Jefferson County Public Library Logo

Books and Beyond Blog Archive
Home Books and Beyond Blog Archive

Books and beyond

JUNE 1, 2012
Publishing your writing

Have you written something that you think needs to be shared with the world? Publishing can be a hard process, but it’s even harder when you’re not even sure where to locate magazines or websites interested in taking new work. What’s a person to do? Luckily, there are a lot of resources to help you along.

In terms of library resources, you might try The Writer’s Market , Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market

If you specialize in writing poetry, there’s always the Poet’s Market

And of course there are guides to publishing in specific markets, like the Christian Writer’s Market Guide. 

Online resources can be very handy, and often have the benefit of being vetted by other writers who can report in real time such important information like the turnaround time between the submission of one’s writing and the publisher’s decision to accept or reject it. Most writers are patient, but there are some magazines out there that will keep you waiting for hundreds of days before they get around to making a decision.

Duotrope (www.duotrope.com) is a great database for fiction and poetry writers. It’s advanced search tool will let you match important information like word count, genre, and payment rates with open markets, including anthologies.

Ralan (www.ralan.com) is a good website for writers who write speculative fiction, including horror, fantasy, and science fiction. You’ll find plenty of listings for websites and magazines that are looking to publish authors—and pay them for their work.

Absolutewrite (www.absolutewrite.com) is one of the largest writing communities online, featuring a massive message board that is partly dedicated to vetting publishers and literary agents. This is a great place to see the latest in publishing trends as well.

There are plenty of more resources online and in the library for you to use. Stop by any of our information desks to discover them, and please post a message if you know of any helpful websites aspiring writers just have to know about.


   Add a Comment
Enter your comment below, then click Submit.
Nickname: (displays with your comment)
Comment:
Enter the letters you see on the left:

------------------------------------------------------

Subscribe via RSS
Search

Categories