Recommended Resources for Freelance Writers and Authors

Note:  I do not accept referral fees for any of the links on this page.  Equally, none of the links are here because of "You recommend my site and I'll recommend yours" offers. Why? Because I believe in offering no-strings-attached, no-hidden-incentives value to Web site visitors. I have personally checked out every resource below and have listed only those that in my judgment are unequivocally worthy of your time.

Click on the bold site title to go to that site.

Ask the Expert: Free answers to questions about book marketing from authors and publishers who have been there and done that.

Authorlink: Most valuable feature: interviews with editors at major publishing houses. Also includes publishing on demand services, excerpts from recently released books, publishing news.

Best of the British Markets: A budding directory of British magazines that pay writers.

Big Guide to Guidelines: From Writer's Digest, searchable guidelines for over 1,300 magazines.

Book Announcements: Send a press release specifically to booksellers, librarians and book-related media contacts

Book Connector:  Free database of book review web sites and book signing/reading venues

Book Review Web Sites: Looking for reviewers for your ebook or self-published book?  Tons of possibilities here.

Book Printers:  If you're self-publishing, consult this list before choosing a printer for your book.

Books and Tales:  Scroll down to the "Print on Demand" section and you'll find reviews of a couple dozen print on demand publishers.

British, Canadian, American Spelling:  "Practise" or "practice"?  "Honour" or "honor"?  "Smelt" or "smelled"?  Interesting chart.

City and Regional Magazines Association:  Contact information for more than 100 local publications throughout the U.S.

Commercial Book Publishers: Terrific jump site linking you to hundreds of large and small publishers' Web sites.

Commercial Writing FAQ: Find out whether writing for business clients might be for you.

CopyLaw:  Articles demystifying copyright law, including how and when to get permission to quote from a published text, what is fair use and how you can and can't use public domain material.

Directory of Literary Agents on the Net: This directory includes only agents who do not charge reading fees, searchable by country or by genre (literary fiction, alternative lifestyles, coffee table books, biography, etc.).

Fact-checking 101:  Interesting article on how professionals verify facts prior to publication.

Freelance Success: I'm constantly asked, where do experienced magazine writers hang out on the Net? If you subscribe to this newsletter, you get access to its valuable online forum, where freelancers share problems, advice, successes and perspectives. 

Grade Level Analyzer: Is your writing overly complicated, way over the heads of the average person?  Find out here.

Guide to Literary Agents:  Useful advice, listings and links on finding the right literary agent for you.

Libraries Interested in Author Readings:  This database can help you plan an author tour.

Magazine Launch:  Listings of new magazines coming into the world, going back to 2005.

MediaBistro: Lots of writing/editing job listings, but you can't easily search for just the freelance opportunities.

Mr. Magazine:  Samir Husni, a media professor at the University of Mississippi, keeps track of launches of new magazines and tells you about them here.

Parenting Publications:  This association enables you to search for parenting publications in a specific geographical area

Permission Links:  To use other people's work in your own, you may need to locate the copyright holder and ask permission.  This page explains how.

Preditors & Editors: A service of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, this provides numerous resources of interest to all writers, such as worldwide literary agent listings -- some labeled "not recommended."

Print on Demand Database:  Chart comparing services, policies and prices of 18 publishers offering low-entry-cost self-publishing services.  

Project Estimating Tool:  Helps you calculate what to charge on a particular writing project.  

Publishers Lunch:  Want the poop on which agents are selling what to whom for how much?  This newsletter tells (almost) all.

Publishers Marketplace:  An easily searchable database of agents, publishers, book packagers, book doctors and publishing consultants.

Publishing Law Center: From Denver attorney Lloyd L. Rich comes hard-to-find, authoritative and up-to-date information on legal aspects of fictional characters, parodies, subsidiary rights, "fair use," work for hire and more.

Sample Book Proposal:  Literary agent Bill Adler, Jr., provides an example of a book proposal by him that won a contract.  Poke around on his site and you'll also find a book publishing FAQ and other gems.

Self-Publishing Success Stories:  Inspiring "did it myself" examples from John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. The list of famous self-publishers goes on and on and on...

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing:  In chart form, compares what you can earn from self-publishing vs. royalty arrangements with traditional publishers 

Small Town Press: Excellent basic journalism articles specifically geared to writing for local newspapers.

Spoken Books Publishing:  Works with selected authors to create audio versions of their books, for a fee

Statistics Every Writer Should Know:  A primer for journalists on concepts like "median," "standard deviation," "margin of error."

Surfing the Amazon:  Learn how to translate the sales rank info for books on Amazon.com into probable sales numbers.

Tips for Locating and Working With Freelance Writers: Advice for editors on hiring and paying freelance talent, from CNW Publishing.

Tips for Writers: Moira Allen, author of the book Writing.com, serves up numerous useful articles here, such as How to Self-Syndicate Your Column, How to Write (and Sell) Personal Experience Articles, Subsidy Publishing vs. Self-Publishing, The Taxman Cometh.

Trade Publications:  Find hundreds of specialized industry publications here, from ABA Banking Journal to Wireless Week.

Trade Writer's Resource Center:  Links to trade magazines in 20 categories, from Arts & Entertainment to Travel, Event & Hospitality.

Useit.com: Jakob Nielsen's Website: If you want to write for the web, study the articles at this site - authoritative, sensible and hard-hitting. See especially: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines; How People Read on the Web; Prioritize: Good Content Bubbles to the Top.

Well-Fed Writer Group:  Discussion list (free signup) for those aiming at a career as a freelance commercial writer. 

Write4kids.com:  Produced by The Children's Book Insider, this site includes articles on children's book genres, sorted by age group, a FAQ on writing for kids, a glossary of publishing terms and perspective on children's books in the past and now.

Wooden Horse Publishing:  Valuable free updates on who's up to what in the magazine publishing world, links to job information sites and a glossary defining terms from "advertorial" to "zine."

Worldwide Freelance Writer:  No need to limit your sights to North America.  This site shows how to sell your work all around the world.  Market listings too!