Will you be participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge?
Did you know that "80% of YA novels are now purchased by adults, with the vast majority of those purchases being for the adults themselves"? What Can Data Tell Us?: An Agent's Thoughts on the 2015 Nielsen Children's Book Summit by Stephen Barbara is an interesting look at publishing data and its implications. Blogging friends: Sign-ups for the A to Z Blogging Challenge are now open! Last year, I blogged about Productivity for Creative People from A to Z. I collected these posts on Pinterest or you can access them through this Reflection post about last year's challenge. I plan on participating again this year. Are you an adult you reads YA? (I am!)
Will you be participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge? For this week's Teen Tuesday, I'd like to direct you to an excellent blog post, Writing Advice for Children and Teens, by Jane Friedman. Much of this advice applies to writers of all ages. For your random listening pleasure, I love this acoustic duet: What's the best advice you've ever received?
For this week's Friday Five, here's a roundup with a "lying" theme. True statistic: According to one study, 60% of people can't go 10 minutes without lying. Interesting quote: "Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow color blind." ~Austin O'Malley Useful to know: A Harvard psychologist explains the key to spotting a liar. Upcoming YA novel: In case you haven't heard about my latest project through Facebook or my newsletter, I have a new YA novel coming out in October. Thanks to UncommonYA for featuring my cover today! You can read a description of BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES here. In honor of Glenn Frey, I'll close with an appropriate Eagles song. What have you lied about lately?
This was a sad week with the deaths of musician David Bowie and actor Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies (among other roles). I shared an Alan Rickman quote on Facebook that has been making the rounds, only to learn based on a Snopes report that he is not the source of the quote! (If you've never used Snopes, it's a great site for debunking reports like potential carjackers leaving a flyer on your windshield.) I'm posting a corrected meme here for your use, because as a writer, I like to be accurate. For my Friday Five, here are five blog posts/tidbits I came across this week: For declutterers and Marie Kondo fans: I blogged about her first book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, last year. Now she has a new one out, Spark Joy. (I haven't read it yet, so if you have, let me know what you think in the comments.) For Teen Writers: "3 Things for Teen Writers" by Blair H. on Teen Ink. For writers of all ages: Not everyone loves social media, and even for those who do, it's not the only way to promote books. Sandra Beckwith discusses How To Promote a Book Without Using Social Media. For the bored: Try the Bored Button! (Results may vary.) For readers: Do you have any favorite books from David Bowie's list of top 100? I'll close with one of my favorite David Bowie performances. Peace on Earth.... Happy New Year!A new year often brings new resolutions. I thought about what advice I could give on this topic, and since many of my resolutions are repeats from last year, I decided I'm not a qualified expert on this. What I can do, however, is provide you with 5 interesting links to start off 2016. If you want to achieve more (who doesn't?), here's some inspirational and practical advice from James Clear: The Only Productivity Tip You'll Ever Need. If your goal is organize, check out this list for some innovative ideas: 52 Meticulous Organizing Tips To Rein In The Chaos. If you're a writer, you might be interested in Jane Friedman's 5 Industry Issues to Watch in 2016 and Betsy Bird's SLJ article, What’s Trending? What Is, What Was, What’s Soon to Be in Kid Lit. Also for writers: Heather Ayris Burnell has compiled a lengthy list of contests you can enter on the Sub It Club blog. Lastly, if you use Twitter, check out their plans to expand from 140-characters in this Wall St. Journal article. (Say it isn't so, Twitter!) Do you have resolutions for the upcoming year? Or maybe anti-resolutions? Share your own favorite related links or advice in the comments.
Writing Contest for StudentsHappy New Year! Teen Tuesday is back this week, but the featured contest deadline is coming up fast. Can you write a story of exactly 1000 words over the next few weeks? If so, check the contest details below. What: 1000-word story contest with $1000 prize. Your short fiction must be *exactly* 1000 words. Who: Students in grades 6-12 When: Now through February 1, 2016 Prizes: According to the website, "two $1,000 scholarship prizes will be awarded, one for grades 6-8 and one for grades 9-12. Seven $100 cash prizes will also be awarded for winning entries, one per grade level. Stories selected for publication into Bluefire, but not selected as a grade-level or scholarship winner, will receive a $50 cash prize.... The author retains all copyrights to the submitted work." Details: Visit the Bluefire contest page for complete information. Teachers: Visit the educators' page join the teacher mailing list, see excerpts from past contests, and get a copy of their creative writing curriculum. |
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