Let's Talk Turkey About Writing!

See those turkeys? Bet they're talking about writing, what with it being smack dab in the middle of November and National Novel Writing Month. How about we join them? And in the spirit of giving, what with November also being about Turkey Day, I’ll share some of my favorite insider writing tips, websites, and info and you can share yours. Wheee!

I’m always looking for great quality photos to go along with a blog post and if I can find free ones at an easily navigable site, even better! My new favorite place to search for free photos is called Pexels. I almost always find what I need, and if I use more than one picture from a photographer, I might even leave a little tip.

Next, it seems like I always have a story, poem, or essay or two or 345 that didn’t sell at the original market where I submitted. So I go to my favorite market resource: Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers (from ICL, the Institute of Children’s Literature). One of my favorite features with this resource is the listing of freelance potential; I like to know my chances of getting accepted. The Writer’s Digest market books are excellent, too, with lots of great take-away info. And here’s the great insider tip I’m passing along: get the current year’s book in the fall when it goes on sale. You can pick up these books for a fraction of what you’d pay in just a few months when the new book comes out, and honestly, the information about the markets doesn’t change that much. Besides, you know to always go online and double check a market before submitting, right?

And finally, one of the most important things I do to support my writing is reading. I read a lot of books. Not necessarily books about writing—though I have bookshelves sagging from all those books and someday, really, I’m going to read ‘em—but books in the genre in which I write. I like to stay on top of the best books in kidlit, especially the books the kids are gobbling up. And I find those books over at Goodreads on all of their great lists. But I particularly love when, once a year, the Goodreads community votes to come up with the “Best of…” lists; that reading keeps me busy for the rest of the year!

Now it’s your turn to give, writers. Have a special writing tip? A favorite go-to writer website? Insider writer information? Share in the comments and I promise, we’ll all be very thankful!

(Well, maybe not the turkeys. It just occurred to me that they may not be talking about writing...)

~Cathy C. Hall