RESOURCES

 

Our resources

Our comprehensive guide to accuracy and authenticity in historical fiction. It includes a three-step plan for achieving historical authenticity, advice on how to balance accuracy with creative license, and useful research tips to help you avoid historical howlers.

Outline your story with our novel outline template, specially tailored to historical fiction writers. It will help you turn your ideas into a structured story, build a rich and historically authentic setting, and create complex and engaging characters.

If it’s research resources you’re looking for, make sure you download our list of 50+ top online research resources for historical fiction writers. It includes online archives with thousands of primary sources, image, video, and audio resources, as well as maps, language tools, and specialist blogs.

Get inspired with our list of 60 historical fiction writing prompts, laid out on a historical timeline from 399 BCE to 1969.

Learn how to write a query letter for literary agents with this exclusive guide, including a detailed checklist.

Historical fiction groups

The Historical Novel Society exists to support historical fiction writers and bring new readers into the genre. They regularly review historical novels for their magazine and website, and they host dedicated historical fiction conferences. 

The Historical Writers’ Association is composed of authors, agents, and publishers of historical fiction. Their mission is to provide professional and social support to their members, as well to create opportunities for them to meet readers and fellow writers. They also publish a popular magazine, Historia.

Historical fiction blogs

From Mary Anne Yarde, The Coffee Pot Book Club features regular book reviews and guest posts by historical fiction authors. It provides a range of promotional services.

A blog dedicated to exploring British history through the lens of historical fiction and historical research.

Passages to the Past is a historical fiction blog featuring book reviews, author posts, interviews, and upcoming releases.

This excellent blog from Emma Darwin delves into the craft of writing fiction and creative non-fiction.

The History Girls are a group of best-selling, award-winning writers of historical fiction and non-fiction. The blog features their writing, research, reviews, and more.

From Sharon Bennett Connolly, this blog includes historical fiction book reviews and interviews, historical research, and more.

From M.K. Tod, A Writer of History focuses on the reading, writing, and researching of historical fiction. 

This fantastic historical fiction blog features news, views, and reviews from Sarah Johnson.

A very popular historical fiction book review blog run by Helen Hollick.

From Tony Riches, The Writing Desk features reviews, writing tips, and useful links for writers.

A journal for readers and writers of historical fiction.

Publishing

The Alliance of Independent Authors is a non-profit membership organisation designed to support independent authors. They offer a wealth of resources and services related to self-publishing, marketing, and other important aspects of being an indie author.

Run by bestselling author Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn offers a wide range of resources and courses on writing, publishing, and marketing. Make sure to check out the excellent podcast.

 Jane Friedman is a leading expert on publishing. Her website is full of useful resources, and she offers online courses as well. She’s also written a great selection of books for writers.

Mark Dawson is a bestselling author who offers some brilliant courses on self-publishing and marketing.

David Gaughran is an expert on author marketing, platform building, and self-publishing. And he’s a historical fiction author to boot! His books and newsletter are highly recommended.

Writers & Artists provide a litany of advice on writing and publishing to help with every stage of the writing journey.

Founded by book marketing expert Dave Chesson, Kindlepreneur contains free courses, tools, articles, and other resources aimed at helping self-published authors increase their sales and build their author career. We’re proud to be included in their list of recommended book editors.

Writing advice

Janice Hardy’s blog houses a wealth of resources containing practical, actionable advice to help you take your writing to the next level.

Now Novel provides a range of tools and resources designed to help you perfect your craft.

A goldmine of tools and resources for writers. Don’t miss it!

K.M. Weiland is the author of this superb blog, packed full of tools, resources, and tips for writers.

If you’re interested in diversifying your income and making a career out of writing beyond historical fiction, this website is an absolute must. It’s built to help freelance writers achieve their aims and contains a bunch of resources covering all aspects of writing.

DIY MFA takes a do-it-yourself approach to building the skills and community you would ordinarily get from an MFA programme. Check it out!

Ride the Pen is a creative writing blog from Alex Limberg, packed full of useful tips and resources.

Software for writers

This is the definitive writing tool for authors. A word processing programme designed specifically for writers, it helps you organise your ideas, refer to research, and most importantly – write! It’s also useful for preparing manuscripts for self-publishing.

Pro Writing Aid is a grammar checker and style editor that checks your writing for errors and helps you break bad habits. It’s a fantastic tool for improving the quality and readability of your writing.

Grammarly is another popular grammar checker and style editor that will help you identity mistakes and improve your writing.

Publisher Rocket is a nifty tool from the team at Kindlepreneur. It allows you to identify keyworks that buyers actually type into Amazon and helps you discover the right Amazon categories for your books. Great for indie authors.

Book design

Our top recommendation for design services for historical fiction writers. Design for Writers offer high quality cover design, interior book formatting, and website design services, and they are absolute professionals.

Book promotion

The undisputed champion of book promotion. Bookbub’s featured deals have helped authors climb bestseller lists for years.

The Fussy Librarian’s bargain and free ebook deals are a great way to find new readers and boost your sales.

BooksGoSocial is an advertising agency for books, with editorial review options.