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Top 10+ Online Writing Communities For Aspiring Authors

“The truth is, writing is this: hard and boring and occasionally great but usually not. Even I have lied about writing. I have told people that writing this book has been like brushing away dirt from a fossil. What a load of shit” recounted Amy Poehler in her book Yes Please , and rightly so. Regardless of how much a person loves writing, it does get tedious and lonely. It is natural human behavior to get demotivated or feel uninspired. A writer can only write when they are motivated and inspired, two things that are highly driven by their experiences and surroundings. It is no secret that a writer needs to interact and have several discourses in order to put pen to paper. We all know that creative block or writer’s block is a legitimate thing that happens to individuals. It is especially hard when an individual is required to discipline themselves and hold themselves accountable all alone. If you do not face any of the above-mentioned struggles then congratulations , you have cracked it! However, if you do relate to the above-mentioned problems and feel alone in your struggle, then keep reading because you are definitely not alone in this. God bless the Internet! In the current era, even without physically meeting someone, you still have the avenue to reach out for feedback and motivation. We live in the “online” culture and there several platforms that are curated specifically for writers. Especially in this pandemic environment, all of us could use a little “online community” support. Several sites allow writers to virtually interact, gain feedbacks, and attend workshops to enhance their writing skills. The following is a list of 10+ online writing communities that are diverse in nature and answer all your writer’s query:

#1 Absolute Write Water Cooler

This is one of the most famous and highly recommended online sites for writers. It hosts a large community of new and experienced writers. The website provides moderators who assist the writers concerning feedbacks and inputs. Absolute Writer Water Cooler takes its community guidelines very seriously. Another distinctive factor about the website is their system of “reputation points.” The option allows members to give or take away other member’s reputation points. This establishes trust between the writer and the person giving the feedback along with providing accountability. Everybody is thus incentivized to provide their best input. They have various topics and one can read through the material on the site without registering. However, only registered members can give and receive feedback. If you are looking for a site that is well established and trusted, checkout Absolute Write Water Cooler .

#2 Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This website was started with the intention to help writers who struggle with confidence in their writing. IWSG is a community dedicated to supporting writers to overcome their struggles. It hosts writers from beginner level to published authors . On the first Wednesday of every month, the members share their thoughts and ideas about writing their blogs. Currently, IWSG has over 170 people as part of the active blogging community that posts on the first Wednesday of every month. The site has a Facebook group, Instagram page, and a book club. The website showcases various writing materials and workshops that a writer can look into. If you are nervous about your writing skills and are looking for smaller online writing communities to interact with, try giving Insecure Writer’s Support Group a try.

#3 Commaful

This website is very famous for its fun approach to writing. The platform hosts readers, writers, and fans. Commaful claims to keep a positive and safe space for creators. They have members from the beginner level to award-winning writers. The platform allows two options: to comment and message to facilitate communication between readers and writers. Another striking feature of Commaful is that it allows the user to turn their writing into trailers that can be easily shared on social media. According to the website, the stories on the platform reach millions of people every month. The platform allows a user to explore over a thousand genres of fiction. The site caters only to fiction writers and creates a conducive environment for creativity. If you are diving into fiction writing it would be highly useful to check out Commaful .

#4 Scribophile

This website functions on detailed critiquing. Every writer or creator requires valuable feedback on their work. It challenges the writer to do better. Scribophile provides detailed critiques that are exchanged amongst the members. Once you become a part of the Scribophile community, you will be required to critique other members’ work as well. According to their website, they are perfect for you if you are looking for beta readers. Furthermore, the site also offers online writing workshops. If you are looking for some valuable feedbacks from experienced writers and enjoy critiquing other people’s work, Scribophile is your site!

#5 WritersCafe

WritersCafe is a community that works on the simple principle of sharing and reviewing. The website provides the user with an option to post their work, get feedback along with befriending other writers. The platform promotes reviews and suggestions from over a thousand members. Another interesting feature of the platform is that it allows a user to enter several free writing contests. You can also join specific writing groups or start one of your own. Additionally, WritersCafe also provides free online writing courses. If you are looking for a platform that challenges your work and offers free services, do visit WritersCafe .

#6 She Writes

We can never have enough platforms dedicated to women and She Writes seems to agree with this. It is the largest online writing community and content site for female writers from all walks of life. The website believes in the inclusivity of every genre and age group. She Writes was founded by Kamy Wicoff in 2009 to enable and educate writers by providing a conducive environment that is both inspiring and practical. Currently, the community holds over 32,000 members with more than 350 groups. The website focuses on insights about writing and life as an author. The platform has also featured bestselling authors like Christina Baker Kline, Hope Edelman and Gretchen Rubin . If you are a female writer looking for a community that is inspiring and educational, do visit She Writes .

#7 Story A Day

This platform is a balance between fun, challenging, and accountability. The platform essentially provides its users with a challenge to write a short story every day during the month of May or September. One can choose to write every day or pick a schedule according to their comfort. The platform is driven towards inculcating creativity in its users. Additionally, the website has the concept of Serious Writers’ Accountability Group (SWAGr) where one can join and post their writing commitment for the month. Apart from the two writing challenges, the website provides regular prompts, reviews and podcasts on writing. If you are looking for a fun way to become more disciplined with your writing, do check out Story A Day .

Pencil publishing is the world’s first incubated & accelerated publishing module. The Pencil writing platform is a free platform that enables authors to create, publish, and distribute their books worldwide in paperback and eBook format. Pencil provides a writer with everything they need to become a published author with ease. Something that it does differently is that Pencil provides the author with real-time analytics on how their book is being read. Staying true to the name, whatever is written with a Pencil can always be corrected and updated. Similarly, Pencil allows its users to write, publish, understand, republish, and distribute globally. Pencil strives towards being a safe medium that fosters creativity. Pencil also has an active team that reviews all content posted and takes the necessary action as quickly as possible if the content violates their community guidelines of making Pencil a safe, inclusive space. The platform also allows the user to resolve issues with fellow members directly. If you are a writer working towards becoming an author, Pencil is the platform for you.

#9 Communities on Social Media

It is no surprise that social media is thriving and so are the communities under their umbrella.

Several Facebook groups provide an online community for writers such as 10 Minute Novelists Group and 20BooksTo50K . Every group is made with a different set of incentives. Facebook fundamentally provides writers a place where they can discuss their inhibitions regarding their projects amongst other things. The Write Life Community , for instance, is a Facebook page with over 26,000 members that facilitate conversations amongst writers about their journeys. The group also offers various discussions on topics ranging from procrastination to the choice of paper for books. Writers Helping Writers is another such group with over 272K members. The group runs on the idea of providing writers with feedback in terms of (not limited to) editing, publishing, and cover designs. Facebook groups are ideal for people who want to instantly connect with fellow writers and editors. It is recommended to browse through the “about” section before joining a group. The above-mentioned groups target writing time and money-making for authors.

Another great platform to follow for some valuable writing insights on niche topics is Reddit. The striking feature of this platform are the discussions that takes place. There is also an option for anonymity which caters unbiased discussions. The platform is common ground for renowned authors like Stephen King and novice writers. A lot of prolific writers conduct question-answer sessions under AMA (Reddit feature) where they give inputs about their own writing processes. Even though the content on Reddit is heavily layered, a little time browsing will take you a long way. An example of the same is this subreddit .

Twitter is a great platform that acts as a gateway for writers to find exclusive communities. A great example of the same would be Who Pays Writers? page on Twitter. It is an anonymous crowd-sourced information on publication rates for writers. They also have their own website where users can check the accurate market price of their literary works. The page has over 31K members. Another Twitter page that is doing a remarkable job with respect to inclusivity is Disabled Writers . The group mainly focuses on “increasing disability diversity in journalism.” The group also retweets hiring posts and other important publication information by established writers. Similarly, one can also take the help of Twitter by simply searching for hashtags such as #Writing or #Author to follow trending threads. It will help you to stay up to date with content. Some other social media pages worth checking out are:- Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread (Reddit) , Writing Groups (Quora) , ProWritingAid Writer’s Community(Facebook) , writersnetwork(Instagram) , and Writer’s Relief(Twitter) .

Bound is an Indian online platform for writers. The website provides several features and services. A writer has the option to explore various online workshops and mentoring classes. Bound also provides various services such as manuscript review, writing coaching and line edit. The site also informs the writer about various retreats and webinars. Additionally, they also have their own podcast. If you are a writer looking for a platform that is specific to India, do visit Bound .

#11 Communities Exclusively For LGBTQIA+

Out on the Page: Out on the Page started in 2018 with a vision to bring together emerging LGBTQIA+ writers to support each other in their writing process while sharing their expertise and experiences. The platform currently offers numerous free ‘social/networking’ events and paid writing workshops. If you are looking for a space that is inclusive and provides networking, check out Out on the Page .

WritersCafe Groups: WritersCafe is already mentioned on the list above, but it is imperative to point out that the platform has a subgroup called LGBT authors . This group is for the members of the community to come together and share their ideas. According to the group, “the writing expectations in this group are MOSTLY any kind of Gay or Lesbian stories, books, poems, or songs.” LGBT Writers (Facebook Group): This group is dedicated towards writers that belong to the LGBT community or write about the same. The group also welcomes people who are interested in LGBT-related books. LGBT Writers require members to strictly post about things under the topic. Currently, the group harbors 4.3K members. If you are looking for a Facebook group/page to connect with like-minded individuals, check out LGBT Writers .

#12 Black, Indigenous, POC (BIPOC) Writing Community & Writers Of Colour

As the name suggests, BIPOC Writing Community is a platform open to all people of color. Faith Adiele, professor at California College of the Arts and author of Meeting Faith, and Serena W. Lin, writer, attorney, and starship pilot, host a weekly online session for members of the community. The members write 2 prompts for 20 minutes, with a 10-minute break in-between. The first online event was hosted on March 24, 2020. If you want to be involved in future sessions, check out Black, Indigenous, POC (BIPOC) Writing Community . Similarly, another community that needs to be mentioned while talking about BIPOC is Writers of Color on Twitter. The pages were started for better representation by Durga Chew-Bose, Jazmine Hughes, Vijith Assar , and Buster Bylander . The page updates job openings and other opportunities on its portal. Even the creators of the page like Durga and Jazmine hold a substantial following on twitter. The page strives towards presenting substantial opportunities for people of colour and has a following of almost 59K members.

The above mentioned are some of the online writing communities out there facilitating the interests of readers and writers across the world. All of them fulfill a particular need. As a writer, you need to know what is lacking in your writing before you chose a community. Look for online writing communities that are curated to your needs as a writer. It is advisable to read through the “about” section of each website before you sign up or buy a premium. All in all, the dedication needs to come from within, however, the online writing communities will definitely help you with keeping up the drive.

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Social Media for Writers: The Complete Guide

Social media has become part of our daily lives: we scroll through Twitter for the latest hot takes, check Instagram for our friends’ Stories, click over to Facebook for more updates, rinse and repeat. Naturally, it’s one of the places to be if you’re an author who wants to establish your brand, promote your work, and connect with readers and fellow creatives!

In this all-inclusive guide to social media for writers, we’ll cover everything you need to know: how to choose which platform(s) to prioritize, build your following, and ultimately use social media to market your book . Of course, book marketing isn't just social media — to go beyond that scope, we recommend downloading this book marketing checklist to make sure that you're ticking off all of the other boxes.

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But for now, let’s start with the question of which platform , then go on to provide detailed tips and case studies from authors who have used each of them successfully.

Which platform(s) should you choose?

As Ricardo Fayet notes in his 2021 guide How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market , a key tenet of book marketing is not trying to do everything. Instead, focus on just one or two effective marketing channels. This is especially relevant to social media, which offers so many platforms for different audiences.

So how do you pick the best social platforms for you as a writer? First and foremost, consider your target audience . Where are they most likely to “hang out” on the Internet?

👍🏽 Facebook remains the most popular social network in the world, with nearly 200 million active users in the US. Its core user base is young, perhaps surprisingly so (65% under 35), and skews male (57%). Data also suggests that about half of Facebook users belong to a Facebook Group, which is good for authors who wish to market this way — and as we discuss below, it’s also one of the best platforms for author ads.

🤳 Instagram has 120 million active users in the US, 70% of whom are under 35, with an even gender split. Perhaps most notably for those looking to build an enthusiastic following, Instagram engagement is through the roof — 1% across all industry brands (which might seem low, until you compare it to Facebook’s 0.25% and Twitter’s 0.08%).

🖼 Pinterest , the other big image-sharing platform, has about 100 million users in the US. A whopping 30.4% of these users are women aged 25-34 — for context, this group makes up about 17% of Instagram users and 13% of Facebook users. If that’s your target audience, do keep Pinterest in mind.

🐦 Twitter has fewer active users than the other major platforms here — 68 million in the US, about 62% male — as it’s primarily meant for sharing news and ideas, rather than as a purely social app. But it boasts a dedicated user base and is very popular among writers, who tend to prefer platforms that focus on the written word.

Other factors to consider

All that said, numbers aren’t everything. You should also think about which platform(s) would best serve your author “brand”, as well as how you like to connect with people online.

To get a sense of the former, look at writers and authors similar to you. Which platforms do they belong to, what kind of content do they post, and what is their engagement like? Be sure to follow them if you haven’t already! Not only can they inspire your content, but interacting with them may help you increase your own follower count.

As for the second, the platforms you currently belong to are a good clue. Do you like sharing photos and fun graphics on Instagram? Do you enjoy spirited discourse on Twitter ? See yourself getting involved in Facebook Groups to gain readers? Though personal preference isn’t as important as access to your target audience, it could be the deciding point if you’re stuck.

And so long as you don’t focus all your efforts on a platform that’s totally incongruous to your work — for example, spending ten hours a day on Pinterest when you’re written a dense history book for retired men — there are always ways to optimize a platform for your purposes.

Which is exactly what we’ll be talking about next! Feel free to skip ahead to your platform of choice using the table of contents to your left. Otherwise, enjoy the social extravaganza 👩🏻‍💻

Facebook for authors

By far the biggest social network in the game, Facebook is an excellent choice for writers who want all the spacious content of their own website without having to maintain it independently — or who already have plenty of friends on Facebook who they can channel into this new effort.

You can certainly promote yourself and your work from your personal Facebook account, but Facebook makes it easy to create a specialized Author Page or Facebook Group for your fans. To do this, click the + symbol in the upper-right corner of Facebook and select which one you want:

An Author Page is what most writers have. This allows you to write posts, add photos and videos, and create a sidebar that stays with users as they scroll — basically, the Facebook equivalent of an Amazon Author Page . Fans can “like” and follow your page for updates, comment on posts, and even message you, but they can’t post content on the page itself.
If you’d like to foster more of a community spirit, consider creating a Facebook Group . With a Group, your followers can post their own content, which allows them to forge stronger connections with one another. The downside is that you’ll have to moderate everything that’s posted, which can be difficult to manage even with a small following!

In short: we’d recommend creating an Author Page, but feel free to try a Group if your followers are engaged enough to keep it active (and you have time to moderate it). Whichever way you go, here are some more tips to help you get the most out of Facebook as a writer.

Tips for authors on Facebook

🤔 Post thoughtful, long-ish content. Mixing blog-like posts with short status updates seems to work well for most Facebook users. Talk about your day, your new projects, and so on — keep it personal, interesting, and not too long (200-300 words is plenty).

Not quite sure how to approach writing for social media? Perhaps these tips on how to write better can give you a head start.

🔗 Take advantage of link sharing on Facebook. Unlike Instagram, Facebook lets you post clickable external links to your heart’s content. Make sure to keep the most important links (like the link to buy your book, cough cough!) in that scrolling sidebar.

📲 Create vertical videos for better engagement. If you post your own videos on Facebook, take them vertically on your phone, as vertical videos generate 40% more engagement than landscape ones.

🕑 Don’t spend all your time on your own page! Be sure to follow other authors on Facebook and join writing groups to chat and commiserate. And while you shouldn’t spam people to follow your page, you can make it easier to find; set it to “public” and add a link in your personal account details.

Case study: Jodi Picoult

Social Media for Writers | Jodi Picoult Facebook

Picoult also posts about exciting author events and giveaways, and asks questions to keep fans engaged. Two more clever touches on her Author Page are the “Sign Up” button at the top, which takes you to her mailing list page, and the “Rating” in the sidebar: 5 stars with over 500 reviews vouching for Picoult’s work. Anyone who finds this page can immediately tell she’s an accomplished writer, and will quickly figure out where to find her books.

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Twitter for authors

And if you’re not on Twitter already, there’s no better time to join: the platform grew 27% from 2019 to 2020 alone . It’s fairly intuitive and easy to find your niche by looking up fellow writers and relevant keywords (subgenres, book titles, other authors’ names, etc.). Read on for more Twitter tips!

Tips for authors on Twitter

✍🏾 Participate in writing and author trends. Check out the #amwriting hashtag to see what others are working on, take part in fun author trends ( like this one for describing your book), and make sure you’re following the #pitchwars action each summer — especially if you’re hoping to nab a literary agent at some point!

🤹‍♀️ But don’t be afraid to juggle other topics. While it can be good to specialize on some platforms, Twitter is not one of them; it’s designed for you to dip in and out of different spheres. Don’t post about things that are totally disparate or inappropriate, but feel free to talk about the news, pop culture, and even politics as you see fit.

👀 Do cover reveals and sneak peeks. Twitter is great for spreading buzz about new releases, since others can not only like and comment, but also retweet your big announcements. And again, unlike on Instagram, you can include direct links to pre-order or purchase your book.

🤝 Engage, engage, engage. It’s essential on any platform, but especially on Twitter, where dialogue is everything. Reply to other people’s Tweets, compliment their work, and challenge things you don’t agree with (while remaining as civil as possible). Finally, encourage your own followers to engage with you! Post polls and other “grabby” content, and try to respond to all questions and comments.

Case study: Talia Hibbert

Social Media for Writers | Talia Hibbert Twitter

NYT & USAT bestselling author of 17 sexy diverse romances. Cookie enthusiast. She/he/they. Repped by @millercallihan. Contact [email protected] 🏳️‍🌈 🥄 🦓

Looking through their Tweets, you’ll see they clearly love their readers and express joyous appreciation for compliments and fanworks (such as these Spotify playlists made by a fan for each of the Brown Sisters romances). However, Hibbert doesn’t limit themselves to reader interactions and book talk, also posting thoughtfully about social issues — such as how to combat racism and ableism — as well as the occasional funny video, exemplifying just the right balance for any 21st century author.

Instagram for authors

For writers looking to stay hip with the youths (we hope the irony of this sentence is self-evident), a carefully cultivated Instagram account is a must. The good news is that Instagram is actually pretty easy to access and use, and you definitely don’t need to be posting on all of Instagram’s different channels constantly.

For those who are hazy on these features, here’s a quick rundown:

Posts are the good old-fashioned content Instagram’s always had. Most accounts publish 2-3 posts per week, which appear on the main Instagram feed and their profiles.
Stories are temporary pieces of content that appear for only 24 hours. In addition to images and videos, authors can also post interactive content like polls, quizzes, and countdowns (to your book launch , for example). You can also create Story Highlights that remain on your profile permanently, for important topics where you have more than 10 pieces of content to share (10 is the limit for regular posts).
Reels are a recent addition to Instagram, allowing users to create snappy videos up to 30 seconds each, in the vein of TikTok.
IGTV is for longer, more thoughtfully produced video content — Q&As, in-depth commentary, etc. — that runs 1-15 minutes long. These videos appear under the IGTV tab on your profile, and you can even add them to an ongoing series on a topic.
Finally, Guides are lengthy Story-like content that users can tap through to get information on a topic. Guide Types include Places, Products, and Posts — so for example, if you had done setting research for a book, you might promote it by posting a Place Guide to that area.

Now that you (hopefully) understand the five major forms of Instagram content, let’s talk specific tactics for writers.

Tips for authors on Instagram

🤓 Think reader-first. Instagram is a reader’s paradise, #bookstagram being the massive subculture that it is. So while you can connect with fellow authors on IG, you’ll want to tailor your strategy more to readers. Consider creating videos, Story Highlights, Guides that tie into literary content, and relate them back to your own work in a fun way!

🎁 Host giveaways. On a similar note, Instagram is the perfect place to do giveaways: people get a clear visual sense of what you’re offering, and you’ll likely gain quite a few followers and comments because engagement is so high. Try offering up a free copy of your book, another author’s book, or whatever your followers are interested in.

📖 Make the most of Stories. Many people underestimate Stories, but they’re the best way to build a rapport with your followers! Again, any kind of interactive content is good for this. Consider creating Story templates so your Stories have an immediately recognizable brand, and remember to save your best ones as Story Highlights.

💯 Above all, keep it real. Instagram has a reputation for being “fake” — what with all the heavily edited photos, ghostwritten captions , etc. — so it’s best to sidestep the label, unilateral and untrue though it is, by being as earnest as possible. Give your followers what they really want: to get to know the real you!

Case study: Jia Tolentino

Social Media for Writers | Jia Tolentino Instagram

Indeed, though Tolentino posts her fair share of impressive photos, her feed and Stories never feel overly polished or pretentious. She balances professional news and topical content with personal updates, allowing readers to feel informed on both popular culture and her actual life.

Observant 'grammers will also note that Tolentino doesn’t use IGTV or Reels — proof that you don’t need to use every feature on a social platform in order to succeed. If you’d rather focus on day-to-day snapshots and eloquent captions, you have our permission to stick to your strengths.

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Pinterest for authors

Ah, Pinterest: a haven for the craft- and literature-obsessed alike. This platform, which allows you to create your own themed virtual corkboards, has been described as a “non-social” social network: most users just make their boards and add to them independently, without needing to interact with other users.

As a result, Pinterest is the ideal platform for authors who want to tap into readers’ cravings for visual content — as they might on Instagram — but without the pressure of having to constantly engage. And as you might expect, Pinterest works best for writers whose works have a distinctive aesthetic, especially science fiction and fantasy stories. It’s a marvelous platform for bringing your vision to life, allowing you to choose from a vast ocean of possibilities.

If that sounds right up your alley, here are some tips to give you the Pinterest assist!

Tips for authors on Pinterest

💼 Get a Business account. It’s free to convert your regular Pinterest account into a Business account , and it offers many useful features: analytics, ad management, and more. Even if you only intend to use Pinterest casually, it’s still worth getting the free Business account, as it allows you to have a cover photo.

📌 Use Rich Pins for products and articles. Rich Pins are Pins with data attached that click through to an external page, like the sales page for your book or a blog post you’ve written. Rich Pins are great for previewing content you’ve posted elsewhere, and many authors use them to promote their free and discounted books!

📥 Pay attention to your inbox. Though Pinterest isn’t nearly as demanding as other social platforms, users are able to message you and send you Pins. Check your inbox (Pinbox?) once a week, just to be sure you’re not missing anything.

🎉 Have fun with it! Business features notwithstanding, as an author you probably won’t do most of your business on Pinterest — so have fun experimenting with different Pins, and don’t be shy about adding new content to your boards. Even if you can’t articulate why you like a certain Pin, better to save it now so you can find it again later.

Case study: Leigh Bardugo

Social Media for Writers | Leigh Bardugo Pinterest

Note, however, that she doesn’t force herself to stick solely to literary aesthetics, and has an extensive board of home decor ideas as well. Like Twitter, Pinterest is a great place to try new things; take your cue from Bardugo and pin whatever strikes your fancy. Even if it’s not related to your writing, readers will enjoy the sneak peek into your personal life.

Other social platforms

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are the biggest author-friendly social media platforms, but they’re not the only ones out there. Here are five more slightly “niche” platforms you might consider and what they have to offer writers.

🧭 Reedsy Discovery

Reedsy Discovery is a book review, recommendation, and discussion platform that’s perfect for the literary-minded. As an author, you can submit your book for review and receive a customizable author page to help promote your book, post personal updates (including reader polls and book recommendations), and keep track of who you interact with on the platform.

It’s a fantastic place to connect both with other authors (especially indie authors!) and with readers, who enjoy the cutting-edge recommendations and meaningful engagement over what they love most: books. Discovery is definitely a boon for authors who want readers' eyes and early reviews, and for readers who crave connection and smooth functionality in their social reading platforms (compared to, say, the next site on this list).

Sound intriguing? Click here to learn more about submitting your book to Reedsy Discovery .

📚 Goodreads

Every author should claim their profile and books on Goodreads for verification purposes, but you might consider using Goodreads for social media as well. Its key advantage, like Discovery, is that it’s tailored to authors and readers. Readers can also see when you add any information about your upcoming book(s), as well as any reviews you write.

The downside is that it takes a lot of work to build your following on Goodreads alone. Roxane Gay , for example, has managed it by releasing several books and writing tons of reviews… but her circumstances, by her own admission , are unusually conducive to productivity.

This is why we generally recommend having Goodreads as an author and posting occasional updates, but not making it one of your primary social platforms, as most authors will find it’s too much work. Still, if you love writing book reviews, it could be worth a shot!

👩🏻‍💻 Tumblr

Tumblr is the classic “fandom” platform: a place where people have long congregated to celebrate their favorite TV shows, movies, and of course, books. Many well-known authors have maintained their own Tumblr accounts over the years, reblogging Pinterest-like aesthetic posts, talking about their writing, and responding to lucky fans (leading to occasional gems like this .)

Tumblr has recently fallen by the wayside but there’s still a strong fan presence on the site. If you already use Tumblr, definitely try posting your own work for your followers; it could be the perfect opportunity to gain relevant readers. And even if you’re starting fresh on Tumblr, you can try getting involved in fandoms yourself — if nothing else, you’ll meet a ton of people who are similarly passionate about books.

You might think we’d have mentioned YouTube earlier in this guide, given its substantial user base. But truth be told, it’s not an ideal social network for most authors, mainly because it’s tough to churn out consistently engaging long-form videos about your writing.

That said, it’s great for readers — by which we mean BookTubers and the people who watch them. As on Goodreads, if you love reviewing books, you might try to build a YouTube following based on that. But you probably won’t have much luck coming at it solely from a writer’s perspective — not to mention that producing regular YouTube videos takes a ridiculous amount of work, much more than just snapping a few Stories a day.

👯‍♀️ TikTok

If you’re interested in creating videos to boost your brand, TikTok might be your best bet: it’s the latest platform designed for creative short-form video content, and it’s blown up over the past couple of years. While most popular content remains wacky and meme-based, BookTok is a steadily growing faction that could easily become the literary hub of the future.

For now, TikTok remains in the same category as YouTube — good for readers, not so much for writers — but it’s worth keeping an eye on, and could be fun to experiment with as an author. By nature of its novelty, whatever you do as a writer on TikTok will be breaking new ground; if you get it right, you could become one of the platform’s pioneers.

Running ads on social media

Finally, if maintaining an organic social media presence of any kind feels like a lot of work (which, to be fair, it is!), consider taking the “organic” part out of the equation and instead creating paid ads on social media to help new readers find your books.

Running ads on Facebook is one of the best ways for authors looking to acquire readers they otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach. We recommend reading this guide to Facebook ads , which will take you through everything you need to know about the platform for ad-using authors. Or you can expand your range by trying Amazon ads and BookBub ads for your book — both of which are excellent for targeted ads, as the people on those platforms are already looking for new things to read!

Whether you aim for organic growth or paid ads on social media, it’s going to take some work to succeed. But once you find the right platform(s), get situated within your niche, and maybe even start making some friends, you should find it’s not so much a drag as an exciting new challenge — and could even turn into a lifelong hobby. Here’s to you and your book going viral! 🥂

Continue reading

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The 28 Best Writing Websites of 2020

#scribendiinc

Written by Scribendi

Updated in Feburary 2020 to reflect the best writing websites currently online.

Every writer needs a toolbox.

A writer's toolbox is filled with gadgets and gizmos that help a writer craft a story when he or she cannot do it alone. There are literal writers' toolboxes filled with assorted caffeinated beverages, napkins with plot outlines scribbled on them, and USB devices with novels backed up on them, and then there are metaphorical writers' toolboxes packed with character tics, favorite quotes, and—you guessed it—writing websites!

Writing websites are excellent resources to stash away in your toolbox (or browser bookmarks) to whip out in times of absolute distress (e.g., an existential crisis), piled-up excuses (i.e., writer's block), or uncertainty about the stages of writing (e.g., the publishing process ).

Scribendi's got a writer's toolbox fully stocked for you right here! Even better, these writing websites are categorized so you can find just what you're looking for at just the right moment. With everything from creative writing advice to publishing guidelines (and everything in between!), this list of the best websites for writers will be perfect for you to stow away in your bookmarks for when you need a helping hand.

Creative Writing Advice

These writing blogs give concrete advice for implementing literary techniques in your writing to help your work reach its full potential.

1. NaNoWriMo

The National Novel Writing Month blog provides inspirational posts year round for when you're stuck with writer's block, and offers guidelines on everything from the publishing process to finding feedback.

2. Write It Sideways

The articles for writers that can be found on Write It Sideways outline real-life advice (like writing grants, author branding, and gift buying) as well as writing tips and tricks, like spotting dialogue mistakes and learning how to build tension in your writing.

3. Helping Writers Become Authors

K.M. Weiland, the writer behind Helping Writers Become Authors, is an award-winning author who shares creative writing advice on story structure, character arcs, common writing mistakes, and much more!

4. Warrior Writers

Warrior Writers is run by the best-selling author Kristen Lamb, who guides writers using comprehensive and detailed posts that have a humorous and easy-to-read tone.

5. The Write Practice

Looking for articles and advice on creative writing? Consider checking out The Write Practice, which offers writing free (as well as paid) courses, and even holds writing contests for aspiring authors.

Writer's Lifestyle

The following resources are great for writers who have some extra time, or need to take a quick, productive break.

6. Write to Done

Write to Done clearly outlines useful topics for writers, like treating imposter syndrome, recovering from destructive criticism, and finding a pen name.

7. Brain Pickings

Maria Popova's writings on culture, books, and other eclectic subjects are always extremely interesting reading material for any writer with some spare time.

8. Daily Writing Tips

With a blend of fun and fun damental writing topics, this writing website provides the tips you need to succeed.

9. Well-Storied.

Run by Kristen Kieffer, this writing website offers more than just blog articles; it links authors with writing communities on social media, provides tutorials on Scrivener (a word-processing software designed for authors), and offers free courses on a variety of subjects.

10. Writers in the Storm

This blog, written by a group of authors who specialize in different genres, is meant to inspire writers and help them to hone their craft. If you are struggling with the storms that rage internally (e.g., self-doubt) and externally (e.g., the publishing industry), this site will be a haven for you.

Marketing/Blogging

These blogs help writers market their books and create blogging personas to engage an audience more effectively.

11. The Write Life

This writing website offers solid ideas for blogging, including working from home, pitching ideas, guest posting, and much more.

12. Goins, Writer

National best-selling author Jeff Goins shares real-life experiences and reflections on building an audience, shortcuts to success, and engaging a community in the age of Internet fame.

13. The Book Designer

As stated in its tagline, The Book Designer gives "practical advice to help build better books," which includes writing creative disclaimers, choosing the right platforms, and using social media efficiently.

14. Angela Booth

Angela Booth, a copywriter, ghostwriter, author, marketer, and writing coach, writes ample posts to help authors improve book sales and ensure that a book will be a financial success.

15. Create If Writing

Need marketing advice on promoting your writing without coming off as too pushy? Create If Writing "is all about authentic platform building" for writers seeking to sell their work. Kirsten Oliphant, the site creator, offers relatable advice in her blog articles and podcasts.

Find some of the best writing blogs below for help with the publishing process, from behind-the-scenes intel to publishing tips and tricks.

16. Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman has more than 20 years of experience in the book publishing industry. She provides informative articles on both the writing process and the publishing process.

17. The Creative Penn

Run by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Joanna Penn, this site offers articles and other resources related to book writing, publishing, and marketing.

18. Writers Helping Writers ®

This one-stop shop for writing resources includes links to informative sites on publishing, marketing, and professional services for writers. You can also find information on protecting your writing from scammers and online plagiarists.

19. Publetariat

Publetariat gives practical information on networking, author websites, and the publishing process. It also shares links to big news stories in the world of publishing.

20. The Independent Publishing Magazine

The Independent Publishing Magazine hosts articles about many different parts of the publishing process, such as growing a following, avoiding authorship problems, and finding the right editor.

21. The Complete Self-Publishing Guide for Authors

Thinking about the self-publishing route? If so, this writing resource is invaluable! Kirkus's free Self-Publishing Guide for Authors, available as a PDF or in print, covers everything you need to know about a book's design, format, distribution, and more.

Writing Inspiration/Prompts

These sites are excellent for writers who are stuck in a rut and need some inspiration or concrete prompts to get them writing again.

22. Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are posted here daily, offering inspiration for writers in all genres. Some of the prompts focus on breaking through writer's block, while others focus on building characters or refining your dialogue-writing skills. If you're feeling as though you're in a writing rut, the site also posts inspirational quotes from famous authors.

23. Positive Writer

Positive Writer was created for writers with doubt—like the website's author, Bryan Hutchinson—to provide inspirational posts that help writers keep on writing.

24. Blots and Plots

The Blots and Plots blog instructs writers to stay in the habit of writing, targeting specific problems and demonstrating how it's possible to write a novel even with a full-time job.

25. Writer's Digest

This well-known and comprehensive site offers all manner of advice and resources for authors. Of particular interest are the site's many creative writing prompts. New prompts are published weekly, and writers post their results in the comments section.

26. Poets & Writers

Poets & Writers is a non-profit organization that fosters creative writers. On this site, you can learn about professional development, connect with other authors in your area, and find weekly writing prompts on poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.

With Reedsy's list of over 250 writing prompts to get you started on your next creative project, this is one of the best websites for writers to find inspiration. It also offers a search filter to help you find prompts from your writing genre (e.g., romance, fantasy, mystery). If you'd like to contribute to the site and help other aspiring authors, there is an option to submit your own writing prompts, too.

28. Live Write Thrive

Run by C. S. Lakin, an accomplished novelist, copyeditor, and writing coach, Live Write Thrive provides a wealth of information from proficient guest bloggers with the intent to instruct, motivate, and encourage aspiring and veteran writers alike.

We hope these tools are just what you need to continue crafting masterful writing. With a list of writing websites designed to help writers with everything from brainstorming to proofreading to publishing, you'll be unstoppable!

Don't forget about Scribendi’s very own blog , which provides writers with all the guidance and tools they need to perfect their writing. Our articles cover every stage of the writing process, from planning and drafting any type of academic document to revising and finalizing it. Whether you’re looking for grammar tips, writing resources, or advice on any facet of the written word, Scribendi’s blog is the place for writers to perfect their craft.

Happy reading!

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7 Best Social Media Platforms for Authors & Writers (2024)

By: K.J. Waters
Updated: May 31, 2023

Unlike many other book marketing methods , social media is typically a channel most authors take part in, but don’t utilize to their best advantage .

Many authors spend too much time posting, but aren’t focused on creating relationships with readers, or worse only share, ‘buy my book’ posts making them lose followers.

They spend time on accounts unrelated to the world of books and movies, creating a following who may never pick up a book, much less buy one online.

These strategies can be a time sink, keeping you from gaining lasting fans. Booklinker is here to change that.

We spoke to KJ Waters , an international bestselling author, creator of the Stealing Time Series, and an author consultant ( KJ Waters Consultancy ) and asked her to share her ultimate guide to social media for authors.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into it.

Key Takeaways

Strategic Use of Social Media: The article emphasizes the importance of authors using social media strategically to connect with their target audience. Instead of just promoting their books, authors should focus on building relationships with readers and engaging in communities related to their genre.
Choosing the Right Platforms: It’s crucial for authors to select social media platforms that align with their genre and reader demographics. Authors should also consider the type of content they are comfortable creating when choosing a platform, such as text and graphics for Twitter or Facebook, and videos for TikTok or Instagram.
Balance and Timing: The article advises authors to start building their social media presence early, even before their book is published, to cultivate a following. However, it’s important to maintain a balance between social media activity and writing.

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Why Social Media Is Important For Authors

Regardless of whether you’re a published author or still getting your first book out, social media can be a powerful tool to find readers and even super fans for your work for free !

Used properly, it is a way to build buzz toward your next release, find new readers, and share reviews of your already published books, while building relationships with readers who enjoy your genre.

It’s also an amazing way to find fellow authors who are working toward the same goals.

A Social Media Success Story

Here’s a story that shows just how powerful social media can be.

I was taking a while between my first and second book, and published a short story called Blow, to keep my fans engaged.

I hadn’t mentioned I was working on the short story until it was ready to be published.

Then I posted the cover and links on Facebook, then shared on my Twitter account, pinning the post to my page so anyone stopping by would see and share it.

My intent was to buy some ads and make a big push to let people know I’d published something new, but I got sick with strep and had to bail on that plan, hoping to get to it when I was feeling better.

The next day I slept in late and awoke to a text from a fellow author friend (who I’d met on Twitter) informing me the book reached number eight in one of its categories on Amazon .

I was shocked!

Why this worked:

My accounts were full of readers, not just any random Joe who wanted to connect.
I shared content focused on the themes in my books (severe weather and time travel)
I spent a few minutes every day sharing book posts from similar authors, who, in turn, amplified my posts.

Once organic sales blossomed, Amazon’s algorithm kicked in, showing my book to interested readers, leading to a feedback loop of sales.

While I don’t recommend this strategy to launch a book, it shows my sales were purely due to my previous social media efforts.

Don’t get me wrong. Social media can be a huge time suck if you’re not spending your time on the sites wisely, but a focused effort can reap great results.

When Should an Author Start Worrying About Social Media

It’s never too early to build a following on social media. If you’re working hard on your manuscript, grow those accounts.

Waiting until your book is out is a huge mistake. Fine tune your following to potential readers in your genre.

Find similar authors and follow their fans. If you spend five minutes a day, or a half hour a week growing your accounts, it will pay off when you’re ready to sell your books.

But spending time on social media is not the same as curating content and finding readers in your genre. Stay focused or it won’t be the best use of your time.

But your priority should be to get books out.

If you can manage a healthy balance of writing and growing your social media accounts, then go for it. It is an investment in your future sales.

Just be careful of the time trap that social media can be.

Personal vs Business Accounts

Another thing to point out before we discuss the social media platforms is the difference between personal and business social media accounts.

Business accounts on social media have different levels of permissions and powers that make it optimal for those trying to use them as a marketing channel.

But all social media business accounts are not created equal.

Do a little research on the benefits of converting to a business account.

Some may throttle your reach for a business account, where others offer an excellent suite of tools when you convert.

For example, advertising on Meta platforms is only available with a Facebook author page .

To promote your work, you’ll need to create a page connected to your regular account and promote from this author page.

One word of warning:

If you decide to use your social account for social media marketing, you’ll want to curate it more for your publishing world.

Posting your latest short story in the same place as your political views might not be a great idea and lead to a backlash.

To quote Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, an expert in product branding,

“When you take a polarized position on any subject you will alienate 50% of your audience 100% of the time.”

Introducing: Booklinker Collections

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One link for easy sharing of your books across your backmatter, websites, emails, and social media.

Organic vs Paid Social Media

On social media, there are two main ways your content will reach your audience: organic or paid.

Your organic reach describes your followers who see your posts in real time on your feed.

This typically includes all the people that follow you, engage with you, or like similar accounts to you, depending on the platform.

Paid reach is the extra boost you get from purchasing ads or boosting a post.

These can either waste a lot of money or focus your efforts on sales, growing your platform, or getting engagements.

Which Social Media Platform(s) Should You Choose?

Each social platform has pros and cons. The most obvious is who is active on the site.

To make the best use of your social media time, consider who is your target reader.

If you write women’s fiction who average over thirty years old, Pinterest might be a good place to start with an active audience of 431 million users, 77% are women.

Pinterest has the added bonus of indexing all of its content on Google, so anyone searching for you will find your content there.

If you write young adult books about dragons, your audience skews a lot younger. You may find it beneficial to spend more time on TikTok or Instagram to connect with your audience.

It is difficult to post on all the social channels well while saving time to engage on every platform.

Select a few channels that are rich with possibilities for connecting with your readers, rather than spreading yourself too thin.

What Content Do You Enjoy Making?

Another consideration for choosing the right social channel is to think about what type of content you enjoy making?

If you are camera shy, then YouTube is probably not a good fit with the demands of video content.

If you prefer to write text and share graphics, Twitter/X or Facebook might be more comfortable for you.

Play into your strengths as a creator and match it with the platform’s demographics.

Facebook is a great place for authors, due to the sheer numbers of users on the platform, with over 2.93 billion members.

On Facebook you share status updates in text, images, short videos, with links on a page, in groups, or boosted through Facebook ads.

Facebook Groups are communities inside Facebook that can be public or private who share posts with common interests. Many authors on Facebook join groups based on their genre.

Facebook Pages are a type of Facebook profile that businesses and/or public figures can create in order for their audience to follow them. Authors fall under this category, so we’ve created the ultimate guide to Facebook Author Pages .

Upon creating a Facebook Page, you’ll gain access to the Meta Business suite , where you can control all your marketing and advertising activities on the platform.

Facebook’s Ad tool is likely the most advanced ad platform out of all social media platforms, and could be an entire guide on its own, but we’ll touch on it briefly here.

Facebook’s Ad tool allows you to target Facebook users based on their demographics.

This can be anything from gender, country, age, their interests, and even their buying habits.

For example, you can run an ad to promote your new women’s fiction release to:

Women in the United States
Who make online purchases
In the age range of 30-60 years old
Who have shown an interest in a best-selling author who writes similar books
Owns an eReader

You can target anything Facebook collects, which is a lot of data.

Why should Authors use Facebook?

Authors should consider using Facebook as it’s the largest social media platform in the world, with powerful features to help get your books in front of readers.

As long as your audience is active on the platform, (i.e., not geared toward teens), it can be a productive core element of your author book marketing strategy .

Strengths of Facebook:

It’s a simple platform to use
Almost 3 billion active users
Facebook pixel and ad platforms are powerful
“Easy” to direct traffic off the platform

Weaknesses of Facebook:

Not as popular with younger audiences
Involved in a lot of controversy
Heavy moderating and censorship

Example of an Author Doing Facebook Well: Shawn Inmon

Shawn Inmon has done an incredible job building out his Facebook Author page .

He displays his distinct personality and sense of humor in his multiple daily posts.

Whether it’s a witty joke, personal story, or launch of a new book, his posts get lots of engagement from his dedicated fans.

These posts are then shown on potential readers Facebook pages, leading to passive book sales.

He’s also included a call to action in his bio where readers can sign up for his email list , in order to stay up to date with this content.

TikTok specializes in short form video content, typically with lots of action and cuts.

There’s a section of TikTok known as #Booktok that’s rapidly growing, and is one of the leading ways readers discover books on social media.

In fact, it’s so successful, even bookstores are jumping on the trend. Barnes and Noble has a few tables dedicated to books trending on TikTok.

The platform has over 1 billion users , with nearly 48% of them being between the ages 10 and 29.

The main reason for TikTok’s success has been the power of the “For You” page algorithm. Unique to TikTok, it is an addictive format that predicts what type of content a user will find interesting.

Because of this, I recommend you focus your time on the platform engaging with authors and readers on the #BookTok content as soon as you create an account, in order to tell TikTok this is what your accounts are about.

As a new user, the platform will boost your early posts to a larger “For You” audience, so don’t squander the opportunity.

TikTok is also a great platform to find book influencers who can add your books to their content and get some virality going. TikTok’s ad tool is still in its early stages. Because of its infancy, it can be an untapped market, and may be worth looking into.

That being said, selling books directly on TikTok can be difficult, as the only way to direct traffic off of the platform is through a link in your bio.

Limited linking on the platform makes it a perfect place to insert a Booklinker link or Geniuslink .

Why should Authors use TikTok?

Authors should use TikTok if they enjoy making video content and leveraging their creativity. It’s a fun and exciting “new” platform that authors have been finding a lot of success on.

Example of an Author Doing TikTok Well: Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover , is considered a #BookTok sensation, when her novel, It Ends with Us, became popular on the platform in 2021.

In 2022, eight of the top twenty-five best sellers were hers, making her one of the top selling authors of the year, including the top three titles.

She’s amassed over 1.4m followers on the platform, posting casual short form content about books she’s writing or just days in her life. A combination of both content types help build trust and anticipation for her book releases.

Despite a few stumbles, the platform is undergoing a transformation and with an innovator like Musk at the helm, it has the potential to take over some of the incredible features of TikTok without the risk of being banned in your country.

Twitter is a large platform with over 450 million users as of 2023 . Twitter’s demographics has a slight lean toward males (56%) with over half between the ages of 25 and 49 years old.

It’s hard to say if any particular book genre stands out on the platform, but again, due to its large user base, any genre can do well here.

Similarly to Facebook, content on the platform is short form text, images, and videos.

The main way to discover content on the platform is via your feeds. The two feeds on the platform are the “For You” feed, and the “Following” feed.

The “For You” feed, is where the algorithm gauges your interests and shows you content you might like to engage with. Your “Following” feed only features content from those you’ve chosen to follow.

Twitter has a unique feature that shows trending topics. You can also search for content or indexed hashtags. These are great tools for identifying and hopping on trending topics.

One tip is to find trending topics related to your book content. For example, I have a client who writes crime novels about cartels in Mexico who uses trending hashtags to find readers interested in the topic.

Twitter’s Strengths

Large active audience
They are constantly innovating and growing the platform
You can reach a large audience by taking advantage of trending topics and hashtags
You can pin tweets to keep your favorite content on the top of your page

Twitters Weaknesses

Advertising and API aren’t the greatest
It isn’t geared towards readers or writers.
Growing pains as the platform undergoes changes
Stubstack and other links are banned, reducing its link sharing ability.

Why should Authors Use Twitter?

Example of an author doing twitter well: kj waters.

For our Twitter example, we’re going to take a look at… me!

As you can see from the above screenshot, I’ve gained over 29k followers on the platform.

I started off on the platform by networking and following with other like minded authors.

Once I started getting some traction, I automated my content ahead of time using social media scheduling tools.

I mostly share educational content relating to authorship and digital marketing along with the occasional funny meme.

Occasionally, I promote my own books and new releases, along with some enticing text. In the case below, I shared a positive review along with a call to action to buy my book. It got a lot of traction so I leave it in the pinned Tweet section, where it will get the most eyeballs.

If you’d like to learn about how authors should market themselves on Twitter , Booklinker has a guide!

Instagram boasts over 1.28 billion users , making it one of the largest platforms out there. Instagram trends younger (mid 20’s) than Twitter and Facebook.

The main content types on the platform are images, videos, and reels. Reels are Instagram’s take on TikTok, where users can create short video form content with heavy edits.

Instagram is a very visual platform, with little to no text, so it can be a great platform to give off a mood that connects to your brand.

I write time travel stories set in storms, so I share severe weather, locations, time periods, and buy links.

Similar to Twitter, hashtags are super important on the platform for content discovery. #Bookstagram is the #BookTok equivalent and is where authors and readers go to talk about books on the platform.

Instagram is owned by Meta, so any ads are created and run on Meta ad platform and can easily be shared on Instagram.

Instagram’s Strengths

Visual platform
Hashtags are powerful for discoverability
Reels are taking off in popularity
Trends for a younger audience

Instagram’s Weaknesses

Not suitable for long form content
Hard to direct traffic off the platform

Why Should Authors Use Instagram?

If you love taking photos and creating graphics, Instagram can be a great platform. This doesn’t necessarily need to be videos of yourself, but just any content in the form of video or still pictures.

Example of an Author Doing Instagram Well: Elise Bryant

Elise Bryant has done quite well on Instagram with over 11k followers. Her Instagram consists mostly of photos of herself and creative reels.

Her content is typically sharing author updates, personal life stories, and the occasional book marketing post.

Her bio contains a LinkTree where she places links to all of her books.

Pinterest is a unique platform in that it is a visual search engine. The main content on the platform are “pins” in the form of images and captions that go on boards (think of these like bulletin boards).

These pins typically lead to a longer form piece of content like a blog post, recipe, or video. Pins are organized into boards with similar content and users can share pins, follow boards to browse and engage.

Creative authors are using Pinterest to show fans a deeper dive into the worlds they’ve created with costumes, and exotic locations, book cover reveals, fan appreciation, book club extras, and more.

When I’m writing my novels, I save interesting finds in a secret Pinterest board that I reveal once the book is published.

Pinterest is another social media platform that skews towards women (60%) and has 463 million monthly users .

Pins have a much longer lifespan than other social media content types, making it a powerful evergreen traffic tool.

Where a tweet might be seen for forty-five minutes, Pins are shown on the platform for up to a month, making it a great tool for authors.

The platform also has a lot of automations that makes it one of the more passive marketing channels.

Tailwind is the most popular scheduling tool on the platform, and there’s also a WordPress integration that allows your website to automatically share latest blog posts to Pinterest.

Pinterest Strengths

Indexed to Google for discoverability
Pins are seen longer than other platforms
Visual platform leading to longer content
Excellent for creating a mood around your books
Platform allows authors to have more privacy

Pinterest Weaknesses

There isn’t as much “networking” on the platform
Engagement is through sharing pins, rather than conversations

Why Should Authors Use Pinterest?

Pinterest is an exceptional tool for authors who blog or anyone with longer form content.

If you are trying to be seen on search engines, it is an invaluable social platform.

If you’re not excited about the engagement required on other social platforms, this might be the place for you.

Example of an Author Doing Pinterest Well: Dhonielle Clayton

Dhonille Clayton has done an excellent job utilizing Pinterest for her author business.

Her Pinterest account has a variety of boards featuring different fashion, interior design, and art.

Because her books often include imagery similar to these aesthetics, naturally people that follow her board will be drawn to her books.

In order to make it easy for Pinterest followers to locate her books, she’s wisely created a board of her own books.

Imagine a social media network designed around books?

Goodreads originally started as a place for readers to share reviews of books , and place them on a digital “bookshelf” for others to find.

If you have a book published, you can sign up for a free author account, and start engaging with readers.

Now it is a dynamic, engaging place where 125 million readers gather. Goodreads has over 45 million monthly users, with a slight skew toward female users (52%).

Users of the platform are from all over the world, with USA and India leading the pack with the largest segment between 25 and 34 years olds.

It’s a strong platform for authors to connect with their readers.

It can be a little clunky at times, as it was built a long time ago, but they have a killer customer support team known as “librarians” that you can reach out for quick solutions to any problems.

It is one of the few social platforms where your readers can leave reviews of your books.

Goodreads also has an affordable giveaway program that provides a huge platform to give away up to 100 copies of your book. It only costs $119 and you have the choice of paperback or ebook prizes.

If you give away ebooks, they deliver the ebooks directly to the winners from your Amazon account at no additional cost. Winners receive a free book, automatically adding it to their “To Be Read” pile, where their followers will be alerted.

The books awarded become verified purchases on Amazon and those recipients will be prompted by Amazon to leave a review.

Goodreads Strengths

Highly focused community of readers looking for books
Owned by Amazon
Offers affordable promotion opportunities

Goodreads Weaknesses

A bit difficult to navigate

Why Should Authors Use Goodreads?

Goodreads is a no brainer for authors as it’s a social media network specifically for the book space. A little bit of effort on the platform can go a long way, in the form of free promo and extra book reviews.

Example of an Author Doing Goodreads Well: Jodi Thomas

Jodi Thomas has connected her blog to Goodreads, where followers can engage with her, rate her books, and enter her giveaways.

Jodi also actively engages with her fans and answers questions in the “Ask the Author” section.

Lastly, she updates her bookshelf to what she’s reading in real-time, in order to engage with her audience and give exposure to other authors’ books.

Do this enough, and other Goodreads users will be sure to return the favor.

Bookbub is a popular platform entirely geared towards readers.

It started as an email list for readers to find books, but now has an author platform with promotional features and has grown to over 15 million users.

Like other social platforms, authors can grow their following but this site has an important distinction.

Once you hit 1,000 followers, BookBub will notify these folks when you release your next book. That’s a free email from a trusted source!

One strategy to use is to leave book reviews of similar authors’ books to grow your following and make those fans aware of your writing.

Bookbub also has a featured deal ad that is without a doubt one of the most powerful promotional tools out there in book marketing .

Additionally, they offer a pay per click advertising platform that can be an excellent book promotion tool for increasing sales. Booklinker will have a complete guide to Bookbub advertising out soon.

Bookbub Strengths

Made specifically for readers
Curated reader list by genre for promotions
Another place for your readers to review your work

Bookbub Weaknesses

Not as large of a user base as other social media networks
Pay per click ads have a learning curve

Why Should Authors Use Bookbub?

Every author should claim your books on Bookbub and begin growing their following.

With a little effort, you can learn the ropes of promoting your books on their advertising platform, and take advantage of one of the most powerful book promotion sites out there.

Example of an Author Doing Bookbub Well: Tamera Alexander

Tamera Alexander is a USA Today best selling author with a pretty impressive Bookbub profile.

With over 15 books claimed and 18k+ followers, she’s become one of the leading inspiration fiction writers on the platform.

Tamera has also left 40 book reviews on authors in her genre’s profile, which can help build her exposure to the aligned fan bases.

Social Media Scheduling Tools

Social media scheduling tools are a useful option for authors wanting to automate their social media content. They can streamline your workload and push content asynchronously while you’re writing your next book.

Scheduling tools allow you to input content on the front end, and schedule them out to certain days and times. Most of these tools analyze your followers and determine the best times to post to reach them.

Popular options for scheduling tools include SproutSocial , Hootsuite , Buffer , and Recurpost .

Some authors, like Shawn Inmon, who wrote our ultimate guide to Facebook Author pages , don’t like scheduling tools as he feels like he misses the “spark of the moment” from his content.

At the end of the day, whether or not to use scheduling tools is a personal choice, but it’s important to be aware of them as an option.

Social media, if used correctly, can be an exceptional opportunity for authors to network with others in the industry, and promote their upcoming book .

It can also be a great way to waste your writing time and prolong your publishing dreams.

Curate content to attract an audience that reads your genre and buys books.

This concludes our ultimate guide to social media for authors.

If you’d like to learn more about a social media network, Booklinker has some networks covered already such as Twitter or Facebook Pages .

If there’s a certain social media platform you’d like us to cover soon, please let us know in the comments.

Or alternatively, if you have a question for KJ or the Booklinker team, we’d be happy to answer any questions promptly.

KJ Waters is the international best-selling author of the Stealing Time Series (Stealing Time, Shattering Time, Killing Time) and the short story Blow. Her books are often found on the Amazon best seller list next to Outlander and Michael Crichton’s Dragon’s Teeth and have reached #1 international bestselling status.

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Social Media for Writers

December 15, 2023 by Richard Leave a Comment

Using social media for writers strategically has become indispensable to building a writing platform and connecting with today’s readers. Yet for authors focused on crafting captivating stories and nurturing creativity, tackling new virtual spaces can seem inherently at odds with writing goals. After all, time devoted to posting cuts into precious writing time. However, an invigorated online community offering encouragement can be equally vital to the creative process as isolated writing sessions.

Balancing promotion, vulnerability, and meaningful engagement poses a learning curve, as with any new skill. However, growing comfortable with social platforms multiplies a writer’s reach exponentially while facilitating profound relationships. With guidelines tailored to writing goals, social media transforms distraction into enrichment. The key lies in recalibrating perspective on the diversity of member groups now actively bolstering novice wordsmiths to established bestsellers alike. This ever-widening landscape leads no creator alone again.

Benefits of social media for writers: Build a Reader Community

One significant benefit of social media for writers is directly connecting with your target readership and cultivating an invested community around your work. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow you to interact with readers, answer questions, ask for input on your books, and foster ongoing conversations to strengthen engagement. You can share exclusive sneak peeks into new projects to get readers excited and more eager to support your latest release.

Market Efficiently

Promoting your writing through social platforms is often free and can help efficiently spread the word about your books. Using hashtags and relevant groups on sites like Facebook and Goodreads makes it easier to reach new readers who may be interested in your genre. Retweets and shares also introduce your writing to readers you may not have connected with otherwise.

Gain Feedback

An engaged social media following can provide helpful feedback on your writing through comments, reviews, likes, and dialogue. Hearing directly from readers allows you to learn what resonates and what may need refinement. Platforms like Wattpad even let fans critique chapters as you write so you can evaluate reactions in real time. This insight helps writers improve their craft.

Establish Credibility

An active social media presence demonstrates your dedication to writing and helps establish your credibility in the literary world. Following other authors and engaging in broader conversations makes you more visible as a knowledgeable community member. Regularly posting shows prospective agents or publishers that you are proactively building an audience.

In summary, strategically leveraging social media allows writers to connect with readers, efficiently spread awareness, obtain meaningful feedback, and showcase their writing dedication – all beneficial for aspiring and established authors alike.

Celebrity Writers Succeeding with Social Media

While honing craft remains vital for writers, developing an online presence now plays a crucial role in discovering and accessing opportunities. Savvy scribes can leverage social media to directly engage fans, showcase talent to publishers, and supplement writing income through existing platforms. Below are some of the most prominent authors who tapped the power of social media on their rise to bestseller fame and fortune:

Amanda Hocking – This indie paranormal romance/urban fantasy author used Facebook to create buzz around her self-published books. She built a reputation and fanbase by sharing content and interacting with genre readers, eventually selling millions of ebooks.

Beth Reekles – At age 15, this teen writer began uploading the draft novel The Kissing Booth to Wattpad. The enthusiastic online readership caught the attention of publishers. Book and Netflix film deals soon followed.

Andy Weir – His sci-fi novel The Martian first gained traction by being shared chapter-by-chapter on his website for fans. Reader interest later convinced publishers to take a chance on the niche book, which became a global blockbuster.

Seth Godin – Already an established business author, Godin leverages his popular blog to test ideas before publishing them in books and e-courses. His transparent creative process breeds loyal followers.

Rupi Kaur – This Instagram poet uses visual poetry on Instagram to spread messages of empowerment and connect with readers. Her fame led to over 3 million followers and lucrative book deals.

The success of such diverse breakout writers reveals how social platforms grant access and exposure like never before. While risks exist, visibility and feedback can be game-changing for emerging voices.

The Potential Downside to social media for writers

Distraction and lost productivity.

While social media offers valuable marketing and media opportunities, it can distract writers attempting to focus on their craft. Getting sucked into frequent social notifications makes it tempting to check platforms like Twitter and Facebook regularly. However, compulsively scrolling comes at the expense of writing time and risks decreasing overall productivity. Writers have to be disciplined in limiting social media indulgence during writing sessions.

Negative Feedback

While constructive criticism is helpful, writers also make themselves vulnerable to abusive comments, damaging reviews, and online negativity by promoting their books on social media Sensitive artists who tie their self-worth to their work may internalize and obsess over cruel feedback. And heated social debate can sometimes ensnare writers unprepared for volatile conversations. There is a need to develop thick skin before putting yourself out there.

Social Comparison

While media on Twitter or engaging in writer forums on Facebook, it’s easy to start comparing yourself and your successes to other authors. However, getting caught up in social comparison rarely leads to lasting contentment and self-confidence. Rationally, writers know each book/career follows its path, but emotionally, it’s still difficult to avoid questioning your progress when exposed to peers’ achievements.

Privacy/Piracy Concerns

While building anticipation by posting snippets or quotes from upcoming works makes sense promotionally, it also means relinquishing creative control and ownership. Images and sentences taken out of context can be distorted, while unpublished excerpts are vulnerable to potential plagiarism and piracy concerns — especially on sites allowing for effortless screenshot captures.

In essence, while social media facilitates networking for authors, it also opens the door to distraction, criticism, comparison traps, and piracy risks and requires firm boundaries to prevent creative paralysis. Treading carefully is critical.

Navigating social media can be tricky for writers, but when used strategically, it can be invaluable for connecting with readers and promoting your work. With so many platforms, you must focus on the sites that make the most sense for your goals and genre. The most effective strategy is to identify 1-3 ideal platforms, create high-quality content consistently, and experiment to see where your target audience is most engaged. From driving website traffic to facilitating reader feedback to spread the word about new book releases efficiently, social networking offers powerful tools ‒ when optimized for an author’s specific needs. Below are some top recommended platforms for writers to help expand your reach, foster community, and boost your publishing profile.

Twitter – Great for sharing short snippets, engaging with readers in your genre, networking with other writers, and driving traffic to your website/blog. You can build loyal followers here.
Facebook – Allows for longer-form posts and status updates. Suitable for sharing excerpts, behind-the-scenes of your writing process, exciting research, or articles. You can also network in FB writer groups.
Instagram – The visual platform is excellent for sharing aesthetically pleasing book/writing-related images and behind-the-scenes glimpses at your workspace or writing inspiration. Use relevant hashtags.
Goodreads – Writers need to engage with readers around books and get early reviews for upcoming releases. Connect directly with your target audience.
Wattpad – Share parts of your unpublished writing to gain a following. Allows for reader comments chapter-by-chapter. People here may become loyal future fans.
BookBub – Useful to join as an author to promote deals, discounts, and new releases about your published books to subscribers who love reading in your genre.
Medium – Blog platform where you can post long-form content about any element of writing, from research to publishing advice, to boost SEO and establish credibility.
Meetups – Platform for finding local in-person groups united by common interests such as writing genres, creative goals, hobbies, etc. It is ideal for writers seeking nearby networking events, workshops, critiquing sessions, or communal motivation/accountability to stay productive.

A note on X, formally known as Twitter. There is still a thriving community of writers on Twitter. The hashtags you want are #WritingCommunity #amwriting. There are others, but these will get you started. I’m on Twitter, too. Follow me at @realeverywriter

The best approach is likely to focus on 1-3 platforms and contribute high-quality content consistently. Experiment to see where your ideal readers are most active.

By focusing efforts on just a few platforms and keeping up quality engagement with readers and fellow writers, authors can leverage social media meaningfully without spreading themselves too thin or overwhelmingly distracted. Finding the right communities and using tools strategically to share updates and snippets from your writing can organically grow your fanbase and establish credibility. While social networking does require commitment, boundary-setting, and thick skin, the connections forged and visibility gained amongst targeted book lovers make it an invaluable component of a contemporary writer’s career. Experiment thoughtfully to determine which spaces best resonate with your work and writing aims.

Dos and Don’ts

Effectively using social networking can help writers expand their readership and author platform, but promoting your work online comes with certain etiquette to maximize success. Before tackling Twitter, Facebook, and other sites, it’s wise for authors to understand some dos and don’ts for how to curate an online presence best. The goal should be to foster genuine connections with readers, not just gain likes or followers. There is a balance between comfortably being yourself while avoiding self-sabotage. Strategic social media allows writers to give fans a glimpse into their work while organically growing a loyal community.

However, obsession over analytics or criticism can become destructive. With the proper guidelines, writers can take full advantage of social networking exposure while avoiding common pitfalls. Below are crucial best practices for writers cultivating their brands and interacting on digital platforms.

Share snippets, quotes, or tidbits from your writing to give followers a taste of your work
Engage with readers and build a community around your books
Use hashtags strategically to reach new readers who may be interested in your genre
Follow other writers and interact genuinely with them to form connections
Post regularly, but not too much – quality over quantity
Be yourself and let your personality come through
Respond thoughtfully to comments and feedback from followers

DON’T:

Overpromote constantly – mix in other content people would enjoy
Get involved in heated arguments or react defensively to criticism
Post very long excerpts from your writing
Spam others with follows and likes if you don’t read their content
Upload rough drafts or unedited samples of your work
Violate copyright laws by reposting entire passages from other writers
Insult readers for not understanding or connecting with your books
Obsessively check stats or get discouraged by numbers – focus on writing

One of the essential lessons of using social media effectively as a writer is finding a balance in how you connect and interact with readers. Being authentic and opening up to give others a glimpse into your author’s life can go a long way in forging sincere relationships and cultivating a dedicated readership. Short updates about your writing progress, snapshots of your workspace inspiration, or even relevant personal anecdotes allow fans to understand the person behind the pages better. Sharing carefully selected snippets, poems, or passages from works in progress generates excitement about your future creations. Making the sort of content you would enjoy signals to your audience the type of communication that most interests you, too. This spirit of openness helps echo your passion while drawing more intimate connections through candor.

However, creators who overshare to gain likes or obsessively self-promote risk alienating potential fans rather than winning them. Aggressively providing constant links with “buy my book” type messages tends to have an off-putting salesy vibe, making followers feel more like targets than valued community members. Savvy social media writers calibrate their promotions judiciously and tie them into broader valuable conversations. It becomes a delicate balancing act between warmly engaging readers and allowing connection to flourish organically versus forcefully pushing your agenda or personality onto others because you crave recognition. Sincere, thoughtful interaction ultimately wins over the most significant long-term support. The basis for quality relationships, including author-reader ones, lies in respect. And the best writers on social platforms keep that ethic at the core of their online conduct.

As you navigate using social networking and other online spaces as an author, it is crucial to keep perspective regarding the diversity of benefits these platforms offer. While promoting your published writing is one prominent aspect, connecting to other creators and becoming part of thriving creative communities provides even greater long-term value for writers in various stages of development. Many writing communities facilitate more than just touting accolades or increasing sales metrics. They are designed to meaningfully support writers on craft, voice, inspiration, and overcoming obstacles on the long journey from blank pages to polished drafts. Making a habit of contributing thoughtfully, listening earnestly to fellow writers, and making an effort to forge genuine personal connections can nourish your skills and spark tremendous growth professionally and personally.

There is a broad spectrum of writing communities to explore, ranging from informal local writers groups focused on peer feedback and critique partnerships to prominent international member organizations hosting writing awards and conferences to intimate online spaces designed to flex daily writing muscles or unload their creative struggles. While intimidating at first, putting yourself out there and participating in such groups builds resilience while surrounding you with friends in the trenches who know the specific highs and lows of creating. Their camaraderie helps convert the isolating process into a shared purpose. Over time, listening to the hurdles and breakthroughs of others normalizes the chaotic road of writing, too. Through communal support, you gain knowledge untapped in solitude. The care this vast web of writers shows circling back to cheer one another’s milestones demonstrates actual best practices for the field. At their core, writing communities understand and amplify each other’s voices. Your distinctive experiences only widen that resonating chorus. So, use social platforms and local resources as megaphones and spaces safe enough to set old fears aside and transform isolation into lasting inspiration.

Online Writing Communities:

Scribophile – Online writing group with critique partners and writing workshops
Critique Circle – Get feedback by critiquing other people’s writing
Absolute Write – Large online community of writers with forums on all writing genres.
Writers Digest Online Community – Discuss writing and get expert advice.
Reddit Writing Subreddits – Such as r/writing, genre-specific groups like r/fantasywriters
Goodreads Groups – Join groups focused on your writing genre.
Writers Cafe – Connect with other writers and participate in workshops.
Zoetrope is a beautiful writing group; famous film director Francis Ford Coppola founded the magazine and organization to help writers.
National Novel Writing Month – The only organization that gets you to write an entire novel monthly. They are an enthusiastic group.
Writing.com – Started as stories.com years ago. You can create a profile, but the site is a mix of old technology that is a little difficult to use

In-Person Writing Communities:

Writing Conferences: Attend conferences and network with fellow writers
Book Clubs: Join a club or start your own to discuss works
Open Mic Nights: Read your works to an audience and listen to others
Writers Groups/Workshops: Meet up with local writers to exchange feedback
Public Library Groups: Many host free genre-specific critique groups
Partner Critique Exchanges: Find a writing partner to critique each other’s work

In closing, social media allows stories and creativity to thrive across the isolation writers often face. Platforms once feared as attention-stealing time sucks now drive collaboration, inspiration, and readership. Yet that connectivity depends on members upholding community standards – amplifying diverse voices, cheering wins small and large, and offering compassion that cuts critique with care. Progress ceases without space safe to take creative risks. And the most receptive audiences for any writer are fellow travelers at various waypoints of the writing path. So use the tools at your disposal, but always keep sight of the people behind posts. They are partners on the journey, not metrics. And the accurate measure of good writing is not algorithms, but the allies made and hope shared while striving together. Wherever you are on the writing road, someone is further ahead, clearing the way, while others gain courage following in your footsteps. Please leave us a comment, and you might be interested in some of our other writing tips .

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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best websites and resources for writers 2020

Best Websites and Resources for Writers: 2022 (updated)

Check out the best websites for online writers of 2021. The best freelance resources, seo advice, publishing tips, creative writing advice, and editors.

Below is a list of the best websites and resources for online writers in 2021! Whether you’re looking for SEO advice, publishing tips, creative writing resources, or online editors, you’ll find what you need below!

Creative Writing

The editors of Hiveword have curated over 40,000 articles in their Writer’s Knowledge Base. They also have an easy-to-use search tool. So, if you’re interested in a certain topic like how to end a story just hit up their search bar. But, there’s more! Hiveword also offers a novel organizer tool. This tool will organize your characters, plots, and scenes. And, it will save you time and effort.

Well-Storied

Kristen Kieffer at Well-Storied offers writers a massive about resources in the form of blog posts, and podcasts. She’ll teach you all you need know on the art and craft of writing. She’s also written some insightful ebooks like World-building Warrior and Plan Your Best Writing Life .

Now Novel offers some of the best online writing courses . They also provide writers with prompts and tools to outline your story. Amazingly, they offer free, constructive feedback on scene drafts and story ideas! And, they have free email courses to get your started today.

KM Allan writes about books and blogs about writing. Oh, and she recently published the first book in her Blackbirch Series, The Beginning . She provides sage advice from the viewpoint of a successful published author.

Elizabeth Spann Craig

Elizabeth is a best-selling cozy mystery author. She has several highly-successful mystery series including the Myrtle Clover Cozy Mysteries , the Village Library Mysteries , and Southern Quilting mysteries . She rounds up some of the best writing articles with her Twitterific Writing Links. She also shares fantastic advice for writers through her blog and newsletter !

The Write Practice

The Write Practice is a blog built on a simple premise- Practice makes perfect. Or, practice will at least help you improve as a writer. That’s why they preach the practice of writing for 15 minutes a day, five days a week. Their blog will teach you what to do with those precious 15 minutes.

Justin Kownacki

I discovered Justin’s blog while researching my article on nonlinear novels . He’s written one of the most interesting and thorough explanations of the plot of Pulp Fiction ever. He also writes frequently on how sociology affects story-telling. And, he has a ton of interesting film and story analysis.

Art of Narrative

What a shocker finding the author’s website on this list! Queue the meme of Obama giving Obama a medal. But, I am going to toot my own horn because I am constantly writing articles for creative writers. Check out my Poetry and Fiction categories. Plus, if you’v ever thought about writing a story, I just spent the last few months writing a practical workbook designed to take you through the entire process- The Story Writing Workbook – click on this link and use the discount code ‘twenty’ to get your digital copy for 20% off!

Publishing Resources

The Creative Penn

Creative Penn is a blog created by New York Times best-selling author, Joanna Penn. This entire blog is a great resource for fiction writers. But, her articles on publishing are particularly insightful.

Self-Publishing

The Self-Publishing blog is an immense resource of free, useful information on publishing. If that’s not enough for you the website offers a publishing guide to download for free.

The Write Life

The Write Life is a great blog for any online writer. They cover a huge range of topics like blogging, publishing, and marketing. They’ve also published helpful ebooks on how to make money as a freelance writer.

Jerry Jenkins

You might recognize the name Jerry Jenkins. He’s the best-selling author of the Left Behind series . But, he also runs an incredibly instructive blog. He’s written some fantastic articles on how to get your book or stories published. He also runs the Jerry Jenkins Writers’ Guild which is described as a 24/7 writers conference.

Duotrope is an online tool that will help you choose the perfect place to pitch your story. They track tons of awesome data that will take a lot of stress out of the pitching process. You can find out what percentage of pitches a publisher accepts. You can also learn how much a publication pays, and how many days it will take for them to respond to your pitch.

The Self Publisher

C.S. Lakin created The Self Publisher to help authors make a comfortable income publishing books online. She is a full-time blogger, writer, editor, and writing coach and she knows what sells! She doesn’t promise you that you’ll make a million dollars, or become the next Stephen King, but she can help you make a living.

Writers Services

Writers Services is a terrific resource for writers that’s been around since 2001! Writers Services offers 20 editing services for writers . As if that wasn’t enough the website is home to over 6000 articles providing advice for writers.

Online Editors

Grammarly is still one of the best and most accurate online grammar checkers . Its chrome plugin makes it easy and simple for you to check your grammar and spelling. And, it’s compatible with most word processors, including Docs, and web browsers.

Prowriting Aid

Prowriting Aid is a specialized online grammar tool designed for fiction writing. It will critique your writing for things like pacing and dialogue. It integrates with Scrivener, another writing tool used to organize works of fiction. Next to Grammarly, Prowriting Aid is one of the best online editing tools.

Whitesmoke is a great online editor for non-native English speakers. This software will translate from 55 different languages! It also provides you with side-by-side translations that make for anyone easy to use. Click here to get 50% off Whitesmoke today!

Rather than an online app or software, Scribendi employs a team of qualified editors who will sharpen your prose. Their editors review all different types of writing like resumes, academic papers, and essays. Scribendi’s editors are professional, trained, and highly-qualified. A great option for editing your most important documents.

Hemingway App

Everyone knows about the Hemingway app by now, hopefully. If you don’t it’s a very simple online editor. The Hemingway app rates the clarity of your writing. It alerts you when sentences are too complex, or when you’re being a little too fancy. It’s also free.

Custom-Writing.org

Custom-Writing.org provides fantastic study tips, writing advice, and expert guidance to students looking to polish their essays!

Reading & Literature

If you’re a literary junkie then LitHub.com is the place for you. This website has enough content to keep you entertained for days. They publish literary criticisms, reading lists, and hours of podcasts. All their content focuses on literature, but they also write about culture and news.

Crime Reads

Crime Reads is an off-shoot of Lit Hub. It’s also the perfect website if you enjoy mysteries, thrillers, noir, or true crime. It’s all crime, all the time! Crime Reads provides reviews and analysis of crime-themed books, films, and tv.

Tor is an online magazine that covers science fiction, fantasy, and everything between. They also publish fiction from both new and established writers. You may even want to submit your short story to Tor, and see if it gets published!

Book Riot, if you can’t tell by the name, creates content for book lovers. They cover just about every genre of literature. Bookriot’s goal is to amplify marginalized voices and create an inclusive community for all book lovers!

The Mary Sue

The Mary Sue is the geek girl’s guide to the universe. They love geek culture and they cover a diverse range of topics. These topics range from comic books to space exploration and emerging technologies.

Work & Freelancing

Solid Gigs is a subscription-based job board that provides a huge advantage to its members. They’ve curated a job board that promises to comb the internet and provide users with the top 1% of jobs. This means that you’ll get better quality, vetted, jobs than what any other job board provides!

WeWorkRemotely

We Work Remotely bills themselves as the “largest remote work community in the world.” If you couldn’t tell from the name, this is a job board that specializes in remote job opportunities. They currently have over 12,000 remote jobs listed on their site. Whether a beginner or seasoned pro, your sure to fine a job that words for you!

Make a Living Writing

Carol Tice has been running the Make a Living Writing blog since 2008. The site is dedicated to helping freelance writers earn more and avoid scams. Learn how to work your way from content mills to making a living as a professional writer with this blog!

Elna Cain is a highly successful online writer. Her blog is dedicated to helping freelancers launch their careers=. She also provides a free email course to get you started writing today.

Writing Revolt

Jorden Roper began as a freelancer after she, and her husband were fired on the same day. Just four months later Jorden was making $5,000 a month as a freelance writer. And, she did it without any experience as a writer or even a college degree. Now she runs Writing Revolt, a site dedicated to helping freelance writers achieve their financial dreams.

Writer’s Hive

From their website, “We are a bunch of passionate writers who are here to help other writers like you improve your craft, narrow in on your writing dream, and achieve your greatest writing goals. At Writer’s Hive, we take a dynamic content approach, providing both written material and video content in all the areas that matter most to your writing career.”

Jooble is an international job search engine used daily by millions of people in sixty-nine countries including United State.

The company has been operating in the online recruitment market since 2006. In its 14 years of existence, the company has gone from a startup founded by two students to a global employment platform. Today, Jooble is among the world’s top five most visited websites in the Jobs and Employment category, according to SimilarWeb.

Blogging & SEO

Ubersuggest (Neil Patel)

Neil Patel is one of the biggest names in SEO. He’s been at it for over a decade and his website is a fantastic resource for actionable SEO tips. Ubersuggest is his online keyword planner. Use it to research topics and provide the answer’s your readers are looking for.

Hubspot Blog

Hubspot is a marketing firm that helps businesses to grow their online presence. Their blog is one of the best resources you’ll find for subjects like SEO, marketing online content, and launching products. If you do have a business, Hubspot offers free customer relationship management forever!

Do You Even Blog

Pete is one of the first experts I found when I started this blog, and I’ve been following his advice ever since. His message is simple- to help you create a profitable online business! Check out his podcast and his youtube channel for hours of insight on blogging and online business.

Moz has some amazing tools to help you improve your website’s SEO performance. The Moz website provides free site audits, keyword research, and backlink tracking. Moz will help you get your traffic booming in no time.

Rocket Expansion

Rocket Expansion create immersive websites for authors. They have a thorough article that gets updated quite frequently on author websites . It features 67 of the best author websites online as well as gives a whole lot of advice on how to make your author website more amazing. You can learn a lot from the individual critiques of the various author websites featured as well.

Building quality backlinks is one of the most important components of SEO. Brian Dean, the creator of Backlinko, is one of the leading experts in SEO strategy. Backlinko provides users with actionable advice on how to build backlinks and conquer SEO.

Create and Go

Create and Go is a great place to start if you’re just getting into the blogging game. Alex and Lauren, owners of Create and Go, offer useful courses for beginner bloggers. Their blog layouts a path from starting a blog to turning blogging into a full-time business.

Best Websites & Resources for Writers: 2020

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Thank you for including my blog, John 😊.

My pleasure, KM! I love sharing your blog any chance I get!

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Writing for Social Media in 2024: Tips and Tools

Writing for social media takes talent, creativity, focus, and a deep understanding of your audience. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Writing for social media: 7 tips for 2024

Writing for social media is not an easy job.

You work with strict character limits and tight turnarounds. You speak the language of memes and microtrends that your boss and coworkers might not understand. You have to quickly — and wittily — react to trending topics. And, if you ever publish a post with a typo, people will notice and call you out. (Looking at you, Twitter meanies.)

But it’s also fun and rewarding. Great content can help you start inspiring conversations, build engaged communities, create buzz around your brand, and even directly influence sales.

Keep reading for expert tips and tools that will help you become a more confident and effective social media writer in no time .

OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.

What is social media content writing?

Social media content writing is the process of writing content for social media audiences, usually across multiple major social media platforms . It can include writing short captions for TikTok or Instagram Reels, long-form LinkedIn articles, and everything in between.

Writing for social media is different from writing for blogs and websites — it requires expert knowledge of social platforms and their audiences, trends, and inside jokes.

Social media writing is a crucial element of any brand’s social presence. It can make or break a campaign or your entire social media marketing strategy. When done right, social writing directly influences engagement and conversions, and contributes to strategic business goals.

7 social media writing tips for 2024

The tips below will help you create content that will inspire your target audience to interact with you, take action, or simply spend a few seconds contemplating what they just read.

Try some (or all) of these in your next 10 social media posts to build good habits and strengthen your writing muscle. You’ll be amazed at how clear you’ll write, and how you’ll zero in on your voice.

Bonus: Download The Wheel of Copy , a free visual guide to crafting persuasive headlines, emails, ads and calls to action . Save time and write copy that sells!

1. Just start writing (you’ll edit later)

Writer’s block is real, but there’s an easy way to blast past it: Just start writing without overthinking it.

Start typing whatever comes to mind and forget about sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation (for a moment). Just keep your fingers moving and power through any blockages. Editing will come later.

This is how John Swartzwelder, legendary Simpsons writer, wrote scripts for the show :

“Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue […]. Then the next day, when I get up, the script’s been written. It’s lousy, but it’s a script. The hard part is done. It’s like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it.”

2. Speak the language of social media

This, of course, means different things on different platforms.

Eileen Kwok, Social Marketing Coordinator at Hootsuite thinks it’s absolutely crucial to “have a good understanding of what language speaks to your target audience. Every channel serves a different purpose, so the copy needs to vary.”

Wondering what that looks like, exactly, on Hootsuite’s own social media channels? “LinkedIn, for example, is a space for working professionals, so we prioritize educational and thought leadership content on the platform. Our audience on TikTok is more casual, so we give them videos that speak to the fun and authentic side of our brand.”

But this advice goes beyond picking the right content categories and post types for each network. It really comes down to the language you use.

Eileen says: “On most channels, you’ll want to spell-check everything and make sure you’re grammatically correct — but those rules don’t apply for TikTok. Having words in all caps for dramatic effect, using emojis instead of words, and even the misspelling of words all serves the playful nature of the app.”

You can go ahead and show this to your boss the next time they don’t want to approve a TikTok caption mentioning Dula Peep or using absolutely no punctuation.

3. Make your posts accessible

As a social media writer, you should make sure that everyone in your audience can enjoy your posts.

Nick Martin, Social Listening and Engagement Strategist at Hootsuite told me: “When writing for social media, accessibility is something you should be keeping in mind. Some of your followers may use screen-readers, and a post that is full of emojis would be nearly unreadable for them.”

Unintelligible posts won’t help you reach your social media goals. In fact, they might turn people away from your brand altogether.

“The same goes for when you share an image that has text on it,” Nick adds. “You’ll want to make sure you write alt-text for that image so all of your audience can enjoy it.”

Here’s a great example of how you can have fun writing creative and entertaining alt-text for your social post’s accompanying images:

Self-care routines and bear encounters both start with setting boundaries pic.twitter.com/reul7uausI — Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (@waDNR) September 20, 2022

4. Keep it simple

Imagine you’re writing to an 8th grader. Like, actually .

This is a simple but super effective exercise that will force you to write clearly and ditch any unnecessary jargon that would likely only confuse your readers.

“Drive innovation.”

“Become a disruptor.”

LinkedIn, in particular, is home to some of the most over-used, under-effective statements of all time. And sure, it’s a “businessy” social media channel. But business people are, well, people too. And people respond well to succinct, clear copy — not overused buzzwords with little to no real meaning behind them.

To connect with your audience, you have to speak a language they understand. Say something real. Use plain language and short sentences. Practice on your niece, mom, or friend, and see if they get your message.

5. Write to the reader

Your social media audience isn’t dying to find out what your company is up to or what’s important to you (unless it’s super relevant). They want to know what’s in it for them. That’s why you should always write from the readers’ perspective. Make them the hero.

So, instead of posting a boring list of features that have just been added to your product, tell your audience how their life will improve if they use it.

Sometimes, “standing out” is nothing more than writing from the reader’s point of view — because most of your competitors don’t.

6. Have a clear purpose

… and write that purpose down at the top of your draft to keep your mind on the target while you write.

What action do you want the reader to take? Do you want them to leave a comment or click through to your website? Whatever it is, make it clear in a CTA (call to action).

Note that a CTA doesn’t have to be a button or any other super explicit, easily identifiable element within your post. It can be as simple as an engaging question within your caption, or a sentence telling your audience why they should click on the link in your bio.

7. Use (the right) pictures to enhance your words

This one speaks for itself. (One image is worth a thousand words, anyone?)

We’ve already talked about the importance of adding alt-text to images for accessibility, but the images you pick are very important.

Some networks rely on words more than they do on images and videos. But whenever possible (and relevant), you should try to include visuals in your posts — they’re much more effective at grabbing the attention of scrollers than words. And without that attention, your words won’t get a chance to shine.

Everything you need to make engaging content. AI support for captions, an AI hashtag generator, and access to Canva in Hootsuite.

3 writing tools for social media

1. hootsuite’s owlywriter ai.

Good for: Generating social media posts and ideas, repurposing web content, and filling up your social media calendar faster.

Cost: Included in Hootsuite Pro plans and higher

Did you know that Hootsuite comes with OwlyWriter AI, a built-in creative AI tool that saves social media pros hours of work?

You can use OwlyWriter to:

Write a new social media caption in a specific tone, based on a prompt
Write a post based on a link (e.g. a blog post or a product page)
Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays

Using Hootsuite OwlyWriter AI to write an Instagram caption: Typing in the subject and selecting the tone from a drop-down list.

To get started with OwlyWriter, sign in to your Hootsuite account and head to the Inspiration section of the dashboard. Then, pick the type of AI magic you want to see in action.

OwlyWriter AI in Hootsuite. Main screen with available choices: Repurpose your top posts, start from scratch, get inspired, turn web content into posts, get your holiday calendar ready

For example, if you’re not sure what to post, click on Get inspired . Then, type in the general, high-level topic you want to address and click Get ideas .

Generating social media post ideas in Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI

Start your free 30-day trial

OwlyWriter will generate a list of post ideas related to the topic:

AI-generated social media post ideas in Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI

Click on the one you like best to move to the next step — captions and hashtags.

AI-generated social media post captions in Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI

Pick the caption you like and click Create post . The caption will open in Hootsuite Composer, where you can make edits, add media files and links, check the copy against your compliance guidelines — and schedule your post to go live later.

AI-generated post idea in Hootsuite Composer

And that’s it! OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full — and sit back to watch your engagement grow.

2. Hemingway app

Good for: Writing anything succinctly and clearly.

Cost: Free in your browser, one-time $19.99 payment for the desktop app.

The Hemingway app will make you a better, more engaging writer. It flags over-complicated words and phrases, long sentences, unnecessary adverbs, passive voice, and so much more. It also gives you a readability score.

Pro tip: On the Hootsuite editorial team, we always aim for grade 6 readability. Some topics are simply a bit complicated, so stay flexible and don’t beat yourself up if you’re not always able to reach this benchmark — but it’s a good score to shoot for.

Here’s how it works:

Write your copy.
Paste it into Hemingway’s online editor .
Visually see what works and what doesn’t.
Make your changes.
Watch your score improve!

Good for: Distraction-free writing.

Cost: Free.

There’s plenty of clutter in life. ZenPen is one small corner of the distraction-free-universe to help you write without outside interference.

Go to zenpen.io .
Start writing posts for social.
Enjoy the noise-free editor until you’re done.

Compose, schedule, and publish your expertly written posts to all the major social media channels from one dashboard using Hootsuite. Try it free today.

Get Started

Save time and grow faster with OwlyWriter AI, the tool that instantly generates social media captions and content ideas .

Become a better social marketer.

Get expert social media advice delivered straight to your inbox.

Karolina Mikolajczyk is a Senior Inbound Marketing Strategist and associate editor of the Hootsuite blog. After completing her Master’s degree in English, Karolina launched her marketing career in 2014. Before joining Hootsuite in 2021, she worked with digital marketing agencies, SaaS startups, and international corporations, helping businesses and social media content creators grow their online presence and improve conversions through SEO and content marketing strategies.

Nick has over ten years of social media marketing experience, working with brands large and small alike. If you've had a conversation with Hootsuite on social media over the past six years, there's a good chance you've been talking to Nick. His social listening and data analysis projects have been used in major publications such as Forbes, Adweek, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. His work even accurately predicted the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. When Nick isn't engaging online on behalf of the brand or running his social listening projects, he helps coach teams across the organization in the art of social selling and personal branding. Follow Nick on Twitter at @AtNickMartin.

Eileen is a skilled social media strategist and multi-faceted content creator, with over 4+ years of experience in the marketing space. She helps brands find their unique voice online and turn their stories into powerful content.

She currently works as a social marketer at Hootsuite where she builds social media campaign strategies, does influencer outreach, identifies upcoming trends, and creates viral-worthy content.

10 AI Content Creation Tools That Won’t Take Your Job (But Will Make it Easier)

AI-content creation tools can’t replace great writers — but they help writers and marketers save time and use their skills for more strategic aspects of content creation.

Your 2024 Guide to Social Media Content Creation

Find out how to build an effective social media content creation process and learn about the tools that will make creating content easier.

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Website Planet

7 Best Websites for Creative Writing Services [2024 Update]

Short on Time? These Are the Best Freelance Websites for Creative Writing Services in 2024

Fiverr – Creative work in every niche imaginable at the most competitive prices.
Upwork – Best platform to hire creative writers long term and project manage.
Textbroker – Great for completing multiple orders as quickly as possible at an affordable price.

Find a Creative Writer on Fiverr >>

See 4 More Great Options | Comparison Table | FAQ

What We Look For in the Best Freelance Websites for Creative Writing Services
Cost and quality. Cheap is good, but it’s not always the most important thing. I found that extremely cheap writing gigs often led to misinterpreted briefs and spelling mistakes. Skilled writers don’t charge $0.01/word, so paying a little more for quality is usually the wise choice. My top recommendations deliver results without breaking the bank.
Number and detail of writer profiles. Creative writing is a pretty broad term, and there are often thousands of profiles to go through. The platforms on this list offer detailed writer profiles, making it easier to spot experienced writers who have previously completed similar projects.
Timeliness. Writing can take time, especially when creativity is thrown into the mix. I understand, but if I brief someone with a short story prompt, I expect them to respect the deadline. All platforms listed here encourage and reward timeliness.
Payment security. I didn’t have problems with most writers, but during my tests, I did receive a few articles that looked like they came out of a content spinner. I’ve only included websites that protect buyers with secure payments and convenient money return policies.

Note: Creative writing is an art!

1. Fiverr: Most Budget-Friendly Option for Creative Writing Services

Dozens of categories. For creative writing, I counted over 11,500 sellers producing letters, emails, poems, short stories, worldbuilding prompts – you name it. All other writing categories (such as resumes, cover letters, script writing, technical writing, or white papers) are also covered.
Fast delivery. Fiverr offers quite a few add-ons with each purchase, one of which is one-day delivery. If you’re on a tight deadline, you’ll appreciate having the option to expedite the writing process for a few extra dollars.
Free revision. Most Fiverr writing packages come with at least one revision, allowing you to ask for changes after the piece has been delivered. Some sellers offer unlimited revisions even with their cheapest package.
Secure payments. I’ve never had any issues with payments on Fiverr. Canceling orders is quick and painless, and sellers will always communicate with you to ensure they receive a high rating. If it all goes south, filing a dispute and getting your money back is also straightforward.
2. Upwork: Best for Establishing Long-Term Relationships

7-best-websites-for-creative-writing-services-content-in-2022-2.png

Many hiring options. Upwork is known for its traditional approach to hiring, but you can also browse through freelancer profiles yourself with the “Discover” feature. A marketplace with jobs posted by freelancers (much like Fiverr’s gigs) was also recently added to the platform.
Detailed profiles. Upwork offers thousands of super-detailed profiles that outline everything you’d want to know about a writer, including their education, work experience, and other similar projects they’ve worked on.
Work tools. Since most work is delivered through hourly contracts, Upwork has developed its own time-tracking tool and easy-to-use work diary.
Easy dispute system. Problems with fixed-price projects are easily fixed – payment isn’t released without your approval. For hourly contracts, you need to make a habit of reviewing your writer’s work diary weekly.

3. Textbroker: Affordable Content Services

Multiple order options. Aside from open orders, which are available to all qualified writers, Textbroker allows you to pitch directly to one author of your choice. You can also create a team of writers and pitch the job to all of them at the same time.
Quick delivery. Most articles below 1,000 words have a processing time of 1 day. Although processing time isn’t the same as turnaround time (for instance, a second writer might jump in if the first one cancels an accepted order), small orders are often completed within 48 hours.
Writer work samples. Most Textbroker profiles include short writing samples that can help you gauge a writer’s skill and help with your decision.
Easy brief templates. Depending on the type of content you choose, Textbroker will automatically populate certain sections and help with the briefing process. There’s even an option to add relevant keywords, which can make all the difference from an SEO perspective.
4. Fiverr Pro: Best for Top-Quality Creative Writing Services

Excellent quality. Fiverr Pro writers are adept at creating eloquent, engaging content that will captivate your audience. If that’s what you’re looking for, then Fiverr Pro is the way to go.
Save time. Not all $5 and $10 gigs are necessarily bad, but sifting through them can be a time-consuming process. Turning the Pro switch on will automatically filter out all low-quality gigs.
Portfolio. Pro sellers can showcase their skills by adding a portfolio. That will give you a better idea of what a writer is truly capable of.
Access the 1%. All Pro sellers have a high rating (4.7+) and a 90%+ response rate. Aside from that, the vetting process is long and includes several different tests. We don’t know the exact criteria with which Fiverr accepts sellers into the Pro program, but we do know that only 1% of applicants earn the Pro Verified badge.
5. Scripted: Content Creation and Management for Agencies

Different hiring options. You can find vetted writers in almost any niche with one of the most advanced filtering systems of anywhere I looked at. Alternatively, you can place an order and Scripted will invite writers to submit a proposal based on your content requirements.
Recurring content services. Scripted offers discounted bundles for recurring content creation. If you’re looking to produce large quantities of content, these bundles might help you save quite a bit.
Performance analytics. The Premium subscription tier utilizes Google Analytics to come up with useful data and insights on how your content is performing.
Satisfaction guarantee. You don’t actually have to pay your writer until you’re 100% satisfied with your order. A piece of content could theoretically keep going back and forth for edits indefinitely until it meets your standards.
6. Writer Access: Best for Large Volumes of Content

AI-powered search tool. I thought this was a gimmick, but I was pleasantly surprised. Writer Access has teamed up with IBM and Cambridge University to create a powerful AI. This analyzes your existing content to find writers that will match your brand’s style and tone of voice.
Find talent feature. Not into AI? You can still look at writer profiles the traditional way and find the right match yourself. I appreciate the fact that this option hasn’t been phased out, despite the success of the AI tool.
Quick delivery. The standard delivery time for a 1,000-word article is 10 days, which is on the longer side. But if you’re in a pinch, there’s the option to pay a couple more dollars and receive your content much faster.
Workflow tools. Writer Access integrates with Google Analytics and several content management tools, such as Clearscope, Copyscape, BuzzSumo, and Spyfu.
7. Contena: Quick and Efficient Job Posting

Quick job posting. It takes less than 5 minutes to post a creative writing job on Contena, and then the first few applications will start pouring in.
Thousands of writers. Contena is like an exclusive club solely made up of dedicated writers. The website even offers an extensive course that helps writers improve their skills.
Various niches. Besides creative writing, Contena’s writers cover a huge variety of niches, including finance, business, education, health, sports, and technology.
Are You A Creative Writer Looking to Sell Your Services on Fiverr?
The platform’s super easy to use. Signing up takes a maximum of five minutes, the UI is well designed, and there’s a massive knowledge base filled with helpful articles.
It’s a niche-thriving platform in a huge industry. Do you specialize in writing resumes, cover letters, or something else very specific? Well, Fiverr’s gig database is massive, so you’re rewarded for focusing on your preferred type of content.
You gain access to performance analytics. Not only does Fiverr help you reach your target clientele with helpful SEO tips, but it also offers a complete analytics suite to track your gigs’ clicks, impressions, and other stats.

The Best Websites for Creative Writing Services

What is creative writing?

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CalArts offers a variety of unique programs at the undergraduate and graduate level within its six world-renowned Schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater.

Undergraduate core courses are the foundation of BFA studies at CalArts, providing a strong general education and opportunities to deepen every student's artistic practice.

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Explore is your first stop if you are considering applying to CalArts. Here you can find information about your program(s) of interest, events the Institute is hosting or attending, a virtual campus map, and much more. Your journey to CalArts starts here.

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CalArts is located in Santa Clarita, Calif., 30 miles north of Los Angeles. Explore the local area and community.

Offering innovative continuing education arts courses designed to meet the needs of both emerging artists and lifelong learners.

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Creative Writing

Program Faculty
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2-Year Program

The CalArts MFA Creative Writing is unique in the field for the way it combines a dedication to experimental practice and a resolutely non-genre tracking curriculum . These commitments are intertwined: unlike in many MFA programs our students are free to pursue their imaginative and experimental impulses into whatever genre their work takes them—including into hybrid genre forms of their own. This is all in keeping to CalArts’s foundational commitment to experiment and interdisciplinarity. Students who come to our program regularly engage in substantial projects in multiple genres across their coursework and beyond. In other words, each student designs their own path through our curriculum, engaging with what questions of genre and practice inform their work as it develops. All this gives special import to the work each student does with their mentor during their time in our program. Students meet with their mentors multiple times each semester to discuss their plan of study, their creative work, and larger questions related to a life in writing and to connections between writing, other art forms, and intellectual endeavors. Our commitment to the mentor relationship is foundational to the pedagogy of CalArts.

While our program is non-tracking we do offer four optional emphases that help guide our students through our curriculum and the course offerings of other schools and programs in the Institute. We call these emphases our Concentrations . These non-required Concentrations are Image + Text , Writing and Performativity , Writing and its Publics and Documentary Strategies . Image + Text traces the relationship of the written word and the visual image, including the cinematic, the static image, and the materiality of language. Writing and Performativity offers students an array of courses focused on the creative and critical practices of performative writing. Writing and Its Publics deals with the public face of writing, be it publishing, community-based work, or writing for various art audiences, while Documentary Strategies takes on a wide array of artistic engagements with documentation, witnessing, and archives of all kinds. Students whose work and interests closely engage one of these four areas can formalize that engagement by declaring an official Concentration, which may be advantageous in their professional lives after the MFA.

In the Creative Writing Program, our core courses attend closely to questions of form and aesthetics, as well as to the historical and critical contexts of literary work. Most classes combine workshopping of student-generated work with discussion of assigned texts. While not all classes are offered every year, over the two-year program all students will take a wide selection, honing their individual visions and practices while experimenting with new forms and subjects. Writing students also benefit from being able to take courses for elective credit in the MA Program in Aesthetics and Politics, as well as other MFA/upper-level BFA courses throughout the Institute.

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Detailed curriculum and academic requirements can be found in the online course catalog.

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Interdisciplinary Opportunities

In addition to CalArts' rich and diverse community and naturally collaborative atmosphere, the Institute provides several programs of study that can be pursued concurrently with a student's chosen metier.

The Center for Integrated Media concentration is designed specifically for MFA students whose creative use of technology—in particular digital media—goes beyond their primary areas of study.

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StoriumEdu — Blog

StoriumEdu is an online game that helps teachers turn students into motivated writers.

Gamify creative writing: Introducing StoriumEdu

We have a problem in modern society, and it’s a big one: our kids aren’t writing well enough. Today we’re launching StoriumEdu , our effort to address this problem in an entirely new way: by using the power of games to motivate students to become better writers.

Students are struggling with writing

According to the Department of Education, a sobering 73% of U.S. students can’t write at their grade level . This is disheartening for a number of reasons, but it’s particularly scary when you consider that tomorrow’s jobs will require precisely the kinds of skills that writing imparts: creativity, expression, critical thinking, and collaboration.

How did we get here? One reason is that writing is itself an unusually difficult skill to teach. Many students see it as a chore and lack the motivation to stick with it, let alone to improve. Students in the same class often write at different levels of ability, making it hard for teachers to use a common approach for everyone. Writing is also an inherently solitary task. Students wrestle with it in isolation while teachers struggle to give them sufficient one-on-one feedback in the face of ever-growing classrooms.

Using the power of play to improve writing outcomes

Today, after over two years of development and classroom testing, we’re proud to introduce StoriumEdu . It’s our effort to address this problem and we’re excited about the impact we believe it will have.

StoriumEdu is a unique new online game that helps students build their writing skills, learn storytelling techniques, practice collaboration, and grow their creative confidence. It does this by transforming writing into an engaging group activity that motivates students to write and work together.

We use game concepts and mechanics inspired by popular tabletop, card, and video games — things that are familiar to most students of reading age and higher. These mechanics inspire and steer students’ writing, help them overcome the dreaded “writer’s block,” build stories with clear structure and compelling characters, and have fun along the way.

The result is an entirely new kind of game, and a groundbreaking application of game-based learning .

You can get a sense of how StoriumEdu works by watching our short introduction video:

Teachers have successfully used StoriumEdu with students from the 3rd through 12th grades, in areas as diverse as language arts, ESL, creative writing, history, and social-emotional learning. A full 90% of teachers who’ve tried it report a notable impact on student writing motivation, and nearly 80% of students surveyed say it’s more fun than traditional writing exercises.

We designed StoriumEdu in partnership with the National Writing Project , the nation’s preeminent organization dedicated to improving student writing outcomes. Beta testing was conducted with over 100 teachers around the US and abroad, at all grade levels and across a wide range of subject areas.

StoriumEdu is also built upon a strong and proven lineage. Our work began in 2014 with Storium.com , an online writing game for a general audience. To date, thousands of people have together written over 125 million words (equivalent to 2,500 novels!) in the course of playing Storium. StoriumEdu is based on many of the same underlying game mechanics, but they’ve been significantly altered and expanded to serve in an educational context.

Try it for free

To try StoriumEdu, simply visit our homepage and sign up for a 30-day free trial.

Because we believe that technology shouldn’t be available only to the privileged, we’ve made our teacher subscription plan very flexible and set the price as low as possible. (We also feature special group pricing for schools and districts , and we are currently beta testing a version of the product for home use .)

To celebrate our launch we’re offering an extra two months for free when you sign up for a StoriumEdu subscription. Simply enter the coupon code WRITEON0219 during checkout.

We created StoriumEdu because we want to turn more students into passionate, motivated writers, and we believe games have the power to make it happen. If we can make writing fun for more students, then they’re more likely to actually write. And keep writing.

We hope you’ll join us in our mission!

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Santa Clara University

The jesuit university in silicon valley.

Academic Programs
College of Arts and Sciences

Majoring in English

Students majoring in English bring their skills in and passion for writing and interpretation to a wide variety of professional careers – in journalism or the arts, as teachers or professional/technical writers, in marketing or research, or in graduate or professional school (in law, medicine, film/television, and business). See Why English? for updates on some of our graduates. The Career Center can provide majors with additional information regarding careers.

Our majors value the training our courses provide in analytical thinking, rhetoric, and persuasion. They find literature a way to enter empathetically into the lives and experiences of others. Their studies prepare them for social and civil service, sometimes after spending time in such popular forms of community service as the Peace Corps or the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Many of our majors see creative writing as an opportunity for self-exploration and vibrant expression, leading to careers in the media, arts, education, and public relations. Many of our graduates go on to seek an M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D.

English majors take courses in writing, literature, and critical theory. They explore a broad range of approaches to literature, culture, new media, and film, including feminist criticism, critical race theory, postcolonialism, cultural studies, and queer theory.

Students have the opportunity to study traditional British and American texts as well as contemporary media and multicultural literature from around the world.

Minoring in Creative Writing

The Creative Writing Program offers students a coherent course of study in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The creative writing minor is firmly grounded within the liberal arts tradition, integrating courses in poetry, fiction, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction writing within their broader literary and cultural context.

Introductory courses familiarize students with the practice and theory of creative writing. Advanced courses offer a workshop setting in which students write and critique one another’s work. Electives focus on particular genres of creative writing, such as Lifewriting, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Screenwriting. All creative writing courses incorporate some study of literature as well as close attention to students’ own creative writing.

Minoring in Professional Writing

The Professional Writing program provides students with real-world experiences in digital and print environments that prepare students for a wide range of professional opportunities in industry, nonprofit, and public sectors.

With the PW program, students can add additional value to their degrees through courses in the minor, internships and professional development opportunities.

To declare or change a major, minor, or emphasis, fill out the SCU Registrar's Program Petition form.

Dr. Aparajita Nanda

Dr. Terry L. Beers

Dr. Juan Velasco

The Core Curriculum

Drahmann Advising Center

Office of the Registrar

Class Registration FAQs
Graduation FAQs

Undergraduate Bulletin

Julia Voss, Department Chair Jessica Gopp , Academic Department Manager Phone: 408-554-4142

Location: The Department of English is located in Saint Joseph's Hall 209.

Writers' Workshop

Jayne anne phillips wins 2024 pulitzer prize for fiction.

Written by Sara Epstein Moninger

Phillips, who earned an MFA in 1978, was recognized for her novel Night Watch . The Pulitzer judges described the book as “a beautifully rendered novel set in West Virginia’s Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the aftermath of the Civil War where a severely wounded Union veteran, a 12-year-old girl, and her mother, long abused by a Confederate soldier, struggle to heal.”

Yiyun Li, who graduated with a Master of Science in 2000 and two MFAs (fiction and nonfiction) in 2005, was a finalist in fiction for her book of short stories Wednesday’s Child . Li’s short stories and novels have won numerous awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose . She currently serves as director of Princeton University’s creative writing program.

Additionally, two alumnae were recognized as finalists for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry:

Jorie Graham, who graduated with an MFA in 1978 and won a Pulitzer in 1996 for The Dream of the Unified Field , was named a finalist for To 2040 . Graham, one of the most celebrated poets of her generation, is a former longtime faculty member in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Among her poetry collections are The End of Beauty , Place , and Sea Change . She currently is the Boylston Professor of Oratory and Rhetoric at Harvard University.

Robyn Schiff, who graduated with an MFA in 1999, was named a finalist for Information Desk: An Epic , a book-length poem in three parts set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Schiff, who has been a visiting faculty member in the UI Department of English, also is the author of Worth , Revolver , and A Woman of Property , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She teaches at the University of Chicago and co-edits Canarium Books.

Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually to honor achievements in journalism, literature, and music. See the full list of 2024 Pulitzer winners .

Precepting at YSN
Event Calendar

2024 Program for Humanities in Medicine Health Professions Creative Medical Writing and Art Contest: “These Small Things” by Courtney Hart

Yale university’s 2024 program for humanities in medicine (phm) health professions creative medical writing and art contest awarded first prize in the prose category to courtney hart ’25 msn, a nurse midwifery/women’s health student. to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest, please visit ysn news ., these small things, by courtney hart, to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest, please visit ysn news ..

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Graduate College

Postdoc examines impact of fungal priority pathogen cryptococcus.

The World Health Organization lists Cryptococcus as a fungal priority pathogen to guide research, development, and public health action.

In extreme cases, Cryptococcus is breathed into the lungs before traveling to the spinal cord and brain, causing c ryptococcal meningitis -- an infection that is fatal if untreated.

Andrew Jezewski, a postdoctoral fellow in the Krysan Lab in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa, studies how Cryptococcus grows in the human host. Specifically, Jezewski investigates how the fungus grows in the brain and how it tolerates carbon dioxide. Jezewski estimates that carbon dioxide levels are 100-fold higher in the human body than in the environment.

“Most strains of Cryptococcus don’t grow well in the human body,” Jezewski says. “If that strain gets in your lungs, chances are it won’t survive. It’s a stress on Cryptococcus to encounter substantial amounts of carbon dioxide. But a few strains can resist that stress from carbon dioxide. I am trying figure out how those strains can tolerate that carbon dioxide stress because those are the strains that cause severe disease.”

Cryptococcus isn’t passed from human to human and almost never causes disease in immunocompetent individuals. This alleviates concern when Jezewski and his advisor, Damian Krysan, a professor of pediatric-infectious diseases, work with Cryptococcus that has been isolated from an individual patient.

People with cryptococcal meningitis can experience seizures and may require cerebral spinal fluid drainage. They are treated intravenously with the antifungal medication amphotericin B . Jezewski says there around 200,000 cases of cryptococcal meningitis worldwide, with 150,000 resulting in death.

Since the World Health Organization lists cryptococcus as a fungal priority pathogen, resources are being increased in resource-impoverished areas, so amphotericin B can be more widely prescribed to patients. Researchers like Krysan and Jezewski are also working to identify novel therapeutic strategies.

Grant writing perfection

Jezewski received a rare perfect score on his National Institutes of Health K22 grant application, which will support his research as a faculty member.

“ I circulated that grant with a lot of people who had won K awards before and got helpful feedback,” Jezewski says. “I took all the feedback to heart to try and improve my grant. My grant received a perfect score in the first round, so I didn’t have to do a resubmission.”

Jezewski plans to take his K22 award, worth $250,000 over two years, with him to his faculty position.

“This shows, as proof of concept, I am competitive in writing grants. When I apply for positions, which are dependent on writing grants, I can at least show I have a record of that,” Jezewski says. “You can take that money to help get your research off the ground in combination with any start-up package you get. When you get offered a start-up package from an institution, (the employer) must show the NIH that the (new hire) is receiving the same level of support that they would give a faculty member who is not receiving a grant.”

Krysan believes that new faculty members doing research must learn to write and communicate their ideas effectively.

“Andrew has expansive curiosity and creativity. However, one must be able to convince others that what you are interested in and how you will study it are significant and feasible,” Krysan says. “He has written grant proposals at multiple times during his training, culminating with a perfect score on his NIH K22 application; the evolution of his writing and his ability to express his creativity and insights have been gratifying to watch and read.”

In the upcoming academic year, Jezewski will be joining the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University as an assistant professor affiliated with the nationally renowned Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC). His research will focus on Cryptococcus, but he also has prior experience working with other eukaryotic pathogens, including Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, and the brain parasite Toxoplasma.

“I am excited to bring my expertise to this new role and collaborate with a distinguished group of faculty," Jezewski says. "Together, we aim to advance our understanding of neglected and complex pathogens, ultimately working toward novel therapeutic strategies.”

International Programs

Meet Jongkwan Yun: From South Korea to Iowa, gaining real-world experience in sport management

Jongkwan Yun is a senior at the University of Iowa (UI) majoring in sport and recreation management with a concentration area in communications public relations/journalism, while minoring in news and media literacy. Yun's interest in sports began as a ski instructor at Konjiam Resort in South Korea. When he was a student in sports management at a Korean college, he had a chance to study abroad in Canada and intern at IFung Sports Management, a Canadian soccer agency . These experiences led him to transfer to Iowa to further his undergraduate studies and gain work experience.

“I was accepted to several colleges in the U.S. when I was looking to transfer, and the two biggest reasons I chose Iowa were credit recognition and field experience classes,” reflected Yun. “I chose my concentration area and minor because there is an unofficial saying in sport management: ‘A minor is mandatory, double major is optional.’ Also, Iowa ranks high in journalism.”

"Embrace the challenge! It is okay to get hit a lot and get hurt a lot — we are students at Iowa, where we have the support and resources to help us get back up if we fall."

Internship at the Iowa Cubs

After gaining hands-on field experience from the UI Athletic Department Fans First, Yun is currently interning in the operations and promotions department of the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, through curricular practical training (CPT). “The help from UI International Student and Scholar Services and Professor Anna Jensen, director of Office of Field Experience in sport and recreation management, was invaluable when getting a full-time CPT,” shared Yun, who is a recipient of the 2024 UI International Student Graduation Most Unique CPT Award.

Future career aspirations

Looking ahead, Yun aims to land a position with a major South Korean company later this year, like Hyundai or CJ CheilJedang, both of which have a sport management and marketing department. If that does not work out, he plans to use Optional Practical Training (OPT) to work for a Major League team in the U.S. before returning to South Korea to work in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

Advice for international students

Yun suggested, “Take advantage of CPT and OPT opportunities. Many things can be learned through classes at school, but I think more things can be learned in the field while working.” Emphasizing his practical approach, he added, “It’s better to draw your dreams through one experience rather than through many contemplations.”

Yun’s closing message is a note of self-reflection and encouragement to fellow international students: Embrace the challenge! It is okay to get hit a lot and get hurt a lot — we are students at Iowa, where we have the support and resources to help us get back up if we fall.

learn more about cpt and opt

International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement. IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.

International Student Graduation Celebration
international students and scholars

International Programs at the University of Iowa supports the right of all individuals to live freely and to live in peace. We condemn all acts of violence based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and perceived national or cultural origin. In affirming its commitment to human dignity, International Programs strongly upholds the values expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights .

IMAGES

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COMMENTS

15 of the Best Online Writing Communities for Aspiring Authors
Top online writing communities. 1. Absolute Write Water Cooler. With over 68,000 members, this is a large and highly active community. Here you can find threads on every genre imaginable, as well as discussions about freelance writing, the publishing industry, pop culture, writing prompts and exercises, and much more.
19 Online Writing Groups And Online Communities
4. NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is one of the best online writing groups for beginners. It's basically an online retreat for writers where you can work on your writing, produce drafts, set and achieve goals and get all the support and encouragement that you need.
Top Websites for Writers: 10 Online Writing Communities
4. FICTIONAUT. fictionaut.com. "Part self-selecting magazine, part community network," Fictionaut operates as a sort of literary-journal alternative, allowing writers to upload short stories, poetry and more in hopes of fostering a place where writers and readers can connect through literary endeavors. 5.
WritersCafe.org
WritersCafe.org is an online writing community where writers can post their work, get reviews, befriend other writers, and much more.. Post your poetry, short stories, novels, scripts, and screenplays. Get reviews and advice from thousands of other writers. Enter hundreds of free writing contests. Join writing groups or start your own.
Writer's Digest's Best Writing Community Websites 2021
Here are the top writing community websites as identified in the 23rd Annual 101 Best Websites from the May/June 2021 issue of Writer's Digest. With a mission to help writers strengthen their craft, Critique Match is a service that helps connect writers, beta readers, and freelance editors. You can either swap your work with another writer for ...
The 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2021
Post you'll like: Writing The Second Half Of The Second Act. ⭐️ 3. The Freelance Beat. Chicago-based freelance journalist Tatiana Walk-Morris has written for notorious magazines like The New York Times, Vice Magazine, Harvard University's Nieman Reports and more — that, alone, tells you she's an expert to learn from.
12 Best Online Writing Communities For Aspiring Authors
The site has a Facebook group, Instagram page, and a book club. The website showcases various writing materials and workshops that a writer can look into. If you are nervous about your writing skills and are looking for smaller online writing communities to interact with, try giving Insecure Writer's Support Group a try. #3 Commaful
Social Media for Writers: The Complete Guide
In this all-inclusive guide to social media for writers, we'll cover everything you need to know: how to choose which platform (s) to prioritize, build your following, and ultimately use social media to market your book. Of course, book marketing isn't just social media — to go beyond that scope, we recommend downloading this book marketing ...
The 28 Best Writing Websites of 2020
9. Well-Storied. Run by Kristen Kieffer, this writing website offers more than just blog articles; it links authors with writing communities on social media, provides tutorials on Scrivener (a word-processing software designed for authors), and offers free courses on a variety of subjects. 10. Writers in the Storm.
7 Best Social Media Platforms for Authors & Writers (2024)
Bookbub is a popular platform entirely geared towards readers. It started as an email list for readers to find books, but now has an author platform with promotional features and has grown to over 15 million users. Like other social platforms, authors can grow their following but this site has an important distinction.
Social Media for Writers
Instagram - The visual platform is excellent for sharing aesthetically pleasing book/writing-related images and behind-the-scenes glimpses at your workspace or writing inspiration. Use relevant hashtags. Goodreads - Writers need to engage with readers around books and get early reviews for upcoming releases.
Writing
CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT. Writing.Com is a writers' playground, full of useful tools, inspirations, community support, and motivation! We offer writers hundreds of unique writing tools and opportunities for creation and productivity: your own portfolio, community newsfeed, contests, activities, rewards, and recognitions!
Best Websites and Resources for Writers: 2022 (updated)
Prowriting Aid is a specialized online grammar tool designed for fiction writing. It will critique your writing for things like pacing and dialogue. It integrates with Scrivener, another writing tool used to organize works of fiction. Next to Grammarly, Prowriting Aid is one of the best online editing tools.
Social Media for Writers: Which Platforms You Need to be on, Based on
Facebook has the largest audience of any social media site. That's a lot of potential book buyers, but also a lot of noise that potential book buyers need to drown out in order to find you. ... She has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Derby and an MA in Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University. She can be found under a ...
Writing for Social Media in 2024: Tips and Tools
5. Write to the reader. 6. Have a clear purpose. 7. Use (the right) pictures to enhance your words. Writing for social media is not an easy job. You work with strict character limits and tight turnarounds. You speak the language of memes and microtrends that your boss and coworkers might not understand.
Best Creative Writing Courses Online with Certificates [2024]
In summary, here are 10 of our most popular creative writing courses. Creative Writing: Wesleyan University. Write Your First Novel: Michigan State University. The Strategy of Content Marketing: University of California, Davis. Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest: Commonwealth Education Trust.
7 Best Websites for Creative Writing Services [2024 Update]
These Are the Best Freelance Websites for Creative Writing Services in 2024. Fiverr - Creative work in every niche imaginable at the most competitive prices. Upwork - Best platform to hire creative writers long term and project manage. Textbroker - Great for completing multiple orders as quickly as possible at an affordable price.
6 Great Websites for Teen Writers
Suggest them to your teen writer (or maybe just leave this list lying around somewhere where it'll be seen). Figment — Specially tailored for the teen reader/writer, Figment is a community dedicated to reading and writing stories online. Addictively fun, users can rate stories by whether they made them laugh, blush, cry, or just say "wow.".
Creative Writing Minor
The Writing Forward Reading Series brings creative writers with international, national, and regional reputations to the Santa Clara University campus for readings, classroom discussions, informal meetings with students, and interviews with the Santa Clara Review literary/arts magazine.This collaborative program between the English Department's Creative Writing Program and the student-run ...
Creative Writing MFA
2-Year Program. The CalArts MFA Creative Writing is unique in the field for the way it combines a dedication to experimental practice and a resolutely non-genre tracking curriculum. These commitments are intertwined: unlike in many MFA programs our students are free to pursue their imaginative and experimental impulses into whatever genre their ...
Gamify creative writing: Introducing StoriumEdu
StoriumEdu is a unique new online game that helps students build their writing skills, learn storytelling techniques, practice collaboration, and grow their creative confidence. It does this by transforming writing into an engaging group activity that motivates students to write and work together. We use game concepts and mechanics inspired by ...
College of Arts and Sciences
Many of our majors see creative writing as an opportunity for self-exploration and vibrant expression, leading to careers in the media, arts, education, and public relations. Many of our graduates go on to seek an M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D. English majors take courses in writing, literature, and critical theory.
Jayne Anne Phillips wins 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
She currently serves as director of Princeton University's creative writing program. Additionally, two alumnae were recognized as finalists for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry: Jorie Graham, who graduated with an MFA in 1978 and won a Pulitzer in 1996 for The Dream of the Unified Field, was named a finalist for To 2040. Graham, one of the ...
2024 Program for Humanities in Medicine Health Professions Creative
Yale University's 2024 Program for Humanities in Medicine (PHM) Health Professions Creative Medical Writing and Art Contest awarded first prize in the prose category to Courtney Hart '25 MSN, a nurse midwifery/women's health student. To read more about Yale School of Nursing (YSN)'s other prize winners in this contest, please visit YSN News.
Religions
In this article, the authors will describe a creative writing therapeutic group program they developed based on narrative therapy and narrative medicine principles. This was a Social Science and Humanities Research Council—Partnership Engagement Grant funded project, the aim of which was to develop a facilitator's manual for people interested in offering this group, titled "Journey ...
Display and Native ads
Create enjoyable ad experiences right from the start. Display and Native ads will be eligible to serve across massive consumer properties from Microsoft (including Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge, Outlook, Bing, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Casual Games), as well as a range of high-quality publisher partners (including CBS Sports, USA Today, People, Food Network, The Weather Channel, and more).
Sundays at The Site returns this weekend
May 17, 2024 | 6:15 AM. Red Rocks State Historic Site Photo. Sundays at the Site is set to return this weekend. The series kicks off Writing & Publishing Creative Nonfiction presented by Tracy Million Simmons of Meadowlark Press. Event Organizer Roger Heineken says this presentation should give community members something else that's being ...
Postdoc examines impact of fungal priority pathogen Cryptococcus
Written by. John Riehl. The World Health Organization lists Cryptococcus as a fungal priority pathogen to guide research, development, and public health action. In extreme cases, Cryptococcus is breathed into the lungs before traveling to the spinal cord and brain, causing c ryptococcal meningitis -- an infection that is fatal if untreated.
Meet Jongkwan Yun: From South Korea to Iowa, gaining real-world
International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement.IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who ...