Hello Writers!As the president for this year’s HWG Fall Conference for writers in St. George, Utah, I want to encourage all of you to join us at this exciting event! Regardless of your level of writing experience—from the published author to the uninitiated, never-before-published authors!—this conference has something significant for every participant!This year, because of the diversity of topics, the number of speakers we were able to procure, and trying to fit everything in during the two days of the event, we have break-out sessions during each day’s programming. I think we have prepared the sessions in such a way that everyone will be able to attend speakers who will be most helpful and informative.The Lexington Hotel, the site of the conference, has reserved a block of rooms for those traveling from afar at rates lower than their normal rates for this time of year.
Be sure to call the hotel at: (435) 628-4235 to take advantage of these limited available rooms.In addition to the great list of speakers scheduled, this conference will be a two-day event for everyone to network with fellow authors and industry leaders. Be sure to bring your personal business cards and book info!Finally, we look forward to our first-ever FREE community lecture on writing each night. The goal of this portion of the conference is two-fold: We want to give members of our community a chance to learn about the basics of writing. Second, we wanted to have a significant audience for our “Authorpalooza” event that will highlight authors who have books published. The Authorpalooza will follow each night’s free community lecture giving authors who have books to sell not only potential customers but also the opportunity to share their experiences with these interested folks!Thank you for taking part in this conference and we look forward to spending two days of inspiration, motivation and information with you in St. George, Utah!Virginia S Grenier
2012 HWG President
&
David W. Smith2012 HWG Conference Chairman
Who We Are!
The Heritage Writers Guild (HWG) is a St. George chapter of the League of Utah Writers (LUW), a non-profit organization dedicated to offering friendship, education and encouragement to the writers, poets and illustrators of Utah. New members are always welcome.
Our organization is dedicated to the encouragement and improvement of all writers and illustrators in their various skills. Members are writers, poets and illustrators with various interests at all levels of skill and professionalism. We meet monthly to write, read and discuss our work. We share ideas and expertise on the art of writing or illustrating.Learn more and download the registration packet at
Alright, since I'm new around these parts, maybe I should start with an introduction.
I'm Erin Shakespear, writer of humorous (I hope.) middle grade fantasy novels. I'm also a mom to five crazy fun kids (heavy on the crazy), lover of locking doors and parenthesis (that might be obvious) and a midnight crafter. I have a blog Here.And you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about my writing journey Here.
Ok, moving on...
Let me ask you some questions.
Do you have a blog? (I hope this answer is yes.)
Are you trying to build a following?
Are you filling your blog with killer content to lure readers your way?
Do you want to get the word out about your awesome posts, like your 100 Tips to Cornering an Agent in the Bathroom or Closet, but you just don't know how to go about it?
Are sick and tired of posting into the internet ether only to feel as though you're talking to yourself?
Then have I got a solution for you! (Is it just me or are you all expecting me to roll out a 1-800 # at this point. Well, if you want to hand over your credit card number, I'm not going to stop you...)
11 Comments on Want More People to Read Your Blog?, last added: 3/2/2012
"It is the magic of fiction that allows the young reader to 'escape' from ordinary day-to-day doings and to live more fully in a heightened, highlighted version of life, with adventure possible at every turn of the page"
—Lee Wyndham, Author
Every time I think everything has been said about writing, something new pops up. I don’t mind admitting I’m wrong. Heck, I think that’s one reason why I love writing for children and teens, but knowing the nuts and bolts is important before you sit down to write, especially for the children and YA market.
Writing for children and teens can be a rewarding experience—both personally and professionally. The insight you gain as a writer is un-measureable. It also means opening yourself to a child’s point of view and rediscovering what it feels like to learn something new, to experience something for the first time, to let your imagination run wild. However, children’s writing isn’t all fun and games. In many respects, it is more difficult than writing for adults because the writer has so much less in common with the reader. Or so we think, and just because your readers will be children/teens doesn’t mean you can pay any less attention to the basics.
In fact, bright, curious young readers demand realistic, compelling characters and exciting plots just as much—if not more so—than their adult counterparts.
If you are thinking of taking up writing for children and teens, first be warned it is not an easy way to make money. If you’re in the game for money…then forget about writing in this genre. True, there are always stories of beginning writers (J.K. Rowling, Brandon Mull, Stephanie Myers) who will ship out a children’s story and sell it to a publisher on the first or second try, and wind up with a very successful book. But for the rest of us…entering this profession takes years of practice, self-education (I highly stress this part) and much frustration. And that’s only the beginning.
So here is my road map for those of you who want to start down this journey. The suggest material comes from my own research as I walked down this path and now reflect back on my own personal expertise/experiences. Much of the information will also apply to other areas of writing as well. I hope this road map will help your writing and personal growth.
Road Map to Becoming a Children/YA Author:
1) Buy books on the subject. There are many books on writing and many of them focus on different genres such as picture books, chapter books and YA novels. Some even focus on techniques for writing for young readers. You can never have too many of these books and even a few not specific to your genre but to writing in general. Here is the list of books I first started off with:
a) The Business of Writing for Children by Aaron Shepard
b) You Can Write Children’s Books by Tracey E. Dils
0 Comments on The Road to Writing for Children and Teens by VS Grenier as of 1/1/1900
I've never heard of this before, so thanks!
Thanks for hosting Darren, Erin (hey, that rhythms!), and for helping us spread the word on inkPageant. We look forward to future posts! :)
The similarities between Darren and I (Deren) run much deeper: we write fantasy, we live within a few miles of each other, we both married women whose names begin with, 'L,' and we're both bent on world domination. (At least I assume that last one is also true for Darren: inkPagent must be part of a cunning and intricate plan to conquer the Earth--what else could it be?)
Darren and I have discussed the matter at great length and we've concluded that one of us is the evil twin, though it's not yet clear which. I volunteered for the title, but Darren is too much of a gentleman to let me take it without outside confirmation.
I think Deren should do a post on world domination...
I'm on inkPageant!
(I should probably send in a new post)
This is wonderful! We're trying to do something similar at Mormon Mommy Writers by hosting a blog party once a week. My crafting blog always got a spike in traffic when I submitted my links to blog parties, and I'm trying to help writers who are bloggers have the same opportunity. It's called Manuscript in Motion Mondays- you just come by on Monday, add your link to your writing blog with the Mr. Linky tool and everyone that visits our blog will see your link. The following Monday I'll choose a link to feature.
So glad we're all working together to get writers and their wonderful blogs connected to each other! I'm definitely going to check out inPageant.
Darn, I was totally into that chopping tool . . . and then I read the fine print. Always something isn't it? LOL
Great post, Erin! Thank you!
I think I'd like to submit to InkPageant. I've visited the site and I like it. Putting that on my to-do list.
Great post, and I love ink pageant!
Great post! Welcome to the blog, Erin.
Deren....I'll vouch for you in your efforts to be the evil twin.
Kasey...that's awesome. I'll have to check that out!
Anji...LOL!
And thanks everyone else for the great comments. Oh my, it's sad just how much I love comments...