From Business Insider:
Renowned author Stephen King writes stories that captivate millions of people around the world and earn him an estimated $US17 million a year.
In his memoir, “On Writing,” King shares valuable insights into how to be a better writer. And he doesn’t sugarcoat it. He writes, “I can’t lie and say there are no bad writers. Sorry, but there are lots of bad writers.”
Don’t want to be one of them? Here are 22 great pieces of advice from King’s book on how to be an amazing writer:
Read the rest here:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/stephen-king-on-how-to-write-2014-7
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Jenna Pocius has joined little bee books as associate editor. She was previously assistant editor at Bloomsbury Publishing.
Here’s an article about little bee (a new US imprint of the UK’s Bonnier Publishing.)
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/62474-bonnier-launches-u-s-imprint.html
Congratulations, Jenna!
Vonna Carter has an extensive list of online writing workshops on her blog.
Worth a look!
http://vonnacarter.com/wordpress/?page_id=9417
Here’s a contest for Middle Grade Writers.
16th Dear Luck Agent Contest
From Guide to Literary Agent Blog:
HOW TO SUBMIT
E-mail entries to [email protected]. Please paste everything. No attachments.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, completed book-length work of middle grade fiction. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with each entry.
Please note: To be eligible to submit, you must mention this contest twice through any any social-media. Please provide a social-media link or Twitter handle or screenshot or blog post URL, etc., with your official e-mailed entry so the judge and I can verify eligibility. Some previous entrants could not be considered because they skipped this step! Simply spread the word twice through any means and give us a way to verify you did; a tinyURL for this link/contest for you to easily use is http://tinyurl.com/pwbds3q. An easy way to notify me of your sharing is to include my Twitter handle @chucksambuchino at the end of your mention(s) if using Twitter. If we’re friends on FB, tag me in the mention. And if you are going to solely use Twitter as your 2 times, please wait 1 day between mentions to spread out the notices, rather than simply tweeting twice back to back. Thanks. (Please note that simply tweeting me does not count. You have to include the contest URL with your mention; that’s the point.)
The contest is live through EOD, Wednesday, July 30, 2014.
WHAT IS ELIGIBLE?
Middle grade fiction. The agent judge did not choose to exclude any subgenre, so everything is fair game.
PRIZES!!!
Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 double-spaced pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com ($50 value)!
MEET YOUR (AWESOME) AGENT JUDGE!
Peter Knapp joined the Park Literary Group in July 2011, where he represents authors of middle grade and young adult fiction. His recent sales include a contemporary YA to Scholastic, a contemporary MG to Penguin, and a YA fantasy series to Entangled. He does not represent picture books or nonfiction. Prior to joining Park Literary, he was the story editor at Floren Shieh Productions, where he consulted on book-to-film adaptations for Los Angeles-based film and TV entities. He graduated from New York University with a B.A. in art history.
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From Publishers Lunch:
At Chronicle Books, Kelli Chipponeri has been promoted to editorial director, children’s.
Lisa Yoskowitz will join Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as executive editor.
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Lisa Yoskowitz will join Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as executive editor on July 21. Previously she was senior editor at Disney-Hyperion.
Congratulations Lisa!
There are still a few spaces for the Darcy Pattison Retreat that takes place August 22-24, with optional one-day workshops on either end.
The retreats are being organized by Anne Broyles. From her website, http://www.annebroyles.com/whats-new.html (scroll down a bit for info and registration links)
DARCY PATTISON WRITING RETREATS
Anne is organizing three writing retreats at the Rolling Ridge Conference and Retreat Center in North Andover, MA with mentor teacher, DARCY PATTISON, author of ten children’s books (and five more due out in 2014). She is also known for her numerous books on the craft of writing. In 1999, Darcy created the Novel Revision Retreat, which she teaches nationwide. Her work has been translated into 8 languages.
Darcy is offering three retreat experiences at the Rolling Ridge Conference and Retreat Center in North Andover August 22-25, 2014. You can register for any or all of the three experiences (info below). Some writers may want to come for one event, but might enjoy dedicated writing time at the center on their own with the option of free time with other writers.
Please note that each retreat experience has its own requirements (see individual brochures).
Why not treat yourself while you’re at the beautiful Rolling Ridge? Come a day early or stay a day longer. Write. Sit on a bench by the lake. Go out on Lake Cochechewick in a kayak or canoe. Walk one of the labyrinths. Enjoy a personal spa day (massage, reflexology and reiki available). More info on the center at http://www.rollingridge.org.
BROCHURES for the three Darcy Pattison retreats in August 2014:
BUILD AN AUTHOR WEBSITE: Friday, August 22, 2014, 9 AM-3 PM
NOVEL REVISION RETREAT: Friday, August 22, 3 PM-Sunday, August 24, 2014, 1 PM
PICTURE BOOK WORKSHOP: Monday, August 25, 2014, 9 AM-3 PM
Whitley Abell, who joined Inklings Agency in 2013, is now seeking clients.
From the Guide to Literary Agents blog:
About Whitley: Whitley Abell joined Inklings Literary Agency in 2013. Before joining Inklings, she completed successful internships with Carol Mann Agency and P.S. Literary Agency. She is based in St. Louis, MO, where she daylights as a production manager for several medical and S & T journals. She graduated in 2011 BA in English and Creative Writing, and again in 2012 with a MAT in Secondary English Education, which basically means she can tell you anything there is to know about feminist literary theory and the Common Core Standards.
She is seeking: Whitley is primarily interested in Young Adult, Middle Grade, and select Upmarket Women’s fiction. She likes characters who are relatable yet flawed, hooks that offer new points of view and exciting adventures, vibrant settings that become active characters in their own right, and a story that sticks with the reader long after turning the last page, be it contemporary or historical, realistic or supernatural, tragic or quirky.
She loves mythology and literary re-imaginings, heartbreaking contemporary novels, historical suspense, and craving cute romantic comedies for YA through adult (ex: Sophie Kinsella, Lauren Morrill, Stephanie Perkins).
She is not interested in vampires, werewolves, angels, zombies, dystopian societies, steampunk, or epic fantasy. Please no paranormal / fantasy for adults.
Inklings Literary
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Leon Husock joins L. Perkins Agency as an associate agent specializing in speculative fiction, as well as young adult and middle grade novels. He was an associate agent at Anderson Literary Management. Rachel Brooks will be joining the agency as a junior agent handling romance, young adult and new adult fiction and select picture books.
Info on the agency website: http://www.lperkinsagency.com/meet_the_agents
From Publisher’s Lunch:
After nine years at Liza Dawson Associates, Anna Olswanger has formed her own agency, Olswanger Literary.
Her website:
http://www.olswanger.com/
Whole Novel Workshop,
October 17-19, 2014
Faculty Editor: Melanie Cecka, Associate Publishing Director at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Faculty Agent: Scott Treimel, heads the S©ott Treimel NY Agency, established 1995.
For More Information:
http://www.childrenswritersworkshop.com/
I’m busily preparing for a workshop on character development that I’m giving at the NJ SCBWI conference, and I came across some interviews with a variety of people, including several children’s authors such as Richard Peck and Linda Sue Park. The talks are actually for children/young adults to listen to, but from what I’ve heard so far, you might be interested too.
They were recorded by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/pwtv/
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Emilia Rhodes joined Harper Children’s on June 9 as senior editor for the Harper Teen imprint. Previously she was an editor at Alloy Entertainment.
Anne Broyles has organized a retreat in North Andover, Massachusetts with Darcy Pattison. It has three components, one about building an author website, on Friday, a novel revision workshop, which occurs during the weekend, and a picture book workshop, on Monday, all the weekend of August 22-25. There is still space available.
Here are the details from Anne’s website:
DARCY PATTISON WRITING RETREATS
Anne is organizing three writing retreats at the Rolling Ridge Conference and Retreat Center in North Andover, MA with mentor teacher, DARCY PATTISON, author of ten children’s books (and five more due out in 2014). She is also known for her numerous books on the craft of writing. In 1999, Darcy created the Novel Revision Retreat, which she teaches nationwide. Her work has been translated into 8 languages.
Darcy is offering three retreat experiences at the Rolling Ridge Conference and Retreat Center in North Andover August 22-25, 2014. You can register for any or all of the three experiences (info below). Some writers may want to come for one event, but might enjoy dedicated writing time at the center on their own with the option of free time with other writers.
Please note that each retreat experience has its own requirements (see individual brochures).
Why not treat yourself while you’re at the beautiful Rolling Ridge? Come a day early or stay a day longer. Write. Sit on a bench by the lake. Go out on Lake Cochechewick in a kayak or canoe. Walk one of the labyrinths. Enjoy a personal spa day (massage, reflexology and reiki available). More info on the center at www.rollingridge.org.
BROCHURES for the three Darcy Pattison retreats in August 2014:
BUILD AN AUTHOR WEBSITE: Friday, August 22, 2014, 9 AM-3 PM
NOVEL REVISION RETREAT: Friday, August 22, 3 PM-Sunday, August 24, 2014, 1 PM
PICTURE BOOK WORKSHOP: Monday, August 25, 2014, 9 AM-3 PM
Registration Form for all 3 events
According to Publisher’s Lunch, Heather Alexander has left Dial and joined Pippin Properties as an agent.
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Heather Alexander has joined Pippin Properties as an agent. Previously she was an associate editor at Dial.
Pippin Properties website:
http://www.pippinproperties.com/
Congratulations to Heather!
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Amy Cherrix, Anna Dobbin, Christine Krones, and Anna Meier have all been promoted to editorial associate at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s.
From the Moravian Writers Conference Website:
With a focus on community, craft, and inspiration, the Moravian Writers’ Conference presents opportunities to work with accomplished faculty–established and emerging writers and publishing professionals–through workshops, craft talks, readings, and more.
The conference welcomes writers of all genres and at all career stages. Come energize your writing with challenging and supportive workshops, advance your craft with feedback from our accomplished faculty, be inspired by renowned keynote speakers, and make connections with other writers.
The conference is held on Moravian College’s beautiful campus (founded in 1742) located in the historic district of Bethlehem, Pa.
The conference will be held June 6-8. Keynotes are Laura Halse Anderson and Ursula Hegi.
http://home.moravian.edu/public/writersconference/
From Publisher’s Lunch:
Farin Schlussel will join Little, Brown Children’s as marketing coordinator on June 2. She was a marketing and publicity Coordinator at Gotham and Avery. In promotions, Pam Gruber moves up to editor, and Pam Garfinkel, Deirdre Jones, and Leslie Shumate have all been promoted to associate editor.
It has been a while since I’ve been able to say that, but I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I am now represented by Erzsi Deak of Hen & Ink Literary Studio!
I’m so looking forward to being a part of this fabulous agency.
More details to follow.
Here’s the Hen & Ink website
http://henandink.com/index.html
From Publisher’s Lunch:
At Macmillan, Jill Freshney has been promoted to the new position of senior executive managing editor at Macmillan Children’s. The position is “designed to consolidate our managing editorial team and maximize the opportunities that will afford us,” and she will oversee managing editorial and copy editing for the entire Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Here’s an interesting interview with John Green in the Wall Street Journal.
The Green Revolution
From Publisher’s Lunch:
This inaugural edition of Buzz Books: Young Adult provides substantial pre-publication excerpts from more than 20 forthcoming young adult and middle grade books. You now have access to the newest YA voices the publishing industry is broadcasting for thefall/winter season—for free to read on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo and more.
More information is here:
http://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/?selected-edition=793
If you are querying agents, it’s a good idea have a list of questions at the ready, should you get the call (or email).
Here’s an excellent list that I came across:
http://www.literaryrambles.com/2010/02/call-or-what-to-ask-literary-agent-when.html
From Publisher’s Lunch:
At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Emma Ledbetter has been promoted to associate editor, Atheneum Books, while Dani Young moves up to associate editor, S&S Books for Young Readers/Atheneum/McElderry Books.
Former publishing director at Walker Children’s Emily Easton is joining Crown Children’s as executive editor on May 19, reporting to Phoebe Yeh.
Anita, thank you for including the announcement of my new agency in your blog. The agent page on my website is http://www.olswanger.com/agent.shtml. At Olswanger Literary, I’ll be focusing on picture books (author-illustrators only), middle grade fiction, and adult nonfiction. A list of the books I’ve represented is at http://www.pinterest.com/olswanger/anna-olswanger-literary-agent. Anna Olswanger
Thanks for the information, Anna. Best of luck!