Writers Helping Writers^®

MG & Kidlit

Helpful Picture Book Tips and Tricks (Plus a Giveaway!)

January 10, 2026

Helpful Picture Book Tips and Tricks (Plus a Giveaway!)

January 10, 2026

Whether you’ve always wanted to create a picture book, are in the process of revising one, or your manuscript is out on submission, your 2026 picture book goals are within…

Best Communities for Marketing Your Writing

October 29, 2024

Best Communities for Marketing Your Writing

October 29, 2024

By Eleanor Hecks Whether you publish traditionally or independently, getting the word out about your books requires a lot of work and monetary investment. Social media is an obvious choice…

Genre Switching: Launching a Successful Career in a New Genre

July 29, 2021

Genre Switching: Launching a Successful Career in a New Genre

July 29, 2021

Admit it, you’ve thought about cheating. After all, there’s so many to choose from, why tie yourself down to one genre? (Hey, what did you THINK I was talking about?)…

Essential Marketing Tactics For Children’s Authors

April 24, 2018

Essential Marketing Tactics For Children’s Authors

April 24, 2018

When we aren’t working on thesaurus books, Becca and I write for children and young adults. This means we know that one of the biggest challenges for Kid-lit & YA…

Kids and the Decline of Reading, Part 2: What We Can Do As Authors

March 31, 2015

Kids and the Decline of Reading, Part 2: What We Can Do As Authors

March 31, 2015

In case you missed it, I posted last week about the decline of reading among kids (particularly teens), and how we could head that off at home. Some good ideas were…

Kids and the Decline of Reading, Part 1: What We Can Do At Home

March 24, 2015

Kids and the Decline of Reading, Part 1: What We Can Do At Home

March 24, 2015

As a mother of a 5- and 6-year-old, I’m always curious about reading trends in the kid world, and how to get children to like reading. I know that reading…

3 Tricks to Surviving a Public Speaking Event

November 24, 2014

3 Tricks to Surviving a Public Speaking Event

November 24, 2014

Do you know that more people are afraid of public speaking than of anything else in the world? I would say writers are included in this group, but the difference…

Myth & Folklore: Finding Old Stories To Make New

February 25, 2014

Myth & Folklore: Finding Old Stories To Make New

February 25, 2014

Today author Bish Denham is with us, tackling Myth and Folklore and the growing popularity of retellings. What is it about myths and fairy tales that readers find so attractive?…

What Makes a Strong Author’s Visit—a Teacher’s Perspective

January 10, 2013

What Makes a Strong Author’s Visit—a Teacher’s Perspective

January 10, 2013

Author visits are a great time to encourage the love of reading and to enjoy interaction with our audience, so getting caught up in mental worries is something we need…

How to Write ‘Kid Voice’ in Middle Grade Fiction

September 26, 2012

How to Write ‘Kid Voice’ in Middle Grade Fiction

September 26, 2012

By Shannon Messenger I thought I’d talk today about writing kid voice, since that seems to be the subject that comes up most often when people find out I write…