Are there any online resources for teen writers?

My son is 14 and a very good writer. But he is sort of shy about his talent. I think it would help build his confidence if he could get some of his work published. I also think he should meet other writers his own age. But it seems like most of the writers groups are for adults and the web sites for young writers are geared toward younger kids. Are there any online resources for teen writers?

I think it’s terrific that you encourage your son’s writing talent! Young writers need lots of nurturing. 

Because of the internet, there are many more opportunities for young people to exercise their writing chops. Teens can gain confidence by meeting other young writers and also get their work published online. Most teens are familiar and comfortable with email and online chatting so this is the perfect medium to coax them out of their shells.
 
The Young Writers Club is geared for 7-15 year olds as a way for them to publish their work and learn new skills. Young Writer Magazine also offers opportunities for young writers to get their work published both online and in print. A good way to meet other writers online is through critique groups. Young Writers’ Clubhouse has a critique group and Writing up a Storm offers a critique group and a discussion board. Writing World’s Resources for Young Writers lists more young writers discussion and critique groups, along with links to markets and lots of other resources.

For young sci-fi writers, Resources for Teen Writers offers links to advice, contests, markets, workshops and more.

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Review: Just Be You

  

Just Be You
By Ann Louise Ramsey
Crown Peak Publications
April 2008
40 Pages

Once again Ann Ramsey creates her own distinctive brand of magical realism through digital imaging in Just Be You. Honey the Cocker Spaniel is the star of this quest for self esteem. She is surrounded by ducks. So naturally she tries very hard to be a duck. One day she looks in the mirror and sees someone very different. She begins to explore what makes her unique.

Ramsey weaves the story into the enchanting illustrations with her trademark poetic charm and grace. The result is a timeless fable for all ages. 

Readers young and old alike will delight as Honey leaps off the page and grabs hold of their hearts. What a face! What a range of emotions! What an actress! Honey definitely has a future on the big screen. Join in this adorable pup’s crusade. Prepare to fall in love. I hope this is the start of many more Honey adventures to come.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Peggy Tibbetts

Meet Ann Ramsey and read more about the book at the Just Be You website.

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Review: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming
By Joshilyn Jackson
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
March 2008
311 pages

The ghost of a young girl shows up in Laurel’s bedroom in the middle of the night. When she follows it to the window she sees the body of her 13-year old daughter’s best friend, Molly floating face down in her swimming pool. Of course that would turn anyone’s life upside down. But Laurel Hawthorne isn’t just anyone. She’s a professional quilt designer who has created an orderly life with her video game designer husband, David, among the meticulous homes and gardens of their Victorianna subdivision. There is no room in their lives for this tragedy.

Yet Laurel is haunted, not only by the dead girl but also by her daughter Shelby’s reaction, and her friend Bet who was staying over at the time. Bet Clemmons is Laurel’s do-gooder project, a young girl she has rescued from dregs of society in the washed up little mining town of DeLop, which represents all that is unholy in her life. As a trained artist, Laurel knows there’s something wrong with this picture. But up till now her whole life has been about burying secrets, not digging them up.

In order to get to the bottom of this inconvenient mystery, Laurel calls on her estranged sister Thalia. The polar opposite of Laurel, Thalia is a flamboyant actress and the keeper of secrets. Laurel knows she can get Thalia to do the dirty work. What she doesn’t know is what that will cost her in the end.

Joshilyn Jackson’s vivid characters and spellbinding prose – you can almost hear the drawl and smell the earthiness – weave a tale as intricate and fascinating as one of Laurel’s quilts. Jackson takes readers on a journey past the façades of flower gardens, swimming pools, and Wal-Mart, through the crumbling asphalt and broken dreams of lives in the rural South, to uncover the mystery of The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Copyright (c) 2008 by Peggy Tibbetts

Find more books by Joshilyn Jackson at her website. 

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Can I renegotiate my contract?

I sold my first picture book to a small publisher for a flat fee. Now, a year after the book’s release, the book is selling really well and was just picked up by a children’s book club. Because of my contract I won’t see any royalties from my book’s success. That just isn’t fair! I had no way of knowing my book would do so well way back when I signed the contract. Do you think it’s possible to renegotiate my contract? What should I do?

Congratulations on the success of your first book!

No, it’s isn’t fair that you won’t see any financial gain from the success of your book. And you certainly had no way of knowing the publisher would be so successful at marketing your book. The problem is you signed a contract. A signed contract is almost impossible to change after the fact, unless it contains a loophole, or language that indicates that the contract expires after a certain amount of time. The problem with an expiration clause is that even if you try to negotiate new terms, such as a royalty, or percentage of sales, the publisher also has the option to cancel the contract and take your book out of print.

Since I don’t know the details of your contract, the first thing I advise you to do is hire an attorney to look over the contract for any loopholes, or openings, for re-negotiation. For example, I don’t know if you sold all rights to your work. If that’s the case, you simply can’t negotiate a thing. Then again it’s possible that the publisher did not include a clause about book club sales, in which case, you could have an opening to renegotiate. But I’m not an attorney, and only an attorney can accurately evaluate the situation for you.

For more information on publishing contracts see Attorney Ivan Hoffman’s Articles for Writers and Publishers at his web site. 

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