News & Notices about things happening at The How to Write Shop.
by Melissa Conway Most author-created book trailers stick to the tried-and-true format of carefully selected stock photos with thoughtfully composed captions set to royalty-free music—a potentially good way to get a story concept across to viewers. If done right, it can increase sales, but this particular marketing tool is useless if nobody watches it. Let’s … [Read more…]
One of the great things about writing young adult (YA) fiction right now is that, in a contracting publishing landscape, the young adult market seems like a veritable land of opportunity. In comparison to the adult romance market, where lines and imprints are constantly shrinking and folding and major publishers are closing up shop, the … [Read more…]
One question I often hear floating around in regards to YA fiction (and even middle-grade fiction) is “How dark/edgy is *too* dark/edgy?” The problem with this question is that it presumes that there is a “right” answer–a definitive line between what is acceptable in the YA market and what isn’t. In an interview, someone once … [Read more…]
By Kristi Cook I thought I’d start my monthly posts about young adult novels with the most basic question possible–why YA?! I’ve had several people ask me this as I make my transition from writing adult historical romance to paranormal young adult fiction. I mean, okay, everyone knows that the publishing market is contracting in … [Read more…]