Friday Find: Nathan Bransford’s "Writing Advice Database"

Literary agent Nathan Bransford recently posted a “Writing Advice Database” on his excellent blog. Categories cover “Before You Start,” “The Writing Process,” “Revising,” “Genres and Classification,” and “Staying sane during the writing/publishing process.” Bransford calls it “an FAQ-style compendium of all the writing advice on the blog”–which is considerable. Check it out. And have a great weekend.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Poets & Writers Edition

A couple of days ago I pointed you to the classifieds in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers magazine. Today, I’m going to spotlight some articles the magazine has made available online.

–In a special section on literary journals, Sandra Beasley writes about the evolution of online journals.
–The super “Agents and Editors” series continues, this time with Jofie Ferrari-Adler speaking with agents Maria Massie, Jim Rutman, Anna Stein, and Peter Steinberg.
–Kevin Larimer updates us on small presses and lit mags.

There’s plenty of great content in the print issue, too, including Mary Gannon’s profile of Jay McInerney. Since I encountered resistance from some fiction workshop-mates when I wrote stories (in 2002) with connections to the attacks of September 11, 2001, I particularly appreciated this snippet: “And, as he did by using the second person in his debut, in The Good Life McInerney took a risk by writing about New York City in the immediate aftermath of September 11, despite advice from the late Norman Mailer to hold off ten years. ‘I was writing about the emotional texture of those three months afterwards,’ he says. ‘If I had waited, that would have faded for me.'”

Friday Find: Agent Blogs (The Best of the Best)

Over on the Guide to Literary Agents blog, Chuck Sambuchino has compiled a list of five top agent blogs. These are great places to learn about the agents who run them, and they’re also extremely useful for tips on query letters, synopses, and all that scary stuff! Check out Chuck’s winners here. And have a great weekend!