Category Archives: Advice

TeenWriter Tuesday: Summer Writing Camps for Teens

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Angelo State University (TX), Sarah Lawrence College (NY), Boston University–and hundreds of other colleges and universities around the world–are hosting summer camps for young writers this summer. No archery or horseback riding here. No campfires or sing-alongs, either. Just people who GET writing. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Summer Writing Camps for Teens, Teaching Writing, Teen Authors, Teen writers, Teen writers, Tips for Teen Writers, Workshops, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Use Details in Settings Purposefully

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

“Your choice of setting and the way you manipulate it can have a powerful impact on the way the scene reads.” –Theresa Stevens Theresa Stevens has been a literary attorney agent and the chief executive editor for a small romance … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Craft of Writing, Description, Description, Editing, POV - Point of View, Setting, Setting, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Teen Tuesday: What Teens Hate to See in YA Books

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Recently, The Writer’s Dig (a blog hosted by Writer’s Digest) published a guest post by teenage writer Jamie S. Margolin. Margolin has written articles for Teen Ink. One of her articles earned her an Editors Choice award and was voted #1 by readers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Advice, Character, Characters, Conflict, Contrived Plots, Craft of Writing, Plotting, Stakes, Story Elements, Teen Authors, Teen Authors, Teen writers, Teen writers, Teens teaching teens, Tips for Teen Writers, Writing, Young Adult books, Young adults | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: A Bitter Dose of Query Stats

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Sarah LaPolla is an agent with the Bradford Literary Agency.  She represents Adult, Middle Grade, and Young Adult manuscripts. Each year she tallies all the unsolicited (slush pile) queries she received and writes a post with the statistics. Many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Agents, Finding agents, Queries, Queries and Pitches, QueryTracker, Rejection, Rejections, Sarah LaPolla, Submission, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Life After You Publish: The Perils

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Donna Maloy, Author

One of my good friends is Gerry Bartlett. She’s been writing vampire romances for many years and is a very active member of a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. She also writes a monthly article for their newsletter … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Aha! moments, Business of Writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments