AUTHORS' RESOURCES ON THE NET

( Indian , International and Online writing course resources )

I have discovered that, for a debutant author, trying to establish a foothold in the publishing industry, it's of vital importance to try and understand, in as far as is possible, of course, what the buzz of the industry is, whether in India or the world over. The following links will provide a fair idea of the book publishing industry without causing one's brain to shut down on account of overload. Most of these sites also provide links to other resource sites, publishers' sites and literary agent - related sites. Also try and subscribe to their newsletters (usually free, of course), to obtain periodically updated information. However, please be warned that, as a rule of thumb, unsubscribing is not as easy as subscribing is

IN INDIA
The following Indian sites are a 'must-visit':

• Top write corner is an excellent Bombay based site that provides interesting information and an opportunity to publish your writing on the net. One of the first of it's kind.

• Sulekha.com : An excellent resource for Indian writers where your own writing can be showcased. Recently Sulekha published a book comprising some of their best submissions.

• Meghdutam : Another excellent resource for the Indian author. Subscribe to the newsletter. Contribute your writing.

• Oxford Book Store   : Basically a book store and e-book publisher but also provides useful info as well as writing contests.

• Oscar India provides useful information as well as a newsletter called Book Talk

• The India Book Fair   provides a lot of organised information

• Poetry Splash is a Delhi-based website dedicated to, as the name suggests, poetry. Excellent visit.

 
I would recommend that you also regularly visit the following online book stores to have an idea of what kind of trends operate in the world of books. Also, you might get to participate in the occasional writing contests that some of them come up with.
 

• Landmark On The Net
• Fabmart
• First and Second
• Oxford Bookstore
• Rediff

INTERNATIONAL
Presented below is only a shortlist (there are many, many more: use your favourite search engine with the key words Authors+Resources if you have the time and inclination)

• Author Link
• Inkspot (make sure you subscribe to Inklings, their newsletter)
• Book Wire
• International Literary Market Place
• Book Zone
• Writers.Net (browse or enter a discussion)
• Nebraska Center for Writers (NCW)
• Poets and Writers Online Home Page
• Todd Pierce's Writers' resources
• Publishers' Weekly Online
• The Literary Landscape: Book Beat
• Authors and Publishers Forum (join a discussion, post a message)
• Book Talk : All the buzz about authors, publishers, literary agents etc.
• Authors' Interface
• Writing.org
• The Authors' Registry
• Pure Fiction
• Writers' Free Reference
• The Novelist's Workshop
• The Writer's Ring
• BookFlash Publishing News that can't wait (from BookZone )
• Writers' Club
• Writers' Weekly provides job listings for freelance writers
• Novel Advice
• The Unpublished Author
• Writers Club provides advice on writing novels
• Net Read , the Publishing portal
• Studio B

ONLINE WRITING COURSES

You might want to undertake online fiction writing courses, either to acquire new skills or beef up existing ones. Try the following

• FREE OF COST: Six week Online fiction writing course from World Village University . Overview of basics. WVU also offers more advanced courses for US$59 a year.

• Inkspot provides a listing of other courses available on the Web.