By Vanessa Pesa
Writer’s Digest had a useful little article called “101 Best Websites for Writers” recently. I ran through it and pulled out a few especially helpful sites for our busy writers out there juggling full time professions with their part time authorial dreams.
First up is Evil Editor. Don’t let it fool you; this site is not evil at all. It provides much-needed tough love advice on crafting queries, synopses and the beginning chapters of your book.
Grammar Girl is another great website to keep in your back pocket. Mignon Fogarty has created this website to help with all sorts of difficult grammar dilemmas. The website offers podcasts, tips on punctuation, word usage and even developments on the English language.
If you’re an author that needs mentoring in novel writing, check out Helping Writers Become Authors. The site is separated into five sections: Characters, Writing Life, Writing Inspiration, Structuring Your Novel and Editing Your Novel. Anything you could possibly need is right at your fingertips, and it’s well organized so there’s no hassle of searching.
If you’re ready to start publishing, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing could have some tips for you. Author JA Konrath gives insight on how to become a successful genre writer, whether through the traditional publishing route or by self-publishing.
Word Serve Water Cooler serves as an online community of agented authors sharing tips and tricks to help novice authors reach their publishing goals.
Another great site to gain some online support is Wow! Women on Writing. Here women authors stimulate creativity at all stages of the writing process. There are also critique groups, writing prompts and even a list of upcoming writing retreats.
If you’re on the hunt for agents or publishers, stop in at querytracker.net. Here you can, as the title suggests, track submission progress as well. There is an accompanying blog for publishing tips that’s worth a look too.
The final useful site is the Coalition for Independent Authors. This is dedicated to self-published, independent authors with the goal of promoting their books. It’s a great way to network with other writers while getting some great exposure for your work.
Hopefully some or all of these will help out our ambitious writers out there!
Leave a Reply