Expert Round-Up Topic: What are your favorite websites for nonfiction author advice and guidance and why?
PHILLIP KANE
Last winter, at the encouragement of several friends and followers, I made a decision to pursue the notion of developing and shopping a book proposal. It was entirely a solo effort. I had no representation and no prior writing experience.
I found the ReedsyBlog site tremendously helpful. It provides first-time nonfiction writers a complete resource for discovering what the process might entail; a fantastic and exhaustive guide for developing a proposal, publisher information, and other helpful how-to information. Reedsy’s main site also provides connections to agency and editor resources for those who might have an interest in seeking help with either.
Using information almost entirely from ReedsyBlog and without agency or an editor, I developed a proposal, which elicited more than one favorable response. I pursued one and obtained a contract with a full-service publisher.
https://phillipkaneauthor.com/
Blog: https://andwin.net/
MARK A. HERSCHBERG
I’ve built startup companies for years before writing my book. As with any new industry I go into I wanted to understand it. I read around 1,500 articles on every aspect of publishing a book, both for traditional and self-publishing routes. I saved the most useful ones and for a while shared them with friends also looking at writing books. I wound up putting them up on a webpage for everyone. So none of this is my advice; this is a meta list of the best advice I could find on each topic: https://www.cognoscomedia.com/resources.
Author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You
https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/
SOLOMON THIMOTHY
I habitually go through Hubspot, Bloomberg, Business News Daily, and Forbes whenever I need content ideas for business, sales, and marketing topics. These websites are good resources and provide substantial support for these topics and from which I can infer from whenever I’m formulating a different angle or perspective for my article. These are sturdy references whenever I have to check for recent and trending approaches and technologies.
I usually cross-reference articles from them to check how my piece stacks up into or against their ideas. I believe it’s vital that you have the groundwork for your content to keep it unique, accurate, and up-to-date at the same time. While it’s good to find references to my ideas, I need to create pieces with my voice and thought structure, and this is why it’s critical to compare them against existing articles.
CEO and Co-Founder of Clickx
https://www.amazon.com/SolomonThimothy/e/B08ZVPN5PX%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
https://www.linkedin.com/in/solomonthimothy/
JORDAN BISHOP
#1 PublicationCoach.com
Run by Daphne Gray-Grant, I followed this site long before I was an author. Daphne’s blog focuses on tips to avoid writer’s block and how to get the flow going when it’s time to write. I also run a personal finance blog, which means I’m constantly writing, so publicationcoach.com and its newsletter have given me the right outlook to see writing as a hobby I enjoy rather than something I have to do, which helped me write my first book.
#2 Catapult.co
Catapult is host to many great essays, but they also help a lot when helping others write. It features a section where seasoned authors talk about their experiences, what it means to be a writer, and some crude but real facts of working at it full time. I got a lot of motivation to write my first book from Catapult.
#3 DIYMFA.com
Gabriela Pereira does a great job of imparting the fundamentals of writing to everyone in her blog. She does so with a DIY alternative with weekly blog posts on how writing works when it comes to writing and the business side of it. I’ve personally found myself using some of her tips, like thinking of writing as walking a tightrope.
Author of a recent narrative nonfiction, Unperfect
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