Hooray for summer! Here are five images (courtesy of morgueFile) that remind me of the best of the season.
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What's your favorite part of summer? |
David Levithan and Billy Merrell are putting together an expanded edition of The Full Spectrum and are looking for essays about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning and other queer identities by writers under 21. If you have a story you want to tell, go to www.queerthology.com for details on submitting. Deadline is August 1st!
Prep for Doom, a YA dystopian anthology, is now available! I'm thrilled to have my short story, "Escape to Orange Blossom," as chapter 13. You can learn more about my story through this blog post. Here's more information about the book. About Prep for DoomFrom the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM - an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths. What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month. An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them. From authors Laura Albins, ER Arroyo, Amy Bartelloni, Brea Behn, Casey L. Bond, TK Carter, Kate Corcino, Harlow C. Fallon, Kelsey D. Garmendia, Caroline A. Gill, DelSheree Gladden, John Gregory Hancock, Casey Hays, Kate L. Mary, Jon Messenger, Monica Enderle Pierce, Cameo Renae, Hilary Thompson, Yvonne Ventresca, and Megan White. Prep for Doom LinksWhere to Buy: Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, Paperback Other Links: Prep For Doom Website, Prep For Doom on Goodreads Release Party (Facebook): Join us June 27th for a day full of author takeovers, games, and great prizes, including a Kindle Fire HD7! Next week: the regularly scheduled Friday Five is back! Teenreads is accepting applications for new Teen Board members now through Monday, July 6th at 9:30AM EST.
According to their website, they are looking for twenty to thirty teens between the ages of 13 and 18 years old who are passionate about books and committed to contributing to Teenreads.com from September 2015 through August 2016. Teen Board members write reviews, write blog posts, answer the monthly Teen Board question, and participate in special features among other responsibilities. Click here to read the FAQ about the Teen Board. Click here to apply for the September 2015 - August 2016 Teen Board. Good luck! "How do I get my book published?" is a common question, but not a simple one. There are various paths to publication, with multiple steps along the way. Fortunately, there is a large amount of information available online. Here are five resources to help.  Set aside some time to read this extremely comprehensive answer from Jane Friedman: Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published.  If you're interested in finding a literary agent, read this article from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association: How to Find a (Real) Literary Agent by A.C. Crispin. (The information applies to all genres, not just science fiction.)  What are the main difference between traditional and self-publishing? Writer's Digest breaks it down in How to Publish a Book: An Overview of Traditional & Self-Publishing. (The self-publishing section touts their own services, but their are certainly other options.)  For some general advice, here are 11 Tips on Getting Your Book Published by Melody Moezzi.  To learn more about the business of children's books, visit Harold Underdown's site, including this list of links: Publishing Children's Books. If there is a specific writing topic you're interested in, let me know in the comments. Feel free to share your own useful links.
 Last week, Maria Andreu and I did a joint author visit at Overbrook High School on "Books from the Headlines: Contemporary Issues in Teen Fiction." (Maria wrote The Secret Side of Empty, which I highly recommend.) We met with lots of students who had questions about the writing process. The book club group, in particular, had come technical questions about point of view, so I thought I'd pull together some resources. Point of ViewHere are some blog posts about POV that I recommend: Veronica Sicoe's My Ultimate POV Guide with Graphics and Examples Jody Hedlund's 7 Point of View Basics Every Writer Should Know and A Few Tips for More Complicated POV Jodie Renner's POV 103: Engage Your Readers With Deep POV CS Lakin's Staying in Character: The Convergence of POV and Voice ContestsThree contests that I mentioned in earlier blog posts are still accepting entries: Skipping Stones Youth Honor Awards: Deadline is June 25th. Mark Twain-Inspired Humor Contest: Deadline is July 10th. Teen Ink Community Service Essay Contest: Deadline is ongoing throughout the year. Looking for more Teen Tuesday blog posts?For easy access to all of the Teen Tuesday blog posts, visit my Resources for Teen Writers Pinterest board, or select the "Teen Tuesday" category on the left of my blog.
Congratulations to Samantha for winning the Pandemic one-year birthday prize pack!  There is still time left to enter the giveaway for a query or chapter critique from Julia Byers, founder of Ch1Con, a writing conference for teens. You don't need to be a teen to benefit from Julia's expertise. Visit this blog post and scroll down to access the giveaway. Bill Gates worries about pandemics! Who knew we had so much in common? He predicts there's a 50% chance that a widespread deadly contagious disease will occur during his lifetime. Read more about his view here. And let's hope he's wrong. Do you worry about pandemics? Natural disasters? Zombie-causing wasps? Feel free to share your fears below.
 I'm a member of the KidLit Authors Club, a group of published children's writers from NY, NJ, PA, MD and VA who do regional signings, panels, presentations and workshops relating to books for grades K-12. For this week's Teen Tuesday, some of my fellow KidLit Authors have contributed their advice to teen writers.  Alison Ashley Formento Advice from Alison Ashley Formento, author of Twigs "A book takes time. Writing a good book takes a lot of time. Time. Take your time. We live in a world of texts, tweets, snap chats, novel-in-a-month, and instant everything. You may be able to pound out a first draft of a book in a month, but let the story breathe for a few weeks or a month and return to it with the slow caution of a rigid building inspector. Every word and sentence must be built on a solid foundation or your story won't hold up. "  Alissa Grosso Advice from Alissa Grosso, author of Shallow Pond "First drafts can and should be ugly. Anyone who tells you they write beautiful, flawless first drafts is either a liar or completely useless at assessing the quality of their own work."  Margaret Gurevich Advice from Margaret Gurevich, author of Chloe By Design: Making the Cut "Don't be afraid to step out of your writing comfort zone. By pushing yourself to write in a different voice, genre, tense, or point-of-view, you're exercising new writing muscles. Even if you don't like the end result, there's a good chance you'll be surprised at your writing range and proud that you gave something challenging a shot."  Jennifer R. Hubbard Advice from Jennifer R. Hubbard, author of Try Not to Breathe "Read a lot. Reread, because you'll see more in a book each time. Write what you love to write, what you're interested in, what matters to you. Rewrite, because you'll see more in your own writing each time."  Darlene Beck Jacobson Advice from Darlene Beck Jacobson, author of Wheels of Change "Don't worry about what others think. Write to please yourself. Don't take criticism personally. If you want to improve as a writer, you need to listen and learn from the comments that make sense and will make your story better. Set small goals that are achievable. One page a day is a book by the end of a year. 2-3 short poems a week will give you something to edit and work on each day. If you write something every day--no matter how small--you'll feel a sense of accomplishment." Thanks for the advice! Readers, what's the best advice you've received, writing or otherwise?
 Available June 18th As the author of a YA novel about a deadly bird flu , I was excited about the opportunity to contribute a short story to a pandemic-related anthology. This collection, Prep for Doom, will be released on June 18th. There's a brief interview about my story, "Escape to Orange Blossom," featured on the Prep for Doom blog today. It includes a video with a special guest appearance from one of my dogs, Luna. Here's more about the Prep for Doom premise: From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM - an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths. What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month. An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them.  Teen Tuesday: Ch1Con Teen Writing Conference and Interview with Conference Founder Julia Byers5/19/2015
It has been such an honor to learn that my debut YA novel, Pandemic, won the 2015 Crystal Kite Award for the Atlantic region from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. You can learn more about SCBWI here.  In separate news, for this week's Teen Tuesday post I'm participating in the Ch1Con 2015 Blog Tour with an interview/giveaway from conference founder Julia Byers. About Ch1Con Founded in 2012, the first Chapter One Young Writers Conference (Ch1Con) took place in Chicago with six teenagers in attendance in person and countless others attending via an online live stream. It was an experiment limited to members of the Scholastic’s Write It community and their friends: Could a group of teenagers from across North America really get together and run their own conference? The answer soon became apparent: Yes. And so the conference was born!  Because the teen writing community is a particularly vibrant one, Ch1Con is proud to say they are the only writing conference by young writers, for young writers. Their team comprises a number of high school and college age writers at different experience levels in the industry, eager to create a unique experience for others like them. This year, the conference will take place on Saturday, August 8th in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, in Arlington Heights. 2015 registration is currently open on the Ch1Con website for writers from a middle school to undergraduate level and at an early bird discount price of $39.99. If you’re a writer from middle school to undergraduate level and you’re interested in this opportunity, register ASAP! The early bird discount ends May 31st and there are only thirty slots open. For more information and to join the Ch1Con community, check out these links: Interview with Julia Byers If you had to describe the biggest single benefit of this conference for teen writers, what would it be? The biggest benefit of attending Ch1Con is that it gives teens and young adults the opportunity to learn about writing and publishing in a casual, fun environment that diverges from the stress and rigidity of conferences meant for adults. What is the most fun aspect of the conference for participants? Definitely getting to meet and hang out with other teens and young adults who are passionate about writing! Writers are the weirdest (and coolest) people ever and we don’t get to see each other nearly often enough. Ch1Con gives participants the opportunity to connect with one another in person, make new friends, and talk to teens and young adults who are successful in the industry and can help guide them on their way to following their own writing dreams. What writing advice would you offer to teens who can’t make it to the conference this year? Find other ways to connect with young writers! If you can’t make it to the conference, there are still so many opportunities for connecting, especially online. The internet’s a magical place, and while you obviously need to be careful, it’s also a great way to make friends and learn about writing and publishing. Having a strong support network in place for the hard road to publication is absolutely crucial. How did you get involved with the conference? I started work on the first Chapter One Young Writers Conference back in my senior year of high school with the goal of creating an event that would be both educational and fun (and an excuse for my online writer friends and me to finally get to meet in person). We loved that first little conference, so over the next couple years we worked to expand it into an event more kids would be able to attend--with bigger speakers and more opportunities for participants--and in 2014 we unveiled the new and improved Chapter One Young Writers Conference. This year we’ve continued to expand it, and I’m so excited to share the 2015 conference with everyone! Thank you, Julia! The conference sounds like a great opportunity. Here's another opportunity: a chance to win a critique from Julia using the rafflecopter (below). Good luck! Critique Giveaway |
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