8.24.2011

A Great Blog for Writers

For a long time, I've been blogstalking the voice of Mary at kidlit.com. She's a publishing agent with loads of good advice for YA and MG (middle grade) writers. Since she's in the thick of the publishing world, I love reading about her views on everything: from e-books, to the direction of the YA market, to what publishers look for, to MFA programs. It's a wide variety of things publishing, but it's awesome to hear someone being so honest about it.

Did you know that most boys stop reading after 12 years old, and that all of the boy-centric YA novels are actually written for girls?

Did you know that vampire novels are swiftly transitioning out because there was such a flood of them that readers aren't reading them as much (call it the Twilight effect)?

Do you know what "mimetic writing" means? I means to mimic the pace of what's happening with the length of your sentences. Action sequences = short, quick sentences. A serene sequence = long, descriptive sentences.

If you want to find out more about the YA and MG market, I would definitely check out kidlit.com. :)

2 comments:

  1. you know, i think YA boys stop reading after 12 is a result of 1) video games or 2) sports... i know my "lil" cousin is 13 and that's ALL he cares about... gaming... >_<

    thinking back to when i was a YA, i was totally into the R.L. Stine & various vampire series also. it might be a YA phase..?

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  2. Joyce, I totally agree! I think life becomes more interesting to them than sitting down and reading.

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