Everyone loves free stuff. Food samples, household products through the post –- even winning the odd competition –- things taste better when they are free. In this blog post, CompletelyNovel lists its top eight resources, services and events for writers that are totally, 100 percent free and available right now.
1) Free manuscript assessment from TLC
If you’re a writer living in England with a low income, you can apply to The Literary Consultancy’s Free Reads scheme funded by Arts Council England. This is a great chance to have professional feedback on your manuscript if you aren’t able to afford a critique. Find out how to apply here.
2) Free 9-week screenwriting class from Steven Barnes
After teaching this class at UCLA, screenwriter and author Steven Barnes has popped all nine weeks of it on the Internet for writers to learn from –- for free. There are some great exercises included to get your creative juices flowing. Take the course here.
Photo by Sean MacEntee and reused here with Creative Commons license.
3) Free publishing workshops with The Library Press
We’re very pleased to be involved in this one. The Library Press is offering free workshops across seven London libraries this Spring, on subjects from writing to book-making! The CompletleyNovel team will also be running workshops on self-publishing, e-book publishing and family history publishing as part of this scheme. Full workshop schedule is here.
4) Free book marketing resources from Joanna Penn
Joanna Penn has a whole host of free e-books and information on book marketing over on her website. As an independent author herself, her tips are tried and tested. Download them here.
5) Create your book for free, with CompletelyNovel
We can’t do a blog on free stuff without mentioning our free publishing plan. Sign up to CompletelyNovel and use our online tools to create your book, free of charge. You can then print copies of your book at cost-price. Easy! Sign up here.
Photo by Matt Katzenberger on Flickr and used here with Creative Commons license.
6) Free Twitter images, from Spruce
We came across this wep app recently, and we love it! This is a really easy way to make shareable photos for your social media pages. You can even upload an image of your book cover to use in your marketing -– all for free. Try it here.
7) Free writing software, from yWriter
yWriter works a little like Scrivener in that it’s software that helps you organize all the thoughts and documents you need to write a book. It comes recommended by our friend K. M. Weiland and is, of course, free to download here.
8) Free crime knowledge base, at Thrill Writing
A fantastic resource for crime and thriller writers. This website hosts regular interviews with experts to let writers know everything from how your character can escape from handcuffs, to what it feels like to fire a gun. Check it out here.
Sarah Juckes is Communications Manager for CompletelyNovel, where this post first appeared. CompletelyNovel is an online publishing platform and author community that aims to make book publishing simple through use of online tools.
View Comments (2)
I'd suggest another free service: "Free Writing Advice from the Best Writers Who Ever Lived." That's reading or listening to public domain texts from gifted authors such as Jane Austin and Mark Twain. Pick those who write the sort of books your write and listen away. Learn from masters in the craft.
I like audiobooks because I can listen as I do other things. One excellent free audiobooks source is:
http://www.loyalbooks.com
They have some 7,000 titles in formats that are easy to load onto mobile devices including smartphones.
If you do children's stories, listen to those by Edith Nesbit. If you write thrillers, try a classic in the genre, The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. For comedy, it's hard to beat anything by P. G. Wodehouse. For scifi there's the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
--Michael W. Perry, co-author of Lily's Ride (adapted from an 1879 bestselling novel)
Thanks for the list! Now to get started on that novel...