Copyright 2007
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Helpful Tips for Writers
By
Gary Bennett
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USEFUL WEB SITES FOR WRITERS As writers, we have obstacles
to overcome, from learning all of the in’s and out’s of our profession, to
finding agents and publishers and determining which ones are good and which
ones are bad. The web sites below are tools that we can use to do this with.
I have attempted to organize these sites by category, and I have included comments
based on my experience with them. GENERAL HELP Absolute Write is a fantastic
site that offers help in a very wide range of subjects to the writer with
many useful help forums and a chat room. Registration is free. The first
site, the water cooler, offers most of the help and discussion topics. The
second site, share your work, is where you may post short stories or parts of
larger works for comments and critiques. You can navigate to either site from
the other. I have received really valuable help from these fine folks
and I highly recommend them to you! http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26
Another writers site that may
be useful, though I must admit I haven’t used it much due to Absolute Write
meeting all of my needs, is Write Fine. They offer many help topics and a
chat room also. Writing West is a place to post
essays and non-fiction. It has been idle for awhile, but is in the process of
being revitalized by good friends of mine. http://p088.ezboard.com/NonFiction-and-Essays/fwritingwestfrm7
Here’s another group started by
very good friends of mine, some mighty nice folks here! http://www.thecornercafeforum.com/index.php
Forward Motion for Writers,
another group I have on my computer that I haven’t used for the same reason
as Writers Fine, i.e. Absolute Write. The American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language offers word reference services and more,
it comes with a Google Search in it also. Unsure about what a copyright
is and how it affects you? This site has everything you need to know about
copyrights. http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wmf
LITERARY/WRITERS AGENTS While there are many small
independent presses out there that still accept author submissions, most of
the big boy publishers won’t accept manuscript submissions from anyone but
agents. There are other reasons for having an agent also, a good agent knows
the publishing business and which publisher would not only be the most
suitable for your particular work, but (this is a very big but) which
publishers pay the most. Since Agents work for a
percentage, plus expenses, of your pay for your work, the above is a good
motivating factor for them to get you the largest possible amount. WARNING: There are a lot of
dirt-bag scam artists out there that call themselves Literary and/or Writers
Agents that are running rackets. They are usually identified by wanting
"up front" money from you. This is how the dastards make their living,
off of any money they collect from YOU. A simple rule to follow: MONEY
FLOWS TO THE WRITER, NOT FROM THE WRITER. Avoid any agent wanting money from
you. Reputable agents make their
money from the sales they make for you, AFTER the fact of the sale. Their commission
is a mutually agreed-on percentage and reasonable expenses they incur
promoting your product. They do not charge reading fees - another trick of
scam-artist agents who will take your money and do nothing else for you. "Well, geeze, are there
any easy ways to tell the good agents from the bad ones, other than the facts
noted above?" You may well ask. NO. This is something you have
to do research on for each individual agent you may consider. Fortunately,
there is help out there to do this. The standards set by The
Association of Authors’ Representatives are good ones. The members of http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=9693&orgId=aar
Ok, so are all of the good
agents in the The below listed sites are the
ones I use the most to check out an agent: Preditors and Editors provides
listings of Publishers and Agents that are annotated. These annotations
provide useful information, especially warnings about bad agents/publishers,
plus much more helpful info for writers. I usually start my agent research
here first. http://invirtuo.cc/prededitors/peba.htm
Writers Beware is a site hosted
by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of American, Inc. A very
good site. Absolute Writers Bewares and
Background Checks. Great Info here! http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22
Please use these sites, or
others like them, to properly research an agent. Agents receive hundreds to
thousands of submissions queries each month from writers. Some agencies will
deal only with established authors. Naturally, there are more rejections than
acceptances. A good query letter is absolutely essential to catch the agent’s
attention. Simply use your search engine
with the topic of "How to write a good query letter" or "Query
Letters" and you’ll come up with more sites on this subject that you can
shake a stick at. Not all of them agree on format or content, I suggest
reading a few and using your own common sense to combine what the best ideas
are into your own query letter. some of the best sites are the organizations
under ‘General Help’ above, that not only tell you how to write a query
letter but let you post it for critique. If you are rejected, DON’T GIVE
UP! Many successful authors’ had to make well over a hundred agent
queries/submissions before their work was accepted and eventually sold. First
time writers, such as many of us are, have the roughest row to hoe - KEEP
TRYING! LISTINGS OF LITERARY AGENTS These are listings of
Agents/Agencies and I’ve found to date. Some are better than others, many
have some obsolete entries, a lot of them have duplicate information on
Agents/Agencies. Remember, each agent you consider should be researched
thoroughly by you, BEFORE you attempt to contact them via a query letter. Check for possible web sites
they may have. These will tell you what genres/types of work that particular
agent/agencies prefer - many of them are very highly selective in that
matter. They will also inform you of exactly how they prefer you to
contact them. Most want a query letter first - without any of your work being
attached to it. Some will accept e-mail queries and submissions which is a
boon to us in the savings of paper, ink and postage. Other’s will only accept
snail mail. LOL, I’m saving them for the last resort. Current editions of Jeff
Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents and Novel
and Short Story Writer’s Market books (as well as many others) are also
valuable tools. Writing is easy - it’s the
editing of your work and finding a good agent that is where the real
work is! Again, RESEARCH EACH AGENT! http://invirtuo.cc/prededitors/peba.htm
http://bksp.org/Agents%20That%20Accept%20Email%20Queries%20(Kristen%20Nelson).pdf
http://www.writers-free-reference.com/agents/index.html
http://booktalk.com/agents1.html http://www.wrhammons.com/graybill-english-literary.htm
http://www.bloomsbury.com/sitemap.asp
http://everyonewhosanyone.com/index.html
http://users.erols.com/veritas/agents4you.htm
ADDITIONAL LINKS While most of the above
references include publisher listings as well as agents, here’s an couple of
extra ones you may find of use. BellaOnline is featured as the
"voice of women". They also have a very good site for the
submission of magazine articles, etc. Check it out! http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2022.asp
This site contains links to a
variety of publishers. http://www.onceuponaromance.net/publisherslinks.html
Considering freelance writing?
Check out this site. http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/
Never thought you’d reach the
end of this, huh? Well you have! My final words are: Remember, a
writer should do all in his/her power to help other writers as much as
possible. If you come across addition web sites and/or printed media that can
be helpful, by all means, pass it on to us! CONTACT INFORMATION Gary M. Bennett Prepared for Hattiesburg Writers
Group, 1 Dec 07 |