101 Best Websites for Writers

There are literally millions of websites devoted to the craft of writing - and not enought time to sift through all of them! Never fear, Writer's Digest has just published its list of the 101 best sites for writers. You can review all of them here. I'm looking forward to checking out some agent's blogs. How do agents think, anyway?

Bi-Monthly? Twice a Month?

Does a term like "bi-monthly" sometimes confuse you like it does the rest of the world? If not, beware - someone might be using "bi-monthly" to mean every two months, when you interpret it as twice a month. This makes a big difference when, say, you think you're going to be paid twice a week but the employer used bi-weekly to mean every other week.

Best practice? Don't use these terms if they are likely to cause confusion (which they will!). Write out the actual time period, and give the "bi"s a rest.

How to Choose a Print on Demand Publisher

Print on demand (POD) publishing is an enormous field - I've heard of at least a hundred companies that provide self-publishing and marketing services for books. In traditional publishing, you found an agent willing to represent your book, worried and prayed while the agent shopped the book around to publishers, and then eagerly waited for the day the book was published (as much as a year later).



POD offers a quicker, more customized option - for a price. Most companies offer a package that allows you to upload your manuscript, choose formatting and layout options, and provide marketing services to promote your work. The books are usually printed as a customer orders them.



I've assessed five of the biggest and most popular POD companies on their services and costs. See my POD comparison file at Pearl Writing Services. Once you are familiar with the basic options and terms, however, there is still an analysis to be done. Each of the POD publishers I documented have benefits and disadvantages, but all are excellent resources. How do you choose the right POD for your project? Consider these questions:

1. Does your work have broad appeal or will it appeal to those in a specific niche? If your work is for a niche audience, and you have access to promote to that audience, you may not need some of the promotional services offered by some PODs.
2. How much self-promoting you want to do? Some POD companies offer standard packages that provide for promotional items such as bookmarks, posters, free websites, and business cards; other PODs offer these as extra selections. Don't pay for what you don't need!
3. Will you also try to sell your book through table sales at conferences, trade organizations, or book readings? If so, you might choose a publisher that offers a steep discount to the author, and then bring those books with you to the event.
4. How much hand-holding will you need through the process? Some services provide a representative to walk you through each stage of the process. If you are familiar with the publishing world, you may not need that level of service.
5. What distribution channels will the publisher use? Make sure that these are the channels that your readers will use to find and purchase your book!

Top 8 Free Online Tools for Freelance Writers

Today's guest post is written by freelancer Heather Johnson.

Thanks to the Internet, managing a career as a freelance writer has never been easier. Whether you are looking for help with the actual writing and research or the business end of things, you can find countless resources on the Web. Even more exciting is the fact that many resources are completely free to the public. Below are the top eight free online tools for freelance writers.

1. Google Docs & Spreadsheets – Never worry about losing your written work again. With Google Docs & Spreadsheets, you can write from any location with an Internet connection. Securely save your work online and pick up where you left off from another location. Not only can you save your work online, you will never again have to pay for commercial word-processing software. Also, you can share any of your online docs and spreadsheets with others for collaboration.

2. Citing Sources – This handy online guide from Duke University will help you to cite any source using MLA, APA, Chicago or Turabian style. If you have any doubts about whether or not you are citing something correctly, it is better to double-check than to accidentally plagiarize another writer.

3. OneLook Dictionary – Why use one online dictionary when you can use a dictionary search engine that combines hundreds of reference texts? Not only can you find definitions on this site, you can also translate any word.

4. The Elements of Style – Every writer should have this bible nearby. If you don't have a copy handy, Bartleby actually hosts the book online for free. Never again will you have to second-guess your sentence structure.

5. PayPal – This is the easiest way to invoice a client and to collect money. PayPal is used by millions of people worldwide and is considered to be a very secure way to conduct online transactions. The free invoicing tool couldn't be easier.

6. Morguefile – Need a free stock image to go with your latest written masterpiece? Look no further than Morguefile, a free resource for public domain imagery.

7. U.S. Census Bureau – When you are in need of a reliable statistic to back up your writing, you can always depend on the U.S. Census Bureau. You can find many studies and survey results on this site and they are all categorized by subject for your convenience.

8. Writeboard – This online collaboration tool is free of charge and comes in very handy for freelance writers. With this tool, you can view and edit work with people from around the globe in real time. For telecommuters, nothing could make collaboration easier.


By-line:

Heather Johnson is an industry critic, as well as a regular contributor on the subject of business credit cards. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Words you shouldn't end your sentence with.

Does the title sound a little funny to you? It should. It ends with a preposition - a word that links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence, and tells the place of the noun, pronoun, or phrase in space or time.

Examples: in, behind, with, within, past, beneath, along, under.


In English the preposition usually comes before or very close to its object. And generally it's considered a no-no to end a sentence with a preposition.

However, that rule is not ironclad. If the sentence would be more awkward and confusing if you re-wrote it to put the preposition in its usual place. I would give you an example, but I haven't had enough coffee to think of an awkward sentence.

Keep this in mind when you're writing: in general, the more formal your writing, the more closely you will need to follow the rules of the English language. By contrast, when you are writing dialogue, you will be much more likely to murder the rules, since we relax the rules when speaking in real life.

For this rule, as well as all other parts of English, write in a manner that is appropriate to your subject, audience, and purpose.