The business of writing: my recommended websites…
Writers’ Digest publishes its list of recommended websites every year. Mine is different…and much shorter. Last week I just added it to “Steve’s Writing” page here on this website. In this post, I’ll divulge the reasons for my choices—all personal, all subjective. All sites on “Steve’s Writing” are linked to the corresponding website—just double-click to open up a separate window.
Jane Friedman: I read Jane’s blog “There Are No Rules” at Writer’s Digest for many years and started contributing in recent years after I had learned more about the ins and outs of modern publishing, especially the digital revolution. Unfortunately, she no longer has a formal blog, but her website also has a wealth of information for writers.
J A Konrath: J. A. Konrath’s “A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing” provides an irreverent and often controversial look at modern publishing, especially the digital revolution. Mr. Konrath has had amazing success marketing eBooks. Don’t expect much on pBooks (POD), though. His blog comments are often quoted in other blogs.
reference articles on forensics: Author Donna Carrick (see below) brought this interesting website to my attention. Tom Adair runs this blog for writers. He’s a retired senior criminalist with the expertise to write about all topics dealing with forensics. I’ve found this to be useful and complementary to a basic book like An Idiot’s Guide to Criminal Investigation. The blog categories well match those of the book. The topics are treated in enough detail for most crime writing.
indie book reviews: Simon Royle, born in Manchester, England, now living in Bangkok, runs this very useful website. I have linked to the page “The Indie Reviewers List,” but you will find other interesting web pages there also. I’ve always found it hard to obtain reviews for my books (even though I offer free pBooks or eBooks and I am a reviewer who focuses on indie books at Bookpleasures). I struck the mother lode with this list. Please be advised that many reviewers are very busy and most (all in this list) review for free (as do I for Bookpleasures), so reviews might take some time.
Carrick Publishing: Authors Donna Carrick and husband Alex run this website. In addition to marketing their own books (Donna’s The First Excellence was awarded first place in the Indie Publishing Competition last Saturday in New York City), Donna runs a very useful formatting and editing service that can make your eBook (Kindle mobi format or ePubs for Smashwords, which distributes to other on-line services like Barnes & Noble for Nook) the best it can be, a desirable feature in these competitive times. I haven’t used the editing service (I’ve become a master editor myself over many years), but if it rises to the quality of her formatting service, you will be happy. I don’t want to overload her with that kind of work, so go easy on her—she is an excellent and very original writer in her own right!
New Book Journal: R. K. Alan, author of the sci-fi novel Return to Earth, has quite a complete website—a good man to know. However, I was drawn to it by a useful service he provides: he will post the press release of your new book, pretty much as you (or your agent or publisher) write it. That might not seem like much, but my first experience with POD marketing was thousands of press releases spamming magazines, newspapers, and journalists, an operation that surely endeared me to them. It’s always better to target your marketing.
Smashwords: I can’t say enough about Smashwords. Mark Coker founded this service in 2008 to change the way books are published, marketed, and sold. In the three years since its launch, the service has grown to become the leading eBook distributor serving indie authors, small presses, and literary agents. Over 20,000 authors from around the world have published more than 50,000 books at Smashwords. Currently the service competes with Amazon’s KDF—if you want your eBook in all formats you need Kindle’s mobi plus Smashword’s ePubs, which can be distributed to Barnes & Noble for Nook, etc (see Carrick Publishing above).
So, there you have them. I’ve found these sites to be very useful. More general ones that everyone knows about—Google Maps, Wikipedia, Brainy Quotes, etc—often receive clicks by me in any writing session. Of course, I have my array of off-line references too—my Webster’s, Bryson’s, NY Times Style Manual, etc.
Nowadays an author can devote more time to writing and foregoing the legacy route of finding an agent, editor, and publisher. Moreover, even if he uses some of the services above, he or she can be on top of their final product. Of course, more so now than ever before, the writer must produce a quality product—the digital publishing revolution has made the field very competitive.
Should the modern writer forego the legacy route? Your Big Six publishers and most agents would say no, but J. A. Konrath would say yes. I’m still a little ambivalent (see previous posts in the “Writing” category). It’s still great to have the freedom of choice!
In libris libertas…
