We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming to Announce

That E. Lockhart has been Selected as a Finalist*

For the National Book Award

For her March 2008 release

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

- Publisher's Lunch and Media Bistro

* Originally said Semi-Finalist, but no! It's a FREAKING FINALIST! THERE IS JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD!

WORD: Making It as a Teen Writer

by Gabrielle Linnell

I've noticed a disturbing trend in my publishing efforts. More and more markets, leads, sources and opportunities are coming not from my magazine subscriptions but from... my Google Reader.
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Weird.
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Yet, this is not surprising. The only way you will learn to swim is if you jump into a pool. The only way you will be published, and be published again and be published with pizazz, is if you immerse yourself in the publishing world. Because teens have problems with abstract thinking, here are 3 concrete ways to do so.
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1. Call your local writing organization and offer to speak. Sound intimidating? Probably is. If you've been published at least a few times, find out who runs the writing shows in your town and volunteer yourself as a teen panelist. I'm doing writing workshops at my library this year, which I am very excited about. It gives me credibility and something new to add to my query bios.
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2. Read writing blogs. I cannot stress this enough. Freelancers' blogs are best for market opportunities, agents' blogs for biz updates and querying advice, and fellow teen blogs for teen-specific markets and inspiration. If you need help getting started, check out the Best of the Blogs panel on the right. The internet has changed the isolation of the writing world into a constant networking opportunity. Use it!
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3. Get published everywhere (kind of.) Authors are always advised to get their name out any way they can. WriTeens need to identify (1) what kind of writing they want to do and (2) who will publish it. If you love short fiction, make a list of 3 nonpaying-but-reputable e-zines (with editors and domain names!) that publish short fiction and submit. After two months, make a new list of paying e-zines and work your way up. I review books for one teen magazine without compensation, but it's a way for me to break into book reviewing and to get free books.
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Swim with them fishies. The water is a very cool place.

Bookshelf: The TTYLs

Lauren Myracle's TTYL series has rocked the bestseller lists (TTYL, TTFN and L8R G8R) and they better darn well be rocking your bookshelves. Apart from the fact that she co-wrote with E. Lockhart for How to Be Bad, her books are must-reads because... well, they're written in IM.

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Some may see this as the apocalypse of literature, but it's not. Myracle manages to create 3-D characters without any prose or description, and make it seem natural. I love the complex friendships between Zoe, Maddie and Angela because they're real without being boring. The problems they face with boys, Queen Bees, faith, doubt, each other and themselves are not easily solved and won't be fixed without sacrifice.

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Put them on your TBR.

The Character Was Being Passive

One of my biggest peeves in novels, and one of the most common, is when I don't have a vested interest in the main characters. It means I don't care about what happens to them. I checked out A Curse as Dark as Gold last week and let me tell you, this is one exquisite piece of literature. The writing is beyond superb. But I didn't finish the book because I didn't care enough about what happened to Charlotte. She was so stoic, strong and impervious to Wheeler's bad dealings. I'd rather see the story from Rosie's perspective, because she was superstitious and fun.
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Another book this week, Good Girls, had the same problem. It's the story of what happens when a compromising photograph of an honor student is spread around the school. Fantastic premise. But I found Ashley, however realistic, slow and depressing and not inviting. I didn't finish that one either, because it didn't matter to me whether she fixed it or not.
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Although annoying or mean characters tick me off, I hate passive main characters most of all. That is: characters to whom things happen, rather than characters that cause things to happen. Briony, in Atonement, is one heck of an unlikeable person but she makes things happen. Holden, well, Holden Caulfield was produced by a genius pen. If you're writing a book about the circus, should you write it about the BFF of the ringmaster or the ringmaster him/herself?
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The best example, as always, is Frankie Landau-Banks from E. Lockhart's March 2008 book. Frankie starts out as a "normal," intelligent girl with one ex-boyfriend. We can all relate. But as the book goes on, Frankie changes into someone who makes big things happen and pays the price for it. Gretchen Yee, in Fly on the Wall, goes on a similar transformation. I think of Maddie in Lauren Myracle's sharp and brilliant TTYL (more on that later), Jerome Foxworthy in The Moves Make the Man, Riley in This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous.
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I have hated Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen the movie like no other movie. It redefined stupid. But Mary/Lola made things happen, as much as you hated her. That's an effective protagonist.

Query Letters, Part Tres: Who You Be?

As a responsible WriTeen, I do not use proper outlets for my rebellious hormones and therefore stick to legal ways of trashing the establishment. In a new three-or-four-part series on query letters, here is Part Three first: the bio.

Writing Credentials. Without a doubt, this is the most important part of your bio. Where have you been published? When you start writing, you may not have been published anywhere and that is quite all right. Leave this part out if that's the case.

If you have been published, list fiction credentials for fiction queries and non-fic for non-fic. If you've been published 20+ times, pick the 6 biggest and most relevant names for your bio. For example:

I have been published more than twenty times, writing for Cusackipity, JohnCusackstan, Say Cusack-Thing, The Other Cusack, Martian Cusack and Cusack Life the John Way.

Other "Professional" Credentials. This applies to non-fic queries. If you're writing a doggie article, what is your experience with dogs? Do you write a doggie blog with good traffic? Have you been a dog walker for 5+ years? How much money have you made from dog grooming?

I also run the Cusack fan site, Where's John Now?, which receives 1.6 billion hits per day and was featured on Oprah. Entertainment Weekly called me the greatest living expert on this great actor, and said I probably "knew more about John than he did."

Tasteful, Funny Add-ons. Be careful. This is appropriate only if you can pull it off. You can add "extra" things if it's relevant, humorous and shows off your writing panache. Otherwise, stick to your big guns.

I have met John a total of one time, in which he stared at me and then asked me for a drink of water. I still have the cup.

If anyone actually is interested in learning more about John Cusack, please see Say Anything. It will break your heart and then mend it again. Sigh.

Sad Postponements

Okeydokey, folks, bear with me. My mind is fried and if I tried to talk about query letters... I'd tell you to write it all in Sanscript. Sanskrit? Goodness. Posting will come, but to quote Reviewer X, real life is more important.

I Love Your Blog! Awardsiness

That's so COOL!

Nicole B. over at http://www.wordforteens.blogspot.com/ nominated me for the I Love Your Blog award. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nicole! I love yours too!

The rules to the ILYB awards are as follows:

1. You put the logo and the rules on your blog

2. You link the person who gave it to you

3. You give seven of your favorite blogs

4. You have to tell them they're given the award

Okeydokey. My nominations are:

Miss Couturable (http://www.misscouturable.blogspot.com/): Noel runs a peerless fashion + life blog that makes my day, every day.

The Pema Pad (http://thepemapad.freehostia.com/): Pema hands out fantastic advice and support for every writing teenager, and I'm so impressed with what she's accomplished.

All Five Stars (http://fivestarreading.blogspot.com/): Gabbi writes brilliant, straight reviews, devoid of flattery or high-fives, and I respect her opinion.

Melissa Walker (www.melissacwalker.com/blog): Melissa writes about fashion, body image, culture, books and cover stories (incroyable!) and is the perfect read for any day.

Janette Rallison (http://www.janette-rallison.blogspot.com/): Janette, apart from writing very funny books, writes a blog about the author's life and the dogs of Orlando Bloom. Wonderful combination.

Teen Fiction Cafe (http://www.teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com/): This is a collective blog that rocks my socks. I love them. So much.

AND I can't think of one more even though I read 35 blogs. Who would you nominate? Self-noms are fine.