Links of the Week #1

The internet is a huge world, populated with excellent content. But mixed in there is lots of worthless junk. I love it when someone has already found websites that would have taken me months to discover.

Here are a few of the many resources I've found. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments. I may highlight some of them in future posts.

Organization
Julie Hood is my hero. Check out her Organized Writer website for some amazing freebies. She's got a free writing calendar to download, so you can keep track of deadlines and goals. If you sign up for her newsletter, you get the free "Sidetracked Writer's Planner". This is a 30-page document with excellent organizational forms for you to copy and assemble into a binder. A couple of examples:

1. Projects Index- Keep track of the different projects you are working on.
2. Clips Index- One sheet to keep track of all your clips (articles that you've published).
3. Clips Detail Sheet- One sheet for each clip where you can record who it was sold to, and any reprints sold.
4. Submission Tracker- If you are submitting articles, many magazines take a long time to get back to you (one of mine took nine months!). Don't forget about any submissions with this form.
5. Query Index- Similar to the Submission Tracker, but to keep a list of who you've queried, and when.
6. Income and Expense Record- This is very important if you are needing financial information for tax purposes.

Julie has links to many other articles and resources. Spend a little time there--it's worth your while.

Freelance Writing
Hope Clark has done alot of the legwork for you. She's got links to contests (especially free or low-cost ones), freelance writing opportunities, and grants and residences for writers. Check out her Funds for Writers website, sign up for her excellent newsletters
(one for larger markets, one for smaller markets, and one for markets that publish children 18 and under).
Hope's blog also has daily contests that she has come across. This post is an excellent summary of some of the quickest ways to make money freelancing.

Research
Writers do a great deal of searching online. Why not get something out of it? SwagBucks is a Google-based search engine, and they award you "swagbucks" for using their site. You can even download a toolbar to make searching easier.

Here's how it works if you're unfamiliar with SwagBucks: click on the SwagBucks link at the upper left corner of this page. There is a quick and free registration page. Then, just search as usual. At least 50% of the time, you'll earn a "buck"; sometimes several. If you have friends that you invite, you'll also earn a "buck" each time they do.

You can save up your "bucks" for prizes from the SwagStore. I usually save up to 45 bucks, then swap them for a $5 Amazon gift card. When I've collected $25 worth of gift cards, I buy a couple of books and get free shipping.

A couple of pros and cons for SwagBucks: On the pro side, the search results only show about four pages, which is about all you usually look at anyway. On the con side, if you're looking for a map or images, you'll want to just use Google, or another search engine. But all in all, a great way to snag some free writing books.

Marketing
Do you need a website, but don't have the money to hire a webmaster? Check out Joomla . This is a site that allows you to make your own, with easy-to-use software. Note: Joomla does not support the Mac (boo-hoo!), so if I find something similar that does, I'll let you know.

Come back tomorrow for some more links to excellent resources!