Hello again stranger! Are you a writer? Do you want to be one? Do you just like knowing things? Then here are some writing resources I hope you’ll find useful on your writing quest. Comment down below or send me a note if you’d like something added to this entry.
-M
*Last updated: 28 March 2020*
Terms to know:
Standard manuscript format: Also known as Shun standard manuscript format, this is the industry standard for how your short story or novel manuscript should be formatted for submission. There are slight differences between short story submissions and manuscript submissions, so always double check! Many literary magazines have additional requirements too so never assume if you want to come off polished and professional.
Pitch: A one or two sentence elevator summary of your manuscript. You might also see these called loglines or referred to as the hook for your manuscript.
Query: Asking a literary agent to represent your manuscript. A query generally consists of: a query letter and submission materials (ex. first five pages of your manuscript) and many times a one-page synopsis.
Query letter: The letter you write to the literary agent you want to represent your work. Query letters these days almost always will be in the body of an email and should be relatively short, less than a page. A common formula suggests three paragraphs. In paragraph one, your connection to the agent and your hook. In paragraph two, your short synopsis that summarizes but does not spoil the ending of the book, and paragraph three, a short author bio. Your query letter should always include your manuscript’s intended audience, title, word count, and genre.
Comparison titles or ‘comps’: Two published works that when combined give a similar vibe to the work you are querying. These used to be exclusively books, but it’s now common to “comp” to TV shows and video games as well. Example: “Six of Crows X The West Wing”, or “Knives Out meets Gideon the Ninth”.
Cover letter: When submitting short fiction, this is the short and sweet blurb you write to submit your work. Do not summarize your prose here. Include the title, potentially genre, word count, and if it is or is not a multiple or simultaneous submission. If you have writing credits, belong to writing associations, and/or have a specific connection to the venue you’re submitting to, include as appropriate.
Synopsis (long): The 1-2 (or 2-5?!) page full synopsis of your manuscript that summarizes the major plot arcs and themes of your novel. Spoil the story here. It is your way to let the agent know what kind of book they’re in for. And of course, don’t lose your unique style and voice while condensing thousands of words into several pages. (If this sounds hard, IT IS.)
Synopsis (short): The baby synopsis that captures the essence of your themes and main plot arcs without spoiling the story entirely. This is the synopsis the should be included in your query letter.
On Submission: What happens after you have a literary agent. This is the process where your agent sends your manuscript to publishing houses to sell it to editors for publication. This process can take months, and may take several rounds.
Manuscript: Your book length work that is your pride and joy. Abbreviated MS in many places.
Literary agent: The person in traditional publishing who represents your manuscript to publishing houses. They do not charge upfront for their services. Literary agents are required for most major publishing houses these days, as most larger presses do not accept unsolicited submissions from writers.
Big five: Shorthand for the five largest publishers in the traditional publishing industry. They are: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon and Schuster.
Self-publishing: When an author publishes their work on their own, without the assistance of literary agents and publishing houses. Ebook markets like Amazon have made self-publishing more accessible than ever before.
Traditional publishing: The time-old tradition of using a literary agent to sell your work to a publishing house.
Editor: The person(s) at a publishing house your literary agent will submit your manuscript to. Editors do not by any means have the final say in acceptance for publication; but, they have to say yes to your work for it to go further in the process. An editor will work with you on your manuscript if it is accepted for publication. Though there may be literary agents who edit, the literary agent works to sell your work, while the editor is an employee of the publishing house.
Pitch contest: Not truly contests, these are events on Twitter where aspiring unpublished authors pitch their unpublished manuscript in a tweet, usually with a specific hashtag. Literary agents participating will request additional materials by liking tweets they want to see submissions from. Some examples of Twitter pitch events are: #PitMad, #DVPit, #SFFPit, and #PitDark
Simultaneous submission: When a writer submits to more than one literary magazine or agent at a time. In general, for shorter works most literary magazines do not accept simultaneous submission. For novel-length works literary agents expect simultaneous submission due to long response times. In sum: always note the guidelines of the venue you’re submitting to!
Multiple submissions: When a writer submits multiple pieces to the same literary magazine or literary agents. Most venues do not accept multiple submissions, and should indicate either way in their submission guidelines. I will say this forever and ever: Always check!
First rights: This is a simplification, because I am not a lawyer, but first rights are the person/publisher that gets to publish the story first. There are subsets of first rights: First English Language, First Electronic, First Print, First Audio, etc.
Submittable: An submission management system many literary magazines use to receive and track submissions.
Moksha: Another variety of an online submission management system used to receive submissions.
Manuscript wishlist: abbreviated MSWL, this is a term for what literary agents and editors want to see in their submission inbox. It functions as a hashtag on Twitter and a website where literary agents and editors can post in detail about what stories they’re interested in.
Drabble: An extremely condensed piece of fiction that is exactly 100-words. No more, no less.
Websites to check out: (updated 28 March 2020)
Writer Beware: An volunteer run effort sponsored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and several other writing associations that aims to track and expose fraud and other questionable activities in the publishing industry.
Rejection Wiki: Many brave souls compiled an archive of rejection letters from a wide range of literary magazines and categorized them so writers in the submission trenches can add some context to their form rejection letters.
Manuscript Wishlist: A great resource for anyone researching literary agents or editors. It contains profiles of many agents and editors with detailed descriptions of what they want to see in their submission inboxes.
Pitch Wars: Pitch Wars runs a mentorship program by the same name where industry professionals (agents, published authors, editors, etc.) pair with a writer and their unpublished manuscript to offer suggestions to make it shine for an agent showcase. The organization’s website also has additional writing resources worth checking out.
NaNoWriMo: The National Novel Writing Month organization is a non-profit focused on enabling writers to get their stories on the page and out into the world. Primarily known for the month of November, when thousands of writers take on the NaNoWriMo challenge to write 50,000 words before December 1st, they now run many programs that provide resources for creatives.
Writer’s Digest: The website for the magazine of the same name, there is a mother lode of resources here. If it’s articles on tradecraft, literary agent interviews, examples of query letters, competitions to enter, writing prompts, or upcoming writing conferences, Writer’s Digest has it all.
Query Tracker: A completely free database of literary agents. It allows you to track your queries and see data about an agent’s response time, reply rate, and more.
Query Shark: A blog focused on how to write query letters that work. You also can submit your queries here to be critiqued. With a catalog of posts going back to 2003, there is a ton of information and advice to glean!
Submission Grinder: Focused towards the short fiction and poetry community, the Submission Grinder is another completely free submission tracker and market database for writers of fiction and poetry. It is run by the team behind the literary magazine Diabolical Plots.
Social media communities:
On Reddit:
- r/writing
- r/fantasywriters
- r/scifiwriting
- r/authortube
On Twitter:
- #WritingCommunity
- #MSWL
- #amwriting (also insert your genre after, ex. #amwritingfantasy)
- #amediting
- #amquerying
- #WIPchat
On YouTube
- The Authortube community consists of a variety of aspiring and published writers offering content focused on writing topics and creative process. The sub-Reddit noted above has a continuously updated listing of Authortube channels to check out.
- Though primarily focused on reviewing books, the Booktube community is a sister community to Authortube, and many Booktubers are also writers.