Short Story Competitions Poetry Competitions

Great Links for Writers

AndreaSemple.com
Andrea has written her first novel and now has her own web site, which, she says, “is aimed at writers (as well as my own readers) and includes advice on how to secure a novel deal, interviews with best selling authors, a writing tips newsletter, a tongue-in-cheek guide to understanding literary agents plus much more.”

Association of Christian Writers
The A.C.W. say they bring “many benefits whether you are wanting to write but don’t know how to get started, or whether you are an experienced author looking for new markets and fellowship with other Christian writers”.

BBC - WritersRoom
Visit The Writers Room at the BBC website for much useful information on writing for TV, Radio and Film. Download Word templates to help you set out your scripts correctly. The usual BBC quality. They say: "BBC WritersRoom is always on the lookout for fresh, new, talented writers for a changing britain . when we find them, we do everything we can to get their voice heard."

Chapter One Promotions
Chapter One Promotions tell me they “offer exciting opportunities to aspiring and established writers. Our workshops are led by experienced facilitators and we provide a story critique service analysed by our prolific authors and industry based story readers. We also run the annual International Open Short Story Competition and the Open Poetry Competition, both of which offer substantial prizes.”

Children's Literature Web Guide
This site describes itself as: ‘an attempt to gather together and categorize the growing number of Internet resources related to books for Children and Young Adults. Much of the information that you can find through these pages is provided by others: fans, schools, libraries, and commercial enterprises involved in the book world’.

Coffee Break for writers e-zine
A free monthly e-zine for writers and by writers. They say "We are a paying market!" Here's a site that offers a thoughtful and interesting range of helpful items in the form of an online e-zine. Some of the topics covered in the current edition: Feature: "Find Time to Write (An Acrostic)", Book Review: "Purple Snowflake Marketing", Questions and Answers About Freelance Writing, Success Café, Writing and Publishing News, Writing Exercise, Observances and Holidays (Ideas Included), Legal Information, Advertising Information.

Contact an Author - helps you find the author you need
This site helps you find authors available for talks, workshops, school visits, interviews, after-dinner speaking, world book day events and commissions. you can search for authors by name or by your requirements and locate local authors. database includes fiction and non-fiction writers, novelists, children's authors, biographers and poets.

Corsinet.com - a Mine of Useless Information!
Here's a great site for a wealth of amusing and 'useless' information. Here's what they say about themselves: "corsinet.com is an excellent, intelligent way to waste time on the internet: discover unusual facts, learn some new things, wake up your brain cells and have some fun. We've been wasting time on the internet since before there was an internet!"

Directory of Writers' Circles, courses and workshops
An interesting site which is well worth a visit. They also produce a Directory of Writers’ Circles in the UK. They have links to workshops, courses, writing holidays, festivals and a whole lot more.

EliteSkills.com
eliteskills.com is a site that will appeal to the younger writer. There's a forum where you can post your work and get and give comments, plus articles, Shoutbox, meet friends, and such. Signup is free.

Everyone Who's Anyone in adult trade publishing,
A website listing hundreds of top literary agents, editors and publishers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. It’s an excellent resource, and best of all, it’s free! There’s also a quirky twist to these listings, take a look and you’ll see what I mean.

Fetchbook - New & Used Books - find the lowest price
FetchBook.Info is completely independent, and does not contain any promotional material or ads. Every book price comparison is done in real time and scans 103 book stores. Using this service, you can find any book you want, see information about it and compare its total cost, including the shipping costs to your destination, to find the deal that's best for you. The results link you directly to the book page at the book store site, where you can easily order the book. In addition, you can find selected book reviews sites on the book resources page.

GreatWriting.co.uk
Join a thriving creative writing community and release the writer in you.
Great Writing is a free creative writing support forum where the aspiring authors, poets and bards come to read and review each other's work. Join for free!
Since 2005, the Great Writing creative writing community has been the home of thousands of aspiring and successful writers. The idea behind Great Writing is simple; sign up, submit a piece of creative writing, and allow others to offer advice and constructive criticism. This is supported by a general discussion area where you can promote your work, ask questions about all aspects of writing and publishing, or just chew the fat with friends.

Ideas4Writers.co.uk - publishing, self-publishing, ideas & inspiration
Great ideas to make you a better writer. Hundreds of ideas to inspire and improve your writing. 100 new ideas every month, plus what ifs, anniversaries, writing engines, discussion forums, writers' bookshop, computer & word processor help and much more.

Inter-Read - writers, readers, short stories and books world-wide
Inter-Read is described as a not-for-profit writers’ showcase. Submit your short story, poetry or even extracts from your full-length books. Practically every genre you can think of is represented.

IPR License - IPR License has launched the first ever digital and global licensing marketplace to enable authors to register copyright and license their own book rights worldwide.
The IPR License website (www.iprlicense.com) provides a centralised point for authors to register copyright to ensure secure third-party records exist in case of any dispute. In addition it enables industry professionals to quickly and simply trace relevant copyright holders to negotiate permissions for quotations.
Another unique feature of the website is that registered members, whether published, unpublished or self-published, can utilise the IPR License marketplace to help monetise their work via securing a publishing deal (if not traditionally published already) or through translations, audio conversions and film rights, amongst others.
Initial membership is £99 (+VAT) which includes the ability to upload/register up to five full-length manuscripts (novel, non-fiction or finished collection of poetry/stories).

Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau
Lots of info on writers’ markets, writing competitions. Also provide a critique and editorial service. They say "become a published writer: getting published, writing courses, competitions, critique, editorial and advisory services for writers in all genres."

Jurgen Wolff - Your Writing Coach
An excellent site for the writer knuckling down to their first project. Sign up for Jurgen's free monthly creativity e-bulletin full of tips and techniques. Buy his book "Your Writing Coach" which is a genuine source of encouragement and inspiration.

Just A Contest
Whilst WritersReign offers competitions primarily from the UK, Just a Contest casts a world-wide net opening a door to writing and poetry contests from around the globe. So if you feel the need to stretch your competitive writing wings a little and test the waters in foreign climes, this site could be the answer.

Literary Agents search: find by genre in our uk literary agents directory
Find UK literary agents and publishers in their searchable literary agents and publishers database / listing / directory. Writers and authors services, writers resources, authors resources, writers help, writers groups and circles. Authors help, new author, writers workshop, creative writing, proofreaders and editors, ghostwriters.

London Writers' Cafe
London Writers’ Café is a community group for writers for creative writers to share, read and discuss their writing projects for constructive feedback. The aim of LWC is to provide regular meetings where writers can join in and connect with others for support, advice and motivation!
The group began in 2006, by just a few writers who wanted to regularly get together to share their work for feedback and honest critiques. Today, LWC is a thriving community of more than 1,300 writers, with regular group meetings in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. londonwriterscafe/

MsLexia - the magazine for women who write
Now, being a bloke I feel a little out of my depth here, not to say even slightly intimidated by all the girl power bursting from this site. So best let them speak for themselves: “Mslexia tells you all you need to know about exploring your creativity and getting into print.
No other magazine provides Mslexia's unique mix of debate and analysis, advice and inspiration; news, reviews, interviews; competitions, events, courses, grants. All served up with a challenging selection of new poetry and prose. Mslexia is read by top authors and absolute beginners. A quarterly masterclass in the business and psychology of writing, it's the essential magazine for women who write.”
See what I mean, chaps? OK, who’s for a pint and a pasty?

National Association of Writers in Education
NAWE is the one organization supporting the development of creative writing of all genres and in all educational and community settings throughout the UK. NAWE aims to put creativity at the heart of education. We believe that everyone should have contact with practising artists, and especially writers. NAWE's mission is to further knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of Creative Writing and to support good practice in its teaching and learning at all levels.

NickFletcher.co.uk
All about crime novelist Nick Fletcher, including snippets from his stories. There’s an excellent page on tips for getting published. It’s worth a visit just for those - and who knows, you could have a web site like his one day!

Novel Writing from 'The Easy Way to Write'
The Easy Way to Write brings you free writing tips on all genre writing - from creating ideas to how to write well, from self motivation to planning, writing and completing your books, novels, short stories or articles, all the way to getting published. Even beyond, to successfully promoting and marketing your work. F-R-E-E writing course.

PaperStarter - Resoures for the Essay Writer
They say "From choosing a topic to organizing a paper, writing an essay can be tricky. In addition, you have to check for spelling errors, make sure you haven’t plagiarized, and cite any sources you may have used. With all this in mind, it may be time to call in some extra help. While you should not go as far as hiring someone to write the essay for you, it is okay to get a little help and the web offers a wealth of resources to help you write a stellar essay. On the PaperStarter site you will find resources to help you every step of the way, from choosing a topic to checking your paper for plagiarism and errors."
(This resource recommended by the students of the Teen Chapter of the Midwest Writing Club, USA.)

Paragraph Planet
An intrigueing little site this which encourages writers to craft stories in 75 words. Can't be done? Don't you believe it - just take a look and be amazed!

Short Story Radio
This is a site staes "Our aims are to promote the short story genre and writer, and to offer contemporary and classic short stories to an international audience, free of charge." You can enter their competition, you can listen to stories read by professional readers, or read their online magazine. Take a look.

SlushPile Hell
One grumpy literary agent, a sea of query fails, and other publishing nonsense.
Need cheering up? This site will brighten your day. Full of hilarious query letter quotes from would be authors who should know better.

Sylvia Kent - freelance writer and journalist
Here is an excellent example of a writers' blog. My friend Sylvia Kent is a freelance journalist and has put some of her work onto a blog which has resulted in some great publicity, good contacts and several commissions. Take encouragement from this and think seriously about creating your own blog to showcase your work.

The Hilary Johnson Authors' Advisory Service
This is a "proven reading/criticism service for novelists, writers of short stories and children's books. also authors of full-length non-fiction. specialist advice available for science fiction/fantasy, radio/tv/film scripts and poetry."

The Literary Consultancy: scouts for leading literary agents
These folk aim to give “First class, market informed, editorial advice to writers at any level of English”. They will provide “assessment of fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, scripts and poetry at all stages of development”. Which just about covers it!

The National Association of Writers in Education
The National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) is the one organization supporting the development of creative writing of all genres and in all educational and community settings throughout the UK.

Veritasse - Christian artists
If you're a Christian writer, poet, actor, choreographer, artist, musician, in fact anything to do with the artistic expression of your faith then you must visit this site.

Whoosh Editing.com
Publishers and editors are always bemoaning the quality of submissions they receive. Poor grammar, spelling and typing errors - you name it. Whoosh Editing is one of a number of companies that offer to do all the editing for you:
"Whether you are a writer sweating over your masterpiece, a business striving for the perfect copy or a student with a deadline closing in fast, we're here to help. At Whoosh Editing we specialize in proofreading, to provide you with accurate, error-free copy, and copyediting, to boost the quality and impact of your writing."

Write Street Writers' Resources
This site contains what some great writing resources. E-books, software and an excellent free newsletter. It's updated every single day, so be sure to visit often!

Writing Short Fiction is a new free site which contains advice, interactive questionnaires and short fiction resources lists to people who write short stories or are planning to make the attempt. The editor, Bruce Harris - http://www.bruceharris.org/ - is the author of an anthology of 25 award-winning stories. The site aims to give prospective writers the confidence to try and existing writers more power to their elbow.

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