Join the MG Minded Team

Middle Grade Minded is coming up on our 6th year of blogging and we've had a blast. We've had many folks join the team over the years and we are once again opening up our doors looking for new voices to share on the blog.

So ask yourself...

Do you write Middle Grade literature?

Do you like to share writing knowledge and experiences?

Do you like interviewing others?

Do you like reviewing Middle Grade books?

Do you like blogging?

Would you be willing to write one blog post a month?

If you answered yes to most if not all of those questions then you might be the perfect addition to the Middle Grade Minded team!

We are currently looking for additional bloggers to write posts on writing craft and experiences, review middle grade literature, and/or perform interviews with agents, authors, editors, teachers, and even middle grade readers. If you are interested in joining the team please answer the questions below and send them to mgminded@gmail.com with the subject line "I want to blog for Middle Grade Minded"

Name:

1.) Tell us about you! What do you write? How long have you been writing? Have you had anything published? What do you like about MG literature? etc. Just a short bio of relevant information.

2.) Why do you want to blog for Middle Grade Minded? 

3.) What kinds of things would you most like to blog about?

4.) Do you currently have a personal blog? If so, please link us to it.

5.) What social media platforms are you on? Please include handles or links.

6.) Do you have any interest in taking on additional tasks for the blog? (Examples: scheduling, social media etc.) If so, let us know what you would be interested in helping with. (Note: the answer to this question will not affect whether or not you are chosen, it is merely for informational purposes)

Please submit your application by Friday, August 23, 2019 to be considered
We look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome our new MG Minded Bloggers

We are so excited to welcome our new bloggers to MG Minded. But before we get to introductions, we wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who applied to join the blog. We had so many applications, and you all made our decision really REALLY difficult. We agonized over these applications for hours and wish we could have taken everyone. Thank you to everyone who applied and to all our blog followers and readers. You've helped us build an amazing community here.

And without further ado, meet our new bloggers!


Melyssa Mercado

Melyssa Mercado is a writer of Middle Grade stories. Creative writing has always threaded the needle of Mel's life, weaving worlds and character-friends into a kid's heart. She believes humor is the true chicken soup for the soul (and that nobody really throws up all night). Mel’s wish list will forever include book-scented candles and making readers smile. SCBWI and Eastern New York chapter member. She's represented by the lovely Victoria Selvaggio of The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.

Follow Mel on Twitter @MyInnerMG
or her Blog: MyInnerMG.wordpress.com

Sheri Green

Shari writes both young adult and middle grade fiction. She's in love with stories and the sea, and can often be found curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, or wandering the beaches near her home on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. She's the author of FOLLOWING CHELSEA (contemporary YA) and a contributing author of FALLING FOR ALICE, an Alice in Wonderland anthology. Her middle grade novel in verse, ROOT BEER CANDY AND OTHER MIRACLES, launches Fall 2016 from Pajama Press.

In her non-writing life, Shari works as a Practical Nurse. She lives with her husband, kids, and the worst watch-dog ever.

Follow her on twitter @sharigreen
or visit her online at www.sharigreen.com.


Wendy MacKnight

Wendy's debut Middle Grade Novel, It's a Mystery, Pig-Face!, will be published by Sky Pony Press in February 2017. She is represented by LKG Literary. Wendy lives in New Brunswick, Canada.

She loves to read, write, cook, root for the underdog, garden, watch movies and sometimes pretend she's living in the South of France. Her favourite books include Anne of Green Gables, The Graveyard Books, The Penderwicks, A Wrinkle in Time, A Tale of Two Cities, To The Lighthouse, The Night Circus, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. She'll stop there for now...

Follow her on Twitter at @wendymacknight
Visit her online at www.wendymcleodmacknight.com
Check out her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WendyMcLeodMacKnightAuthor/
Follow her on Goodreads

Erin Petti

Erin Petti lives by the ocean in Massachusetts and loves to read about magic, dinosaurs, folklore, and ghosts. She has a Masters in Education and a background in improvisational comedy.

Erin lives with her husband, excellent toddler, and cat (who she suspects likes her better than she's letting on).

Her debut novel, The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee, publishes from Mighty Media Press September 2016.

Check out her Website: erinpetti.com
Follow her on Twitter: @empetti
Like her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/erinpettiauthor/
Look her book up on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28084013-the-peculiar-haunting-of-thelma-bee

Stefanie Wass
Stefanie Wass writes middle grade novels from her home in historic Hudson, Ohio. A member of SCBWI and finalist in the 2012 National Association of Elementary School Principals Book of the Year Contest, her nonfiction credits include the LA Times, Christian Science Monitor, Seattle Times, The Writer, Cleveland Magazine, Akron Beacon Journal, This I Believe, Cup of Comfort, and 15 Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies.

Catch up with her on Twitter @stefwrites and her website: www.stefaniewass.com. Check out Why She Writes Middle Grade!

We Want You... To Join Middle Grade Minded

Do you write Middle Grade literature?

Do you like to share writing knowledge and experiences?

Do you like interviewing others?

Do you like reviewing Middle Grade books?

Do you like blogging?

Would you be willing to write one blog post a month?

If you answered yes to most if not all of those questions then you might be the perfect addition to the Middle Grade Minded team!

We are currently looking for additional bloggers to write posts on writing craft and experiences, review middle grade literature, and/or perform interviews with agents, authors, editors, teachers, and even middle grade readers. If you are interested in joining the team please answer the questions below and send them to mgminded@gmail.com with the subject line "I want to blog for Middle Grade Minded"

Name:

1.) Tell us about you! What do you write? How long have you been writing? Have you had anything published? etc. Just a short bio of relevant information.

2.) Why do you want to blog for Middle Grade Minded? 

3.) What kinds of things would you most like to blog about?

4.) Do you currently have a personal blog? If so please link us to it.

5.) What social media platforms are you on? Please include handles or links.

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Please submit your application by Thursday January 14th to be considered. Thank you!

Should you blog?

I think you should blog if you've got something important or entertaining to share with your readers and only if you've really got the time to do it.

I wanted to blog, really, but the fact is, I'm primary caregiver to seven beautiful little souls. My children are 12 and under and I'm currently homeschooling the oldest five. And while I do find the time to write, I've missed two appointed blog post times in the past three months. That's unacceptable.

My peers at MGminded do an excellent job of writing informative and often funny posts. Thanks for teaching me and including me in the team, MGminded, but now I need to get out of your way and get back to my kids and my manuscripts.

Perhaps I'll be back with a guest post now and then, but right now, it's 5:27 a.m. and somebody'll be awake and calling for food soon. Besides, there's other voices I keep "hearing", and they need attention too.

God bless,

Rob

WANTED: Middle Grade Online Communities

Happy Monday, everyone! Here's a little trivia for you: I'm one of those people you hate who love Mondays and wake up happy (way too happy, according my family). I spent this past weekend in Houston at the Houston Book Rave. I had a fabulous time, as always. Meeting readers and seeing my writing friends is priceless!

On to what I’m blogging about today… MGM received a great question from a follower:

“Why are there so few middle grade online writer communities (and so much less information in general)?”

That’s the middle-grade million-dollar-question! I have one legit answer and lots of hunches, so here we go.

The Legit Answer…

Several months prior to the release of my first middle-grade novel, I asked my agent (the effervescent Holly Root) about marketing for the first book in a series with Aladdin M!X (blog tours, book signings, release day events, etc.).  What she said makes sense, even if you don't like it. And, yes, I'm totally paraphrasing. Whatever she said was much more sparkly.

We (authors) try to market our books to our target audience (middle graders), but that's where we go wrong with middle grade fiction. It's unlikely that our target audience is trolling blogs, tweeting about their new favorite book, or checking Goodreads to see the next great book. And even if they are, they aren't holding the purse strings to buy books without a parent's involvement. 

Middle-grade readers get information about books from four different places: friends, parents, teachers, and librarians.  

That's who you have to reach online.

Makes perfect sense, right? But I've yet to find Middle Grade Marketing for Dummies, so I'm winging it. For me, the process is evolving, and I never quite feel like I'm where I need to be. You know what they call that? Frustrating!

I do believe, however, that Holly's answer explains why there's such little middle-grade online presence. 

My Hunches…

• THE PAY OFF: Middle grade publishers don’t invest as much money as we'd like into marketing middle-grade fiction because it doesn't pay off. The general belief is that the best marketing comes from having the book on a Barnes & Noble (or other such brick & mortar booksellers) shelf. 
• IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY: When's the last time you saw a middle-grade novel hit BIG? As in, Diary of a Wimpy Kid big. It's been a while. Too long, if you ask me. Publishers invest marketing dollars on books they think will give them the biggest return on their money. That book is rarely in the middle-grade section of the store. The bottom line: It's a business. And a cutthroat one at that. 
• BLOGGERS: Some bloggers only review young adult novels. Some bloggers only review middle grade novels. And some bloggers offer both young adult and middle grade fiction reviews. There are more middle-grade bloggers out there than you think. The key is finding the bloggers who take their blog seriously and post regularly. The ones who do offer reviews on middle-grade novels are precious to authors. They're the link that often connects authors and their books to readers.
• FOR WRITERS: There is virtually no online presence for writers of middle-grade fiction. And that's a tragedy because authors need each other. We learn from one another and sometimes need to connect with someone that just "gets it." It would be fabulous if someone would create the middle-grade version of Women's Fiction Writers' Association. Yes, I know all about SCBWI, but I'm thinking of something even more narrow than that... namely, middle-grade fiction. Maybe something like Middle-Grade Writers' Association. MGWA. Looks okay to me!

So... now that the million-dollar middle-grade question has (kind of) been answered, let's move on to the new one.

Who's going to start MGWA? 

Meet our New Bloggers!

Middle Grade Minded is growing! Meet our brand new bloggers!

Lara Chapman
Lara Chapman lives with her family in Central Texas, where she teaches high school English. She reads and writes daily and is rarely—if ever—found without her laptop and iPhone. Lara has a lifelong love affair with animals, especially daschunds, and always has an animal or two snuggled close when writing.

Lara is represented by the 100% magnificent Holly Root of Waxman Literary Agency. She is the author of FLAWLESS (YA) and her middle grade novel THE XYZs OF BEING WICKED released in July 2014. It's sequel, ACCIDENTALLY EVIL releases April 2015.

Follow Lara on Twitter (@LaraChapman) and be sure to visit her website.

Dan Gemeinhart
Dan Gemeinhart lives, breathes and sometimes eats middle grade lit, meaning that to adults he's kind of weird and to kids he's...well, kind of weird, but kinda fun, too. He lives with his lovely wife and three young daughters in a small town in the mountains of central Washington State. He serves on a state middle grade award committee, works as a K-5 teacher librarian, and writes middle grade books of his own. His debut middle grade novel, THE HONEST TRUTH, comes out from Scholastic Press in January 2015.

You can follow him on Twitter (@dangemeinhart), Instagram, or Facebook. His website bears the strikingly original URL of dangemeinhart.com. If you lived closer he'd buy you a drink.

Tom Mulroy
Tom has been an elementary teacher for about half of his life and a writer for even longer. When he isn't doing something related to school or writing, you'd probably find him listening to music, reading, watching movies or playing video games, which makes him about the same person he was at fourteen years old.

He lives in the suburban sprawl surrounding tropical Minneapolis, Minnesota. He thinks potatoes are hilarious, and his sense of humor is so dry that even he can't tell when he's being sarcastic.

Tom is represented by Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson, Inc. Follow Tom on Twitter (@Tomulroy424) and be sure to visit his blog.




Jason A. Rust
Jason first realized he wanted to be a writer way back in Mrs. Rollin’s 3rd grade English class, when he would scribble fantastic adventure stories instead of paying attention to the class discussion of Flowers for Algernon. Somewhere along the way, though, he found out that writers mostly make peanuts and survive on weak coffee, imagination, bird seed, and disappointment. So he became a different type of writer for a living, the kind that writes source code for software. Middle age, though, found him once again dreaming up new worlds and needing to tell their stories. He’s been back to scribbling ever since.

A lifelong resident of Northern KY (just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati), when he’s not writing software now, he’s working on the latest fantastic adventure story to take root in his head. In between doing that, he endeavors not to make his wife too crazy or ruin his four children before they can reach the safety of adulthood.

Jason is represented by Danielle Smith at Red Fox Literary.

Follow him on Twitter (@jasonarust) and check out his blog, Puddintopia.