writing resources

Money-Saving Guide for (Aspiring) Authors and Writers

Money-Saving Guide for Authors and Writers is a great resource that came to me from an aspiring young author named Anna through her special librarian Ms. Pedersen. Anna and her mom found this great article while researching writing guidelines for authors and writers and wanted to make sure other aspiring writers like her knew about this! It covers a breakdown of the elements of style, manuscript formatting, working with an editor, finding a literary agent, book proposals, self-publishing, and much more. Take note of the amazing number of scholarships for college students who hope to be writers someday. And the descriptions of the many diverse career options that all require great writers! I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Thanks, Anna (and her mom :)).

7 Useful Tips When Going to a Writer’s Conference

This is a great article if you are considering going to a writer’s conference. They can be really helpful or overwhelming, depending on your reason for going and your level of preparedness. I went to one just to see what it was like and it changed the trajectory of my life—seriously!

Just do a search for “Christian Writer’s Conferences (and the year)” and decide to go! It’ll be worth it just to meet other authors and professionals in the publishing industry. This will also be the place where you can meet agents and publishers to directly query your book. Many, many agents and publishers don’t take queries or manuscript submissions unless it is through a writer’s conference.

The Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network

The Christian PEN is open to any Christian* who:

  • is a freelance proofreader, editor, or other writer-supporting occupation (at any level)
  • is seriously planning to become a freelance proofreader/editor, or
  • is investigating the freelance proofreader/editor field.

It is also the place where authors can find a seasoned Christian editor to help them with their projects. Check it out!

http://thechristianpen.com

Track Changes Help

Sometimes it’s easier just to watch a short video about how to run the Track Changes feature on Word than it is to try and explain it on the phone. I highly recommend these two resources, one a short video and the other a blog-style resource to get you started on the basics.  Anything that can help the work flow more smoothly between writer and editor is worth it.

 

Style Book Resources

Different publishing houses prefer different style guides, which is a very handy piece of information to know if you’re a writer or editor.  If you are an author who self-publishes, the key is to pick a style you like best and move forward with that, making sure to stay consistent with one style. I tend to prefer CMOS.

Some of these resources require memberships to access their online style books, or you can buy a hard copy as a reference tool. AP and MLA you can access on the Purdue OWL website (see links below). Here are the typical ones I use:

  • Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is widely used for fiction and nonfiction books.       http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
  • Associated Press (AP) is used more for journalistic pubs like newspapers, articles, magazines, and PR materials. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/02/
  • Christian Writer’s Manual of Style (CWMS). I refer to this one a lot when editing Christian books.
  • Modern Language Association (MLA) is more for academic papers and writings. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
  • Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors by Kathy Ide. I like this book because it takes all of the most common writing rules from a wide variety of sources and put them into one easy-to-access resource. Her other book, Polishing the PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling) is also a mainstay in my library.

How Much Should You Pay Your Editor?

Like lawyers, consultants, and other professionals in their field, editors are professionals in the field of writing and publishing. How can you know if your editor is charging too much or if you are getting a great deal? It depends! How many years of experience does your editor have? Have they worked in or for publishing houses? What type of editing are they doing for you? Are they professionals, as in do they make a living editing, or is proofreading a side job or hobby? If you’re interested in knowing the industry standard for professional copyeditors, here’s a great resource for you:

http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php