is an online resource site for easy-to-use graphic design templates for book covers, newsletters, periodicals, and promotional materials. Some templates are free.
Capital Community College Guide to Grammar and Writing
This comprehensive, searchable grammar guide from Capital Community College in Hartford includes lessons on word usage, sentence structure, rhetoric, and writing a research paper. There's even a PowerPoint presentation on "Solecisms of President George W. Bush".
Editcetera
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Editcetera has been matching editorial freelancers with projects since 1971. Their clients include book and magazine publishers, businesses and nonprofits, and independent authors and scholars. Services include proofreaders, copyeditors, developmental editors, business writers, technical writers, and ghostwriters. They also offer training programs for editors and writers.
Editing Versus Proofreading Explained
The website of The Expert Editor, an Australian vendor of editorial services for books and dissertations, offers this handy overview of the differences between proofreading and copyediting, and how to choose the level of editing that's right for you.
Editorial Freelancers Association
National nonprofit professional association of self-employed workers in the publishing and communications industries. The EFA works to improve conditions for freelancers and match them up with clients. Employers can post jobs for free.
Ether: “Earn money selling what you say”
Ever wanted to start an advice hotline? Sign up for a free phone number, set your rates, and callers who prepay can take advantage of your expertise. Ether bills their credit cards and takes a 15% commission on sales. Ideal for manuscript consultations and other editorial services.
Freelance - Writers Helping Writers
This quarterly print and online journal based in New Zealand covers all aspects of the freelance writer's craft, from proofreading and marketing to structuring your memoir.
GLA Blog “Dear Lucky Agent” Contests
Writer's Digest columnist Chuck Sambuchino hosts this recurring free contest at his Guide to Literary Agents (GLA) blog. Each contest is focused on a different genre, e.g. contemporary middle-grade fiction. Entrants should submit the first 150-200 words of their manuscript via email. No entry fee, but to be eligible for consideration, you must mention the contest twice through any social media. Contest is judged by literary agents who are seeking new authors to represent. Winners receive critique and subscription to WritersMarket.com.
GoStartABlog
GoStartABlog walks you through the steps of choosing a blog topic, name, design, and hosting service. Written instructions are paired with short videos. They recommend WordPress, so there is also an article on how to set up your blog on that platform.
How Best Seller Lists Actually Work (and Why to Avoid Them)
Tucker Max is the co-founder of Book in a Box, a writing coach and ghostwriting service for business professionals. In this article from their website, he explains the metrics behind newspapers' and online retailers' bestseller lists, and the reasons why getting on the list is not a cost-effective goal for most authors.
How To Do It Frugally
Website of Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of 'The Frugal Book Promoter' and 'The Frugal Editor', contains a wealth of advice for writers and publishers on how to generate publicity for their titles on a limited budget.
Jane Friedman’s “MBA for Writers” Lectures
Digital publishing expert and former Writers' Digest executive Jane Friedman's blog contains a wealth of resources for professional writers. Her 6-part "MBA for Writers" online lecture series covers the principles for success in today's rapidly changing industry. You can purchase access to the whole series or individual sessions.
Literary Agent Links at Ardor Magazine
The online literary magazine Ardor maintains this annually updated list of over 100 literary agents and their preferred genres, with links to their websites.
LitRagger
LitRagger is an app that literary journals and small presses can use to convert their content to iPad-readable format. "Like" them on Facebook to receive updates on their progress.
MagCloud
Self-publish your own magazine through MagCloud. Simply upload a PDF of your issue and MagCloud will handle printing, mailing, and subscription management. Small press runs are no problem here. Participation is limited while the site is still in beta-testing.
ManuscriptHub
Through this online submissions clearinghouse, members can send entries electronically to any literary journal that has registered with the ManuscriptHub system, and keep track of the status of those entries on the website. Membership is free, but each submission requires an average $2 processing fee.
Marketing Stack’s Tools for Writers
Marketing Stack is a curated online directory of marketing resources and tools. Their page of "Tools for Writers" suggests software to help you organize your drafts, proofread and edit, format manuscripts for e-book publishing, distribute content electronically, and more.
NetManners
Essential points of online etiquette, from marketing and technology expert Judith Kallos. If you want to be taken seriously as a professional writer, courteous, typo-free contest submissions, query letters and weblog entries can make all the difference.
NoiseTrade Books
NoiseTrade Books helps authors and publishers build their email lists by giving away content in exchange for email addresses and postal codes. Thousands of book lovers visit NoiseTrade Books every day to discover great new books. Authors get email addresses and postal codes for each person who downloads their content. NoiseTrade periodically hosts contests to select the books to feature as Primary Selections in their email newsletter and homepage. Winners are chosen in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novel/poetry. See website for deadlines and rules.
PDF Online
Convert your word-processed documents into PDF or HTML format with this free online service. Works for both Windows and Mac documents. Writers can use this service to create e-books or HTML newsletters featuring their work.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab
This resource portal from Purdue University in Indiana features basic exercises to learn grammar, punctuation, spelling, APA and MLA citation styles, and composing resumes and business letters.
R.R. Bowker, the US ISBN Agency
R.R. Bowker is the authorized ISBN Agency in the United States, responsible for assigning ISBNs as well as providing information and advice on the uses of the ISBN system to publishers and the publishing industry in general. (An ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.) Their website includes instructions for publishers or self-published authors to obtain an ISBN for their titles.
Scribendi
Scribendi provides a wide variety of proofreading and copyediting services for literary manuscripts, personal and business documents, and academic writing. Pricing is per word. They can also help write a query letter, synopsis, and outline for authors of fiction and nonfiction books who are shopping their manuscripts to agents.
Self-Publishing Apps for Mac
This review posted in November 2012 on the tech site GigaOM evaluates three apps for Mac computers that writers can use to create e-books: Apple's Pages, Adobe Indesign, and Scrivener.
Smashwords
This website helps authors, agents, and publishers convert their books into a variety of popular e-book formats and sell them on the Smashwords site. Membership is free; Smashwords takes a percentage of net sales proceeds.
Start Blogging Online
Blogger and social media expert Mike Wallagher created this site to give writers a simple step-by-step introduction to creating their web presence. Topics include choosing a blogging platform, the pros and cons of free versus paid hosting, promoting your blog on Twitter, search engine optimization and digital marketing.
Submittable
This online submissions manager is used by a growing number of contests and journals. You can also use it to manage resumes and job postings.
TCK Publishing’s List of 100+ Author Tools
TCK Publishing is an independent publishing company specializing in digital marketing. Founder Tom Corson-Knowles teaches online training courses in self-publishing and book promotion. This list compiles over 100 basic tools to write, design, and market your book.
TCK Publishing’s List of Top Kindle Book Promotion Sites
This list ranks the top sites that advertise discounted Kindle e-books to consumers, based on how much traffic they get. The article also includes a link to TCK's companion piece about sites that list free e-books.
The Great First Impression Book Proposal
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of five how-to books for writers, including 'The Frugal Book Promoter', has condensed her expertise into 'The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need to Know About Selling Your Book in 20 Minutes'. Check out other useful resources on her website.
The Tipping Point for Best Selling Authors
In this 2016 post from his blog Dying Words, a resource for mystery and thriller authors, crime novelist Garry Rodgers interviews nine best-selling indie and self-published writers about the strategies that took their book sales to the next level. Some common themes: build a mailing list, focus on your niche, and keep putting out new titles that are well-written and professionally edited.
TrailerShelf
A project of Wildbound PR, TrailerShelf is a curated site that features book trailers in a variety of genres including literature and fiction, mystery, young adult, spirituality, history, biography, art books, children's literature, and indie authors. There is no charge to submit your book trailer, but the site is selective about acceptance, based on the quality and creativity of the video and the expected audience for the book. They expect to add a paid advertising feature with modest fees. Wildbound PR founder Julia Drake says, "The prices [are likely to] range from $10 for social media amplification to $75 for being featured in our Top Trallers section. There's no way to tell on the site whether placement is paid for or not, but bear in mind that we have to accept the submission, so if we feel that the placement is not warranted, we won't accept the sponsored listing. We will have a special section to highlight great trailers for self-published and indie books to help self-published and indie authors get more exposure."
Web Hosting Rating’s Top 100 Web Design Resources
Freelance website developer Lisa Sanovski reviews service providers on her Web Hosting Rating site, which includes this extensive list of her favorite resources for fonts, graphics, stock photos, logo editors, and other web design tools.
Website Setup: 10 Best Website Builders
Website Setup is web designer Robert Mening's tech support site for artists and small business owners seeking to set up their own website or blog. Authors who are weighing the pros and cons of a custom design versus website-building software will benefit from this list, updated annually, of the most user-friendly and cost-effective site builders.
Widbook
Widbook is an online platform for book discussions and collaborative writing. Widbook users can work together on an e-book manuscript in real time, as an alternative to passing around their separate drafts.
WordCraft
WordCraft is a writing consultant collective in Los Angeles. Their blog features a weekly "Submission Sunday" post that shares the latest calls for submissions from reputable literary journals.
