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Praise for WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT

My book has arrived at the Writer’s Digest warehouses and I got to see and buy a copy of it at the Writer’s Digest West conference this past weekend in Los Angeles. Hooray! Now it is only a matter of time before it gets out to bookstores and online retailers. Crazy, right? If you have pre-ordered it (thank you!), I have no idea when it will ship, but I’m guessing sometime in the next two weeks rather than on December 4th (as is stated on Amazon). If, in the meantime, anybody sees the book in the wild at a bookstore or receives their copy, take a picture and send it my way–I would be thrilled to see it!

I started the proposal in July of last year, sold the book on September 9th, 2011 and now it’s more than a year later and it’s a real thing rather than a Word doc on my computer. A lot of books have come into the world as a result of my efforts on behalf of clients, but none have yet been my own. It’s a trip.

For those who don’t know, I took a WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL by Don Maass approach to the guide and excerpted thirty-four middle grade and young adult novels to make various points about character, voice, setting, etc. I find that it’s a lot easier to teach with examples rather than simply sprout off on a topic. I recently contacted most of the authors whose books I talked about and offered them a review copy of my guide.

The legendary author Karen Cushman, whose book ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN is excerpted, was kind enough to read and write a quick review of my guide:

On quiet afternoons, I love to sit curled up in a chair and read books about writing (really!). I’m a writing book nerd. Mary Kole, literary manager at Movable Type Management who blogs at kidlit.com, just sent me a copy of her new book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers. And ultimate is right. I can’t think of a topic Mary doesn’t cover. The book is lively and helpful—my only quibble is the term kidlit in the title. It’s my pet peeve, but a pretty minor quibble for what is a terrific book. If you want to write for children or are a writing book nerd like me, take a look at Writing Irresistible Kidlit. I recommend it.

The original review is here. I am flattered and grateful for her kind words! I’ll cross-post more reviews as I receive them. You can see what I have to say about Karen Cushman’s work and the writing craft in general by pre-ordering my book today!

Speaking of more, well, uh, speaking on the writing craft, I’m teaching my Middle Grade and Young Adult Craft Intensive webinar with Writer’s Digest on Thursday, October 25th at 1 p.m. Eastern. As with all of my webinars, you don’t actually have to be available and logged in at that exact time and date to participate, but you should still register. All registered students, regardless of whether they attend the live event or not, get a recording of the session after the fact (audio and video of the PowerPoint), the opportunity to get all of their questions answered in a class-wide PDF, and a critique of the first 500 words of your MG or YA manuscript.

It’s important to note that this might be my last time teaching on this topic for a while, so get in there while you can. Find out more and register here.

10 Replies to “Praise for WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT”

  1. Just ordered my copy from writersdigest.com. Can’t wait to read and learn!

  2. Ann Corrigan says:

    it’s soooo unfair that we have to wait longer to get your book in the UK (but then some things are well worth waiting for)

  3. I really want to read this. I don’t have many books about craft/how-to’s because my library is not stocked with them. I am unable to afford right now. So, in the spirit of optimism…I guess I hope this comes to my library eventually.
    🙂

  4. Congratulations Mary. The cover is awesome and innovative. Been following your blog for a while and i’m really learning so much from your great posts.

  5. I’m so excited for this book. I’ve already ordered mine, and this book will make great Christmas presents for all my writer friends!

  6. Mary, I ordered from WD. I don’t get why I would have had to wait till Dec to get it from B & N. But am waiting impatiently for it to arrive in my mailbox.

  7. Jessie E. says:

    Congratulations on the arrival of your book! I enjoyed your seminar and look forward to studying the in-depth examples in the book.

    Stay safe in NYC!

  8. Joelle Broughton says:

    I’m hunkered down with coffee and my copy this morning, it’s great so far! The only thing making me want to put it down is to fire up the laptop and get back to work on my own half finished story! You have, in the span of just a few chapters, inspired me,reassured me, and excited me about writing. I’m just mad at myself for missing the webinar and chance for critique submission, especially since you say it will be awhile until another one. Most of all, conngrats on the book!

  9. Yahooooo! Just ordered mine today for Kindle after saving up my Swagbucks. If it weren’t for the stinkin’ time change my little ones would be in bed and I’d be reading it right now. Tick-tock, tick-tock…..

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