Hi, I’m Laurie (she/her)! This is my fifth year as a YA Pitch Wars mentor, and I could not be more excited to be back in 2021. Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to spend three months with revising their manuscript. It ends in...
It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to write this post. I could tell the version where I write a manuscript, polish it up, and send 30 query letters. The one where 15 full requests flood my inbox. In that version, I sign with an agent in less than six weeks. That story is true,...
Happy New Year, everyone! If you write children’s books, I have one more resolution for you for 2016. If you don’t belong to SCBWI, join. If you’re a member but not an active one, get involved. And if you’re already involved, step up and volunteer to help or join the regional team. I promise you...
The online writing community can be phenomenal, but it can also be overwhelming. Some great resources have been shared on the Pitch Wars hashtag over the past week to help navigate the rules and language of publishing. Here are my favorites: 1. Dahlia Adler’s Abridged Glossary of Pub Speak. What is a WC, you ask?...
Okay, so I’m super late to the party. But Writer Recharge is just what I need to kick myself into gear. Maybe just getting some goals down and out in public will help me to power through! Hosted by Sara Biren, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Liz Parker, and Elodie Nowodazkij, Writer Recharge is a four-week jump start in the middle of a...
2015! I am so ready for the flying cars, house cleaning robots, and the slimming, monochromatic body suits we were promised. As we all sky rocket into the future, I have a few bookish goals for the year ahead. 1. Review more books. I really skimped on my book reviewing last year. I hate...
For my last post, I felt a bit down about the constant ugliness in the world. I didn’t want to link to the specific issues that bugged me because I didn’t want to give them any more coverage. So I challenged myself to find good things happening. People helping people, instead of tearing each other...
Online pitch events are exciting and addictive when you have a query-ready manuscript. Recently we’ve had WriteOnCon, Operation Awesome’s Secret Agent Contest, Brenda Drake’s Pitch Wars, and Adventures in YA Publishing’s Pitch Plus Five. And that was just August! The primary goal of contests seems to be grabbing an agent’s attention and garnering requests for...
Source Over the past few months, I’ve been working on revisions. While incorporating feedback from various sources on my own work, I’ve also critiqued pages for others from a wide range of genres. The elusive voice, the unique filter that makes a work our own, strikes me as both the most difficult thing to revise...
Visit Pens for Paws here This year’s Pens for Paws Auction is right around the corner! This online auction, hosted by my friend Angelica R. Jackson, raises funds for Fat Kitty City, a no-kill, cage-free cat (and dog!) sanctuary in El Dorado Hills, California. She has fabulous items for writers and others in the publishing...
