30 Tips for Strengthening Your Novel

Author Darcy Pattison gives 30 one-minute tips.
www.darcypattison.com/revision/30-days-to-a-stronger-novel/

New Agent

Marisa Corvisiero is joining Lori Perkins Agency and will handle some young adult and children's literature.
www.agentinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html#4610786406226930237

New Publisher

Nosy Crow, a new U.K. publisher, will bring out both traditional print books and apps for smart phones and other devices.
http://nosycrow.com/

Independent Bookstores

List by state of independent bookstores in the US and Canada.
www.newpages.com/bookstores

Amazon Sales Rank

How does it translate into number of books sold?
www.fonerbooks.com/surfing.htm

Scary Books for Kids

Monster Library reviews books for the twelve and under crowd.
www.monsterlibrarian.com/horrorfictionlistkd.htm

Free Ebooks from Boyds Mills Press

Namelos is offering free ebooks of select titles through April 1, 2010. Enter the promo code given after each title. According to Kit (2ce4), City of Cannibals (d35f), The Dog in the Wood (3bd5), Warriors in the Crossfire (2ac4).
http://tinyurl.com/yz2owdr

Basic Picture Book Layout

Editorial Anonymous explains the pages in a picture book.
http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2008/10/basic-book-construction.html

Ten Rules for Writing

Authors give ten (or so) pieces of advice on writing.
www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one

Twitter Chats for Writers

Use twitter and have discussions about writing.
www.inkygirl.com/twitter-chats-for-writers

Read Across America Day

On March 2, the National Education Association calls for every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult.
www.nea.org/readacross

Curriculum Standards

The Common Core State Standards Initiative will shortly release their K-12 standards for English-language arts and mathematics for public comment.
http://www.corestandards.org/

Short Story Competition

Words Magazine has a contest for short stories written for kids (deadline April 30, 2010).
www.wordsmag.com/compcal10.htm

Vanity Publishers

Writers Beware shows how to tell the difference between vanity and mainstream publishers.
www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/vanity

Writing Contests

Funds for Writers lists literary contests with no or nominal entry fees.
www.fundsforwriters.com/contests.htm

Kidlit

Agent Mary Kole blogs about writing children's books.
http://www.kidlit.com/

New MG/YA Agent

Author Mandy Hubbard is joining D4EO Literary to represent middle-grade and young adult books.
http://mandyhubbard.livejournal.com/216998.html

NJ SCBWI Annual Conference - June 4/5, 2010

Registration is now open for this two-day conference plus optional pre-conference intensives.
www.newjerseyscbwi.com/events/100604%20conference.shtml.

Permission to Use Copyrighted Material

What you need to do before using copyrighted material (song lyrics, poems, etc.) in your work.
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2010/02/obtaining-permissions.html

Dear Lucky Agent Contest

Recurring online contest from the Guide to Literary Agents.
www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/Dear+Lucky+Agent+Contest+Middle+Grade+And+Young+Adult.aspx

Prologues

Agent Kristen Nelson explains when and when not to use a prologue.
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-prologues-often-dont-work.html

Ten Query Mistakes

Agent Rachelle Gardner (with a little help from her friends) lists the top query mistakes.
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/02/top-ten-query-mistakes.html

Google Alerts

Get an email whenever Google indexes a mention of you or your book (or anything else you set up.)
www.google.com/alerts

Great Graphic Novels for Teens

A list of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction prepared by YALSA (Young Adults Library Services Association).
www.ala.org/yalsa/ggnt

New Agent

Rubin Pfeffer an East Coast office for East/West Literary.
www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6714451.html?rssid=192

Author Websites

What to include:
http://yodiwan.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/what-to-include-on-author-websites
and what not to include:
http://yodiwan.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/what-not-to-have-on-your-book-website

Jane Yolen's Writing Tips

Twenty tips from the NY SCBWI Conference as recorded by Kathy Temean.
http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/

Online Applications

50 online applications and sites related to social media.
www.chrisbrogan.com/50-online-applications-and-sites-to-consider

Feminist Literature

The Amelia Bloomer projects released its list of feminist children's books for 2010.
http://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/2010-amelia-bloomer-list