Where do I find . . .? A writer's guide to literary resources

Ever wondered how to make the most of the writing contests we enter? Or where to find book reviewers? Or literary agents? Illustrations? Publishing markets? I’ve combed my favorite sites to answer these questions for readers who may want to pursue these options further, or even subscribe for yourself.

Book publicity: Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter is a wonderful source of information. Although I subscribe to Writer Unboxed, I overlooked its discussion of book promotion sites until Friedman's mention of a blogger's experience with daily deal book promotion sites. These are similar to BookBub, but often more accessible.

Book reviewers: Because I review quite a few books on Amazon (as well as on Goodreads and this blog) I receive far more review requests than can be honored. So imagine my delight on finding a searchable data base of book review bloggers at the Reedsy site – Best Book Review Blogs of 2017.

Contests: Writer Unboxed blogger Arthur Klepchukov posts each season about writing contests and why he considers them worth his time (and money). Publishing source sites Duotrope's Digest and Ralan (more about these later) also list contests. 

image: wikimedia commons

You’re also welcome to follow my posts, which include contests often of a more regional appeal, such as the Texas Short Story Contest for writers in grades 6-12 (with a January 15, 2018, deadline) and the Writers’ League of Texas manuscript contest, whose deadline is January 31, 2018, and Book Awards Contest . The Book Awards Contest is only open to Texas writers; the manuscript contest has no residence requirements.

Graphics and illustrations: I use images weekly on my blog posts, so I’m always interested in fresh, copyright-free illustrations. My personal favorites for downloading pictures and photos are Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons. I’m just getting the hang of Flickr. All of these encourage users to share their own photos and illustrations, copyright free. 

Not to knock these sources, but when I want photos of more diverse ethnicities, I’m going to try one of Jane Friedman’s suggestions (again!) and go to Nappy which specializes in photos of black and brown people. 

Literary agents: Query Tracker is a free, searchable data source of more than 1,500 agents. Search for agents by genre, and keep track of query dates, responses, average response times, and more. I’ve found it generally up to date, although you’ll have to check agent websites (links are available) for specific submission guidelines. Query Tracker also lists publishers who accept unagented manuscripts. Again, check the website links, as I found some of these charge fees.

And don’t forget the old standby, Writer’s Digest’s newsletters, which frequently feature new and hungry literary agents looking to increase their client list, as well as other writerly tidbits.

Publishing markets: In spite of its $50 annual membership fee it’s hard to beat Duotrope's Digest for its variety of market listings for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry markets. It offers a free, limited-time trial membership. Or get it as a last minute holiday gift, for yourself or a writer you love.

If you can’t bring yourself (yet) to pay Duotrope’s fee, a free, searchable alternative for genre writers is Ralan. The ever-helpful Jane Friedman also offers suggestions on finding both agents and publishers, from the for-pay Writers Marketplace to freebies like Ralan and more. As mentioned earlier, Query Tracker also provides some help in locating publishers.

Scam detection sites: The beloved (by some) Preditors & Editors site is on hiatus. However, it suggests other scam-detection sites: Critters Workshop and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Writer Beware site.