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The Writing Life writing advice

July 25, 2022

How to Author in 2022: A Free Business Refresher Course

There’s nothing static about a career in writing for young people. Publishing trends come and go. The landscape of the industry changes. Your own strengths and interests develop. All that has been true in my experience since I began publishing in 2008. But now, I’ve decided on a reassessment of how I connect with readers. Enter Jane Friedman, a well-known publishing guru, whose advice I’ve been following for over a decade. On August 9, 12pm ET, I will be a guest on her free business clinic for writers, where we will unpack all the questions that have been plaguing me recently. Here are just a few: Does it pay to still blog these days? What is the new role of an author website in 2022 that is different from when I started? And most important, what is the most efficient and authentic way for me to reach my readers when faced with extremely limited time? I won’t lie: I feel a little vulnerable sharing my struggles. People assume that after a certain point in your writing life, you simply coast. But no, friends. I haven’t found that to be true at all. In fact, if anything, things have gotten more complicated as the ways of connecting with readers have multiplied. So, what I’m after is a way to do things smarter rather than simply doing more. If you’re wondering some of this, too, please join us and share in the info gathering. See you there! You can register here.

MMedina

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The Writing Life writing advice

February 7, 2022

3 New Ways to Find Me

Just a quick post to give you a couple of updates on three new ways to find me. I had the pleasure of chatting with Alicia Menendez on her podcast, Latina to Latina. You know Alicia from MSNBC and her long career in journalism. I am hooked on this podcast because she sits in conversation with a wide range of Latina entertainers and talks to them about what it truly takes to rise in the field. It was such an honor to talk with Alicia – a fellow Cuban American!– about both personal topics and writing for kids. I hope you'll tune in. I'm also making some changes to my social media life. Last Friday, I quietly launched Fan Mail Fridays on TikTok (@MegMedinaBooks) and Instagram REELS (@MegMedinaBooks). I'll read a snippet of a favorite letter I've received from a student or adult reader and tell you why I love it. (You can imagine what kids have to say!) It's quick, simple, and fun (especially if you're the kid whose letter got picked.) None of the clips is longer than a minute. Why the change? There's always the search for engagement with readers. But it's also because there is no way for me to answer the letters that I get from students, and it feels horrible to leave them hanging. Typically, these sweet notes are sent by classroom teachers who have assigned their students to read one of my books and write to me. Sometimes the questions are predictable – my pets,…

Meg Medina

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Random howls into the world The Writing Life

September 12, 2021

Take 2: Revisions

I still have sand stuck in the hinges of my sunglasses, and I'm feeling a little blue. Last week, my family and I escaped to the beach for a much-anticipated vacation on Emerald Isle. As everyone headed back to school, we made the trek to North Carolina where I spent my time shelling, reading, and biking. But now I'm back, and it's time to face copyeditor revisions on what will be the final Merci Suárez book. I find myself coming to the task with the same mix of emotions I had about coming back home. I think it has to do with grieving a magical time - as that is what the "Merciverse" has been for me. By the time Merci Suárez Plays It Cool publishes next fall, I will have been writing the Suárez family and the world of Seaward Pines Academy, in one form or another, for six years. The characters and their journeys have become so real to me. It's no wonder that I'm sad about ending their story. It's hard to let go of old friends, even imaginary ones. It's always exciting to get to this stage, of course. It's when the book starts to feel real somehow. I wrote for a little under a year. Then, Kate (my editor) and I worked on the manuscript all of May and June, trading ideas for Merci's new sticky situations. Now the copyeditors, book designers and art directors have begun to pour in their talents to bring it…

Meg Medina

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The Writing Life Trailers writing advice

August 24, 2021

5 things I’ve Learned About DIY Book Marketing

One of the biggest misconceptions I once had as an author was that most of my book promotion would be handled by someone else. What I’ve learned over the years is that some part of the task of marketing my work will fall on me, regardless of where I am in my career. This has been especially true during the Covid pandemic when we’ve all had to pivot to the virtual space. How do we promote interest in our books now? How do we continue to create community with our readers long distance? And how can we do it without feeling like we've become sales people? My assistant, Kerri Poore, and I have been giving this a lot of thought. We’ve been working together since 2019, when she helped oversee the redesign of this website. And this summer, we decided together to take a closer look at social media connections, specifically at Instagram. Working in the do-it-yourself design site Canva, Kerri has designed a few fun items that support my new IGTV series, One-Minute Writing Tips, that many of you have been enjoying. (Check it out for your own practice or your students’ work.) She also created little homemade micro ads for Merci Suárez Can’t Dance. None of this is Madison-Avenue ready, but I think that’s the point. We wanted to create good looking materials that really do come from us and that don't feel overly processed. So what have we learned? Here are five things we thought we should…

Meg Medina

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#LetsStayConnected writing advice

July 20, 2021

A one-minute video series for writers on Instagram

I just finished a ten-day virtual residency at Hamline University, where our craft focus was on all aspects of plot. It’s always an exhausting but rewarding time to do deep dives with faculty and aspiring writers. My notebook is now littered with sentences and fragments of wisdom that I’ll add to my toolbox going forward. Which brings me to telling you about an experiment I’m trying on Instagram starting this week. It’s a mini-video series on IGTV called Meg's One-Minute Writing Tips. No, it’s not an MFA, but this might be just what you need when you’re in a pinch. I’ll unpack different aspects of craft and/or writing practice in sixty-seconds – short and sweet. I hope you’ll find the nuggets useful for your own writing or for sharing with students when school starts in a few weeks. I’ll try to post one up there every couple of weeks. Anyway, here’s where you can find the first one on characters. Let me know what you think! And if you have burning topics you’d like me to cover in one minute or less, send those suggestions, too. See you on Insta! Odds and Ends Where can you find Meg next: Book Love Foundation's Summer Book Club, July 27th at 10am ET PBS Books Live, July 29th at 5pm ET **Don’t forget to write your questions for me on my Goodreads author page. I will answer them every first Monday of the month. **Love Merci Suárez Can’t Dance? Leave me an honest review on Amazon…

MMedina

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