Where to begin plotting

my desk as we speak.

 

I've gotten through the grimy part I've been dreading the last two months in my revision process. Now it's time to dig in and make the changes I planned. And what better way than to scrape around my desk, collecting all those dusty notes I've taken from so many blogs I've read, and put them to use!

For those of you going through the same process, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite websites. There are hundreds out there, but this is where I suggest starting:

Kristen Lamb's Blog 

Kidlit.com

Nathan Bransford's blog 

I'm sure I've posted these somewhere before, but here they are again, all official-like.

Kristen Lamb's blog is probably my favorite of the three, though not by too much because they are all pretty amazing. Her blog is great for any writer writing any genre or type of novel. Fiction and Non-Fiction. She goes through every step of what goes into a great book and also gives great insight into the different options of publishing as well as her opinions of where publishing is going, trends, etc.

Mary Kole is a Senior Literary Manager at Movable Type Management and also offers freelance editing and consulting services. She's a great resource for Children's book writers. Everything from Picture books (PB) to Young Adult (YA). She's fairly new to the business of Agenting, but is an austere advice giver, unafraid of giving you her very honest opinion. She lists her email address for questions on the right-hand side of her blog and is prompt in her response time. So, if you can't find an answer elsewhere, give her a try. But follow her question instructions or she won't respond! 

Nathan Bransford basically broke my heart when he quit his job as a literary agent, but he is still very involved in the world of publishing. A published author himself, he has lots of great advice for writers. Check out his FAQs section at the bottom right of his blog under "Essential Publishing Advice". Here you can find posts on anything you need to know from how to write a perfect query to what literary agents do. He is also a great resource for social media, his new job being the social media manager at CNET. 

Hope that helps. When I get to the query phase, I will try to remember to post some great resources for writing query letters (although the above resources have some great posts on that, too!).  If you can't wait until then, let me know and I'll send out some links!