We Recommend These Sites for Writers
Reference Resources
Christian and Religious
Resources
Craft of Writing
Good Blogs on Publishing
Recent Books for Writers
Writer's Digest's Top Web Sites
People Searches
Poetry Resources
Publisher Addresses, Web Sites, Email, Services
Publisher
Guidelines
Our Opinions
-
Library of Congress -- search this first for a book or author.
It's a gateway to Library of Congress and hundreds of academic libraries.
Amazing and free!
Library and Information Science
(expanded Library of Congress)
-
Chicago Public Library
-
Academic
Resources
- Internet Public Library
-- IPL is University of Michigan's research aid.
-
University of Georgia Reference Site
Chicago Style Manual
summary and other references.
-
-
Wheaton College Library See also the
Christian section below for seminary links.
-
-
University of Virginia Portico --amazing amount of web link
information for research and statistics
- Lookup Sources
- IQuest --
a fee based source for magazine, journal,
and newspaper articles.
-
MagPortal is a search
device for magazine articles on a topic you request.
- ITools
- Another search engine for
subjects. It includes discussion groups as well as web sites.
Ref
Desk -- Likewise a huge
resource that links you to other huge resources.
National Press Club
Resources
Good resources for
journalistic accuracy
Search Systems for public databases such as stats, records, etc.
University of
Virginia Portico --amazing amount of web link information
for research and statistics
ProfNet
-- now largely
dominated by PR links, but useful still for academic authorities and other
resources.-
BookWire
Bestbookbuys
Comparison shopping site for book buying online: compares what various
services would charge for any title, including shipping
Your Dictionary
An online dictionary in
multiple languages. Includes grammar, thesaurus, other simple reference
lookups.
Writers' Free Reference Site
A set of links to numerous useful
sites for writers.
- Bibliomania
-- on line literature
- Bartleby Outstanding reference source for free classics,
dictionaries, and poetry from Bartleby.Com
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Based at Calvin College, this site
includes public domain Christian classics, hymns (and hymnbooks), and a vast
array of sources.
-
Digital Books
public domain texts from University of Pennsylvania's Digital Library
-
-
-
People Reference
-
- AnyWho From AT&T and one of
the best, containing over 90 million US listings. It also has a reverse lookup
where you can locate a person or business from their telephone number.
- Switchboard.com
A phone and address service
-
-
Top
Christian
Resources
-
- Christianity Today
Online
The many publications of
Christianity Today Inc. Best for original content, news, and updated facts.
Christian Literature Resources
Numerous links and files developed by Institute for Christian Leadership
Research Resources and Links
Valuable links to numerous
academic resources, statistics, and other scholarly resources located by
Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Theological Libraries
Top seminary libraries in the US and Canada
- C.S. Lewis
Site for Lewis
information, with Doug Gresham's input
- "Look for it Online"
a Christian listing of other sites and resources, including
addresses, organizations.
- OnLine
Concordance Several translations (English) from Gospel.Com site.
Wheaton College
Library --can't be beat for popular Christian books
and evangelical resources.
Wheaton College
Billy Graham Center Archives -- unique research files on Christian
missions, evangelism, evangelical leaders, and historical issues related to
the evangelical movement.
- Christian Classics Ethereal
Library Based at Calvin College, this site includes public domain
Christian classics, hymns (and hymnbooks), and a vast array of sources.
Christian Writers Guild
Under author Jerry B. Jenkins
provides mentoring services for writers who welcome a program "to educate,
train, and support writers who desire to promote a biblically based, Christian
worldview."
-
Andy LePeau, Editor at InterVarsity Press
Dirk
Wierenga Publishing consultant
-
-
Writer Resources
Common Errors in
English.
Your
Dictionary An online dictionary in multiple languages. Includes
grammar, thesaurus, other simple reference lookups.
Columbia
University guide to citations -- how to cite web sites,
books etc.
Hyper Dictionary
excellent place to look up words, phrases, foreign expressions.
Writer's Edge Manuscript Service
complete information and Book
Information Forms on line, publisher lists, frequently asked questions,
reports from recent months.
A fee-based service to screen manuscripts for
mainly religious publishers, but a free web site. Includes searchable archives
of over 3000 screened book proposals going back ten years.
ECPA's Christian Manuscript posting on
the web site for the evangelical publishers organization. Fee-based for writers. Membership-based for
publishers.
RoseDog--a
general market writer exposure web site of commercial intent connected to an
on-demand or subsidy publisher
Authorlink!
About Writers, Writing,
Editors, Literary Agents. They post manuscript proposals similar to Writer's
Edge and First Edition, though for the general market.
We have not researched
their effectiveness and do not have an opinion on their services.
Romance writers may be interested in the information at the
Karen Fox site with her ample coverage of Christian romance writing.
FaithWriters.com is a resource for Christian writers to showcase their
writing skills and get feedback from other writers.
This is one of several web
sites for Christians who do writing for pleasure or career. See also
ChristianWriters.com
Writing.Com is a general support site
for people in the hobby or profession of writing. The manager describes it as "an online community for writers of all ages, interests
and skill levels. Anyone may create a free portfolio and exchange feedback
with other writers. We were amongst Writer's Digest's 101 'Best Websites For
Writers, 2005' and have thousands of writers within our community."
Wordstoprofit.com focuses
on marketing your work, motivating you as a writer, and finding the audience
for your ideas, managed by writer Diane Eble.
Top
There's a small industry of publishing for writers,
including reference books, motivational books, magazines, and tutorials. Here
are some recent ones:
Christian Writer's Market Guide [current year]. This
is the famed Sally Stuart annual reference for the Christian publishing scene,
now managed by Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild. Get the
latest one. You'll find addresses, wise counsel, listings of magazines and
book publishers, plus markets for difficult genre like poetry and photography.
The cost will be about $25. The publisher is Tyndale House.
The Complete Guide to Christian Writing and Speaking,
edited by Susan Titus Osborn, published by Write Now Publications, a division
of ACW, in Phoenix. Revised edition. These 18 contributors are veterans who
have placed their books, scripts, and articles in the marketplace with
success. Lee Roddy's chapter on contracts alone justifies the $15 price. This
is writers' conference fare, with good material on the unique issues
idealistic Christian writers live with.
No More Rejections, by Alice Orr. One of many titles published by Writer's
Digest Books. The title may evoke "Yeah--right," but there's some good content
especially for fiction writing.
The Everything Guide to Writing
Children's Books, by Lesley Bolton (Adams Media, 2003, $14.95). This is a
basic overview of the unique issues related to publishing your children's
manuscript, including some accurate discussion of self-publishing.
Book Proposals That $ell, by W. Terry Whalin (Write
Now Publications, 2005, $14). Terry Whalin has been active in the Christian
book scene in numerous roles, including acquisitions, and here lends some
practical, targeted counsel for plausible book proposals when you get that
far. Of course, it's always better to relate face to face with an editor, but
that won't happen for most writers most of the time, and even then the
acquiring editor will want to see a proposal. Whalin offers some useful
samples of good proposals and answers the format questions that so many
writers worry about. There's a good chapter on creating titles, a common
weakness we see in submissions to The Writer's Edge.
The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches, and Proposals,
by Moira Allen (Allworth Press), covers some of the same content with author
opinions never omitted.
Helpful counsel on describing your novel is available in a new book from
Writer's Digest: Give 'Em What They Want by Blythe Camenson and
Marshall Cook, subtitled "The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and
Agents." This would provide good advice on your Writer's Edge submission as
well as any direct relationships with editors.
New recently: The Essential Guide to Getting
Your Book Published by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry (Workman,
2010). A fine overview of every aspect of getting your manuscript in print.
Includes a section on self-publishing.
Top
Poetry Resources
Although The Writer's Edge does not accept or consider poetry
submissions, we realize this is a strong area of interest among writers. The
commercial opportunity for poetry is almost non-existent but the exercise of
writing and reading poetry will be an important aspect of your development as
a writer. The following web sites may be helpful:
Pictured:
Gerard Manley Hopkins
www.poets.org
"perhaps the most impressive and
well-funded poetry-oriented site."
[Books, April 2000]
www.poems.com
useful service to find poem sources in
print. Includes news and reports of poetry publications.
http://www.ilovepoetry.com
The site offers advice,
listings, and publishing tips. Useful site to find other sites.
Amsterdam, a page of poetry resouces.
E-Server: text of some key
poets commonly studied
http://www.LuciShaw.com Web site of a
leading Christian poet.
A good reference source: Writer's Digest Books regularly produces a Poet's
Market. Look for a title like 2011 Poet's Market.
Great Books OnLine Outstanding reference source
for free classics, dictionaries, and poetry from Bartleby.Com
How to Publish Your Poetry, by Helene Ciaravino (SquareOne Publishers,
$15.95). Yes, there are words on these pages! Poetry is nearly impossible to
get into print, but she has some suggestions of journals and small press items
that raise hopes. She also discusses the self-publishing option.
Also see book choices in previous question
above.
Top
Publisher Addresses and other services
We recommend Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market Guide (Tyndale)
as the best annual directory of addresses and personnel for publishers in the
Christian market. Most bookstores have it or can order it.
ECPA site, which provides web addresses for your target
company if it's a member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
Here are your web addresses:
ECPA
And of course your local library will have Literary Marketplace, Writer's Market, and Books in Print.
Try any publisher's web site for a page on "writer information."
Writer's Digest has some of the religious publishers' guidelines
available on its site. We expect these to stay current. They will give you the key product lines for a number of the larger Christian publishers. Take a look
at this link: Writer's Digest
Religious Guidelines and search to religious publishers.
The
Authorlink
Web site has
guidelines from a few religious publishers and numerous general publishers.
Services
For help in self-publishing (but
see our "Opinions" section), you may need a broker or
advisor to sort out features and prices. We can recommend Susan Perez, based in
Pennsylvania. Check her web site at www.perezprintpro.com. The site has help
for small publishers and other printing services.
Top
Academic Resources
Ref Desk -- Likewise a huge resource that links you to other huge resources.
National Press Club Resources Good resources for journalistic accuracy
Search Systems for public databases such as stats, records, etc.
University of Virginia Portico --amazing amount of web link information for research and statistics
ProfNet -- now largely dominated by PR links, but useful still for academic authorities and other resources.
Bestbookbuys Comparison shopping site for book buying online: compares what various services would charge for any title, including shipping
Your Dictionary An online dictionary in multiple languages. Includes grammar, thesaurus, other simple reference lookups.
Writers' Free Reference Site A set of links to numerous useful sites for writers.
TopChristian Resources
Dirk
Wierenga Publishing consultant
Common Errors in
English.
Your
Dictionary An online dictionary in multiple languages. Includes
grammar, thesaurus, other simple reference lookups.
Columbia
University guide to citations -- how to cite web sites,
books etc.
Hyper Dictionary
excellent place to look up words, phrases, foreign expressions.
Writer's Edge Manuscript Service
complete information and Book
Information Forms on line, publisher lists, frequently asked questions,
reports from recent months.
A fee-based service to screen manuscripts for
mainly religious publishers, but a free web site. Includes searchable archives
of over 3000 screened book proposals going back ten years.
ECPA's Christian Manuscript posting on
the web site for the evangelical publishers organization. Fee-based for writers. Membership-based for
publishers.
RoseDog--a
general market writer exposure web site of commercial intent connected to an
on-demand or subsidy publisher
Authorlink!
About Writers, Writing,
Editors, Literary Agents. They post manuscript proposals similar to Writer's
Edge and First Edition, though for the general market.
We have not researched
their effectiveness and do not have an opinion on their services.
Romance writers may be interested in the information at the
Karen Fox site with her ample coverage of Christian romance writing.
FaithWriters.com is a resource for Christian writers to showcase their
writing skills and get feedback from other writers.
This is one of several web
sites for Christians who do writing for pleasure or career. See also
ChristianWriters.com
Writing.Com is a general support site
for people in the hobby or profession of writing. The manager describes it as "an online community for writers of all ages, interests
and skill levels. Anyone may create a free portfolio and exchange feedback
with other writers. We were amongst Writer's Digest's 101 'Best Websites For
Writers, 2005' and have thousands of writers within our community."
Wordstoprofit.com focuses
on marketing your work, motivating you as a writer, and finding the audience
for your ideas, managed by writer Diane Eble.
Top
There's a small industry of publishing for writers, including reference books, motivational books, magazines, and tutorials. Here are some recent ones:
Christian Writer's Market Guide [current year]. This is the famed Sally Stuart annual reference for the Christian publishing scene, now managed by Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild. Get the latest one. You'll find addresses, wise counsel, listings of magazines and book publishers, plus markets for difficult genre like poetry and photography. The cost will be about $25. The publisher is Tyndale House.
The Complete Guide to Christian Writing and Speaking, edited by Susan Titus Osborn, published by Write Now Publications, a division of ACW, in Phoenix. Revised edition. These 18 contributors are veterans who have placed their books, scripts, and articles in the marketplace with success. Lee Roddy's chapter on contracts alone justifies the $15 price. This is writers' conference fare, with good material on the unique issues idealistic Christian writers live with. No More Rejections, by Alice Orr. One of many titles published by Writer's Digest Books. The title may evoke "Yeah--right," but there's some good content especially for fiction writing. The Everything Guide to Writing Children's Books, by Lesley Bolton (Adams Media, 2003, $14.95). This is a basic overview of the unique issues related to publishing your children's manuscript, including some accurate discussion of self-publishing. Book Proposals That $ell, by W. Terry Whalin (Write Now Publications, 2005, $14). Terry Whalin has been active in the Christian book scene in numerous roles, including acquisitions, and here lends some practical, targeted counsel for plausible book proposals when you get that far. Of course, it's always better to relate face to face with an editor, but that won't happen for most writers most of the time, and even then the acquiring editor will want to see a proposal. Whalin offers some useful samples of good proposals and answers the format questions that so many writers worry about. There's a good chapter on creating titles, a common weakness we see in submissions to The Writer's Edge.
The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches, and Proposals,
by Moira Allen (Allworth Press), covers some of the same content with author
opinions never omitted.
Helpful counsel on describing your novel is available in a new book from
Writer's Digest: Give 'Em What They Want by Blythe Camenson and
Marshall Cook, subtitled "The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and
Agents." This would provide good advice on your Writer's Edge submission as
well as any direct relationships with editors.
New recently: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry (Workman, 2010). A fine overview of every aspect of getting your manuscript in print. Includes a section on self-publishing.
Although The Writer's Edge does not accept or consider poetry submissions, we realize this is a strong area of interest among writers. The commercial opportunity for poetry is almost non-existent but the exercise of writing and reading poetry will be an important aspect of your development as a writer. The following web sites may be helpful:
Pictured: Gerard Manley Hopkins
www.poets.org
"perhaps the most impressive and
well-funded poetry-oriented site."
[Books, April 2000]
www.poems.com
useful service to find poem sources in
print. Includes news and reports of poetry publications.
http://www.ilovepoetry.com
The site offers advice,
listings, and publishing tips. Useful site to find other sites.
Amsterdam, a page of poetry resouces.
E-Server: text of some key
poets commonly studied
http://www.LuciShaw.com Web site of a
leading Christian poet.
A good reference source: Writer's Digest Books regularly produces a Poet's
Market. Look for a title like 2011 Poet's Market.
Great Books OnLine Outstanding reference source for free classics, dictionaries, and poetry from Bartleby.Com
How to Publish Your Poetry, by Helene Ciaravino (SquareOne Publishers, $15.95). Yes, there are words on these pages! Poetry is nearly impossible to get into print, but she has some suggestions of journals and small press items that raise hopes. She also discusses the self-publishing option.
Also see book choices in previous question above.
Top
We recommend Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market Guide (Tyndale) as the best annual directory of addresses and personnel for publishers in the Christian market. Most bookstores have it or can order it.
ECPA site, which provides web addresses for your target
company if it's a member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
Here are your web addresses:
ECPA
And of course your local library will have Literary Marketplace, Writer's Market, and Books in Print.
Try any publisher's web site for a page on "writer information."
Writer's Digest has some of the religious publishers' guidelines available on its site. We expect these to stay current. They will give you the key product lines for a number of the larger Christian publishers. Take a look at this link: Writer's Digest Religious Guidelines and search to religious publishers.The Authorlink Web site has guidelines from a few religious publishers and numerous general publishers.
Services For help in self-publishing (but see our "Opinions" section), you may need a broker or advisor to sort out features and prices. We can recommend Susan Perez, based in Pennsylvania. Check her web site at www.perezprintpro.com. The site has help for small publishers and other printing services.
Top