How Writers Can Use This Database
Here you can see how other writers have dealt with your topic. You might be amazed at a fictional treatment of some fairly abstract topic. Use the search features here to stimulate your imagination.
Good ideas:
You can't legitimately "copy" another writer's work, and you shouldn't
(ethically) even copy another writer's title (the law permits it, but propriety
should incline you to think up your own). Some writers are paranoid that others
will "steal" their ideas, but the pool of ideas is public and huge, so we have
always encouraged writers to talk about their projects. There is both a finite
number of subjects and an infinite number of treatments of them. So . . .
Don't be intimidated by the size of the list. There are lots of people wanting to write a book and maybe even a book on your topic. But you will put your own stamp on anything you create, even if it's a book on a very common subject. Publishers are constantly putting some books out of print, adding new ones, and frequently replacing the older books with the same subjects in new dress.
Search on a topic:
See what has been submitted in the past. Example: You'd like to write a book
on Mexican migrant workers, fictional for children. Enter a key word like
"Mexico" or "Mex" into the content search. See who else has tried this. Or you
might want to find potential books on family conflicts. Use a key word like
"conflict" or "family" or "abuse" and see what has been submitted over nine
years. Like other search methods, this system looks for an entire string, so use
the shortest unique expression you can. "Mex" would find Mexico, Mexican,
Tex-Mex, and other words with that string. It is case sensitive, so try your
words as upper or lower case.
Find consultants for your research:
Another use for the archives is the quest for authorities and knowledgeable
readers of manuscripts in certain specialized areas. You may have a book ready
for submission but you would like a scholar or an experienced person to read it
over for errors and oversights. Do a search for the subject using key words and
see who might be available.
Author names
For author names and contact information: ask The Writer's Edge if it is
available from the brief description available. (We are able to give out names
and addresses to publishers but not always to the general public.) We do not
feel free to put every writer's name up on our web site without his or her
permission. After 1999, we secured the writers' permissions and therefore can
post their addresses and phone numbers.
Our service to writers:
When your manuscript is accepted with The Writer's Edge, it goes into our
database. Publishers can search for the subject or for your name for five years
to come. As always, we add this caveat: getting published is slow,
uncertain, and without guarantees. The Writer's Edge Service helps you in a
unique way and does so economically. The publishers look to it for potential
books; so when can we see your manuscript? Soon, we hope!