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kidlit_central tonight. Because I forgot to include some important points, I thought I'd post them here.Why Blog? Scroll down, or click here.
I grew up in Nebraska (I'm a UNL grad!). I lived in Iowa for two years. I currently live in Kansas. I want to see writers in my home states succeed! I think that by combining forces and banding together we can help all area writers become more visible and sell more books. Plus, it's fun to meet writers in surrounding areas.
I know some of the people who come to this site are very new to blogging, so a group blog might not make much sense at first. To see how some other groups have done this, take a look at these blogs:
HOW TO JOIN: just click on this link kidlit_central and follow the directions. If you don't have a Live Journal account, you'll need one to be listed in the members section of this blog (when you click on the USER INFO link on this page, you'll see the information about this account, including all the registered members) and to post on Live Journal accounts. BUT, if you are more comfortable blogging elsewhere (such as at www.blogger.com), you can create a blog there. Just let me know so I can link to you along the left hand column of this blog. Remember, the idea is networking and helping others succeed--you can't do that if no one knows about you! Don't be shy!
We don't have a lot of rules :-) This is supposed to be fun. 1) get a blog 2) sign up 3) begin posting here and on your own blog 4) link to this site and let others know--in whatever way that will work on your blog. That's about it!
Once we get a strong member base, we can do lots of fun things. Many of our members have new books coming out in the next few months. One thing we can do is host a virtual book tour where we interview those people on our blogs. We can also spread the word about their book signings, school visits...and anything else you all think of!
This will be so cool once we get rolling!
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In other news, don't forget about the following regional events:
The Missouri Writer's Guild has a major conference coming up in Kansas City at the end of April. Get all the details at the conference site. Members of the Juvenile Writers of Kansas City have been involved in the planning of this conference.
Kansas SCBWI will host a retreat April 7-8. See the site for a brochure and registration form. Three tracks--sequester, picture book and novel writing.
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Oh, and as always, if you need help setting up your new blog, I'm willing to help! Just email kpeek at comcast.net
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I'm not sure why this happened, because you've entered the correct URL--it works if you cut and paste it into another window. I really like this blog, by the way. I suspect that my WIP, if it ever gets published, will be banned from many libraries. (Language, violence) If it does, then I'll know that I've joined some very good company.
I'm a kid's writer from Iowa and am thrilled to have heard about this group from the fab Cynthia Leitich Smith.
Thanks for joining!
http://www.livejournal.com/manage/invit
If you go to this link, you should find an invitation I just sent you. I think all you have to do is accept!
http://www.livejournal.com/manage/invit
If you go to this link, you should find an invitation I just sent you. I think all you have to do is accept!
We should start a thread where we all introduce ourselves.
In the meantime, I wanted to let everyone know that I write a ya book review column for The Des Moines Register. (If you're not familiar with it, it's Iowa's statewide paper. It's won 15 Pulitzers, more than any paper its size.) I review books from authors all over the country, but I will give special attention to books from Midwest writers if I can. I have a good relationship with many of the publicists at the major houses, but if you have a ya book that came out in the last six months or is going to come out, drop me an email at kelcrocker at mchsi dot com. (No guarantees, of course, but I certainly can't write about it if I don't know about it. I have limited space and the column only runs every other month, though, so I just can't include all the books I love. Because of this, I don't believe in running negative reviews. If I don't like a book, I just don't include it.j)
I generally focus on novels for ages 12 and up, but have included a few middle grade novels that I thought would also appeal to teens. I also make an effort to include nonfiction and poetry. Again, if you're from the Midwest--especially Iowa or its border states--I'll give your book extra consideration.
Cheers,
kellye
I love Des Moines. I lived in Coralville for two years and worked in Iowa a lot even after I moved to Kansas City.
Thanks for telling us about the book reviews. I review books at YA Books Central www.yabookscentral.com. I usually review picture books, but I do my best to review books by regional authors when I can.
Can you tell me here or email me at kpeek at comcast dot net
to let me know what website address you want listed on our members column at the left?(your LJ or another one) and the real name you want me to use along with that listing.
Sara