Writing for Young Adults

Kidlit Social #69: ‘Radical Solutions’ to Beat Fear, Doubt & Criticism and Thrive Creatively

On this inspirational episode, meet award-winning Middle Grade/YA author and creative writing professor Todd Mitchell. Todd joins us to share insights from his new book Breakthrough: How to Overcome Doubt, Fear, and Resistance to Be Your Ultimate Creative Self.

Todd offers up some amazing, radical, perspective-shifting solutions for how to enhance creativity, deal with doubt, procrastination, and criticism, and make creative endeavors more enjoyable and effective.

The CBI Interview: Caribbean Author Shakirah Bourne on Her Journey to Publication

Kidlit Social #62: Our First Live Editing Session!

It’s our first ever live editing session! We chose seven works in progress from CBI subscribers (both fiction and nonfiction) and we invited award-winning author and editing wizard Bonnie Johnston (instructor for Manuscript Magic and author of The 30 Day Novel Workbook, The 30 Day Romance Novel Workbook, and The Writer’s Guide to Getting Organized) to edit each submission live and in real time!

This is a tremendous opportunity to really understand the “inner game” of editing, and pick up some valuable tips for editing your own work.

Kidlit Social #60 Replay: Nathan Bransford on Finding Your Story’s Hook

Nathan Bransford, author of the Jacob Wonderbar middle grade series, the writing guides How to Write a Novel and How to Publish a Book, and a former agent with Curtis Brown Ltd., joins Laura to talk about hooks: What is a hook, and how do you know if your manuscript has one? If it does, how do you present the hook in the query letter? If it doesn’t, should you abandon the idea, or can it still find a market?

Kidlit Distancing Social #57 Replay: Shakirah Bourne on Infusing a Manuscript with Magic & Authenticity

This week, meet an exciting new voice in middle grade and young adult writing: Barbadian author and filmmaker Shakirah Bourne. Shakirah shares the impact Caribbean culture has had on her work, how she infuses her books with magical realism and how understanding three act structure from films translates to writing novels.

Kidlit Distancing Social #52 Replay: Sneed B. Collard III on Nonfiction & Writing Mysteries for Middle Graders

In this episode, meet Sneed B. Collard III, award-winning author of more than 80 books. He’s best known for his science-based nonfiction for readers ages 5-12, and his middle grade and YA mysteries and thrillers. In 2006, Sneed was the recipient of the Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Children’s Nonfiction Writer of the Year Award for his body of work. In 2010, Sneed sought to address the shortage of quality regional children’s books by launching his own publishing company, Bucking Horse Books.

Kidlit Distancing Social #49 Replay: Teen Readers Tell Us What They Like (and Don’t Like) in YA & Middle Grade

This week, a panel of teen readers tell us what they like – and don’t like – in middle grade and young adult books. They’re joined by Sallie Lowenstein, award winning author/illustrator of children’s and young adult books.

Kidlit Distancing Social #48 Replay: Crafting Speculative Fiction & Graphic Novels w/Jennifer Brody (a.k.a. Vera Strange)

In this episode, we welcome Jennifer Brody (a.k.a. Vera Strange) the award-winning author of ten books, including The 13th Continuum trilogy, the Disney Chills book series, and the Stoker Finalist graphic novel Spectre Deep 6 and 200 with Eisner-winning artist and syndicated cartoonist Jules Rivera, prompting Forbes to call Brody “a star in the graphic novel world.”

Laura and Jennifer talk about writing speculative fiction for middle grade and young adult, and what’s happening in the exciting graphic novel market.

Kidlit Distancing Social #45 Replay: Middle Grade Author Carmella Van Vleet on Creating Character-Driven Stories

In this episode, meet Middle Grade writer Carmella Van Vleet, author of the Christopher Award-winning “Eliza Bing is (Not) a Big, Fat Quitter” (Penguin Random House), and the upcoming “Nothing is Little” (Holiday House). Laura and Carmella delve into all things Middle Grade, with a particular focus on creating dynamic character-driven stories.

Kidlit Distancing Social #38 Replay – Chris Tebbetts on Middle Grade That Gets Kids Reading… and Laughing

Meet Chris Tebbetts, a successful middle grade/YA author who has mastered a compelling, humorous approach that gets even the most reluctant readers glued to the page.

Chris partners with superstar author James Patterson to create the bestselling Middle School series, and with Survivor host Jeff Probst for the Stranded series. His solo titles include the Viking series and the novel Me, Myself, and Him.

Join us to learn about creating middle grade books with humor and plot that appeal to readers across the board – especially reluctant readers – and the ins and outs of building a successful series.