writer’s resources

At least once a month, I plan to do a post specifically FOR WRITERS as we sit in our respective Writing Rooms, highlighting writer resources, educators, opportunities and more. This, the first of these posts, highlights editor, educator, writer, and former agent MARY KOLE. I first became aware of Mary when I read her excellent writer’s-craft book, WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT, subtitled The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers. That subtitle describes the book perfectly. It is a full course in writing for YA and MG – a course you can hold in your hand and refer to again and again. Mary has a WEBSITE, kidlit.com, where she has shared a plethora of writing craft information over the years. If you have a question about writing, whether for kids or grownups, Mary’s site is bound to have the answer. Scroll down the sidebar of the home page of her website to find the “search archives” box to find that answer. As a fabulous bonus for subscribing to her informative and fun posts, you will receive a pdf “Manuscript Submission Cheat Sheet.” It is packed with helpful information. The opportunities to learn from Mary don’t end there, though. There is so much more available! Here’s a mini Heads-Up! Mary runs a small group writing workshop, all online, over the course of six months, called STORY MASTERMIND. You can consider it a mini-MFA, accessible and doable. The next cohort is coming up soon, and the deadline to apply for that upcoming cohort is October 8, 2021. For more information, and the link to apply, click HERE. If you’re most interested in submission information, Mary created the MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION BLUEPRINT, part of the excellent offerings of Children’s Book Insider’s many Manuscript Blueprint courses. This will lead you step by step through the submission process, and it’s something you can go back to again and again. Like other Manuscript Blueprint courses, there’s a free sample so you can see if it’s what you’re looking for. You can find out more about it at this link, as well as being able to look around and see what else Manuscript Blueprint has to offer. Mary offers seven courses through Udemy. I have taken her course in Crafting Dynamic Characters through Udemy, and it was fabulous. I would highly recommend it. Here’s the link where you can learn more about these learning opportunities. Are you still with me? Because there is even MORE! Mary has also teamed with others to form the GOOD STORY COMPANY, which seeks to educate, offer a variety of editorial services, connect writers and readers into community, and above all, “help writers unlock their potential.” You can learn more by clicking on this link to Good Story Company. And as you might expect, with all her experience and editorial expertise, she is also a freelance editor, at MARY KOLE EDITORIAL. From a one-time consultation to an in-depth analysis of your manuscript, and with many options in between, Mary is ready to help you take your manuscript to the highest level possible. Find out more about how you can work with Mary on your manuscript at this link. For a taste of what Mary is like, you can hear her talking with Laura Backes Bard on the fabulous KidLit Distancing Social (now KidLit Social). She was Laura’s guest for the seventh Social on May 14, 2020. At that time, Mary talked about submitting your work to agents and editors. You can watch the full replay at this link. Thanks for joining me for this spotlight on Mary Kole’s work. I hope you’ve found something that will benefit you in your writing life. (And now, I have some resources to add to my Writer’s Resources page, haven’t I?) I hope you’ll come back next week, when I’ll be talking about Rajani Larocca’s writing in general, and her MG novel MUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL in particular.