Marketing, Networking, and Writerly Resources

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

Hello, writers! Forgive me if this has been done before, but I wanted to post a thread where we can exchange links and tips for writer resources. What have you used? What works and what doesn't?

There are about a million websites and forums purporting to be helpful to writers, but frankly there's so many of them, I don't know where to start. I really don't want to sign up for a dozen different forums, make a profile, and just let it languish. I'd like to invest in just one or two helpful communities and really put down roots. What communities (outside LJ) are you part of? What's the emphasis of the site and how has it helped you?

For those serious about getting published, I highly recommend a subscription to Writer's Digest magazine. The magazine gives lots of tips on the industry, marketing, finding an agent, the craft of writing--every stage of the process. Not an issue has gone by where I haven't learned something of value that I've applied to my writing life. If you're still just dabbling or having trouble getting started, give it a pass, but if you're ready and selling, or ambitiously writing and need to learn more about the publishing side of the industry, I'd definitely check it out. There's an offer for a cheap subscription ($13/year) here.

The other tool I highly recommend is AgentQuery.com. If you're looking for an agent, this resource is free, up-to-date, easy to search, and it's filtered out all the sharks and scammers so you're only applying to legitimate agents. I tried buying The Writer's Market 2009, but found it to be a waste of money. I got the deluxe edition that allows access to online resources, looked at it, but never used it. Really, all I needed was AgentQuery.com and in-depth Google search for which agents are best in my genre.

Comments

[starlight83.livejournal.com]

So, this is kind of tangentially related to your post...

I followed your link to AgentQuery.com and did a random search, just to see what came up. And I guess I didn't realize how many genres most agents "specialize" in! Most of the people in my search accepted just about everything. I suppose it makes sense. A person probably can't make much of a living selling only some super-niche genre. But holy cow. Some of those agents accept the whole gamut from erotica to cookbooks.

I'm a little curious if a HUGE range of genres means that the agent is a super-agent with a crazy wide variety of contacts. Or if it means that agent is maybe just starting out, throwing everything at the wall, and seeing what sticks.

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

Yeah; I almost find that suspect myself. I'd rather have an agent that specializes more tightly on my genre. I'm guessing the agents that list everything under the sun are just willing to look at certain genres if it catches them in just the right mood. (Like people who list "fantasy", but they only would want to rep a very narrow style of urban fantasy) Otherwise, that's kind of a turn-off. I want an agent that specializes in her market rather than taking what she can get.

[cat-mcdougall.livejournal.com]

Preditors and Editors (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/) - very good to let you know the scams.

Ralan.com (http://www.ralan.com/) - for finding markets

Umm that's it for now, but I'm dehydrated and not thinking well.

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that!

[magickeyboard.livejournal.com]

I subscribe to Writer's Digest and The Writer and have found both very helpful. Also I love to read blogs of Agents and publishers as they have great tips and perspectives that as writers we need and one of the most helpful I've found is this one http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the blog link! I hadn't come across that one yet and now I'm voraciously reading away.

Saw you were a new blogger and a fellow SFF writer, so hope you don't mind me adding you (and that you might add me back)

[magickeyboard.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely don't mind and I added you too! :-) I love reading agent blogs, most of the time they're informative AND entertaining. Keeps me going at work ;-)