Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cover Reveal: Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life by P.J. Hoover (Starscape/Macmillan) from Roots in Myth.
How I Got Into Publishing by Simon & Schuster Editor Zareen Jaffery from CBC Diversity. Peek: “What people don’t tell you about publishing is that more than half your job requires being social—this is an industry based on relationships.
Check out the book trailer for Saving Baby Doe by Danette Vigilante (Putnam, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Lionel and Anisa are the best of friends and have seen each other through some pretty tough times–Anisa’s dad died and Lionel’s dad left, which is like a death for Lionel.
Continue Reading Book Trailer: Saving Baby Doe by Danette Vigilante »
Sara B. Larson is the first-time author of Defy (Scholastic, 2014). From the promotional copy:
A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and heart-racing romance.
Alexa Hollen is a fighter.
Courtesy of Kristy Dempsey
In 2008, several children’s writers joined together for a retreat in Boyds Mills, Pennsylvania, the home of Highlights Magazine and the wonderful Highlights Foundation.
We were all working on different stories in different genres, and so we planned a working retreat, not one where we would meet often to learn from a speaker,
Continue Reading Highlights Writing Retreat Scholarship Opportunity »
Compiled by Alison Ashley Formento
Middle grade author Cynthia Chapman Willis left this world on March 3.
According to her family, she didn’t want anyone to be sad at her passing. That embodies the kind of woman and giving author friend Cindy was to so many, and those that knew her could not help but be dazzled by her lovely smile and giving nature.
Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
On Neutral Characters and Relating to the Specific by Shannon Hale from squeetus blog. Peek: “Why can’t someone like Maisie be worthy of a story too? I’ve encountered similar opinions over the years and began to come to an uncomfortable understanding, one that others before me have also discovered.”
Check out this fantastic author video by Kwame Alexander, promoting The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Why is it so great?
Kwame’s irresistible combination of humor and charm, along with a call to action and a preview of the book to come.
Continue Reading Video: Kwame Alexander Riffs on Librarians & The Crossover »
By Ellen Oh
Recently I have been talking with several other women authors about how hard it is to be a female writer. Many stressed how ironic it was given the fact that there are more women in publishing, more women writers, and more women readers.
But why, many asked, does it feel like women authors are never treated at the same level as male writers?
Continue Reading Guest Post: Ellen Oh on The Ongoing Problem with Sexism »
Whitney A. Miller is the first-time author of The Violet Hour
(Flux, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Some call VisionCrest the pinnacle of religious enlightenment.
Others call it a powerful cult.
For seventeen years,
Continue Reading New Voice: Whitney A. Miller on The Violet Hour »
Blame it on the SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators).
When I joined SCBWI over two decades ago, I’d already sold a middle-grade and was interested in writing young adult books, too. Yet most of my writer friends wrote picture books.
Whenever I went to SCBWI conferences,
