Resources - or how you'll find more information than you'll ever need

When I was still an unpublished and unagented writer, I had a list of websites that I visited frequently, especially to “stalk” agents.

-       Literary Rambles

Casey McCormick who’s the blogger of Literary Rambles has created a wonderful selection of agent spotlights. You can find information about agents, their agencies, their latest sales, what they are looking for, as well as links to interviews. I loved to read the spotlights (in addition to the agency’s websites) when I was trying to figure out who to query.

-       Query Tracker

Once I started querying, I spent a crazy amount of time checking response times on query tracker. It was great finding out what kind of projects agents requested and how they worded their rejections. The comments were always a good place to find information you didn’t really need, but desperately wanted to have.

-        Absolute Write 

      This was the place I first went to when I started writing. It’s a great place to get your queries or first pages critiqued by other writers. In addition there are many forums where you can share experiences with other aspiring writers, ask questions about any part of the industry, and most importantly find other people in the same situation. I found my beta readers there, so it was definitely worth it!

-       WriteOnCon

      This is an online conference taking place once per year where you can get your queries and first pages critiqued by fellow writers, and anonymous agents. Many writers get requests from agents there. I was already agented when the first WriteOnCon took place, so I never participated, which makes me kind of sad.

     Once I was agented but not yet published, my focus shifted slightly. Especially when I was on submission I spent way too much time on Publishers Marketplace, obsessing over deals, checking on editors and publishers.

      Now that I’m no longer looking for an agent and have a publisher, the only place I use for writing purposes is pretty much Pinterest – which I use for inspiration and to procrastinate…