This post and the forthcoming post on grammars and style guides are updated from posts made in 2016.< The previous posts have been removed.
Someone recently asked for my recommendation regarding the best resources for beginning freelance writers. I sent a few suggestions via email but thought that a post is in order in light of the state of the resource pile that exists for freelance writers today.
“Freelance writing” and “platform building” are two of the most saturated markets that I can think of. On one hand, if you want to get paid well, write about these. On the other hand, if you want to waste your time, read about these. You will find an inexhaustible supply of things to read, membership sites to join, etc. In the end, it is easy to feel like you are still a beginner after 15 years, even though you have mastered five different grammar style books and passed 50 different tests.
Resources for writers fall into several categories, many of which cost money. If you aren’t working yet, or your budget is low, evaluate them carefully and spend wisely on what you need most.
Free and Low-Cost Resources to Use
Amazon.com’s Kindle Unlimited: You will incur a $10/month fee; but you can read numerous writing books on your Kindle or Kindle-enabled device at no additional charge. Many of these books provide useful tips and links to helpful resources and; but they might not be books you would purchase at full price. Try Kindle Unlimited.
WritersWeekly.com
This is a well-established e-zine that provides insight about the writing life, weekly listings of writing markets and freelance jobs, and informed warnings regarding publishers engaging in undesirable practices.
Poets and Writers
If you are looking for a source of information about writing contests and postings of writing jobs, look here. You will also find other articles about writing.
Freedom with Writing
I do not take advantage of the for-fee courses offered from this site, so I cannot speak to whether they are overpriced. The blog content is generally good, and the market listings are often useful.
What to Spend Money On
Managing Spending on Books and Memberships
Buy books judiciously. If you can find it in a library, read it for free. The exception to this rule exists if you are a person who likes to mark up your books and you cannot bring yourself to use notecards or another method to keep track of what you are learning.
Take advantage of month-to-month subscriptions if you want to try a membership, even though they are more expensive. If you find you really like a site, you can always upgrade to a premium subscription when you are ready. A month-to-month subscription gives you the option to cancel if you are not satisfied, and you have only lost that month’s money.
Subscriptions
Funds for Writers
This is an e-zine from Hope Clark that comes with a paid subscription. In each issue she features a success story and lists contests, grants, markets, jobs, and agents and publishers. It is possible to subscribe at a low budget level and a full level–more markets are available at the higher budget subscription.
Writer’s Market Online
This is the subscription-based edition of the Writer’s Market. In my years of subscribing to this site, I have never manage to exhaust the resources available. This includes markets as well as articles and other resources.
Best Book Recommendations
Writer’s Market 100th Ed.: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published
This, and its companion volumes, Guide to Literary Agents 2016: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published and Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market 2016: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published are indispensable if your goal is to publish via traditional means. If you are aiming at self-publishing, I recommend the following:
The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, Fifth Edition: A Primer on Contracts, Printing Costs, Royalties, Distribution, E-Books, and Marketing
Unless you are great at doing things yourself, you will be presented with a host of self-publishing options that all offer you expensive packages with features designed to get your book ready for publication with various services. This book helps you evaluate all those options. One reviewer denounces it as a waste of time because, as any creative person would conclude, it’s easier to do everything yourself and produce a book at a cheaper cost. Alas, everyone is not so skilled.
<>Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book
This book is over 15 years old, and I would love to see an update to it. However, it is still the best resource I have found about the complete process of starting a self-publishing business. Don’t be without it if you plan to self-publish.
If you are a techie and you want to do your own book preparation for Kindle, I recommend several books:
From Word to Kindle and HTML Fixes for Kindle: Advanced Self Publishing for Kindle Books, both by Aaron Shepard. These books are focused on older versions of Word but their value is in their attention to use of Word styles. Much of this information is useful regardless of which version of Word you work with..
Self-Publishing with Amazon (Boxed set) by Chris McMullen
This set contains over 600 pages of comprehensive information about the process of preparing a book for publication with Amazon and marketing and selling on Amazon.
Best Resources
The best things I spend money on repeatedly come from Writer’s Digest. I have never been able to go to their conferences, but their bundles that include books and webinars have been very helpful. Again, I had to spend judiciously–some of the bundles would give me books that I already owned. I have found some that were truly gold mines. I would have spent thousands of dollars to go to a conference and hear this much information. Thanks, Writer’s Digest!
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