Betty's Tips 8/13

Greetings, readerlings!

You might remember me from last August, when I took over for Betty during a rutabaga crisis. Well, I’m back again, Belinda Wryte-Genre, Betty’s sci-fi obsessed cousin. Betty’s off on a retreat now; something to do with learning how to translate the souls of leeks into poetry, I believe. Good luck with that, I say. In the meantime, you’ll be happy to learn that the first in my series, The Adventures of Tater Crombie, Spud-Captain of Outer Space, is about ready to be sent out into the world. I’m so excited! And scared. Writing and publishing can be scary work. Here are a few links I’ve discovered that help keep the fear at bay.

We like to think that everyone in the publishing industry is on our side, but unfortunately, it’s not always so. To keep yourself from getting burned, there are a couple great sites that have your back. First up is Writer Beware Blogs at:www.accrispin.blogspot.com. Here, A.C. Crispin and guest bloggers will talk about recent changes in publishers’ policies and warn you about contracts you shouldn’t sign. Very helpful stuff! And if you’re not sure a potential publisher is being level with you, (they might be being controlled by aliens; never forget that) you should visit the invaluable Preditors & Editors at: www.pred-ed.com. They let you know which publishers, editors, and agents have a track history that prove they’re worthy of your trust.

While it’s good to forge ahead on your own, there are few things more reassuring than having good advice from authors who’ve already made it in the business. To that end, I offer these links: www.kriswrites.com andwww.deanwesleysmith.com/. The first is the blog of author Kristine Rusch, who has published hundreds of novels spanning several genres, including fantasy, mystery, and romance. I pointed her out in last year’s column, but this time I want to particularly recommend visiting her site on Thursday, when she writes a post specifically on the business side of writing. The second link leads to Dean Wesley Smith’s blog, also an established writer, who is particularly interested in teaching authors to try a non-traditional path to getting published. If you’re at all interested in self-publishing, check out these links. For a slightly more humorous look at the business of writing, try author Jim C. Hine’s blog over at: www.jimchines.com/blog/ . He occasionally runs a critique of book covers that’ll have you in stitches!

Of course, there’s always the pesky business of simply finding places to submit your work to. In addition to the sites I listed in last year’s column, I now offer you the Writers and Editors’ network at: www.writers-editors.com. I find them particularly good for listing new contests you can enter, and they always print the newest contest in pink so you know what’s what. For genre authors, like myself, Worlds Without End at www.worldswithoutend.com gives a list of nice resources: books and magazines currently accepting submissions as well as podcasts and other nice speculative fiction information. And hey, while you’re at it, why not enter the prestigious Writers of the Future contest atwww.writersofthefuture.com? The contest is held quarterly. You’re eligible so long as you haven’t had a certain number of pro sales. Best of all, it’s free! Some of the best-known speculative fiction writers got their start here, so why not give it a try?

Just to keep my link-happy readers content, I’ll throw in a few more that’ll help you deal with that other writer’s bugaboo: accuracy. The Kill Zone at www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com is a site run by mystery and thriller authors. Aside from good writerly advice, it also gives you information on how guns really work and what police actually do at a crime scene. For those interested in the American West, try www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang.html where’ll you’ll discover how to put the linguistic grit into your frontier epic. Finally, for my lovers of historical crime, you can’t get more authentic then the record of London’s Old Bailey, which have been posted on line at:www.oldbaileyonline.org.

Well, hope these links keep you happy and writing well into the fall, folks. The way things are going, I’ll probably be back again next year when Betty has another garden catastrophe or vegetable-related seminar to attend to. As for me, I’m going to go look at potential cover artists for my Tater Crombie series. No one’s gotten the cleft in his chin just right yet.

Belinda Wryte-Genre, over and out.

Belinda Wryte-Genre

Betty Wryte-Goode is a writer, mother, and wife who lives in the Lehigh Valley. Her passions include writing, reading, shopping, gardening, and exploring the internet. Betty is always looking for writing tips, so if you have any you would like to share, please send them to her through our Submissions/Contacts page.