…maybe it’s not fair to title this post ‘WiR Remix’ when I haven’t done a non-WiR version, but I liked how it sounded in my head LOL

WiR stands for Writer in Residence. This year I have been lucky enough to fulfill that role for the Edmonton Public Library which has been an adventure and a half 🙂

From the start I had compiled a document which I called my ‘Handy Dandy, Ever-Changing, Helpful Links’ document. I’ve been adding things to it as they became relevant to the clients I was meeting with and will continue to do so throughout the year so this probably isn’t its final form… but I think it’s likely close to it.

I give a copy of this to everyone I meet with one-on-one and I thought, well, actually, it might be useful to people I don’t meet with too. So I’m happy to share the current iteration of my Handy Dandy, Ever-Changing, Helpful Links’ document.

Many of these links are relevant mostly to Canadians, Albertans or Edmontonians but not all of them. I hope it’s helpful to someone.

Also, if you see an obvious absence and know a way to fill it please let me know 🙂

~*~

Safety

Writer Beware – https://writerbeware.blog/

If something seems too good to be true it probably is. And even some things that seem to be on the up and up may be predatory. Writer Beware is a very good resource to help you avoid being scammed or taken advantage of.

Mechanics

Shunn Manuscript Format Guide – https://www.shunn.net/format/

Shunn manuscript format is what is generally considered the industry standard way of formatting. I recommend visiting this page in DuckDuckGo or some other, similar, browser that blocks tracking and ads. When I visited this in Chrome it had an offensive number of ads on.

Citation Help – https://pitt.libguides.com/citationhelp

Screenplay Formatting – https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/brilliant-script-screenplay-format/

They would definitely like to upsell you to buy their screenplay formatting software and I don’t know anything about how good or worth your money that is, but I really loved how they break down how to format a screenplay on this free page here.

How Many Words Are In a Novel – Word Count by Genre & More – https://kindlepreneur.com/how-many-words-in-a-novel/

The Zombie Test (for passive writing) – https://tangledprosewritingthroughit.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-by-zombies-test-how-to-spot-and-fix.html 

Networking

Networking can sound intimidating but it doesn’t have to be – it just means meeting other people who work in your field – in this case, publishing.

Many people ask me about where to find or how to start a writing group. I have begun a pilot project where I take six of those people and work through the exercises in the Steering the Craft book. Once we reach the end of the book I will step away from the group and leave them to figure out if they want to keep meeting as a critique group and how that works out.

If you would like to participate in the next such group please just drop me a line and let me know, I will add you to the list.

It is important to note that group will not begin to meet until January at which point I will no longer be the Writer in Residence (there will still be no charge for this, however).

Third Thursdays – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?q=third%20thursday

The third Thursday of every month, I am hosting a very casual in-person social event at the Stanley A. Milner library.

Virtual Write Ins – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?q=Virtual%20write%20in

Every other Saturday over Zoom, these are less social events and more a good way to block off a window of time for just writing, but there is a small social component as well.

Find Your Writing Team – https://www.epl.ca/blogs/post/find-your-writing-team/

Short blog post by yours truly with some helpful links in it for starting to build your writing team.

Critique Groups – https://writersguild.ca/resources/critiquing-groups/

This is a list of groups as posted on the Writers’ Guild of Alberta website. Often critique groups also form out of writing workshops, social media, on Discord or anywhere that writers gather.

Edmonton Literary Ninjas – https://discord.gg/pT53GMF

Formerly the Edmonton NaNoWriMo group, this group meets mostly online on Discord. Among other things they have regularly scheduled events and a channel for critique exchanges.

Finding a Publisher

One of the best places to find publishers to submit to is the library. Find a bunch of books that are similar to yours, open them up and see who published them. Then, armed with that list, hit up your favourite internet search engine to look up the publishers and seek their submission guidelines.

In addition, the following resources might be helpful:

The Grinder – https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

Probably most useful for short fiction and poems, but I also use their submission tracking system rather than maintaining a spreadsheet of my own.

Manuscript WishList – https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Querying (Finding an Agent)

A Beginner’s Guide to Researching Agents – https://www.ericsmithrocks.com/blog/2020/6/23/a-beginners-guide-to-researching-agents

Some of Eric’s suggestions are going to get their own entries right below this, but his list is pretty comprehensive and detailed. Well worth a peek if you’re just getting started at this.

Query Shark – https://queryshark.blogspot.com/

Query Shark critiques query letters but you do not need to submit your own query letter to find this website useful. In much the same way that critiquing other people’s work can help teach you about writing, reading critiques of other people’s query letters can help teach you how to write a good query letter.

Query Tracker – https://querytracker.net/

Find agents who will be a good match for your book and track your submissions all in one place. As with any database, it is important to use this as a jumping off point – put the agent’s names into your favourite search engine, go to their website to make sure the guidelines on Query Tracker are up to date, check out the agent’s social media to make sure they haven’t posted anything reprehensible, that sort of thing.

The Complete Guide to Query Letters – https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/

Jane Friedman knows what she is talking about. While you are at her website learning about query letters, also take a look around at some of the other articles and resources there. You won’t be sorry you did.

How to Write a Synopsis – https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-write-a-novel-synopsis-with-an-example/

Synopsis Example – https://www.queryletter.com/post/synopsis-example-tips

Manuscript WishList – https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Writing for Children

Formatting picture book submissions –

https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/how-to-publish-a-childrens-book/childrens-book-manuscript/

https://www.book-editing.com/format-picture-book-manuscript-publishers/

These are primarily formatted in exactly the same way that other manuscripts are (standard format), with the exception of illustration notations. Here are two helpful links in regard to that:

What Makes a Picture Book Work – https://authorsguild.org/resource/what-makes-a-picture-book-work-with-vicky-weber/

This is a really informative presentation about picture books – what makes them work, what doesn’t – from someone who is actually actively ‘in the trenches’ and knows what she is talking about as both an agent and a picture book author.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – https://www.scbwi.org/

SCBWI offers information, connection, grants, podcasts and more. Many things require a paid membership to access, but it is still worth a look.

Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers – https://www.canscaip.org/

CANSCAIP hosts conferences, competitions, blue pencil sessions, and has a membership level that is open to authors who have not yet been published.

Free Money for Published Authors

There are ways to make money from your books that have nothing to do with selling them. Here are a couple:

Access Copyright – https://www.accesscopyright.ca/

Access Copyright will pay you for any work you have that is copywritten and available in physical print. That may mean full books, or it may be that you sold one story to a print anthology. Both count. Go to the website to get all the details and register for free.

Public Lending Right Program – https://publiclendingright.ca

Here in Canada we are very lucky in that we can get paid just for having our books in libraries. The PLR program is a little bit more restrictive about what qualifies for payment, but it is still worth a look.

Capital City Press Collection – https://www.epl.ca/capital-city-press/collection/

The EPL is committed to buying books by local authors for the library. These books are housed in a special collection just outside the doors of my office at the Stanley A. Milner Library downtown and also throughout the EPL system. Your book could be eligible for inclusion, check out the link above to find out and apply. I just applied for a new one of my books to be included and it took me a total of about three minutes.

Funding and Money

The above section was specifically for authors who are already published, this section is for everyone, published or otherwise. I could have put these links in several sections – not just the money one – so if you check it out for funding take a peek at the rest of the websites too.

Edmonton Arts Council – https://www.edmontonarts.ca/calls-funding/funding

Alberta Foundation for the Arts – https://www.affta.ab.ca/funding/find-funding

Canada Council – https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/grants/explore-and-create

Making it Fun

4TheWords – https://app.4thewords.com/

Slay monsters by writing a minimum number of words within a time limit. Complete quests. Dress up a little avatar of yourself. It’s a lot of fun. I have a paid account with them, but there is a free account as well.

Book Binding – https://www.epl.ca/makerspace/bookbinding/

EPL has book binding machines that they will let you use 🙂 I know, historically, it was nearly impossible to get into the classes required before you can bind a book but they are changing that up too. They are decreasing the number of required classes from four down to one, and once you’ve learned how to do it, you can come in and make books during their regular book binding hours or during their fab lab hours which opens up options.

To be clear, this isn’t a great option for any sort of mass production of your book, but it might make for a fun way to print up a copy to edit, or to give to friends. I am going to use it to make a special unique copy of my book to use as a reward on Kickstarter.

Generally Helpful (aka: I dunno how to classify)

LitFest – https://litfestalberta.org/

A writer’s festival dedicated to non-fiction

Compelling Research Presentations (also applies to other kinds of presentations) – https://youtu.be/dRXSWUs7idg?si=JGBUpr3NAZtvHqNd (courtesy of Megan Skrip)

Edmonton Poetry Festival – https://edmontonpoetryfestival.com/

Stroll of Poets – https://www.strollofpoets.com/

Alexandra Writers’ Centre – https://www.alexandrawriters.org/

Based out of Calgary the Alexandra Writers’ Centre offers tons of different classes, workshops, events and write-ins, online and in-person. They also have a Writer in Residence program and offer personalized feedback through their Author Support Service. Some of these things have charges associated with them and some are free. Make sure to be aware which are which.

Metro Continuing Education – https://www.ed2go.com/metro/SearchResults.aspx?Sort=Relevance&MaxResultCount=10&CategoryID=1432

That link ought to take you directly to all the writing and editing courses Metro currently has on offer. Look up the instructors and read the details of each course carefully to be sure it’s what you’re looking for before you register.

Athabasca University – https://www.athabascau.ca/

University of Alberta Faculty of Extension – https://www.ualberta.ca/en/continuing-education/index.html

Writers’ Guild of Alberta – https://writersguild.ca/

The Writers’ Guild offers a mentorship program, a manuscript reading service and several other helpful resources.

Removing Filter Words – https://rmfw.org/filter-out-those-filter-words-in-your-writing/

I frequently find myself trying to help people identify and remove filtering words from their work. This is a good article about what they are, why you don’t want them and how to eliminate them.

Craft Books I’ve Enjoyed

How To Write Best-Selling Fiction by James Scott Bell – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/search?query=how%20to%20write%20best-selling%20fiction&searchType=smart

This book gets the distinction of being listed first solely because it’s available not only as an audiobook or a DVD but also because each of the chapters is available as a streaming video (because it’s more of a course than a book) which makes them extremely handy for when I want to share something specific with a writer I am working with. That also makes them extremely handy for you if you want to learn about one specific thing.

On Writing by Stephen King – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S5C2524102

I re-read this book every few years. It’s part memoir and part master class. Stephen and I disagree about some things (I’m sure he’d be positively devastated to hear that) but I find his dedication and passion inspiring.

Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le Guin – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S5C1517319

Not only does this book include lessons but it also comes with writing exercises to go with them.

Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S5C248191

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S5C2591920

Less about writing and more about productivity and avoiding burn out 🙂