Hello writers. Many years ago, when someone first explained to me what this series of tubes* called the internets was, I said, "Oh man. That sounds like a way for isolated sickos, like white supremacists, to find each other."
Turns out I was wrong, of course. It's a way for isolated sickos who write to find each other.
*I was living in Alaska at the time, where of course the internet really is a series of tubes.
There's so much out there for writers now that it seems like a person starting out now, if s/he had a really good broadband connection, could make a decade's worth of beginners' mistakes in one rainy Saturday afternoon and then type out a bestseller on Sunday.
There are websites where you can find short story markets, query agents, ask the advice of anonymous editors, find out if the publisher who's offered to publish you is for real... I mean, everything. What follows is by no means complete and is probably skewed to my interests, so please add your own favorite sites.
What's out there?
Editors
I've found Editorial Anonymous very helpful... I sent her (I get a "her" vibe) a question and she answered it on her blog; info I could not have gotten elsewhere. She's a children's editor. Editorial Ass works at a small press, I think; she (I get even more of a "she" vibe) also answers questions.
Not all are anonymous; Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein blogs here.
Harold Underdown's Purple Crayon is a goldmine of useful articles about how publishing works and how to get out of the slushpile, tho' the blog is a little behind. Alan Rinzler's blog The Book Deal is also not updated frequently but there's some useful writing how-to stuff here.
For very funny insights into the editorial world see The Intern.
Markets
Ralan's Webstravaganza is my personal favorite market listing page. The focus is F/SF, and though I've never... no, I take it back, I have made a sale off that page. My sister's made dozens. Many of the listings link directly to online submission forms.
Duotrope Digest is less easy to use, but contains submission stats that tell you how long you're likely to wait to hear back, and what the market's acceptance rate is.
The Black Hole also tracks how long the wait is at various F/SF markets. Querytracker tracks all kinds of response stats. I think they have them for individual publishers if you log in-- I'm not a member.
About book publishing from a sales-and-marketing angle, see Pimp My Novel, which is updated every business day at 10 am ET, making it probably the most regular blog in the write-o-sphere.
Agents
Y'know, as I think of all the agents' blogs (and they are legion) it occurs to me that the main proponents of the myth that you need an agent in order to sell your book are, wait for it now-- agents. Some of these blogs are terrific, though.
See Nathan Bransford for constantly cheery advice about writing and news about the marketplace. (If your comments are too negative he'll delete 'em; ask me how I know.) For a more jaundiced outlook, see Janet Reid, who also runs QueryShark.
If QueryShark's bite is too deep, you can get your query critiqued much more gently at Words and Wardances.
For snide leftwing agent-y humor you can't beat The Rejectionist. And if you want to find out what the other team is thinking, try Rachelle Gardner.
If you want to find an agent, check out AgentQuery and QueryTracker. The latter has a search function where you can find out who's representing your favorite authors-- which can be useful for querying. (Dang. You can also find out who's representing me. Those nosy so-and-sos. But not who's representing GussieFN. Hmph.)
If you use AgentQuery, be sure to also google and see if the agents you pick have webpages. Nathan Bransford advises querying agents in batches of 5-7 at a time; if you get nothing but form rejections to the first batch then you can stop and tweak your query without having poisoned the whole pond.
Writers' Communities and Writing Advice
AbsoluteWrite probably has the biggest writing forums* on the web. You can find everything there, including long threads discussing the publishing news-of-the-day, and advice about avoiding scams. I've often seen Big Name Writers participating in the threads.
*I think the plural of forum should be "fora". But it looks funny.
Critters is a large online critique group/workshop. Forward Motion for Writersis an online community for people who want to become professional writers.
British author Nicola Morgan is probably the most prolific advisor on the web. It's good stuff too.
American author Holly Lisle has tons of downloadable writing advice, most of it free.
Publishers
Publishers Weekly is, despite the name, updated daily. I always read the book reviews every Monday-- the things the reviewers don't like serve as a reminder of bad writing habits to avoid.
It costs money to subscribe to Publishers Lunch-- but there's a free version too.
The main page of a publisher's website ought to be designed to attract readers. If it is designed to attract writers, then what you are looking at is not so much a publisher as a scam. Cause why? Cause publishers make their money selling books to schools, libraries, and readers, that's why. If the website is aimed at writers, then the company makes its money by charging fees to writers-- or by selling writers copies of their own books.
On legitimate publishers' webpages you really have to search for a submissions page.
Scams
Several webpages are devoted to keeping up with scams, which isn't easy. The scams are getting more complicated every day. A new trick of vanity publishers is not to ask for money up front, but to bury a clause deep in the contract requiring a huge payment if the book sells below a certain level.
Recently I read about a vanity publisher who asked for a huge payment when the book sold below a certain level even though it wasn't in the contract. I doubt this will stand up in court.
Writer Beware Blogs is a good source for the latest scams. If you're not sure about a company or agent and can't find them on Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors, that's not a good sign-- so google their name in quotes and the word "scam" outside of quotes. If that still doesn't turn up anything, go and post a question on AbsoluteWrite. (A new user will then show up to say s/he's heard it's the most wonderful company in the world, but pay more attention to what the old users say.)
There's lots more out there, on pretty much every subject that has to do with writing and publishing. Got a favorite?
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET) until it isn't. Be sure to check out other great lit'ry diaries like:
sarahnity's books by kossacks on Tuesdays
plf515's What Are You Reading? on Wednesday mornings.
cfk's bookflurries on Wednesday nights.
Your happy writing links for the week:
From the Guardian, approximately 10 rules for writing fiction by various writers...
...and also a guide to the British write-o-sphere.
On writing flash fiction.
The nytimes tries to figure out how much publishers make on e-books.
Nathan Bransford tries to talk you down from your sequel.
George Orwell also had some rules for writing, come to find out. h/t teh guru.
An article on the increasing importance of delivering an already-polished manuscript. (And on the necessity of agents, by... an agent.)
Average advances for F/SF.
If you've received over $2000 for an advance, author Jim C. Hines would like you to participate in a survey about how you did it.
Never, ever sign anything with any agent or publisher whom you haven't checked out at Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors.