Where Young Authors Can Submit

by | Aug 11, 2015 | Mentoring, On Writing

As of February 2017, I’ve migrated this list to my For Writers page for easier updating. Please feel free to share widely, and email me any suggestions or corrections.

Contests

The CNIB Braille Creative Writing Contest accepts original poems and stories by Canadian students up to grade 12. altlit.ca/braillecontest

The Eden Mills Student Poetry Contest is an annual youth poetry contest run by Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, which is held annually in early September. edenmillswritersfestival.ca

Indigenous Arts & Stories showcases writing by Aboriginal Canadians between the ages of 6 and 29. www.our-story.ca

The Hamilton Public Library has the annual Power of the Pen Creative Writing Contest for ages 12 to 18 who are residents of Southern Ontario. Check the Teen Page at www.hpl.ca.

The League of Canadian Poets lists prizes and offers resources for young poets. poets.ca/resources

The River of Words Annual Poetry Contest is designed to help youth explore the natural and cultural history of the place they live. The contest is open to any writers aged 5 to 19. Older students must have not yet completed high school. www.stmarys-ca.edu/center-for-environmental-literacy/rules-and-guidelines

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognize student achievement in the visual arts and creative writing. Sign up to receive email updates about annual deadlines. www.artandwriting.org

The TD Canadian Children’s Book Week Writing Contest invites young writers from across Canada, in grades 4 to 12, to submit stories and/or poems. Judging is done by noted writers from across Canada and one winner and two honourable mentions from each grade receive a gift certificate for the bookstore of his or her choice. www.bookweek.ca

World Literacy Canada organizes Write for a Better World – a national writing contest open to students in grades 5 to 8 that aims to inspire a sense of global citizenship in Canada’s youth. www.worldlit.ca

Publications

The Adroit Journal is a print literary publication offering young writers from around the world the chance to submit work for publication alongside established adult writers. Young writers in high school or college can also participate in the editing process as part of the journal’s staff of readers and editors. www.theadroitjournal.org

The Blue Pencil Online is an online magazine edited and produced by the students in the Creative Writing Program at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, located in Natick, Massachusetts. The magazine seeks to publish the best literary work in English by young writers (12 to 18) around the world. thebluepencil.net

chixLIT is a literary zine written, illustrated and produced by and for girls. They accept submissions of stories, poems, artwork, and photography from girls age 13 to 17. chixlit.tumblr.com

Teens from around the world can submit their poems and art to Navigating the Maze, an annual youth anthology. www.adonisdesignspress.com

Cicada Magazine is an international print and online magazine that publishes writing by teens. www.cicadamag.com

The Claremont Review is an international print magazine of young adult writers. It accepts manuscripts by writers aged 13 to 19. www.theclaremontreview.ca

Cricket Magazine is an international print magazine that holds monthly writing and artwork contests for young subscribers aged 9 to 14. www.cricketmagkids.com

Cuckoo Quarterly is a British literary journal that publishes work by young writers in high school. chronicle.cuckoowriters.com/submit/

The Cyberkids website at www.cyberkids.com accepts work for online publication.

F(r)iction literary magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by young authors. tetheredbyletters.com

Greystone Young Lit Mag publishes poetry, stories, artwork, and photography from students K to 12 for their quarterly online publication. mygreystone.wordpress.com

Hanging Loose Press is dedicated to supporting new and young writers. They have special guidelines for high school student submissions. www.hangingloosepress.com

INKspire publishes articles by youth aged 14 to 29 on the arts, social issues, science, and technology. INKspire hopes to provide opportunities for young writers, journalists, and artists to showcase their talents. inkspire.org

Launch Pad is a print magazine devoted to publishing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, and artwork by children ages 6 to 12. www.launchpadmag.com

Matador Review is an online alternative art and literature magazine. They accept submissions from any location and any age group. www.matadorreview.com

New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams is a print magazine edited by 8 to 14 year-old girls. www.newmoon.com

Shameless is a progressive Canadian magazine rooted in feminism and DIY culture for teenage girls, who are underrepresented in the mainstream media. Accepts submissions from young writers. www.shamelessmag.com

Skipping Stones is a multicultural children’s magazine that encourages children to submit both art and writing. www.skippingstones.org

Stone Soup is a print magazine of writing by young people up to age 13. www.stonesoup.com

Teen Ink is a US monthly print magazine, e-zine, and book series that publishes teen (13 to 19) writing. It offers lots of publishing opportunities, contests, and a chance to read work by other youth. teenink.com

Windscript is the Saskatchewan Writers Guild’s annual magazine of high school writing. www.skwriter.com/publications

Young Adult Review Network (YARN) is an literary journal that publishes outstanding original short fiction, poetry, and essays for young-adult readers. They seek to discover new teen writers and publish them alongside established writers of the YA genre. yareview.net

Young Voices Magazine of Teen Writing and Art is an annual publication of poetry, stories, nonfiction, artwork, and photography. Teens 12 to 19 living in Toronto are eligible to submit. Work is selected by editorial teams made of youth volunteers and professional writers and artists. A launch event including youth readings is held each fall to recognize the contributors. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens/young-voices-magazine.html

Links of Interest

Canadian Links of Interest to Writers are listed through Wordwrights Canada. www3.sympatico.ca/susanio/WWClinks.html

Broken Pencil: The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts reviews the best zines, books, websites, videos, and artwork from the underground and reprints the best articles from the alternative press. Also includes groundbreaking interviews, original fiction, and commentary on all aspects of the independent arts. www.brokenpencil.com

National Novel Writing Month, a yearly program that occurs over the month of November. Writers are encouraged to produce a 50,000-word novel to be submitted by the last day of month. Includes areas to post excerpts and share your word count in-progress, as well as community forums and pep talks. Free to register. Includes a NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program with special resources for writers 17 and under. www.nanowrimo.org

Newpages: Young Authors Guide is a select list of literary magazines to read, places to publish writing, and legitimate contests. Many of the magazines have open submissions with guidelines, an editorial selection process, and a regular print cycle. Some publish only young writers, some publish all ages for young readers. www.newpages.com/npguides/young_authors_guide.htm

Online Writing Communities

Figment is an online writing community created to be used by educators, but also open for individual children and teens to create independent accounts. Figment members share their writing, connect with their readers, discover new stories and authors, and participate in contests. www.figment.com

Wattpad is an online writing community that calls itself the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories, and connecting readers and writers through storytelling. (Not aimed specifically at youth, but many young people are active members.) www.wattpad.com

WeBook is a community of writers posting work and sharing feedback as well as an active blog with contests, advice, and publishing tips. www.webook.com

Young Writers Online is a community of young writers, both new and experienced, dedicated to improving their writing. Members have access to a Community Forum for general, literary, and off-topic discussion; the Writing Forum, for submitting writing and critiquing work posted by other members; plus a chat room, contests, exercises, and more. Membership is free. www.youngwritersonline.net

Toronto Literary Events for Teens

The BAM! Toronto Youth Poetry Slam is for poets aged 12 to 19, all ages for open mic, and runs on the second Wednesday monthly at The Central (603 Markham Street) in the Annex. www.bamyouthslam.com

Toronto Public Library Writing and Art Workshops are regularly held at library branches throughout the city. Workshops are led by professional writers and artists. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens

Young Voices Annual Writers Conference is an annual full-day literary event featuring professional writers and performers. The programming includes a keynote speech, multiple workshops and an open mic. Throughout the day, youth can submit writing and art and youth volunteers produce an instant anthology that participants take home. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens/young-voices-conference.html

Upcoming Appearances: Summer and Fall

by | Jul 6, 2015 | Mentoring, Presentation News

London Book Camp

I’m happy to be invited back to London Book Camp for a second year, this time for a workshop on “Stories Inspired by Real-Life.” Run by non-profit Investing in Children, this week-long August camp offers hands-on workshops for children and teens who are passionate about reading and writing. Although the camp is full for this year, writers aged 10 to 15 should keep it in mind for next year!

Book Camp London

London Book Camp 2014

Kingston WritersFest

Join me at the Kingston WritersFest on September 23 to 27 for a reading as well as a writing workshop:

•  Reading and Discussion of Punch Like a Girl, September 24, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

•   Workplay Workshop, September 24, 12:45 to 2:00 p.m.

I’ll also be announcing the winners and runners-up in the TeensWrite! Creative Writing Contest during the International Marquee at the Grand Theatre on September 24. Stayed tuned for the results!

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Word on the Street Toronto

On Sunday, September 27, I’ll be at Harbourfront Centre for Word on the Street Toronto. You can find me at the This Is Not The Shakespeare Stage. Check the WOTS Toronto website for times.

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How to Revise a Work of Fiction

by | Jun 12, 2015 | On Writing

I’m preparing notes for a workshop this afternoon, so I thought I’d share them as a blog post. If you’ve written a first draft of a novel, here are some ideas on how to revise.

After writing a first draft, the challenge is how to polish your good idea until it sparkles irresistibly, attracting the attention of an editor at a publishing company.

It’s not enough to have a good idea. It’s not even enough to write well. A piece of writing that you want to submit for publication needs to be the very best you could ever possibly write – then you need to find a way to make it even better.

How do you do that?

  • Take a break from a story. It easier to “re-envision” a story when you can read it the way a first-time reader would.
  • Get feedback. Writing workshops and writing groups offer a way to get constructive and positive feedback on how to develop your craft.
  • Edit yourself. Analyze problems in your story then rewrite in the same intuitive, instinctive way that you wrote your first draft.

Expect to revise a story multiple times. The revision process is a series of rewrites that brings the work closer and closer to a polished piece.

Here are some ways to revise a work-in-progress:

  1. Show, don’t tell. Dramatize key moments through action, dialogue, inner monologue, and body language, rather than telling through exposition and summary.
  1. Reveal character with every word. The reader is looking for clues about each character; so cut any text that isn’t revealing character.
  1. Trim the fat. If you can convey meaning in ten words instead of twenty, do it.
  1. Avoid bulky description. Don’t pause a scene to interject lengthy description, explanation, or back-story. Instead, weave short descriptive phrases or sentences into the action and dialogue.
  1. Avoid “yo-yo” emotions. A character’s emotions need to build in a steady and realistic way. Watch for places where a character’s emotions are inconsistent.
  1. Determine your character’s “dramatic need.” Dramatic need is defined as what your main character wants to achieve by the end of the story. This need drives the forward thrust of the action. It can change throughout the story, but it should be clear to readers at all times.
  1. Understand your characters. When you find a place in your story where a character’s actions are not believable, analyze your character’s motivations by asking “why,” then rewrite to clarify.
  1. Ask yourself: what is the story? Answer this question in one sentence or one paragraph to bring focus and clarity to your story.

Bog Wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award

by | May 18, 2015 | Book News

I’m thrilled to announce that Bog has won the 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award in the Canada division! In case you’re not familiar with it, this is a peer-given award, voted on by members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. You can check out the past winners here, but let me just say that Bog is in stellar company!

Thanks so much to the SCBWI members who chose to vote for Bog, and the SCBWI staff for implementing the award back in 2011 and organizing the annual voting. Bog is a shy cave troll, and not fond of humans, but he’s eager to add the sparkling Crystal Kite trophy to his horde of gems and stones. (If you haven’t read Bog, just let me say that trolls are fond of collecting silver, amethysts and even polished bone.)

There were plenty of excellent titles in the running for the Crystal Kite Award this year, and I’d particularly like to mention the shortlisted books: If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers, written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Steve Adams, and Mama and Little Gray, written by Aimee Reid and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Congrats on being finalists!

crystalkite SCBWI logo

Bookseller for a Day

by | May 2, 2015 | Presentation News

Today, I played bookseller for a day at Roxanne’s Reflections in Fergus, Ontario. Authors across Canada volunteered at their local indie bookstores as part of the first national Authors for Indies Day. Thanks to Roxanne Beale for the warm welcome!

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I spotted great books by Teresa Toten, Mahtab Narsimhan, Pat Bourke, Kenneth Oppel, Susin Nielsen, Loris Lesynski and Jennifer Lanthier, among others.

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Owner Roxanne Beale interviewed me for her new cable show Turning Pages on TVCogeco, and I had fun playing bookseller and chatting with customers. Thanks to author Lisa Dalrymple for connecting us!

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Do I need to mention how good the selection is at Roxanne’s Reflections? I got myself a copy of Susan Juby‘s new novel, The Truth Commission. I’m off to read now!

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It’s a Girl!

by | Apr 1, 2015 | Book News

Happy book birthday to Punch Like a Girl! My new YA novel is officially available today.

Punch Like a Girl e-postcard

To celebrate the book, I’m hosting a Goodreads giveaway for one of ten copies of the book. Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Punch Like a Girl by Karen Krossing

Punch Like a Girl

by Karen Krossing

Giveaway ends May 01, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

In Punch Like a Girl, a teen girl with a hero complex tries to rescue others, whether they want it or not, in order to avoid facing her own fears of assault. To watch the book trailer, click here.

An Interview on Punch Like a Girl

by | Mar 14, 2015 | Book News

This week, I was interviewed by BC author Robin Stevenson on her blog! Robin has published eighteen novels for kids and teens, including her latest, The World Without Us. You can read my recent interview with Robin about her novel here.

To read Robin’s interview of me, click on the image below. You can read about why I wrote Punch Like a Girl, why there’s a butterfly on the cover, what I’m writing now, and more. Thanks, Robin, for the great questions.

Screen Shot

 

Want To Be Read To?

by | Mar 4, 2015 | Mentoring, Presentation News

litworldWRAD15logo-webHappy World Read Aloud Day 2015 – LitWorld’s annual advocacy campaign for the human right of literacy! Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of reading A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books aloud with my mother, each of us taking turns reading the characters’ voices. I always wanted to be Piglet and Tigger, and my mother can still do an excellent Eeyore.

As a parent of young kids, reading before bedtime was an opportunity to connect  after a long day, and my kids and I can still recite books like Loris Lesynski’s Dirty Dog Boogie and Robert Munch’s A Promise is a Promise from memory. On family holidays, we always picked a novel to read aloud together. Today, all the books we read aloud together still hold treasured memories.

One special memory came when we were reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. My partner and our daughters had travelled to a cabin in Algonquin Park with my parents. I’d carefully selected a book to read aloud that I hoped would interest everyone. After I read a few chapters, I was delighted when my father picked up the book and read the next chapter. He couldn’t wait to find out what happened next, and he greatly enjoyed reading aloud. During that holiday, we passed the book around, taking turns reading. My parents even planned to begin reading aloud together at home.

Another fond memory I have is of my two daughters reading aloud together from books like Camp X by Eric Walters. My eldest would most often read, while the youngest listened, perhaps painting her nails or tidying her room. When my youngest had to leave the room for a moment, she would say, “Pause,” and push her imaginary pause button in the air. My eldest would stop reading, and wait impatiently for her return.

Today, I still enjoy reading aloud with family and with my writing group as we critique each others’ works-in-progress. Reading aloud creates a shared knowledge, a community, and strong relationships. It empowers and it strengthens. On World Read Aloud Day, we can advocate for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology. One book at at time, we can show our support for the right to read, write, and share words that can change the world.

Want to be read to today? Then get cozy and enjoy! You can listen to seven author readings from Fitzhenry and Whiteside Publishers, including Caroline Pignat, Marty Chan, Lisa Dalrymple, Andrew Larsen, Natalie Hyde, Melanie Mosher, and me. Oh happy day with reading in it!

Forging Female Teen Heroes

by | Mar 3, 2015 | Book News

The March 2015 issue of Quill & Quire includes “A Delicate Balance: taking on the tough issues in YA fiction,” an article on three new YA novels that address sexual assault and abusive relationships, including Punch Like a Girl. I’m glad to be part of this conversation with authors Courtney Summers (All the Rage, St. Martin’s Griffin) and Jodi Carmichael (Forever Julia, Great Plains).

all-the-ragePunch Like a Girl cover Forever Julia

“High-profile cases…have brought the issues to the forefront of public attention, pervading traditional and social media, and pushing society into a conversation that is long overdue…. That these books are all coming out in the same season speaks to the reality that there is more than one story to tell where teen sexual assault and dating violence are concerned.” Quill & Quire

For the full article, go here.