Links of Interest to Writers

Here's some writing wisdom to motivate you today.

• Patricia C. Wrede:  Writing Scenes

• Books & Such Literary Management:  The Author-Agent Partnership:  Finding the Right Fit by Mary Keeley @marygkeeley

• Nathan Bransford:  8 Ways To Know If You Have a Good Agent @NathanBransford

• Write to Done:  2 Amazing Ways To Revise your Novel (And When To Use Them) by Darcy Pattison @FictionNotes, blog:  @WritetoDone

• The Blabbermouth Blog:  Five Things You Can Do To Improve Your Query Letter by Tara Slagle @TaraSlagle, blog: @LindaEpstein

• Jane Friedman-Writing, Reading, & Publishing in the Digital Age:  The Complete Guide to Query Letters That Get Manuscript Requests @JaneFriedman

Links of Interest to Writers

Tips for utilizing your writing time wisely!

• Creative Writing With The Crimson League:  The Pros and Cons of Writing on Paper First by Victoria Grefer @vgrefer

• QueryTracker:  Five Ways to Land an Agent by Stina Lindenbratt @StinaLL @QueryTracker

• Writer.ly:  The Importance of Hiring a Professional Editor by Archana Murthy @archiemurthy @WriterlyTweets

• Moody Writing:  Motivating Your Inner Writer by Mooderino @mooderino

• She Writes:  Kickstarter Isn't For Wimps by Elaine Soloway @ElaShapSolo

• Worddreams: 10 Tips From Toxic Feedback by Jacqui Murray @AskaTechTeacher

Links of Interest to Writers

For your reading pleasure...

• Writer's Digest - Brian Klem's Blog: Important Writing Lessons From First-Time Novelists 

• DBW - Digital Book World:  6 Degrees of Agent Evolution by Jason Allen Ashlock

• Huffington Post Books:  Writing Tips:  How To Breathe New Life Into Your Short Stories

• Writers Helping Writers:  How to Cure a Cardboard Villain by Angela Ackerman

• Writer Unboxed:  The Power of Renewal a.k.a. Character Arc by Heather Webb

• The Blue Rose Girls:  Keeping Your Mouth Shut by Grace Lin

Links of Interest to Writers

Some vital reading for all writers:

• The New York Times:  Newbery Winner to Promote Her Genre:  Kate DiCamillo to Be Ambassador of Young People's Literature by Julie Bosman

• Glass Cases:  2013:  A Year in Queries by Sarah LaPolla

• Writers Helping Writers:  Using Colloquial Speech To Spice Up Dialogue by Eli Dahle
• Writers Helping Writers:  Writing Tools

• Daily Writing Tips:  The New, Delightful Use of Because by Maeve Maddox

• Writers In The Storm:  Query Letter Pet Peeves - Agents Speak by Chuck Sambuchino

• Brain Pickings:  How Long It Takes To Form A New Habit by Maria Popova

Links of Interest to Writers

Are you writing today?

• Courage 2 Create:  How to Keep Yourself Grounded When Writing Away From Home by Ollin Morales

• Writer's First Aid:  Course Corrections by Kristi Holl

• The Seekers:  Using Poetry in Your Novel by Sandra Leesmith

• Nick Daw's Writing Blog:  How To Be Your Own Agent, Whether You Have One or Not by Joe Mynhardt

• Stavros Halvatzis:  How to Use Coincidence in Stories

• A Writer's Wings:  The Seven Deadly Sins of World Building by Cynthia D. Griffin

Links of Interest to Writers

Take a moment to learn something new about writing.

• Angela Booth's Writing Blog:  Writing Tip:  Schedule Time To Think and Brainstorm

• Digital Book World:  Trident Media Group Chairman Robert Gottlieb on Re-Engineering The Rold of Literary Agents

• Copyblogger:  Here's How Elizabeth Gilbert (Bestselling Author of Eat, Pray, Love) Writes by Kelton Reid

• Fiction Notes:  Hope, Optimism, Despair:  Writer's Emotional Roller Coaster by Darcy Pattison

• Writer's Digest:  Try These 30-Minute Writing Prompts

• Publisher's Weekly:  Fabulous First Lines (2013) by Elizabeth Bluemle

Links of Interest to Writers

Need something to read? How about some articles on writing?

• The Purple Crayon:  Children's Book Agents & Artist's Representatives:  a Guide by Harold Underdown (If you haven't discovered The Purple Crayon yet, you need to head there RIGHT NOW! It has pretty much anything you'd ever need to know to write for children.

• Writer's Digest:  The 12 Dos and Don'ts of Writing a Blog by Brian A. Klems

• Laini Taylor's Blog:  Book Finishing Day + Retreat Advice

• Author Magazine:  How to Set Up a Virtual Book Tour by Midge Raymond

• Creative Writing Video Tutorials for The Multimedia Age:  Critical Thinking for Creative Writers and Artists by Cy Porter

• Wordy Birdie:  What's Wrong With My Picture Book Text?

Links of Interest to Writers

Learn something new today!

• AuthorCulture:  Deep POV Basics by Paula Mowery

• QueryTracker:  Reaching One Reader at a Time by Sarah Pinneo

• The BookBaby Blog:  How Literary Agents' Responsibilities & Compensation are Changing by Chris Robley

• Courage 2 Create:  Don't Be Afraid to be Ambitious by Ollin Morales

• Fiction Notes:  Lousy First Draft:  It's Hard to Trust the Process by Darcy Pattison

• How to Plan, Write, & Develop a Book:  If You Want to Quit Your Day Job & Be a Full-Time Writer. . .Is it Possible? by Mary Carroll Moore

• Writers in Charge:  40 Ways to Boost Your Brain (Even if You're The Dumbest Writer in the World)

Links of Interest to Writers

Information you may enjoy: 

• Author Magazine:  An Interview with Stella Cameron

• Marjorie Ingall:  Children's Book Footwear
• Marjorie Ingall: Children's Book Footwear, part 2

• The Write Practice:  There Are No Mistakes in the Writer's Studio

• Writer's Digest: 8 Things Stars Wars Can Teach Us About Writing by James Duncan

• Writer's Digest:  How to Write a Novel Readers Won't Put Down by James Scott Bell

• W.I.P:  How to Write an Original Story by Lynda R. Young

• A Story is a Promise:  Storytelling & the Superconscious Mind by Bill Johnson

• Write to Done:  The Secret to Creating Story Structure by K. M. Weiland

• Babbles from Scott Eagan:  Agent Submissions - The Process from the Query to "The Call"

Jill Corcoran Books

Jill Corcoran Books Blog

Agent Jill Corcoran represents children’s book authors, including picture books, chapter books, middle grade and young adult. I always find great information on her site. Recently, she posted a list of interesting past postings offering useful information to help authors get an agent. You’ll find information about her authors, their books, and publishing advice.

Janet Reid, Literary Agent

Janet Reid's Blog

You never know what you’ll find when you visit literary agent Janet Reid’s blog. It might be a picture of a baby moose or a creative pitch for a book by one of her clients or a peek into her query pile. Whatever you find, it won’t be boring.

BookEnds, LLC

BookEnds, LLC Blog

BookEnds, LLC, is a literary agency. It's primary agents include Jessica Faust, Jacky Sach, and Kim Lionetti. Jessica is the main poster of this blog which offers lots of publishing information from an agent’s point of view. Recent posts include advice on avoiding scams, writing query letters, book sale numbers (do you know what “sell-through” means? I didn’t either!), writing mysteries, and staying true to your voice.

Chip MacGregor, Agent

Chip MacGregor's Blog

Sharing information about writing and the publishing industry from an agent’s point of view is the specialty here. Recent posts have included rants and raves on assorted topics and a post from Mr. MacGregor’s assistant, Amanda, sharing three things that are currently annoying her about queries received at the agency.

Agent Savant

Agent Savant

Laurie McLean, an agent with the Larsen Pomada Agency, offers advice and information about the publishing industry on her weblog, Agent Savant. Recent posts have included a search for the next trend in YA literature, thoughts on Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and the FTC ruling regarding bloggers and free review books.

Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent

Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent Blog

No, that’s not Nathan in the screenshot from his blog, that’s the character Dwight Schrute from the American version of The Office. Nathan was using Dwight to announce the finalists in “The 3rd Sort-of-Annual Stupendously Ultimate First Paragraph Challenge.” There were more than 2500 entries in the contest, which only shows how many people love reading Nathan’s blog. He tells it like it is with great style. One of my favorite agent blogs!

Guide to Literary Agents

Guide to Literary Agents

I’ve listed this blog under Agent Blogs although it is actually written by the editor of the Writer’s Digest yearly Guide to Literary Agents. This blog updates the current edition of the guide by posting updates and changes in the listings. It also offers other tidbits of information, such as the September 27th post on Word Count for Novels and Children’s Books: The Definitive Post. A great blog for up-to-date info on Agents even if you don’t own a copy of the guide.

Agent Search

If your manuscript is the best you can make it or if your nonfiction book proposal is complete, you'll probably be wanting to start querying agents. Here are three sites that can help you in that search.

This is LitMatch. You can join for free . It will assist you in finding agents and tracking your submissions to them.

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At Agent Query the subheading reports that it’s “the internet’s largest and most current database of literary agents.” You can search for agents and read valuable information about queries and writing in general.

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Query Tracker is a place to find literary agents, organize and track your queries, and view agent statistics. It says that it is the most advanced database of literary agents available on the web.

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All three sources offer similar features. I recommend checking each of them out to see which is a better fit for your agent search. Good Luck!

If you know of any other good agent search sites, please let me know.