Writing and Publishing

Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, Louisa May Alcott, and Stephen King are just a handful of famous authors who began their publishing careers in their teens. Many young adults would like to write and publish but few know where to begin. While there are many books on how to write and how to get published, none are written specifically for teens. Writing and Publishing: The Ultimate Teen Guide fills this gap. In this book, author Tina Schwartz discusses many matters that are not often presented in guides to writing and publishing, such as the importance of mentors and critique groups, as well as courses and extracurricular activities that can be of great help to the up-and-coming teen author. The book explores various writing careers and the basics of publishing and marketing, including how to write query letters. Schwartz also provides tips on writing both fiction and nonfiction, as well as genres a new author can explore, like poetry and songwriting. With this resource, teens will find all the information they need to develop writing skills and build confidence as a writer.

Schwartz does an excellent job of providing teenagers with age-specific advice for becoming professional writers. She employs a conversational tone and covers myriad topics including the importance of reading, jobs for writers, finding a mentor, getting published, and marketing a novel....The book's strength lies in its core information, its glossary of terms, and the resources it provides regarding contests and professional organizations., Many teen writers would like to try their hand at writing their own material but do not know where or how to begin this daunting task (hint: read, read, read). Schwartz guides the amateur scribe through the delicate process of discovering what kind of material to write, finding an audience, determining when and where to get help, and even what to do if the writer does not actually enjoy reading. Publishing and marketing round out the contents. The intuitive table of contents makes the text extremely browser-friendly, and the Socratic question-and-answer format breaks the chapters into manageable segments. Sidebars feature interviews with writers specializing in a variety of genres, from poetry to songsmithing to fiction.

Tina P. Schwartz has written and taught numerous programs on writing and getting published for teens. She is the author of Organ Transplants: A Survival Guide for the Entire Family: The Ultimate Teen Guide (Scarecrow, 2005).