Writer’s Resources
Much like my website, my resource section is in its infancy. But, I hope to expand upon it over time through my own research, and hopefully through visitors to this site that wish to contribute. Businesses are also welcome to submit materials to me for consideration.
Resource Options
Writer’s Guides
As an aspiring author, aspiring inmate author, I personally put the horse before the cart, excuse the cliche, when it comes to writing, and learned expensive and valuable lessons along the way. When it comes to writing, and I’m no expert, what I’ve uncovered is, in most situations, there are no right or wrong answers, but there are often better ways. By taking the time to read what other established authors have to share, including many of your own favorites, you’ll discover things you’re doing or not doing, that you’re unaware of-things that when pointed out become obvious. You may decide to stick to your guns, and do it your way, but by reading what others have to share, you’ll at least know of the options.
The following list is short, but sweet. As an inmate author, I’m mostly limited to what I’m made awre of, able to purchase, or what i happen to stumble upon. In our prison library I found a jewel, and i strongly urge anyone to run down a copy of it if at all possible. I’ll start my short list with it.
- The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction, 1990, by Barnaby Conrad, Writer’s Digest Books, F & W Publications, Inc.(The book’s comprised of exerts of dozens of best-selling authors from a yearly California writer’s convention starting with the late James A. Michener.)
- 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Insider Secrets from Top Writers, 2008, by Andrew McAleer, Adams Media, (Contributing authors include Mary Higgin Clark, Jennifer Blake, Lawrence Block, plus many more.)
- Writing Mysteries, 2nd Edition, edited by Sue Grafton, Writer’s Digest Books, 202
- The Writer’s Guide to Character Traits, by Linda Edelstein, Writer’s Digest Books, 2004
- How Fiction Works, by Oakly Hall, Writer’s Digest Books, 2004
- The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, by Nancy Lamb, Writer’s Digest Books, 2001
- You Can Write a Romance, by Rita Clay Estrada and Rita Gallagher, Writer’s Digest Books, 1999
- The Plot Thickens:8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life, by Noah Lukeman, Martin Press, 2001
- Writing the Breakout Novel:Hands on Help for Making Your Novel Stand Out and Succeed, by Donald Maas, Writer’s Digest Books, 2004
- Novel Ideas:Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process, Second Edition, Athens:university of Georgia Press, 2009
- On Writing Well:The Classic Guide to Writing Non-fiction, 25th Anniversity Edition, New York:HarperResource, 2001
- Edward R. Hamilton, Bkseller is my got-to place for buying writer’s guides. What I like about Hamilton is almost everything is 25c on the dollar, and shipping is $3.50 no matter how many books you buy. Hamilton is also a good source for Travel Guides, Resource Materials, and Dictionaries
- The American Heritage College Dictionary or equivalent(For me it’s a must. $10.00 at Hamilton.)
- The Roget’s International Thesaurus, Seventh or equivalent.(For me another must. Available at Hamilton for $14.95.)
- Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition, by the University of Chicago Press Staff, University of Chicago Press, 2003
To help this site evolve, please submit your favorites to be included in this list. Return to Resource Options
Traditional Publishers
Major Conglomerates
- Hachette Book Group USA, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY
10017, 212-364-1200,www.hachettebookgroup.com - Harper Collins, 10 East Fifty-third Street, New York,
NY 10022-5299, 212-207-7000, www.harpercollins.com - Macmillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, 212-
307-5151, www.macmillan.com - Penguin Group, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-
3658, 212-366-2000, www.penguingroup.com - Random House, Inc, 1745 Broadway, Forth Floor, New York,
NY 10019, 212-751-2600,www.randomhouse.com - Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of Americas, New
York, NY 10020-1513, 212-698-7000, www.simonschuster.com - Adams Media, 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, Ma 02322, 508-
427-7100, www.adamsmedia.com - Beacon Press, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-2824,
617-742-2110, www.beacon.org - Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010,
212-780-0115, www.bloomsbury.com - Coffee House Press, 79 Thirteenth Avenue NE, Suite 110,
Minneapolis, MN 55413, 612-338—0125,www.coffeehouse.org - Dover Publishing, 31 East Second Street, Mineola,
NY 11501, 516-294-7000, www.fairview.org - Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, Forth Flour, New
York, NY 10003, 212-614-7850, www.groveatalntic.com - Hyperion, 77 West Sixty-six Street, Eleventh Floor, New
York, NY 10023-6298, www.hyperionbooks.com - Lonely Planet, 150 Linden Street, Okland, CA 94607, 510-
250-6400, www.lonelyplanet.com - McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Two Penn Plaza, Twelth Floor,
New York, NY 10121-2298, www.mcgrawhill.com - Newmarket Press, 18 East Forty-eight Street, Fifteenth
Floor,New York, NY 10017, 212-832-3575, www.newmarketpress.com - Peachtree Publishers, Ltd., 1700 Chattahoochee Avenue,
Atlanta, GA 30318-2112, www.peachtree-online.com - Rodale Inc., 400 South Tenth Street, Emmaus, PA 18098-0001,
610-967-5171, www.rodale.com - Sasquatch Books, 119 South Main, Suite 400, Seattle,
WA 98104, 206-467-4300, www.sasquatchbooks.com - Sierra Club Books, 85 Second Street, Second Floor, San
Fransico, CA 94105, 415-977-5500, www.wildernesspress.com - The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, by Marilyn Ross
& Sue Collier, 4542 Melbourne Way, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130, 720-
344-4388, www.SelfPublishingResourses.com - The Perseus Books Group, Constellation, 387 Park Avenue
South, Twelth Floor, Suite 708, New York, NY 10007, www.perseusbooksgroup.com(Constellation has partnership agreements with a number of distributors including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Edwards Brothers and others, and will negotiate with them on your behalf) - CreateSpace, www.createspace.com, is owned by Amazon, and
is the company I went with because of my unique situation of being
incarcerated. A drawback for now is my novels will only be avail-
able in trade paperback and e-book. CreateSpace is basically a do
it yourself site,so you have to have all your ducks in a row. For
me that means professionally edited, and since it’s digital, pro-
fessionally formatted. - Xlibris Corporation, 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloom-
ington, IN 47403, 888-795-4274, www.elibris.com(Author Solutions, the parent
company of Xlibris, is a member of the Penguin Group. Packages range
from Basic $699 to Platinum $15,249. Contact Mike Stewart for more
information. They tend to run a two for one promotion, so ask about
that if not offered) - FriesenPress, Suite 300, 852 Fort Street, Victoria, BC,
Canada V8W 1H8, 800-792-5092, www.friesenpress.com (The parent company has
printed everything from Harry Potter series to the Oxford
Dictionary with over a hundred years of experience. Prices
range from $999 to $3,999) - LightningSource, 1246 Heil Quaker, La Verene, TN.
www.lightningsource.com(Lightningsource in a major player in POD,
or print on demand, and provides direct—to-consumer distribution,
and is available to the major distributors. - DeHARTS Media Services, Inc., 333 Bower Avenue, Santa Clara,
CA 95054, www.deharts.com(DeHARTS can print as little as 25 paperbacks,
and as little as 100 hardbacks. I like the fact that Mr. DeHart
quickly responded to my snail mail and gave a reasonable and very
competative bid to my specs) - Central Plains Books, PO Box 648, 105 East 5th Avenue,
2nd Floor, Arkansas City, KS 67005, 877-278-2726, www.centralplainsbooks.com‘Central Plains print larger runs, but I likethe fact that their sales manager, Becky Pate, is very personable,
and though she couldn’t personally help me, she took the time to
refer me to others via snail mail) - Association of Authors’ Representatives AAR’s listings
can be found at www.aaronline.org, 676—A 9th Avenue, Suite 312, New York, NY
10036 - Tracy Adams,Adams Literary, 7845 Colony Road
C4 #215, Charlotte, NC 28226 - Miriam Altshuler, Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency,
53 Old Post Road North, Red Hook, NY 12571, www.miriamaltshulerliteraryagency.com - Lucy Childs Baker,The Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency,
708 Third Avenue, Twenty-third Floor, New York, NY 10017, www.aaronpriest.com - Julie Barer, Barer Literary, LLC, 270 Lafayette
Street, Suite 1504, New York, NY 10012,www.gbagency.com - Ben Camaradi, Harlod Matson Company, Inc., 276
Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001 - Julie Castiglia, Castiglia Lieterary Agency,
1155 Camino del Mar, Suite 510, Del Mar, CA 92014, www.castigliaagency.com - June Clark,FinePrint Literary Management, LLC,
240 West 35th Street, Suite 500, New York, NY 10001, www.fineprintit.com - Brian Deflore, DeF1ore and Company, 47 East
Nineteenth Street, Third Floor, New York, NY 10003,www.defloreandco.com - Jake Elwell, Harold Ober Associates, Inc., 425
Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017, www.haroldober.com - Tracey Fisher, William Morris Agency, 1325
Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, www.wma.com - Barry Goldbatt,Barry Goldbatt Lieterary LLC,
320 Seventh Avenue, #266, Brooklyn, NY 11215 - Peter Hagan,Abrams Artists Agency, 275 Seventh
Avenue, Twenty-six Floor, New York, NY 10001, www.abramsartists.com - Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown, Ltd, Ten Astor Place, New York, NY 10003,
www.curtisbrown.com - Heide Lange, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates,
55 Fifth Avenue, Fifteenth Floor, New York, NY 10003 - Jay Mandel, William Morris Agency, 1325 Avenue
of the Americas, New York, NY 10019,
www.wma.com - Jean Naggar, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc.,
216 East Seventy-fifth Street, Suite 1E, New York, NY 10021,
www.jvnla.com - Emma Patterson,The Wendy Weil Agency, Inc.,
232 Madison Avenue, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10016, www.wendyweil.com - Ann Rittenberg,Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency, Inc.,
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 206, New York, NY 10038, www.rittlit.com - Wendy Schmalz,Wendy Schmaltz Agency, Box 831,
Huson, NY 12534, www.schmalzagency.com - Alice Tasman,Jean V. Naggar Literary agency, 216
East Seventy-fifth Stree #1E, New York, NY 10021,www.jvnla.com - Rachel Vader, Folio Literary Management, 505
Eigth Avenue, Suite 603, New York, NY 10018, www.foliolit.com - Robert Wolgemuth,Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.,
8600 Crestgate Circle, Orlando, FL 32819,www.robertwolgemuth.com - Albert Zuckerman,Writer’s House, 21 West
Twemty-sixth Street, New York, NY 10010,www.writershouse.com - Brad Kelly, 1505 E. 13th Ave Apt 7, Denver, CO 80218
- Jeff Bruemmer, 202 East 45th Street, Apt 306, Austin,
TX 78751 - Editorial Freelance Association, 71 West 23rd Street, 4th
Floor, New York, NY 10010-4102, 212-929-5400 or 866-929-5425,
Resource Options.
Return to Home Page.Promotion
If you look to become a successful writer, promotion will play a
vital role. Today, that means a web presence is a must. For me, as
an inmate author, a web presence is one of the only tools available
to me, but the resource below cover the entire spectrum of promotion.- Promote You Book, by Patricia Fry, Alworth Press, 2011.
(I purchased my copy from Edward R. Hamilton) - The Complete Guide to Self—Publishing, by Marilyn &
Sue Collier, Writer’s Digest, 2010.(can be found at Hamilton, supra.,
from the publisher, or directly from the authors) - Web Marketing for Dummies, by Jan Zimmerman, Wiley
Publishing, 2009.(Can also be found at Hamilton, supra.)
Good luck to you, check out my novels,
and visit again and tell a friend. Later. Return to Resource Options.Return to Home Page© 2014
- Promote You Book, by Patricia Fry, Alworth Press, 2011.
A good policy is to check with the publisher’s submission policy
before sending a query.
Smaller Publishers
Smaller Publishers are many, and the following is a small sampling.
If you’d like to see a publisher added, please contact me, and I’ll be glad to add them. Remember, the
best policy is to check the publisher’s submission policy before
sending a query.
New York NY 10010-8395, www.arcadepub.com
Again, this only a small sampling. Additional resources can
be found at your local library in the Literary Market PlaceWriter’s Market. Return to
Resource Options Return to Home Page
Self-Publishing
With the ever-growing popularity on e-book, self-publishing is
becoming more of a reality. Opportunities now exist where a few
years back they did not. E-books now account for roughly 20% of the
market, but the trend is beginning to slow.and level off; Publishing
as an e-book is the fastest and cheapest way to publish, but still
leaves a whole lot of folks that prefer to hold a physical book in
their hand, and if your like me you’ll want to reach those readers
as well.
Is self-publishing the answer? It could be, it’s the route that
I decided upon. Will I be successful? That’s yet to be seen, but if
not, it won’t be for the lack of effort. Perhaps the bible in the
self-publishing world is: The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing
by Marilyn Ross & Sue Coolier, Writer’s Digest, and I recommend
it as a good resource in helping you decide whether self—publishing
is you answer. The pair of authors also offer varying degrees of
assistance, so I’ll start my short list with them. Keep in mind the
businesses listed below are just that, businesses, and most offer
tiered assistance. From not too expensive to very expensive. The
listed companies are POD, or Print on Demand companies, and though
all likely produce fine quality books, their real business is the
services they sell. A key question to keep in mind after requesting ,
and studying their materials is how much the final product cost to
produce? Naturally, the type of book you write is a factor, but if
it ends up costing you more to print and produce then the market
will bear, your spinning your wheels.(assuming profit is a motive)
For this reason, I’ll end my list with a pair of off—set printers
with reasonable prices I’ve stumbled upon.
Finally, be careful when in comes to entering into contracts. Keep
in mind booksellers traditionally require a 45 to 55 percent dis-
count to carry your book and that doesn’t leave much margin to
work with. And, don’t needlessly give up any of your rights!
Return to Resource Options.
Return to Home Page.
Agents & Editors
Agents
There are literally thousands of agents out there, and this list
is but a short sampling. Should you stumble upon a good agent whose
name you’d like to share, please feel free to
contact me, and I’ll be happy to add him of her to my list. The
agents listed below follow the Association of Authors’ Represen-
tative(AAR) code of ethics.
Return to Resource Options.
Return to Home Page
Editors
Editors play a vital role in producing a quality read. My first
manuscript was a disaster and embarrassment, so I can’t stress enough
how important a good editor is, be it copy, content, or in some cases
even a book doctor may be called for. Sorry that my list is short
one for now, but hopefully over time this site will evolve, and
people that visit this site will choose to contribute. Again, if
you would like to see someone added feel free to contact me, and I’ll be happy to add them.
After a couple fumbles I lucked upon a pair of FMA grads from
The Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas,
Austin, and I’m pleased with the results. Whether they choose to
do any further editing, I can not say, but I’ll list them anyway.
Good luck to you, and don’t forget to get as many good proofreaders
in your corner as you can.
