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September 22nd, 2009
Teen Author Challenge, Week 10 – Logo & Buzz Tips
Before we kick things off this week, I wanted to announce the winner of the Teen Author Challenge logo contest! If you haven’t seen the terrific entries, be sure to check out yesterday’s post. Thanks again to Thao (Serene Hours), Vania (Vania’s Life Captures), and Kelsey (Reading Keeps You Sane) for their fabulous logos. We appreciate you! The official Teen Author Challenge logo! And here it is, in all its glory…
That means the winner of a $25 bookstore gift card of your choice is: Kelsey! Congratulations Kelsey! Please contact me here with your mailing address to receive your prize. If you are actively participating in the Teen Author Challenge–that means doing the work and commenting at least occasionally on the TAC posts–you are welcome to post the official TAC logo on your web site or blog with a link back to the new TAC welcome page (http://www.kaycassidy.com/TAC). Thanks for being a part of the challenge! And now, for our weekly dose of inspiration… Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
Short and sweet, right? Sometimes the best advice is. Teen Author Challenge, Week 10 Since we’re diving into the productivity challenge part of our year-long Teen Author Challenge, I’m going to switch gears and offer up some different fare for the weekly posts. Some weeks I’ll be hosting exclusive features (like TAC interviews with young debut authors – including some still in their teens!) and other weeks… like this week… I’ll be sharing a special quickie Buzz Tip of the Week. Buzz Tips are things that aspiring writers–no matter where you are on your path–can benefit from. Buzz Tips might be tidbits about the business, insights from agents and editors, craft resources, or anything else that’s noteworthy for your writing career. My philosophy is that it’s never too early to understand how the writing business works and how to make the most of the resources available to you. After all, this is a job like any other. If you want to be successful in the long term, understanding how the business works is always a good thing. But… and this is a BIG but… your desire to learn about the business should never overpower the actual work you’re putting forth on your writing. Writing first, business second. Always. If you don’t put the writing first, all the business savvy in the world won’t get you where you want to go. Basically, I want you to view these Buzz Tips of the Week as extras. Bonus tips for you as a reward for doing the real work of getting those words on the page in keeping with your TAC productivity goal! Ready? Okay, here we go. Buzz Tip of the Week Here’s a great blog interview with editor Stacey Barney from Penguin Putnum on agent Sara Crowe’s blog. Sara asks her about what happens post-acquisition and my fellow Tenner, Heidi Kling, asks about author promotion efforts. Stacey gives a great overview of how, at her particular house, the process works. Every editor and publicist has their own opinion on what an author’s responsibility is for marketing, and Stacey offers her views here. Enjoy! http://acrowesnest.blogspot.com/2008/09/putnam-editor-stacey-barney-talks-to-us_18.html Your Weekly Challenge How did you do on your writing last week? Comment below with your weekly results from last Tuesday through today so we can cheer your progress! If you didn’t quite reach your goal, you’ll still want to check in. Let us help you past any doubts you’re having or obstacles you’re facing. Because you CAN do this. I promise you. You just have to stay committed and go for your dream! And remember, every TAC challenger who meets their productivity goal every week of the 4-month productivity challenge will get a super awesome reward! But you can only qualify if you meet your goal AND post your progress in the comments every single week. Go go go!
Go forth and be creative!
Entry Filed under: Blog contests,Paying It Forward,Teen Author Challenge |
Project FMGM proposalCOMPLETE! 
A 16 year old outsider gets tapped to join a secret society of good populars dedicated to defeating the mean girls of the world.
On shelves now! IndieBound   I’m the author of teen fiction that I wish was based on my real life. My debut novel    
 #1 – GOOD GRIEF by Lolly Winston #2 – THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins #3 – CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins #4 – THE NAUGHTY LIST by Suzanne Young #5 – THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT by Kate DiCamillo #6 – WINGS by Aprilynne Pike #7 – EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich #8 – THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Kate DiCamillo #9 – HOW TO TRAIN A DRAGON by Cressida Cowell #10 – THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean #11 – THE SEVEN RAYS by Jessica Bendinger #12 – WHISPER by Phoebe Kitanidis #13 – SHADOW HILLS by Anastasia Hopcus #14 – NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer #15 – MOLLY MOON’S INCREDIBLE BOOK OF HYPNOTISM by Georgia Byng #16 – GRACELING by Kristin Cashore (This is a second reading which is super rare for me. One of my all-time faves!) #17 – FIRE by Kristin Cashore #18 – THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff #19 – HEIST SOCIETY by Ally Carter #20 – NEED by Carrie Jones #21 – BRIGHTLY WOVEN by Alexandra Bracken #22 – CAPTIVATE by Carrie Jones #23 – PROPHECY OF DAYS by Christy Raedeke #24 – THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN by Susan Beth Pfeffer #25 – THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown #26 – PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow #27 – THE OVERTON WINDOW – by Glenn Beck #28 – THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner #29 – PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White #30 – THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger #31 – MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins #32 – ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG by Ally Carter #33 – THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg |
CONGRATS KELSEY!!! So PURDY!!!
Cheers to you too, Vania, for creating a beautiful logo entry!!
What a pretty logo! Can’t wait to catch up on TAC so I can post it on my blog.
Awesome, Jessica!
Looking forward to having you all caught up and plowing ahead on your story. Write like the wind!
Loveeee the logo! and since i was away from TCA for a week i will start posting my progress on week ten. im still getting cought up. its a doubble week for me(:
Rock on with your double week, Taylor! I can’t wait to cheer your progress next week.
Go go go!
Check in 1: GOAL MET! I started over completely, and I applied everything you’ve talked about the last few weeks. I didn’t get at much as I would’ve liked done – I only got to 1019 words – but I’ve been sick and not home a lot. Next week I’m hoping to get to at least 3000 to give me a boost a bit – though if I can’t that’s alright.
Everything you’ve talked about has helped so much! And I’ve gotten so many more ideas on what to include, and how to make it that much better
I also have so much more of a vision I want to take and where to lead my characters! Thanks so much Kay!
Congratulations, Erica!!! I’m SO proud of you!!!!!! And absolutely, if you can build on your progress by writing a bit more each week, that’s fabulous. But even if you stay with your current goal, you’re still doing awesome. And I’m so glad the TAC has been helpful in getting a handle on your story!
Congrats to Kelsey!!!
I’m gonna read the interview now.
And cheers to you too, Thao! Everyone’s been raving about all of the designs you guys came up with. Such a talented bunch you are!!
Gah! The first week and I couldn’t do it!
Mine is the easy goal – 30 minutes a day. I think that the goal in my head for what I would be writing intimidated me. I wrote about that last night instead.
I’m going to tell myself 30 minutes a day no matter what it is that I feel like writing that day. That way, I get that habit down. I can work on whatever I want and if it happens to be the book, great. But, there is no way I can work on the book if I don’t get around to writing at all!
I’ll get there. I just have to do baby steps.
Thanks for the articles! I always love coming to read the entries here.
Setting aside time to write anything that gets you in the habit is a great idea, Cari! Since this is a productivity challenge for actual manuscript writing, however, how about if you tweak it a bit?
Maybe start with 10 minutes of writing anything you want just to loosen up your creative flow. And then use the other 20 minutes for working on your manuscript. That way you’ll always be making progress on your story, but you’ll be honoring your own creative process too. Good luck!
Thanks everyone! I’m so glad you liked it Kay!
I didn’t meet my goal, but I did get a couple of pages written. I’m taking baby steps to get in a habit too but I hope I can get into it soon enough!
Thanks again for the winning logo, Kelsey! And congratulations on winning the $25 bookstore gift card.
Baby steps never go out of style, for writing or anything else. Anything that keeps you moving forward is a good thing! Even though you were busy, cheers to you for making sure you wrote at least a few pages. If you can add a page or two more to what you wrote this week… maybe writing 4 pages or 5 pages total… and then a page or two more the following week… maybe 6 or 7 pages total… you’ll be building that all-important momentum in your writing habit. You can do it, Kelsey. I believe in you!