Resources

About Books

@MixedUpFiles

A group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers. For anyone with a passion for children’s literature. fromthemixedupfiles.com

@MGatheart

A Middle Grade book club! Activities, discussions, and author interviews for parents, teachers, and kids. Sign up here http://Eepurl.com/cRubSH It’s free!

@WingedPen

Follow our blog! Children & Young Adult recs. Writing Craft. Writer’s Life. FB: http://facebook.com/TheWingedPen/

Ours Poetica

This isn’t about books, but poetry. It’s a YouTube channel. And I love it. It’s all about…. Making poetry personal, in the hands of people who love it. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Produced in collaboration with The Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

About Authors

Meg Median Author Website

Meg Medina is the current National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. She is an award-winning and New York Times best-selling author who writes picture books, as well as middle grade and young adult fiction. Her works have been called “heartbreaking,” “lyrical” and “must haves for every collection.” 

Kristine Asselin Author Website

Spinning tales of magic and mystery, first kisses and friendship, for tweens and teens. Kristine Asselin is the author of several works of children’s nonfiction as well as the YA novel, Any Way You Slice It. She loves being a Girl Scout leader and volunteering with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a sucker for a good love song (preferably from the 80s), and can’t resist an invitation for Chinese food or ice cream (but not at the same time!). She lives in Central Massachusetts with her teen daughter and husband, and spends part of everyday looking for a TARDIS to borrow.

Amy Makechnie Author Website

Amy is the author of The Unforgettable Guinevere St Clair, Ten Thousand Tries, and the forthcoming McNifficents (summer 2023).

Mad River Romance

We started the Mad River Romance website and (upcoming) book series to share the wonders of the Mad River Valley with the rest of the world: the gentle Green Mountains luminous with alpenglow; the farmers market brimming with lush, local produce; the covered bridges spanning a river tailor-made for swimming, kayaking, and tubing.

We also started Mad River Romance to give back to the community. As our business grows, we are committed to share profits with the Vermont-based charities featured in this website and in our Mad River Romance novels.

Anne Ursu Author Website

Anne Ursu is the author of acclaimed novels The Lost GirlBreadcrumbs, and The Real Boy, which was longlisted for the National Book Award. The recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in Children’s Literature, Anne is also a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis with her family and an ever-growing number of cats.

Rebecca Caprara Author Website

Rebecca Caprara graduated from Cornell University and practiced architecture for several years before shifting her focus from bricks to books. Her debut middle grade novel, The Magic of Melwick Orchard (Lerner/Carolrhoda), was selected as a 2019 “Must Read” by the Massachusetts Book Awards. Her recent novel-in-verse, Worst-Case Collin (Charlesbridge), was named a “Notable Verse Novel” by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Children’s Book Awards and earned a starred review from School Library Journal. She also writes the Mission Multiverse series published by Abrams/Amulet, hailed as a “fast-paced intergalactic romp” by Publishers Weekly.   

Jennifer Richard Jacobson Author Website

Jennifer, a graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education, is the author of oodles of award-winning children’s books including Small as an Elephant (IRA Young Adult’s Choice, Parents’ Choice Gold Award), Paper Things (ILA Social Justice Award, NTCE Charlotte Huck Honorable Mention) and The Dollar Kids illustrated by Ryan Andrews (ABA IndieNext List and Bank Street Best Book of the Year). Her newest launches are a chapter book series: Twig and Turtle: Big Move to a Tiny House, a middle grade romance: Crashing in Love, and a picture book: Oh, Chickadee! She lives in Maine and when not writing, offers coaching and critiques.

Holly Goldberg Sloan Author Website

Holly Goldberg Sloan is a best-selling author of young adult fiction. Discover her award winning books, read.

“I have made a living as a writer since I was in my early twenties. I’ve worked in film and television. Family entertainment. I’ve put words in the mouths of angels and elephants–soccer players and crocodile hunters….But nothing has been as fulfilling as writing my books.”

For Writers

Joanna Penn: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/

I’m Joanna Penn. I’ll teach you how to write, publish and market your book — and make a living with your writing…

Dan Blank: https://wegrowmedia.com/

A human-centered approach to marketing.

David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com/

In May 2020, David was one of the recipients of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award along with John Picacio. SFWA President Mary Robinette Kowal said, “David Gaughran has been doing yeoman’s work for years, alerting indie writers about predatory schemes and warning them about changes in independent publishing. His work makes the science-fiction and fantasy landscape safer for writers.” You can check out his books for authors here, and his fiction at DavidGaughranBooks.com.

Jane Friedman: https://www.janefriedman.com

Jane Friedman has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in how the digital age is transforming writing careers and storytelling.

Mystery Writers of America: https://mysterywriters.org/

Newsletter Ninja: https://newsletterninja.net/

Sign up for the Newsletter Ninja mailing list and download a cheat sheet of 12 tips to writing killer emails that keep subscribers opening and clicking. You’ll also receive news and tips every Tuesday (or thereabouts), as well as notification when enrollment for the Newsletter Ninja courses is open. (You can unsubscribe any time, of course.)

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: https://www.scbwi.org

The international professional organization for authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults.

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators NE chapter: https://newengland.scbwi.org

The Writer’s Loft: https://www.thewritersloft.org/

A community dedicated to helping writers achieve greatness. We have a quiet, drop-in writing space and a community room for special events or just hanging out. Come write with us—because writing doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit!

Sterling and Stone: https://sterlingandstone.net/

Who are they? The short answer… a multi-media story studio. Much like Pixar, Bad Robot, or Lucasfilm, we are an incubator for unforgettable stories. We aren’t bound by genre or rules, other than the ones that make a story magical.

We tell stories in every medium: Books, audio, and film/television.

Story Grid: storygrid.com

Use the Story Grid and write a successful novel.

Lisa Cron’s Story Genius: About the book

How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere).

KM Weiland: https://www.kmweiland.com/

K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. She is the award-winning and internationally published author of acclaimed writing guides, as well as the gaslamp fantasy Wayfarer, the historical/dieselpunk adventure Stormingthe portal fantasy Dreamlanderand the medieval epic Behold the Dawn. When she’s not making things up, she’s busy mentoring other authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors. She makes her home in western Nebraska.

David Keirsey: https://keirsey.com/

David Keirsey studies and writes about the differences in personality, or in temperament in mating, parenting, leading and intelligence, which can be helpful to learn for all sorts of reasons, including creating character…

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic:

Writer’s Helping Writers/Angela Ackermam, Becca Puglisi, Myndey Weis: https://writershelpingwriters.net/

Their mission is to offer help and support, empowering writers everywhere.

Thier site has many one-of-a-kind tools and resources for writers, editors and teachers, so we encourage you to poke around. We are strong believers in innovation and are always trying to think about what writers need most of all. In addition to our bestselling Writers Helping Writers Descriptive Thesaurus Guides we have a web app that is changing the game for writers all over the world.