Lots of high school librarians around the country have been asking me how students can begin to look at getting their work published. One way is a book called Writer’s Market, which gives the e-mail addresses of both agents and publishers, detailing the kind of work they represent and publish. The book also teaches how to write a short one-page query letter, introducing the writer and giving a short synopsis of the work. My main focus is YA novels, but I believe books such as Writer's Market (and there are many others on the shelves at bookstores) have editions for poets and songwriters as well. I’ve worked with lots of creative writing classes where the librarian brings in such a book, and several of the more ambitious student writers have fun sending out queries and waiting for a response. It could be an interesting learning experience for a class. And of course, aspiring adult writers can follow this model as well. Using a book like this is how I got the first of my 12 novels published.

In the classroom recently—I met an amazing group of young writers at Keene High School (home of the Blackbirds) in NH, thanks to the LMS there, Kelly Budd. They’re writing Sci-fi, realistic inner-city, teen love stories, and pieces bubbling with lots of societal issues. Just to name a few students among the many—Hannah, Megan, Emma, Lucas, James, Cooper, and Abbey really shined.