Wild Ink: Success Secrets to Writing and Publishing for the Young Adult Market

263 Pages·2012·1.83 MB·English

by  Victoria Hanley

wild ink
Success Secrets to
Writing and Publishing
in the Young Adult Market
Second Edition
wild ink
Success Secrets to
Writing and Publishing
in the Young Adult Market
Victoria Hanley
PRUFROCK PRESS INC.
WACO, TEXAS
Copyright © 2012 Prufrock Press Inc.
Edited by Lacy Compton
Cover and layout design by Raquel Trevino
ISBN-13: 978-1-59363-996-9
No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without
written permission from the publisher.
At the time of this book’s publication, all facts and figures cited are the most current available. All telephone
numbers, addresses, and website URLs are accurate and active. All publications, organizations, websites, and
other resources exist as described in the book, and all have been verified. The author and Prufrock Press Inc.
make no warranty or guarantee concerning the information and materials given out by organizations or
content found at websites, and we are not responsible for any changes that occur after this book’s
publication. If you find an error, please contact Prufrock Press Inc.

Prufrock Press Inc.
P.O. Box 8813
Waco, TX 76714-8813
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://www.prufrock.com
dedication To you—and your success as
a writer
acknowledgments Great thanks to my
editors, Lacy Compton and Cheryl
Miller Thurston. Thanks to Raquel
Trevino for designing the cover. Big
gratitude to my husband Tim, who put
up with all the weekends and holidays I
spent writing. Thanks to my kids, Emrys
and Rose, for being a perpetual source
of inspiration and the gleam in my eye.
Thanks also to workshop participants
far and wide, for providing buckets of
fun and motivation. And gratitude
fun and motivation. And gratitude
beyond measure for my friends Rebecca
Rowley, Lisa Pere, and Jeannie Mobley,
who read over drafts of this book and
contributed insights. Katharine
Gregory, Laurel Lagoni, Bob
McDonnell, and Elissa Tivona also read
excerpts and offered helpful comments.
Thank you Diane Tuccillo, Sue-Ellen
Jones, and Mary McCarthy, for using
your skills as teen librarians to assist me
with reference questions, and your skills
as remarkable human beings to bring a
sense of possibility to this project. And
to all of the wonderful writers, editors,
and agents who contributed interviews
and excerpts for this book—thank you
for your time, your expertise, and your
help.
table of contents
Introduction

chapter 1
The YA Genre and You
chapter 2
Getting Your Book in Shape: Novel Writing, Part 1
chapter 3
Getting Your Book in Shape: Novel Writing, Part 2
chapter 4
Writing YA Nonfiction
chapter 5
Obstacles and Demons
chapter 6
Resources for Writers
chapter 7
Submitting Your Manuscript
chapter 8
Getting Your Book Traditionally Published
chapter 9
Marketing Your Book
chapter 10
Self-Publishing Your Book
chapter 11
Interviews With YA Authors
The End
References
About the Author
Introduction
This edition of Wild Ink has three new chapters: two on novel writing and
another on writing YA nonfiction. Other chapters have been revised and
updated, and additional interviews with authors, editors, and agents are
included.
Originally, this book grew out of workshops I’ve given at writing conferences.
The young adult (YA) market is flourishing, and eager workshop participants
have been full of questions—so many questions it would take a book to answer
them all.
If you’ve been wondering whether writing for the YA market is for you, by the
end of this book I hope you’ll have a good idea of whether the answer is “yes” or
“no.” Besides offering plenty of down-to-earth tips, Wild Ink aims to help you
explore unknown territory, tread risky ground, and bring buried dreams into the
open.
Write that book!

Victoria Hanley
Chapter 1
The YA Genre
and You

Tell the truth as you know it and
let it fall where it falls.
—Chris Crutcher

Is it me, or is the world changing at a blistering pace? Inventions, innovations,
discoveries! Much that we take for granted today would have been considered
out of this world a short while ago. Things move so fast that when boarding the
light rail for a trip across Denver, I sometimes wonder if I’ll end up on a
spaceship circling the Milky Way.
So how do we keep up? How do we write books relevant to today’s young
people?
I often remind myself that although the world changes, the spirit of youth is a
universal constant. The desire to explore, the need to create new things and new
experiences, the urge to express, to discover, to venture into the unknown—these
are the marks of youth. Great stories for young adults bring forth that spirit, no
matter the setting or circumstances.
Naturally, there are as many reasons to write in the young adult (YA) genre as