I Wanna Be a Writer! by Pamela Joy


	I Wanna Be a Writer!
"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, need not be lived again." Maya Angelou (1928- )

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When I was a senior in high school, I decided to drop my afternoon classes and work in the office of a local factory.

As I handed the drop-class slip to my creative-writing teacher, she turned to the class and said, "Pamela will write. She may be dropping this class, but she will continue to write." At that moment I wanted to snatch that paper and stay in her class.

Everytime I sit down to write, I think of Mrs. Carson and her prediction.

How to . . .

Judith Kelman's Writers' Room
an excellent concise site for new authors who have more questions than answers, including information about

Fiction - how to write a publishable novel.
Non-Fiction - turning your ideas into articles.
Agents - how to choose, use, & lose an agent.
Getting Published - getting your work ready to sell.
The Business Side - deals & details.
Publishing Terms - Glossary of publishing terms defined.
Resources - Tips, links, a FAQ, and a list of fantasy sites for when you need a cheerful boost.
Writer's Tips and Tools - advice, setting up your office and a schedule, writer's block, and handling rejection.

Book TV org as seen on C-Span 2.

Publishing

UCL Guidelines on Publishing - University College London comments on "Issues raised by the use of electronic information networks for the publishing (or self-publishing)"
PMA - Publishers Marketing Association "The largest non-profit trade association representing independent publishers of books, audio, video and CDs."
The Wilson Devereux Company, Literary Agent.
Guidelines for Query and Submission, recommended to submit a brief query by e-mail or postal mail before sending a proposal.
What it Takes to Sell Nonfiction Work to a Publisher, the three things needed to get the attention of a publisher.

Island Press, a leading publisher of books about the environment for professionals, students, and general readers.
Jain Publishing Company, a general trade and college textbook publisher, business, management, computers, internet, health, healing, religions, philosophies, motivational, inspirational giftbooks and vegetarian cookbooks.
The Women's Press Feminist Publishers, a British publishing house. Established in 1978, we publish high-quality fiction and non-fiction books from outstanding women writers worldwide."

Research

Research Resources in Social Science pointers to data in various areas, proprietary information, searches and search engines.
Academic Departments and Related Programs at Wellesley College Library.

Organizations

Pen and Brush is the oldest professional organization for women writers and artists in the United States. Ten exhibitions a year as well as lectures, numerous concerts, art and craft demonstrations and slide presentations.

The International Women Writer's Guild founded in 1976 in the United States.
The Organization of Women Writers of Africa
Author.co.uk for Writers and Publishers
Writing Focus by Trevor Lockwood.

Resources

Wordup, a creative writing website in the UK. A lot of the links are broken, but there are few resources worth checking.

Writer's Net, a resource for and a directory of published writers, editors, publishers, and literary agents.
Agent Directory, searchable by location and specialization.

The Arvon Foundation, UK residental creative writing sources, grant subsidy available for those unable to afford the fee.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts
WWWomen.com, a search and directory of woman online.
Social Science Information Gateway, a UK Resource Discovery Network service providing information for students, academics, business, law, and researchers.
World Wide Words, Michael Quinion investigates the history, changes, and quirks of the English language from a British viewpoint. This is a terrific site.
Starting Page, a directory of sites and reference guide to familiar and famous quotations.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, over 11,000 quotations organized by chronologic index of authors, alphabetic index of authors, and a concordance index to the quotations. Also search Columbia Quotations, Simpson's Quotations, and Respectfully Quoted.

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, by Jane Straus, order the book or use the online exercises and tests.
RhymeZone. type in a word and find it's rhymes, synonyms, and definitions; plus a searchable directory of Shakespeare's works, quotations, famous documents, quizzes, and Mother Goose.
Writer's Beware, frauds and felonies in the world of science fiction and fantasy publishing.

Inspiration

What's in your Name?, detailed report of meanings of names according to a mathematical formula.

Awards

Academy of Arts and Letters Award List includes a long list of awards and prizes available to authors.
Hemingway Foundation Award for the best first book of fiction.
American Library Association, a list of awards such as the The John Newbery Medal awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
National Book Awards a yearly prize for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young people's literature.
Nobel Prize in Literature Winners
The Orange Prize for Fiction, UK's largest annual literary award for a single novel written by a woman.
Pulitzer Prizes, history of the award, winners, finalists, resources, guidelines, and entry forms.
John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer published in the previous two years.

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Graphics courtesy of

Lolis golden pages

Lolis Web graphic galleries

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June 7, 2005
Copyright © 1998-2005 by Pamela Joy
Fairbanks, Alaska

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