Are you getting all the free information you could be?

With the inception of the internet and the abundance of information available on the world wide web today, writers and composers now have unlimited resources available to them 24 hours a day.

There are websites for everyone from the novice writer who's just starting out to the seasoned professional who makes his/her living in some aspect of the creative arts. I would like to share some of the sites and lists that I have encountered on the www. in this article. These resources have connected me to theatres, online courses, contests, newsletters, fellow playwrights, composers, teachers and so much more.

Mailing lists are one of my favoite sources available on the www. By joining these various listserve groups, one can not only find information on almost any aspect of a chosen field but also, make connections and friendships with those involved in a similiar areas of interest.

For women playwrights: ICWP (International centre for women playwrights http://www.cadvision.com/sdempsey/icwphm... ICWP-L@Listserv.acsu.Buffalo.edu

For musicals/musical theatre: http://www.geocities.com/musicalmakers musicalmakers@egroups.com

For singers/singing teachers: http://www.vocalist.org (site temporarily down) vocalist-temporary@egroups.com

For plays/film/tv: http://www.stageandscreen.org stageandscreen-admin@aviar.com

Free newsletters are offered through a number of websites and they provide a wide variety of resources such as contest and marketing information, web links, articles, chats and forums and special offers of interest. These newsletters may arrive as often as everyday or just once each month. Some of my favorites are:

http://www.inscriptionsmagazine.com http://www.scbeginnings.com http://www.inkspot.com/inklings http://www.freelancing.com/wwn/fmoney.ht... http://www.writersweekly.com getpub-subscribe@getpub.com

Each site has instructions on subscribing to these free newsletters.

One site that I stumbled upon has proven to be one of the best overall sites for writers of any genre and may be found at http://www.bloorstreet.com/300block/3aut... From this site alone, one will find links to numerous other writing sites.

Writers are also interested in promotion and publication of their work. Many sites will post your work including biographical and contact information. But, writers beware...read agreements thoroughly to avoid inadvertantly giving away all rights or having your work published without your knowledge on other sites.

There is an online scam site which helps writers determine the professionalism or authenticity of sites, contests, publishers, etc. Try http://www.writer.org/scamkit.htm

Writers wishing to create their own homepages on the internet for self-promotion may choose the artist's site, http://www.upstage.com or the very popular Geocities site at http://www.geocities.com to find their free online home.

And of course, what author could resist a chance to write for a high profile site such as http://www.suite101.com? Writers receive renumeration for their work and may even suggest a topic of their choice to cover. In contrast to the sites that earn writers a few cents each time an article receives a hit, suite 101 pays a consistent monthly payment based upon their submission options contract. For further information on becoming a contributing editor, click the appropriate link on the home page on any topic at suite 101.

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