Resource for Writers

By Beth Terrell

Yesterday, Mark wrote about finding gems in our backyards. Today, I'm going to share a gem I found on the Internet a few days ago.

You may be familiar with a mystery writer named Joe Konrath (J.A. Konrath). Joe is a writing machine, cranking out 4,000 (or more) words a day. He's also a marketing machine: he visited more than 500 bookstores the year his first Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels book came out. He also blogs, does speaking engagements, and engages in a multitude of other marketing strategies. Pretty effectively, I might add. It doesn't hurt that he's a darn good writer.

Joe's blog, http://www.jakonrath.com, has always been a treasure trove for writers, and he's made it even better by adding a free download of an e-book called The Newbie's Guide to Publishing. That's right, free. He compiled the book after realizing that he had compiled over 300,000 words about writing and publishing, and it was getting difficult for his readers to sift through the archives for the answers to their specific questions.

The Newbie's Guide to Publishing may be the most comprehensive book of advice for writers ever written, and as an added perk, Joe has added links to each section (post) so that you can go to the original post and read the thread of comments that goes with it. You can even add comments of your own.There are a number of other perks as well. For instance, in the post about outlining, there's a link to his outline for Bloody Mary, one of his "Jack Daniels" mysteries.

I wasn't able to download the book to my hard drive, but I have it on my "favorites" and can click to it whenever I want, which is often. Among the topics he addresses are: Avoiding Plodding Plotting. Salable Characters, How I Got My Agent and a Three-Book Deal, Six Things You Should Never Put In a Query, Bad Promotion Techniques, How to Make a Disastrous Book Signing a Success, and many, many more.

Did I mention this e-book is 751 pages long? That's a lot of good advice.

Wherever you are on the writing continuum (aspiring to bestseller), Joe's e-book has something that will help you become a better writer and a better marketer.

Many thanks, Joe.