Resources

Character Craft

Character Arc Guide -blog series by @KMWeiland

Character Development Checklist by Elise Carlson.

8 Types of Character, by Jerry Jenkins.

Personality Test by 16 Personalities

Character Craft Blogs by @AmeliaWiens.

Writing Diverse Characters

Homophobia Index -LGBTQI+ stereotypes to avoid

Writing Trans Characters -youtube series by @AuthorDrost

Writing Characters With Autism, a 3 part blog by Elizabeth Bartmess.

9 Tips For Writing Characters Unlike You, by Michael Gallant

Writing With Colour -avoiding racial stereotypes.

White Authors Writing Poc. Research white author’s can do to include POC characters authentically and respectfully.

Writing the Other’s Resource Page a fantastic resource collection for a range of character identities.

Plotting & Story Structure General Advice

Story Structure -blog series by KM Weiland.

6 Scene Dilemas, by KM Weiland.

KM Weilan’s Story Database -popular films and books for which she’s outlined major plot points, handy for understanding story structure.

How to Write an Insanely Good Ending, drawing on Emotional, External and Philosophical Arcs -learning from screenplays by Michael Arndt.

3 Act Structure Introduction -youtube video.

Plotting Methods

The Snowflake Method, a Plotting Technique by Randy Ingermason.

The One Page Plot Formula -an outline template and blog post on using it.

Save the Cat (by Blake Snyder), is plotting beats illustrated with Avengers Infinity War in a video by Studiobinder.

Save the Cat beats defined by NYC Screenwriters Collective.

Story and Scene level Beat Sheets by Jamie Gould, including Save the Cat, for Scrivener and others.

Sensitivity Readers

What are Sensitivity Readers? explains the benefits and process of working with a sensitivity reader, from Reedsy.

Confessions of a Sensitivity Reader, gives insight into how a sensitivity reader will work with you, from Salt & Sage Books blog.

Editors

5 Things Author’s Need to Know Before Hiring an Editor, an interview with editor Staci Frenes by Mixtus Media

Different Levels of Critical Reader & Editing Services, by Amelia Wiens

Querying Your First Novel by Elise Carlson.

All Things Querying Links: My blog of resource links for Query Letter & Synopsis Advice, Successful Query Examples & Advice on Communicating with Literary Agents.

Alexa Donne’s Youtube Channel gives thorough coverage of all things querying (+writing advice)

Literary Agency BookEnds Youtube Channel

iwriterly has a few great querying videos, including top reasons agents reject queries

Twitter Pitch Parties

Which parties can I pitch my novel in? blog of ever-growing number of pitch parties listed by type, with 10 Tips for Optimal Pitching and 3 mentoring program links.

Crafting a Pitch -another blog by yours truly

Party Tips & Info -blog (language warning) by @StorySorcery

Avoiding Dodgy Operators

Writer Beware’s Thumbs Down Publishers List of infamous publishers

Writer Beware’s definitions and pros and cons of Hybrid Publishers v.s. Vanity Publishers (the latter being on my blacklist)

Choosing a Publisher

Publishing Paths; Big 5, Traditional, Indie, Self Publishing, by Jane Friedman.

Types of Publishers/ Publishing & Choosing One by Joanna Maciejewska.

Self Publishing

How to Get Your Book Self Published by Jane Friedman

Self Publishing & Promo Steps -youtube series by D.C. Ferguson

Becoming an Indie Author Part 1 and Part 2: Book Launching by Elise Carlson

How to Self Publish Your book (youtube series) by DC Fergerson

Why Indie Authors Should Consider Their Own Imprint

Publishers (Taking Un-agented Submissions)

Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity has a comprehensive list of publishers accepting unsolicited submissions and self-publishing and other useful resources like contests, and where to get reviews.

Author’s Publish is a mailing list of publishers and magazines accepting unsolicited submissions. They also have querying and general writing advice.

Profit and Loss –How Publishers Decide What to Publish, by Jane Friedman.

Small Presses

Small Presses defined, their pros and cons by Writer Beware

3 Unique Research Methods for Identifying Small Publishers by Jane Friedman

If you publish directly with a publisher, The Society of Authors and Authors Guild both offer legal advice on publishing contracts to their members.

General Resources

Finding Your Target Audience by Marc Guberti

Building a Platform as an Unpublished Writer by Jane Friedman

Building an Author Platform by @LombardEmma

Author Platform Action Plan Worksheets by Jane Friedman

Marketing Without Social Media by Carol Michel.

Growing Your Bookbub Following by Diana Urban

Author Newsletter

Author Newsletters: the Basics, by me.

Unpublished Author Newsletters -blog by @LombardEmma

Bookfunnel (build your newsletter via group promos)

StoryOrigin (best for newsletter swaps)

Graphic Tools

canva.com is great for author related graphics. (I use it for posts, newsletter headers, Pinterest pins ect.)

unsplash.com has high resolution photos (the main source of stock photos illustrating this blog), and makes it easy to credit photographers.

bookbrush.com allows you to design 20 book marketing images for free, and paid designs after.

Website & Blog

Author Site Set Up Tips, by me

Blog v.s. Newsletters, pros & cons plus Jane Friedman articles on developing both.

Site SEO Optimisation, Thomas Umstattd Jr. 

Visitors Your Author Site Needs To Thrill, podcast by Novel Marketing. NB: enrol in the course for access (free).

100 Blog Ideas for Unpublished Authors by @mixtusmedia

Growing Your Blog and Tips to Make Readers Continue Reading, 3 More Blog Tips & Being a Guest Blogger by Marc Guberti

Social Media

Social Media Tips by Marc Guberti

Facebook for Authors by Jane Friedman

Social Media for Writers, by Elise Carlson

#WritingCommunity Hashtag Guides -Twitter & Insta, by Elise Carlson

10 Ways to Promote without tweeting links, by Lee’s Hall of Information.

Book Tok Ideas by Never Enough Novels

How to Start A Booktok by Kelly Hallucci

Where Do I Start?

50 Book Marketing Ideas Every Author Needs to Know, by Reedsy

Book Marketing 101 by Jane Friedman (see her blog for more marketing advice posts)

KDP Select or go Wide? Another Reedsy blog linked to resources to help you decide whether to distribute ebooks exclusively in Kindle Select or not.

Amazon Expanded Distribution, Ingram Spark & ISBN Info by Eric V. Van Der Hope.

Choosing Keyword on Amazon by Dave Cheeson

Writing Attention Grabbing Promo Copy by Bookbub

24 Things David Kadavy Learnt From Self Publishing, including about KU

How to Develop an Indie Author Marketing Plan, by Emma Lombard.

Book Marketing FB Groups

20booksto50k -marketing strategies discussion and support for self published authors

Wide for the Win -dedicated to marketing strategies for going wide

Free Marketing Courses

Starting From Zero, course by David Gaughran

5 Day Amazon Add Course, by Dave Cheeson (Kindleprenuer)

Promo Services & Advice

127+ of the Top Free and Paid Book Promo Sites, by Kindleprenuer

Free & Paid Book Promotion Services, curated by Reedsy

How to Market your Book to Get World Wide Exposure, by BookBub.

Ad & Promo Creation Tools

Creative Common Resources (check if the images are personal or commercial use before using!)

Canva (I use this for post & site graphics, newsletter headers, book banners etc)

Unsplash (high resolution free commons images naming the photographer so you can credit them)

Author Profile & Review Sites

Amazon Author Page
Goodreads Author Program (add your book for arc & normal reviews)
Bookbub (review site)
StoryGraph (review site)
All Author (some tools & cover competition)