Lauren's link love: YA vs. middle grade, commercial vs. literary, writing camp, & Twitter tips

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

The Key Differences Between Middle Grade vs Young Adult | @marielamba at @brianklems https://t.co/mtIRPG99GA #writing #childrensbooks

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 29, 2016

Like I need an excuse.

Put Down the Broom: Tidying Up Can Hamper #Creativity | @PassiveVoiceBlg https://t.co/JE5gHZMvan #writing #amwriting

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) March 1, 2016

A question many of us have:

Where Do You Draw the Line Between Commercial and Literary Fiction? https://t.co/MTPaXxNUYP #writing #amwriting pic.twitter.com/QChnpQVNMl

— Angela Ackerman (@AngelaAckerman) March 1, 2016

All cats are girls, and all other animals are boys

I'm reprinting this from Hobo Mama in the hopes that children's authors take note: We need more variety in our characters, on so many levels. One is in animal-gender form.

All cats are girls, and all other animals are boys.

You'd think this was biologically improbable, but it's true.

Witness the admirably entertaining Pet's Tails touch-and-feel book by Jellycat, written by Anne Wilkinson. Every single pet on every page is a boy:

"I love my budgie — his tail is a beautiful blue."

"I love my stick insect — his tail is like a twig."

"I love my fish — his tail goes swish-swish."

I commend Wilkinson on her extensive research that correctly identified the masculinity of nearly all pets.

Lauren's link love: Query spreadsheet, picture book info, analyze your Twitter persona, & e-publishing at your local library

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

You had me at spreadsheet: How To Keep Track of Query Letters #writing #amquerying #amwriting https://t.co/eBJ9TbpH8Q

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 16, 2016

Jennifer Represents...: A whole lot of info about Picture Books https://t.co/6eBeTiphCr @literaticat #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 16, 2016

Reality check from Barbara Kanninen - Can I Make a Career out of #Writing Picture Books? https://t.co/espboodckQ

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 17, 2016

Lauren's link love: How to get your children's book published, editing checklist, bump your follower count, & the proper use of cheese

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

6 Guaranteed Ways to Get More Followers on #Facebook, #Twitter, and Google+ | @kevanlee https://t.co/0d7jw6m0su #blogging

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 8, 2016

Kazuo Ishiguro Has a Brilliant Response to People Who Think Genre Fiction Doesn’t Matter by @CharlieJane https://t.co/qaPfY6OEZa #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 10, 2016

When stuck, eat a piece of cheese. It won’t get you unstuck, but it will make you feel better.

— Ksenia Anske (@kseniaanske) February 11, 2016

Lauren's link love: YA preview, Twitter tools & tips, Scrivener tute, and animated cats

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

The Most Anticipated Children’s and YA Books of Spring 2016 https://t.co/Prw4EKzo60

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

How to Write Better Using Humor https://t.co/5iD9f05Q7Z

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

#Scrivener Tips from Joseph Michael | @thecreativepenn https://t.co/tQHqQGZuwi #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

Ready to submit? Use Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript to help!

Here's a glowing review for a seemingly dull book: Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Writer's Digest Books. It goes into the nitty-gritty, boring old details of exactly how you present your precious writing to a potential agent or editor.

It's all in the details

It covers all major forms of writing, from article writing to nonfiction to short stories to novels to children's books, scripts, and poetry, and it details not just how to present your manuscript itself but also all the essential elements that go along with it: a query letter, a book proposal, an author bio, a synopsis, and more.

You might think the book would gloss over details, like that you'd have to infer from a generalized description of fiction submissions how to cater for a particular genre, but this book is all about details. I love books that are all about details! Are you writing a mystery novel? Covered. A graphic novel? Covered. An author-illustrated (or not) picture book? Covered. Need to know how to submit the acknowledgements page for your nonfiction book? Covered. An endorsements page for your novel? Covered. How about your radio commentary? Dude, it's covered.

Put your children in danger: A guide for authors

At the same time as I am reading Virals, a young adult novel by Kathy Reichs, I have happened upon this YouTube video from Feminist Frequency (thank you to Our Feminist Playschool for the direct) reviewing the book The Hunger Games:


The whole video's very interesting, as are Anita Sarkeesian's other works, but I just want to pull out one teensy tidbit that relates to the novel Virals as well as the whole oeuvre of children's literature.

Anita says that she finds it unbelievable that the parents in The Hunger Games wouldn't stand up and refuse to let their children be sacrificed.

Oh, yes. Totally. But that's viewing it as an adult and being all reasonable and stuff. Young adult and children's fiction depends on adults — and parents in particular — being ineffectual, powerless, cruel, or entirely absent.

Sunday Surf: Security, insecurity, and fun new tools

Links to share, from Writing Tidbits:

Diagramly - Draw Diagrams Online

Need to diagram a plot or your thinking process? Free online tool for flow charts and other visual thinking.

(Source: anktangle.com)

1 DAY AGO

writing plotting brainstorming diagrams

Click to Tweet | The easy, tweet about this link generator

Here’s the service that lets you specify a phrase to tweet.

3 DAYS AGO -  2

twitter marketing 2 notes