For Writers & Local Authors

Make your work available to library customers for check out through our Local Author Collection. 

Design your own books, newsletters, poetry, novels, and any other written content with this easy-to-use digital self-publishing tool that allows writers to create professional-quality eBook and print-ready files in ePUB, MOBI and PDF formats. Library card required!

Create eBooks and print-ready books, share eBooks with the Indie Author Project, and read eBooks by Richland County and South Carolina authors.

Submit your eBook to the Indie Author Project to have it showcased in the Indie Author Project Collection while retaining all rights to your work. Readers across the state can discover your work with the potential for national exposure.

Submit original, unpublished stories, poems and excerpts for inclusion in Richland Library's award-winning magazine. 

Midlands-area children and teens ages 6-18 can submit their original, well-crafted work to the library's youth literary magazine that features poetry, stories, short plays, essays, drawings, photographs and more. 

Submit original, very short stories (1,500 words or less) for publication on our Short Edition website and distribution through our ever-popular Short Story Dispensers. 

Fall Lines – a literary convergence is a literary journal presented by The Jasper Project in partnership with Richland Library and One Columbia for Arts and Culture. Submissions of previously unpublished poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash fiction are accepted annually. 

Need help with discovering our writing resources? Submit your question via our Ask-a-Librarian form and a library staff member will be in touch to help.  

The library offers a variety of meeting and study spaces perfect for writing, editing, or conducting research for your forthcoming bestseller. 

The library's budding residency program connects the community with local working artists, entrepreneurs and writers. 

Richland Library offers a wide array of programs and events to support local writers on their creative journeys, from workshops about writing, editing, and publishing to open mic nights and author events. Check the events calendar for upcoming opportunities.

A literary arts non-profit organization offering a supportive environment for people to become better writers.

Using writing — fiction, poetry, and non-fiction — Write on SC brings together the diverse talented people of Columbia and SC. Screenwriters, novelists, poets, and biographers as well as bloggers, food critics, journalists, and freelancers all collaborate on Write on SC.

Founded in August 2002 by Jerlean S. Noble, the Columbia Writers Alliance is a non-profit organization that is open to all published authors and aspiring writers.

A community organization founded by teachers, young writers, and poetry mentors in 2016 to give young writers a space to free their voices, speak their souls, and hone their craft in a safe and supportive environment.

Looking for a local press to submit your work to? Check out our list of South Carolina publishers. 

The Ask UP website is designed to help scholars and the broader public learn more about scholarly publishing. The site’s FAQs answer the basic and the not-so-basic questions about how to publish and promote scholarship. Just click a topic to get information about the world of scholarly publishing, from how to submit a book proposal to how to promote your published book to how to reach out to a journal review editor.

Writing a novel alone can be difficult, even for seasoned writers. NaNoWriMo helps you track your progress, set milestones, connect with other writers in a vast community, and participate in events that are designed to make sure you finish your novel. Oh, and best of all, it’s free!

A monthly webinar series for experienced, beginning, or soon-to-be authors of any genre, at any stage in the writing process. Featuring indie authors and industry professionals, IAP Expert Sessions offer compelling content covering a wide range of writing topics, including marketing, the writing process, indie publishing, editing, and more. 

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is the only professional organization specifically for individuals who write, illustrate, and translate for children and young adults. 

A convenient one-stop location for all of the tools necessary to write and research effectively. From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, this indispensable online resource thoroughly covers the fundamentals of quality writing. 

Contains information on thousands of authors and their works, an archive of 38,000 characters, plus articles on topics and themes, a timeline, and a special feature on Harold Bloom's Western Literary Canon. Also find detailed guides for writing critical essays and analyzing important literary themes.

Web-based video courses and step-by-step tutorials on a wide range of topics, including writing, editing, publishing, and productivity tips for writers.

The best readers make the best writers! Find your next great read by searching author, title, or series, the "If you like..." search, genre or topical browsing and more.

Easily find read-alikes for popular authors, book discussion guides, award lists, and much more!