Emerging Author Resources

Dawn Gernhardt
3 min readJan 30
“I Write, I’m Alive” Street Art in Portugal. Photo by Dawn Gernhardt

Dear fellow emerging authors, there are so many ways to research writing, querying, publishing, and agenting related options. In compiling this list for a friend, I thought I would share with my Medium friends, too. Here are many sites I follow, subscribe to, or have researched over the years — this is only scratching the surface. I’m not endorsing any of these, per se, but have accumulated the resources over time.

Always do some research and due diligence to make sure any resources are legit before working with them. Some of this data may be incorrect or have changed over time. Good luck!

Query, Synopsis, First Page help
1. Query, Synopsis, First Page, and general publishing tidbits — private FB
2. Query Shark query feedback free and paid offerings
3. Jane Freedman free and paid offerings
4. The Sh!t No One Tells You About Publishing and podcast
5. Twitter Pitch Calendar and list
6. Operation Awesome query contest and more

Agent and Publisher Search

Scams and Issues
Writer Beware database to research agent or publishing issues and scams

Mentorships or Fellowships Emerging Authors
There are many, but here are a few, like what Pitchwars used to be, which I think has ended. Some have entry fees which can add up.

1. Revise and Resubmit
2. Book Pipeline
3. Lists of writing contests for support (some have paid entry requirements)
4. Blue Pencil
5. James Jones Fellowship

Searchable Resources
1. Publishers Marketplace: $25 monthly/cancel anytime agents and deals
2. Manuscript WishList: Free and searchable for agents
3. Publishing And Other Forms Of Insanity: free and searchable
4. Query Tracker: free and searchable for agents
5. Duotrope: some free and some paid offerings
6. Twitter searches, for example: “romance lit agents” or “open for queries”, “closing to queries”, “open for submissions”, etc. Follow and receive notifications when they post. #writingcommunity and #amquerying, etc.
7. Global list of Lit Agencies: search for…

Dawn Gernhardt

A writer: nonfiction in Random Sample Review and Pink Panther Magazine and humor in Defenestration, Wry Times, Funny-ish, and The Haven. Working on a novel.

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