Thanks to fellow emerging author Stina Rose from Scroll Bag for her comment yesterday. Stina, I'm glad you found the information here helpful! It's good to get in touch with fellow emerging authors. More authors = more stories = more readers. Simple as that!
Here are some useful links for those just getting started on the road to publishdom:
One of the first things I did after I decided I wanted to get published was attend a writer's conference hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers' Group. To find a local writers' association that hosts conferences near you, click here. It's a list in progress - let me know if I missed anything!
After that, I decided to start a small writers' group near my hometown. (I would have joined one, but there weren't any close enough.) Check your local writers' association for writers' groups in your area. If you decide to start your own group, read this article for tips and tricks. Wondering whether an online group would work better for you? Here's a comparison of online and offline writers' groups.
And of course, start connecting as soon as possible with other writers! If you haven't already, create your own blog. Posting regularly to a blog will get you in the habit of writing, and it will expose readers to your work. Just don't get addicted ;) Twitter is another great way to meet authors, publishers, editors, you name it. Follow the people I'm following to start building your network. They'd love to meet you!
Also, here's some encouraging news: I went to Target today, and what did I see but a whole end-cap display with books by emerging authors! Good to know that large corporations have our backs. Now all I have to find out is how to get a book displayed there...
7 comments:
Thanks Emma. This is a good post for writers to use as a resource.
Thanks Emma for all the resources, and for the link back to my blog!
Is Target supporting emerging authors, or have publishers selected certain authors for whom they are willing to pay whatever Target charges for endcaps? In the end, I suspect it comes back to publisher support. "We've anointed Author X as worthy of Y marketing dollars, hence Author X gets preferred treatment." I doubt Target has much of an opinion one way or the other, so long as the check clears.
Glad you liked it, Helen. And Stina, thanks for stopping by again!
Bill - Good question. I did a little more research, and found that it's actually called "Breakout Books" and it's part of a larger Target venture, a Target Book Club called "Bookmarked."
https://bookmarked.target.com/bookclub/login.vtl
I'm not sure who exactly picks the books for the Breakout section, but they aren't books I've seen displayed prominently in any of the large bookstores. Also, it's encouraging that you can't actually buy books on the Bookmarked site, and they allow people to post negative reviews. Anyway, it's good to see a display wholly dedicated to new authors!
VERY useful post, Emma - thanks for those links - got 'em stored. I gotta stop by this blog more often. {-:>
Another emerging author,
Marvin
(when can I please stop emerging and just get fully emerged?)
WHAT?!?!?! Marvin, if you're an emerging author, then I'm still stuck in the primordial ooze! Everyone, Marvin has published a non-fiction book called I Romanced the Stone (Memoirs of a Recovering Hippie) and a fiction book called Owen Fiddler, AND his blog just won an award from the BBAW for Best Christian/Inspirational Fiction Blog!
http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com/
Aw gosh, Emma - Twarnt nuthin I reckoned ta get compleemented on, but ha do thankya kahndly, Ma'am. LOL
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