Writing Resources



Yes, I know this page needs to be reworked! I'll get to it someday....

Please let me know of any bad links - I haven't had time to check them in a while!
Note: Some updates to this page were made Feb 1, 2023.



These are Middle Atlantic (Delmarva) resources. I've placed them at the top of the page because I want easy access to them!

Cat & Mouse Press
Cat & Mouse Press publishes interesting and entertaining books, runs the Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest, and provides resources for writers.
Gaithersburg Book Festival
Applications for "Exhibiting Author" available beginning January 4, 2019.
Intrigue Publishing

Jame River Writers
James River Writers builds community by connecting and inspiring writers and readers in central Virginia.

Today, JRW has grown into multi-faceted non-profit organization that serves as central Virginia’s literary hub and a welcoming home for anyone who loves the written word. Aspiring and professional writers and passionate readers in all genres benefit from a variety of programs, services, and events, often presented in partnership with other cultural organizations. We are supported by government grants, foundations, corporate partners, and the generosity of our members.

Star Trek Association of Towson
While not a writer resource as such, they do host the Shore Leave convention each year, and writers can get a lot of help there. They also hold events with a science fiction theme that may be useful to sci-fi authors. 

Washington Science Fiction Association
The Washington Science Fiction Association is the oldest science fiction club in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Its members are interested in all types of science fiction and fantasy literature as well as related areas such as fantasy and science fiction films, television, costuming, gaming, filking, convention-running, etc. 
Western Maryland Indie Lit Festival




Self-publishing Resources

Amazon Resources

Since Amazon is such a major player, especially in self-published arena, I've given it its own special spot!

Amazon.com (US)
Amazon Imprints
Kindle Direct Publishing
Kindle Singles

Other Indie Publishers

Bowker
Draft2Digital
Lulu
Smashwords

Prolific Works - Allows authors to share works for exposure and feedback.

Tools

TranslatorsBase Counts words and characters in piece of text. Useful for estimating Amazon page count.



Oxford Dictionary List of Archaic Words

From the website...
"These words are no longer in everyday use or have lost a particular meaning in current usage but are sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned flavour to historical novels, for example, or in standard conversation or writing just for a humorous effect. Some, such as hotchpotch, reveal the origin of their current meaning, while others reveal the origin of a different modern word, as with gentle, the sense of which is preserved in gentleman. Some, such as learn and let, now mean the opposite of their former use."




Character Names - Tips For Writers

This site has tips on naming characters and a tool to search for names by meaning, by popularity lists for a particular year, and even by State. Useful for naming characters in stories taking place during a certain era or area.



College of DuPage

Story structure



CreateSpace

From the Website:  "Our innovative free tools and top-notch professional services make publishing and distribution easier than ever. Plus it pays to self-publish with CreateSpace. Our royalty structure provides industry-leading economics, putting more in your pocket."



DarkMarkets

"DarkMarkets.com has been a free market resource for horror writers since 2001. You'll find new and established publishers in our database."

RECOMMENDED!



Digital Book Spot

This site has books for sale and an author can use it to promote their books.



Duotrope

Duotrope: an award-winning resource for writers

I had the Duotrope deadline feeds here, but since they've become a paid service, they've stopped working. I'll see if I can get them back (or something equivalent)!

From the Duotrope site:

As an alternative to the weekly newsletter, we also offer our paid subscribers access to many different RSS feeds. These feeds provide the information you want whenever you want it, with no need to wait until the next newsletter is sent. We offer both standard RSS feeds (such as new listings, upcoming themes, etc.) as well as RSS feeds customized for individuals (such as feeds based on places where the person has reported pending submissions or feeds based on their favorite markets).



EmailCollege

Mini-courses on writing.



For The Muse Design
If you need a good cover done inexpensively, try here!


Horror Tree

From the website: "The Horror Tree is a resource for horror authors, mainly those that deal with short stories. My main goal is to include all of the latest horror anthologies and publishers that are taking submissions. A resource useful for both new and experienced publishers alike looking for an outlet for their written material!"

iAuthor

iAuthor is an interactive book discovery platform, global in reach and vision. Through ultra-immersive book samples and crowdsourced themes, iAuthor connects READERS to BOOKS. We aim to give the publishing world something unique: a hub for serendipitous discovery.



NovelRank

Unfortunately, Novelrank's access to data has been pulled by Amazon, so this valuable tool is no longer available.



Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction



PoemHunter

"PoemHunter.Com aims to spread the effects of poems in the social and individual life of people, where a continuous change is undergoing with the Internet. PoemHunter.Com without a pause, continues its activities with the active participation of thousands of members."

It has tools to search for poem, authors, submit poems, and to search for song lyrics.



RhymeZone

A language arts reference tool and comprehensive search engine for words. Includes the functions of a rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, and spelling checker, as well as an integrated full-text search engine for all of Shakespeare's works and thousands of quotations and poems.



Savvy Authors

"Savvy Authors strives to provide the best tools, classes, and networking opportunities for authors in all stages of their writing careers, from aspiring novelists to multi-published authors. "



SFF.net

Forums and resources for authors of genre fiction.



Spider Magazine (Note: for ages 6-9)

"SPIDER, a literary magazine for children, features fresh and engaging literature, poems, articles, and activities for newly independent readers. Editors seek energetic, beautifully crafted submissions with strong “kid appeal” (an elusive yet recognizable quality, often tied to high-interest elements such as humor, adventure, and suspense)."



The Ward Room

The Ward Room is an essential resource for authors and those who require accurate information to write realistically about the US military, firearms, and other weapons.



Writing Career



Writing Exercises

This site is dedicated to helping you get started with creative writing and to breaking through writing blocks. On these pages, you will find interactive creative writing tools (called generators) which generate random subjects and words to aid freewriting and story-writing. It's all free. More generators coming soon. Have fun :-)



Writing Challenges

Conventions:

Readercon
Readercon is an annual conference or convention devoted to "imaginative literature" — literary science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the unclassifiable works often called "slipstream."

A typical Readercon features over 150 writers, editors, publishers, and critics, attracting prominent figures from across the U.S., and from Canada, the U.K., and occasionally even Australia and Japan. They are joined by some 600 of their most passionate and articulate readers for a long weekend of intense conversation.

Readercon is the only convention ever to be honored by a World Fantasy Award nomination (Special Award, Non-Professional, 2010) for its organizers.

Shore Leave
Shore Leave is a fan-run science fiction convention.


Places where you can submit work (updated Feb. 1 2023):

50 Haikus

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

All Freelance Writing Writer's Market

This is a directory of paying freelance writer's markets. You can browse the writer's markets by category below or search if you're looking for something specific. All markets included in this directory are paying markets. Payment details are included in summaries where possible.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact *

Apparition Literary Magazine - also accepts artwork

Asimov's Science Fiction *

Aurora Wolf  (not accepting submissions at this time - updated Sep 4, 2022)
Aurora Wolf publishes stories where dreams and memories are created for the reader’s enjoyment. Our online free library and low priced print and e-formatted anthologies feature speculative fiction with strong characters and morals that uplift the soul, encourage positive thought and bring hope into our world.

In other words; the MC wins out over the forces of darkness. We want stories that will make your grandchildren proud. Entertaining works that ring with harmony, but surprise with unexpected twists to plot, rising action and a conflict that will keep a reader riveted to your story page. The story must end well.

Science Fiction: Space, Alternate Reality, Steam Punk, Nature, Post Apocalyptic(uplifting). Especially Seeking: Near Earth Space Exploration and Under Sea Exploration adventures.

Fantasy: Sword and Sorcery, Heroic, High Fantasy, Dragon and Fairy Tales.
Avon Impulse
Avon Impulse is the digital-first publishing imprint of Avon Books. Each month our goal is to build an exciting list of fresh, exciting voices, which means we're always looking for new talent! Avon means quality, which means you'll be working with some of the best in the business: editors who spot trends, and develop talent while overseeing your manuscript and working with you to manage our career; marketers with proven relationships with all on line retailers, whose knowledge of strategic pricing and on line advertising is top–notch; publicists with their expertise in social media and promotional campaigns, who can get the word out about your book.

Note: This is an imprint of Harper Collins
Boston Review   (Literary)

Carina Press  (an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. )

Channillo You can thank Terri Deno for showing me this one...

Clarksworld *

Crystal Lake Publishing 

Daily Science Fiction * (not accepting submissions at this time - updated Sep 4, 2022)

DAW Books (SF&F, 80K+ words)

Electric Spec
Electric Spec is a not-for-profit speculative fiction magazine published four times per year. Our primary goal is getting great speculative fiction into the hands (or screens) of readers. Since 2005, we've been publishing short stories from authors all over the world. We've worked with all kinds of authors, from published professionals to new writers. We also believe in the value of the editorial process, and we edit every story we publish. To learn more about the magazine and its editors, visit our blog.
Note: Electric Spec also accepts artwork.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Eternal Haunted Summer
From the website: What is Eternal Haunted Summer? EHS is an ezine dedicated to 1) original poetry and 2) short fiction about the Gods and Goddesses and heroes of the world’s many Pagan traditions. We feature 3) reviews of books, graphic novels, academic journals, magazines, movies, plays, and so forth which have a Pagan focus, or which otherwise might interest our Pagan readership. And 4) interviews with established and new Pagan authors, or authors of texts that interest a Pagan audience. And finally, 5) essays concerning the Gods, Goddesses, heroes, myths and folklore of the world.
Fantasy and Science Fiction

Gehenna & Hinnom
From the website: Gehenna & Hinnom is a continuously evolving and adapting company with the hopes of bringing horror and science fiction fans everything they could ever desire. From articles, short stories, anthologies, and even novels, we want to make this site a home for the deranged and ingenious.
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly (not accepting submissions at this time - updated Sep 4, 2022)

Jennifer Shelby
This is a blog with links for submissions. 
Kenyon Review   (Literary)

LampLight Magazine
Literary dark fiction. They do not accept stories with the following: vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex. For a sample, Issue 1 is free!
OneEye Press
One Eye Press is a multi-genre publisher with a focus on short consumable fiction ranging from flash fiction to short novels distributed across multiple formats.
Overtime
Overtime, a series of one-story chapbooks, was created to showcase some of the stories we receive that are a little too long for our Workers Write! series, but are worthy of publication. (I think I have a story for this one...)
Pedestal Magazine   (Literary)

Pixels (artwork/photography)

Strand Magazine

The Fiction Desk

The Literary Hatchet
The Literary Hatchet is an Internet journal devoted to dark fiction (short stories) and provocative poetry and prose. We are interested in well-written but easy to read works in the horror genre, but also accept works that are paranormal in nature.

We will consider previously published material but prefer original works.

We accept short fiction essays, first-person narratives, speculative fiction, short stories, poetry, photography, art, illustrations, and humor pieces.

We’re interested in new angles on old ideas, or topics that don’t get covered frequently. We like to showcase articles that don’t just sum up some issue but make us think and make us want to read further.

The above is not exhaustive. If you don’t have an immediate idea for a piece, but you’d really like to write for us, let us know and be prepared to show us work you’ve done. We can always think of subjects!


Note: They also accept (and pay) for art!
The New Yorker   (Literary)


Theme of Absence
From the site: "Theme of Absence is an online magazine of speculative flash fiction.  I started the site with the goal of providing quality short stories for free and giving new authors the chance to get their work out there."
Tin House   (Literary)

Tor *  (currently closed to unsolicited submissions)

Unsung Stories  (may be out of business - updated Sep 4, 2022)

Wicked Words  (website there, but appears to be unmaintained - updated Sep 4, 2022)

* These are qualifying short fiction venues for SFWA as of 12/2013

 
Searchable database of literary magazines to match your work: Poets & Writers Literary Magazines



Photos / Images:

Clipart Heaven

DeviantArt

Dreamstime

For The Muse (Artwork, cover design, good prices)

Fotosearch

Free Digital Photos

iStockphoto

morgueFile
Looking for high resolution stock photos for your illustration, comp or design needs? Search morgueFile for free reference images. Yes, they're all completely free. whether you're an illustrator, art director, instructor or looking to add a defining visual to a presentation.

Shutterstock




Promotion:

Promocave
Promocave.com has more than 150,000 authors and up to 3 Million Social Interactions per day with book readers.

For Book Lovers: You’ll be able to read books even before they are published. Find hundreds of free books, short stories and articles. You can also collaborate with other readers and with your favorite authors; establishing a reader-writer relationship with your favorite new writers. You can subscribe to blogs, newsletters, news events, book contests, and compete for prices like t-shirts, posters, graphic novels, free books and other special issued material provided by writers and publishers. Register Now, it’s all free.

For Authors: You can use Promocave.com to find readers and build your author platform. Submit your book, videos, articles, blog posts and other content and our social engine will promote it FREE to up to 3 million potential readers per day. You have access to podcasts, webinars and videos on writing and book promotion.

TextBookX
Our mission at TextbookX is to find students the lowest prices for their course materials. We do that by offering a mix of our own inventory with that of third-party sellers in order to provide one of the largest inventories of new, used, digital, and rental books.

We don't just supply textbooks, though. Through us, students can shop for other school supplies, best-selling books, magazines, study guides, and more. We also host a large Marketplace, where third-party sellers and students buy and sell their books year round.



Screenplays:

Stage 32
Connect with over a half million film, television and theater creatives from around the world. Our community ranges from students to Academy, Emmy and Tony award winners. There are over 1000 hours of education available on Stage 32. No matter what your discipline or interest, an extensive library of webinars and classes awaits. Stage 32 works directly with over 500 industry executives from around the world to provide education and other unique opportunities for our members.
Zoetrope



Uncategorizable:

Bottle Cap Publishing - not taking submissions at the moment...

Woven Tale Press
Awards



Web Tools:

Website Grader - Check SEO, links, load speed of your blog.



Tools:

Purdue OWL - Writing a book review
TinyURL



Science Links:

Aurora Information

Space Telescope Live (What the Hubble is looking at now)


Crowdfunding:

There are other sources than these, but this is a good start.

Indiegogo or Fundable - for covering equipment or labor costs, such as paying a graphic artist for a cover.
Kickstarter - for one-time projects.
Patreon - for artists, writers, etc., who produce on a continual basis.



Need to check:

I need to check these out....

Corona Books (anthology - horror - Spring 2020)




Note: The listing of a site here is not intended as an endorsement.