The October SPAWN Market Update will be posted in the member area of the SPAWN website within the next few days. This month, among other things, we feature a directory listing 400 publishers who have published first novels. Now that’s a valuable site to have, don’t you think—if you are in the process of writing or pitching your first novel?
I also include 17 paying markets for nonfiction and fiction. Add that to the markets listed in back issues of the SPAWN Market Update—all of which are posted in the archives—and SPAWN members have an incredibly rich collection of probably 1,000 or more markets for their work.
For this issue, I also interviewed 4 publishers so that members can see where the opportunities lie and what, exactly, publishers want today. Last month, I interviewed Kim Dower, a book publicist and media trainer.
Do you need help with book promotion? Check out this resource. Now, I am not endorsing them—I am only reporting them—passing along information for you to check out. Book Tour is reported to offer book promotion help for anywhere from free to $50 or so. http://www.booktour.com.
Here’s another site I found (and which I report in the SPAWN Market Update). This site is overflowing with useful information for authors. http://bit.ly/9maNq2
Did you know that Publishers Weekly has a new blog site? Check it out at http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz
FirstWriter.com offers resources galore. I recommend spending some time there sifting through their directories of 850 agents, 1,200 book publishers, 1,100 magazine publishers as well as a contest directory and a writing site directory. http://www.firstwriter.com
I often suggest that, before you sign with any publisher or pay-to-publish company or any other individual or agency with which you are not familiar, check them out. I’ve given these warning sites to you before—here they are again. You can also use your favorite search engine to locate any potential negative comments about a company or individual. Just use keywords—the name of the company and “warning.”
Warning Sites for authors and writers
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware
http://www.todayswriting.com/poetry-scams.html>
http://www.writersweekly.com/whispers_and_warnings.php
Find many additional resources at the following sites:
http://www.spawn.org
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com
Join SPAWN and receive a FREE ebooklet, Promote Your Work, Whether You’re an Artist, Author or Small Publishers. http://www.spawn.org