Need help starting, finishing, or perfecting your YA or MG novel? I can help with that! Learn more about story coaching and beta reader feedback.
Are you writing for teens or tweens? Then you might like…
Middle Grade Bookshelf Book Reviews in which fellow writer, Meagan Boyd, and I discuss recent middle grade novels from a writing and craft point of view.
My posts about writing for young people.
Some of my favorite YA & MG Online Resources:
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Mary Kole’s kid lit website is THE ULTIMATE resource. She’s a seasoned agent and the author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers. Spend some time reading her posts on writing, querying, and publishing.
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a professional organization with lots to offer to aspiring and established authors and illustrators. For $80 a year you get access to their resource library, grants, discussion boards, conferences, and more. Belonging to SCBWI is a great way to find a critique group or critique partners (that’s what I did!), and there are regional chapters all over the country that put on events to help you make connections with local children’s writers.
Nathan Bransford is a Middle Grade novelist and the author of the book How to Write a Novel. He’s got a ton of posts about writing, publishing, and promoting books, all geared especially towards writing for young people.
How to Write Middle Grade Fiction: A Beginner’s Guide — This page from Writing Tips Oasis is comprehensive, easy to understand, and very helpful, whether you’re just starting to write for Middle Grade or simply need a little refresher.
Rookie Magazine is not a website about writing, but it’s an awesome online magazine aimed at teenage girls. It contains articles and short stories (written by both teens and adults). If you’re writing YA, you NEED to check out Rookie to see what’s on the mind of youngsters today. There’s also a new Rookie Podcast, which I love. Rookie also has a fun segment called Ask a Grown in which adults answer teen’s questions — this is where I got my idea for Ask a Youth, in which kids answer questions for the benefit of adult YA and MG writers!
Sara Zarr, author of Story of a Girl isn’t doing her This Creative Life podcast anymore, but you should go back and listen to all of the episodes. She interviews mostly YA (and some MG) writers, and not only are the conversations interesting, you’ll learn a lot about the craft and business of writing for young people.
Book Club for Kids is a podcast where kids talks talk about books. It’s super fun and quite enlightening for those of us who are writing for young audiences.
The KidLit411 blog is an all-around great source of information for children’s book writers. Check out the KidLit411 Manuscript Swap Facebook page to find other writers willing to do a beta reader manuscript swap — a free way to get feedback on your work-in-progress!
Adventures in YA Publishing – Check out their free 1st 5 pages workshop that happens every month!
From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors – Great info and book suggestions for writers, teachers, librarians, and parents.
