When you are seeking writing work or writers’ conferences or, perhaps, newspapers, libraries, distributors, reviewers, etc. to help in promoting your book, do you key in on directories? You should. You’ll find, in an online directory, the leads you need in a fraction of the time it would take by doing single searches.
Sure, some of the listings are old and out-of-date. But I find that the results of directory research, in most cases, far exceed those from single searches.
An exception might be, if you are looking for a writers’ conference in your city or only libraries within a certain county/state or, perhaps, reviewers for specific magazines. Then, while you might find some listings in various directories, you would also do a single search.
I find that few writers and authors consider searching directories when they are seeking a list of publishers, agents or freelance work, for example. Consequently, their research tactics aren’t always successful.
I write the monthly SPAWN Market Update (for the member area of the SPAWN website). SPAWN is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network, http://www.spawn.org. And I often include directories to help members who are searching for book reviewers, publishers of fiction, children’s book publisher, etc.
Here are links to a few directories that you might find useful. By the way, I would like to hear from you if you found this post helpful.
Freelance writing work:
http://www.writejobs.com
http://www.sunoasis.com
http://www.freelancewriting.com/freelance-writing-jobs.php
Book distributors
http://www.bookmarket.com/distributors.htm
Directory of publishers, printers, graphic designers, distributors, etc.
http://www.publishersglobal.com
Library directories
http://travelinlibrarian.info/libdir
http://www.publiclibraries.com
Newspaper directories
http://www.newspapers.com
http://www.newspaperlinks.com
Writers conferences
http://www.allconfereces.com
http://www.newpages.com/writing-conferences
To locate additional directories, use keywords: Writing job + directory, book reviewer +directory, etc.
Good luck and let me know of your successes using directories. Let me know if you are looking for something specific–maybe I can help.
PLFry620@yahoo.com
Visit my websites:
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com