May I recommend you use FeedBurner to read your blogs. This site allows you to have the content of your favorite blogs sent to you as an email every time it is updated. It saves considerable “clicking” time.

Between Two Worlds – Justin Taylor. Not a blog about writing, but is a “A Mix of Theology, Philosophy, Politics, and Culture.”

Charis Connection – An extraordinary group of the top Christian novelists. Each post on different topics related to the writing life. Excellent material. (Unfortunately the last update is November 2007, but the archived content is still fabulous.)

Chip MacGregor’s blog is fantastic. He covers every aspect of the industry so the rest of us don’t have to! I have it sent to me via

Faith in Fiction – by Dave Long, editor at Bethany House Publishers. No longer updated regularly, but read the archives!

Forensics & Faith – by Brandilyn Collins. Always a pleasure to read.

From Where I Sit – by Mike Hyatt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Informing the Reforming – Tim Challies. Not a blog about the writing world but a theological blog that is always stimulating. As with anything theological there are things to agree with and disagree with. But that is beauty of having the “conversation.”

Rants and Ramblings from the Life of a Literary Agent - Rachelle Gardner does a magnificent job with her blog. She is sharp, honest, and gives enormous help to her readers.

The Writing Life – by W. Terry Whalin, industry veteran. A real student of the market.

Your Writers Group – by Mick Silva, editor at Waterbrook. Always provocative and engaging.

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Be Aware of the Bestsellers

BookSense Bestseller List – Compiled from the top general market independent bookstores

Christian Bestsellers List

New York Times Bestsellers List – May need free registration

Publisher’s Weekly Bestsellers List

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Sites of Interest for the Writer

Act One Program – Christian Writing for Hollywood. A tremendous program.

American Christian Fiction Writers Association – A wonderful group of fiction writers. Important to join and be a part of this community. A very nicely designed site.

Author Tech Tips – Help for authors who are timid about technology. Step by step tips on how to get more blog readers, use Twitter, use Facebook and promote your book online.

BookWire – one of the most comprehensive online portals into the book industry. Their mission is to provide librarians, publishers, booksellers, authors, and general book enthusiasts with the resources they need. Owned by Bowker, the compilers of Books in Print.

Children’s Writing Resource Center – Writer4kids.com. A superb resource. An absolute must for the children’s writer.

Christian Fiction Writers Advice – Free articles from some of the best writers in Christian fiction today

Edenstar Books – The source for Christian-themed science-fiction and fantasy books and games.

Fiction Writer’s Resource Page – “The best advice you’ll ever hear: Keep writing. And believe in yourself. But as you already know, that doesn’t tell you how to write, so I’ve assembled a list of web articles and books that’ll do just that, help you understand the craft of fiction.” Site maintained by Todd James Pierce.

Mystery Lover’s Paradise – A wealth of information for Mystery writers.

Publishers Marketplace – For $20 a month this site will give you access to the entire publishing industry. Agents post their recent deals daily. Insider information galore. We rely on this information every day.
At the very least go to the site and sign up for the free email newsletters.

Resources for Writers from A to Z from Yahoo!

Right-Writing – This a great site from W. Terry Whalin, a great teacher of writers. Learn from his experience and honesty about the publishing and writing process. See his blog mentioned above.

Robin’s Nest – Nice group of linked resources on the web. Nicely categorized. Good articles for journalists.

Spirit-Led Writer – An online magazine and a wonderful site chock full of encouragement and honest advice. Make sure you visit often.

Where the Map Ends – A site created by Jeff Gerke that focuses on the speculative (science fiction and fantasy) genre within Christian fiction. He has compiled a comprehensive list of titles and authors and conducts some insightful interviews. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Writer’s Digest – Each month Writer’s Digest helps thousands of writers hone their skills and find the best-paying markets for their work. You’ll find page after page of solid advice for writing stories, articles, poems, screenplays… suspense novels, too. You absolutely must subscribe. You owe it to yourself.

Writer’s Almanac – The Writer’s Almanac®, is a daily program of poetry and history hosted by Garrison Keillor. You can find poems and text related to each day’s almanac

Writer’s View – Absolutely the best online Christian writers group available anywhere. Firmly moderated by T. Suzanne Eller and Lisa Crayton it features over a dozen panelists from every walk of the writing life, from agents to media specialists to editors to freelance writers. There is a membership criteria, but the process guarantees a professional place for the exchange of ideas.

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Selling What You Write

American Christian Writers – led by Reg Forder, they provide nearly 30 writer’s conferences around the country each year and have an annual Writer’s Cruise in the Caribbean. Conferences are a great way to meet editors and network with fellow writers. Check their web site for a conference near you. They also publish the monthly Christian Communicator magazine and the Advanced Christian Writer newsletter.

The Christian Writers Guild – is one of the fastest growing training grounds for new writers. Now owned by the bestselling author Jerry Jenkins it has made quite an impact with its mentoring programs.

CLASS Services – Christian Leaders, Authors & Speakers Services – a complete service agency for both the established and aspiring Christian speaker, author and publisher. CLASS is more than just a speakers bureau, more than just a training seminar.

The Christian Communicator Critique Service – The Christian Communicator Critique Service is a great way to have your manuscript looked at by industry professionals. Their prices are fair and their work is very good. Many manuscripts sent through this service are now published by major publishing companies. Managed by Susan Osborn this service is highly recommended.

Christian Writers Fellowship International – a multi-service ministry for Christians in publishing. For almost 25 years they have encouraged and equipped writers to minister to readers through writing of the highest biblical and professional standards. Publishes the Cross & Quill newsletter.

Sally Stuart’s Christian Writer’s Market Guide – Sally’s book is THE best resource for information about book and periodical publishers available. Included in the most recent issue are over 680 Periodical Markets – 86 New; over 280 Book Markets – 33 New; 110 Greeting Card/specialty markets; 121 Topical/Subject Listings for Periodicals; 109 Topical/Subject Listings for Books; Ethnic Book & Periodical Markets; Award-winning Publications Identified; 28 Christian Literary Agents; and Groups, Conferences, Editorial Services Nationwide.

Christian Manuscript Submissions – An online manuscript submission service of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. For $98 (for six months) you can get your proposal reviewed by over thirty Christian publishers. Many of them will only take unsolicited manuscripts via this service or from agents.

Writer’s Edge Manuscript Service – This is a manuscript screening service for Christian publishers. Writers submit an abbreviated description of their book proposal plus sample chapters, The Writer’s Edge evaluates it, and, if it looks promising, the publishers get a report about its availability. The writer pays for the evaluation–$95. If they are not able to recommend your book to the publishers, they will attempt to offer some counsel, including a short analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the book for this market.

Writer’s Guild of America – Numerous resources for the writer. Helpful advice on numerous topics from the world’s best writers.

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Bookstores and Associations

American Bookseller Association (ABA) – A resource for the general marketplace and the bookstores. Look to it for industry news and trends.

Visit and support your local Christian bookstores! Click the button to find one near you.

Christian Book Distributor – The best prices on Christian books available anywhere. The #1 Christian direct mail catalog company in the world. (But always double check your prices against what you can find at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books-a-Million.)

The Christian Booksellers Association – They sponsor the annual International Christian Retailing Show (ICRS) in July and the CBA Advance convention in January. Check the site for more information. You can also sign up for their regular free e-mail newsletter.

Christian Retailing – key magazine for helping you understand the retail environment. Sign up for their free e-mail newsletter.

Names and addresses of the members of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Nearly every major Christian Publisher is a member of this association.

The Parable Stores Web Site – The Parable Stores are a group of over 300 independent Christian retailers who have banded together to combine their buying power. One on the key “gate-keepers” in the industry. If Parable gets behind a book it can land on the bestsellers list.

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Christian Resources

Bible Gateway – The best way to search for that elusive Bible verse. Search any verse in the NIV, ESV, The Message, NASB, NRSV, KJV, Young’s Literal, Worldwide English or Darby translations. It is as good as having Bible software loaded on your computer. (Below you can even search foreign language translations as well!)

Bible Study Tools from Crosswalk.com – Amazing! Free! All sorts of Bible study tools available on the web. Dictionaries, commentaries, topical bibles, you name it and it is free for you to use. For example: type the word “justification” into the space below, you will then be taken to the Bible Study Tools site and have access to dozens of great reference tools and translations based on that word. An tremendous tool for you! (Its only disadvantage is the lack of the NIV translation, use the Bible Gateway for that.)

Christian Answers Network – A tremendous apologetics resource. Find answers to all sorts of theological questions.

Christian White and Yellow Pages – Find that long lost friend or research a Christian business.

Christian Literature on the Internet – Find that public domain material on the web. Search for new writers and fresh ideas.

CrossWalk.com – Another great site that groups all the best Christian related material into one huge search engine. The largest Christian search engine on the Internet.

The Jesus Film – Watch the Jesus Film from Campus Crusade on your computer! You will need RealVideo software which is free on their site as well. Available in 50 different languages.

Probe Ministries – A great site with wonderful apologetic resources. Their mission statement reads: “Probe’s mission is to present the Gospel to communities, nationally and internationally, by providing life-long opportunities to integrate faith and learning through balanced, biblically based scholarship, training people to love God by renewing their minds and equipping the Church to engage the world for Christ.”

World Wide Study Bible – What an extraordinary resource! Every chapter in the Bible cross indexed with the Classic Christian literature from history. A lifetime of research and resources right at your fingertips. It is completely free.

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Contract and Copyright Resources

Contracts

Contracts Watch newsletter from the the American Society of Journalists and Authors
Publishing Law Forum – I highly recommend you visit this site and subscribe to their free newsletter.
Buy the book, Kirsch’s Handbook of Publishing Law : For Author’s, Publishers, Editors and Agents, by Jonathan Kirsch, Silman-James Press.

Copyrights

ASCAP – American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (music related)
Christian Copyright Licensing International – For music lyric permissions
Copyright Clearance Center – Register your for work for use by others or to obtain permission
The Copyright Web Site - The best copyright resource on the internet
How to Cite Material Obtained from the Internet – Exhaustive resource from Columbia University.
Rights for use of photographs. Corbis.com is a great resource for this.
U.S. Copyright Office
When Works Enter the Public Domain
Buy the book, The Copyright Handbook: How to Protect and Use Written Works 9th Edition by Stephen Fishman, Nolo Press.
Buy the book, The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook : A Step-By-Step Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (Wiley Books for Writers) by by Lloyd J. Jassin and Steve C. Schecter, John Wiley & Sons Publishing.
Buy the book, Kirsch’s Handbook of Publishing Law : For Author’s, Publishers, Editors and Agents, by Jonathan Kirsch, Silman-James Press.

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Grammar and Writing Technique

Grammar Now! – This is a free site dedicated to answering specific grammar, composition, research or formatting questions. Send a question by filling out the form below, and you will receive an e-mail response. If your composition question is simple, you may get an answer the same day, or within 24 hours. If it is a more complicated composition, formatting or research question, it may take longer. If the need is urgent, say so in the first line.
Guide to Grammar and Writing
Grammar and Style Guide
Show Don’t Tell
Self Editing
Understanding First Person
How to Critique Fiction
Interactive Grammar Test
Gender-Fair Usage Guidelines
How to Revise a Novel
Word Game of the Day
How to Approach an Editor
Career Plan for Fiction
Word of the Day
Use of singular “their”
It’s vs. Its
Richard Lederer’s Verbivore
Word Wizard
The Business of Writing
Revising Prose
Copy Editor’s Vocabulary
Capitalization
Punctuation Plurals of Greek-Latin derived nouns
Copy Editor’s Vocabulary
How to Quit the Day Job

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Reference Books

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
British-American Dictionary – ever wonder about the British usage of an American phrase?
The Slot: a web site for copy editors -This web site evolved into the great book Lapsing into a Comma by Bill Walsh. However there are still some fascinating articles and insights into writing at this site. Highly recommended for the discussion it generates.
Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr.
Movie Clichés – A hilarious collection of assumptions about society that movies have inserted into our thinking. For instance: “Pastries are always in plain pink boxes. When we see a plain pink box, we expected to know that the box contains donuts or cake or some related item.”
One Look -Look in 165 Dictionaries at the same time! Believe it or not.
Roget’s Thesaurus online
Rhyming Dictionary: The Rhyme Zone

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Research Tools

The Acronym Finder is a searchable database of more than 109,800 common abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military, including Department of Defense, Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, National Guard, and Coast Guard acronyms and abbreviations.
Anywho.com- Find anyone who has a listed phone number. It will even give directions to their house! Yikes!
A-Z Music Lyrics – This index contains links to all sorts of music lyrics. An amazing site. This is how you discover the words behind today’s hit music.
Convert Measurements – Convert yards into metric; Fahrenheit into Celsius; etc.
Currency Calculator – Convert money into the correct amount in another country.
Ecclesiastical Calendar – Need to know the date of Easter for a future or past year? Need to know the timing of the Church Holy Days? This is the resource for you. Discover the Holy Days for any year after 325 A.D.
Famous Birthdays – Find out who was born when. Great for trivia sidebars.
Federal Statistics – More than 70 agencies in the United States Federal Government produce statistics of interest to the public. The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use.
How Far is It? – Determine the distance between any two locations
How to Cite Your Internet Research – Found what you need? Now how do you write the bibliographic information for your footnote? Here is your answers for all types of Internet research including how to cite an e-mail from a friend.
Internet Hoaxes – The latest of those irritating hoaxes that get spread around the Internet via e-mail. Please read this page and do not be duped by the jokesters. Also visit Computer Virus Hoaxes and Myths.
Internet Movie Database – Everything you ever wanted to know about the movies.
Project Gutenberg – The original and exhaustive site of public domain books that have been converted to digital form for you to search and read on the Internet. The list of available texts is extraordinary. Look for your favorites.
Quotation Center – 13,000 quotations searchable by key-word, topic, or author. Amazing.
Research-It! – currency converter, a language translator, dictionary, thesaurus, zip code retrieval, biography searcher, bible search, quotation search and package tracking plus a lot of other stuff you might need now and then.
Statistics Every Writer Should Know – Intriguing discussion of statistics and their meaning. Important if you are to become accurate in your research.
Today in History
Trademark Search – Make sure you aren’t breaking any laws concerning the use of a particular name that might be trademarked!
Translate to Other Languages – English to French, Spanish, German, Italian or Portuguese. Great for adding a little flair to your character!
White House Documents – Current releases, hot topics, and the latest Federal statistics.
YourDictionary.com – A fabulous compendium of on-line dictionaries and thesauri of every imaginable description, including foreign language, acronyms, biographical, multilingual, and the ever-popular Pimbly’s Dictionary of Heraldry. If you can’t find it here, it’s probably not a word.

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The News You Can Use

Arizona Republic – The hometown newspaper of The Steve Laube Agency. Circulation approximately 600,000.
The Christian Post – The #1 Christian News Website
Daily Newspapers – Will take you to links (via Yahoo) of all the major newspapers in the U.S.
Religion Today
World Watch Daily

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