Reading Resources

Blogs

• Agent in the Middle - A great blog providing information for new writers
• Allison Winn Scotch's official blog - NY Times best-selling author posts tips on breaking into the publishing world
• Angela Booth's Writing Blog - Includes many tips for writing and copywriting
• Anthologies Online
• Bookends, LLC - Provides publishing advice, including views from the agent's perspective, industry opinions, book reviews, and inspiration
• Bookslut - Many magazine and book reviews as well as interviews with different authors
• Booksquare - Contains insights into the publishing industry, technology, the internet, markets, and writers
• Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind - Baltimore Sun crime fiction columnist and blogger Sarah Weinman provides commentary on crime and mystery fiction, industry links, and genre reviews
• Confident Writing
• Copyblogger
• The Elegant Variation - Blogger and writer Mark Sarvas posts featured quotes, book reviews, contests, interviews, events and industry/bookseller news
• The Emerging Writers Network - *RECENTLY ADDED!* Posts numerous interviews with underappreciated authors and provides great networking opportunities through their newsletter.
• Fuel Your Writing - Provides many editing and writing tips and information broken down by genre, including a "Start the Story" page to help jump-start your writing
• Galleycat - Features updates in the writing world, announcements, profiles, essays, interviews and industry news
• Holly Lisle's blog - Supports and provides information for a community of writers helping each other reach their writing goals
• The Literary Saloon
• Maud Newton's Blog - The Brooklyn-based editor and writer posts literary links, humor, essays, and gossip about the industry
• National Association of Women Writers
• Nathan Bransford's Blog - Literary agent and author gives advice on queries, submitting manuscripts, and what goes on in the mind of an agent
• Poets and Writers - *RECENTLY ADDED!* Much of the content of Poets and Writers Magazine is available here, as well as a lively discussion board, the Speakeasy.
• Predators and Editors - *RECENTLY ADDED!* Helps you conduct background checks on agents and publishers before contacting and working with them.
• Pub Rants - Features advice for writing on query structuring and common beginning-writer mistakes
• Publishing Frontier - Comprehensive website covering the publishing industry, including news on technology and book printing
• Publishing Insider - Carl Lennertz of Harper Collins reflects on why certain books sell and other don't
• Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
• Red Room - *RECENTLY ADDED!* An elegant and easy-to-use place for writers to express themselves, promote their work, and connect with other writers and book lovers.
• The Renegade Writer
• Slushpile - Features interviews, essays on pubilshing, advice for writers and industry news
• Soft Skull - Provides publishing and technology news
• SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists, & Writers Network)
• There Are No Rules - Writers Digest Editor-in-Chief Jane Friedman posts links to articles, tweets,  and videos, and blogs about different ways to improve your writing
• Three Percent
• The Urban Muse - Staff and guest writers post tips on many topics, from how to lengthen and shorten your copy, to what can help you improve your writing
• Word Count by Michelle Rafter
• Writing.org - Includes articles on finding an agent, avoiding scams, and general writing tips.
• Writing Corner - Provides articles on how to motivate the writer, as well as information on writing for fiction, nonfiction, and corporate writers
• Writers Gazette - Features many useful articles on publishing, writing, and editing your book
• WritersNet - Designed to help build relationships between writers, publishers, editors, and agents
• WriteToDone
• The Writer's Handbook Blog
• Writing Forward

Books (Click to review and/or purchase)

• Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, Second Edit, Vol. 1
  By Judith Barrington; Feb 2002
• 2011 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition
  By Robert Lee Brewer (Editor); July 2010
• The Writers Digest Guide To Query Letters
  By Wendy Burt-Thomas; Jan 2009
• How to Sell, Then Write Your Nonfiction Book
  By Blythe Camenson; June 2002
• Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go
  By Les Edgerton; Apr 2007
• Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
  By Natalie Goldberg; Sept 2005
• Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction
  By Lee Gutkind; Feb 2009
• Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
  By Lee Gutkind; Apr 2007
• Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents 2011, 21E: Who They Are! What They Want! How to Win Them Over!
  By Jeff Herman; Oct 2010
• Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why, 2nd Edition
  By Deborah Levine Herman, Jeff Herman; May 2001
• Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform
  By Christina Katz; Nov 2008
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
  By Stephen King; Sept 2002
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
  By Anne Lamott; Sept 1995
• How To Write a Book Proposal
  By Michael Larson; Feb 2004
• Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript
  By Cynthia Laufenber; May 2004
• You Can Market Your Own Book
  By Carmen Leal; May 2003
• The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
  By Noah Lukeman; Jan 2005
• Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life
  By Noah T. Lukeman; June 2003
• The Fire In Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great
  By Donald Maass; May 2009
• Writing the Breakout Novel
  By Donald Maass, Anne Perry (Foreward by); Aug 2002
• The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines
  By Donald Maass; May 2009
• Book Business: Publishing: Past, Present and Future
  By Donald Maass; May 2009
• 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists
  By Andrew McAleer; Jan 2009
• The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal
  By Stephen Mettee, 2001
• The Portable Writer's Conference: Your Guide to Getting Published
  By Stephen Mettee; Sept 2006
• A Complete Guide to Writing for Publication
  By Susan Osborn; Feb 2001
• 2011 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market
  By Alive Pope (Editor); Aug 2010
• Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition
  By Dan Poynter, Mar 2007
• The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy
  By Darin Park; Sept 2002
• Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature
  By Bill Roorbach, Kristen Keckler (With); July 2008
• The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing
  By Tom and Marilyn Ross; Dec 2001
• Making the Perfect Pitch: How To Catch A Literary Agent's Eye
  By Katharine Sands; Apr 2004
• The Elements of Style
  By William Strunk, E.B. White, Charles Osgood (Afterword); July 1999
• The Autobiographer's Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir
  By Jennifer Traig; Sept 2008
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
  By Lynne Truss; Apr 2006
• Plug Your Book!: Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity Through Social Networking
  By Stephen Weber, Julie Bird (Editor); Feb 2007
• Book Proposals That Sell
  By Terry Whalin; Mar 2005
• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
  By William Zinsser; May 2006

Helpful Links

• From First Draft to Finished Novel
  By Karen Wiesner 
  (PDF worksheet)
• TV Tropes
• Character Exercises
  from The Script Lab

• The Plot Whisperer
  
• Story Plan Checklist
  By Karen Wiesner 
  (PDF worksheet)

Literary Magazines

• The Antioch Review
• Fringe
• Granta
• Indiana Review
• Iowa Review
• Ploughshares
• The Sun
• Tin House
• The Writer
• Writers Ask
• Writers' Journal

• Poets & Writers List of Literary Magazines
• Newpages.com List of Literary Magazines