Teen Author Boot Camp

One of the most important things I did when I was younger was be precocious and attend conferences and workshops while in high school and college. That was how I realized I wanted an M.I.S. instead of a PhD in Literature. Which got us all here today. I made friends, connections and many, many realizations while increasing my understanding of how the real world worked, especially publishing.

So when I see opportunities like Teen Author Boot Camp, I share the news despite being in no way associated with it. For readers here, the event will be of interest due to presentations from authors who use fairy tales for inspiration, namely Shannon Hale and Jannette Rallison as well as other popular fantasy authors like Aprilynne Pike and Kiersten White. See the entire list of partipicating book people (authors, illustrators, etc) here. That's worth the price of attendance. The event itself is in Utah and limited to teens but it is available for participation online for apparently any and all ages. Excellent! You don't have to travel to attend! Just have a great internet connection.

Even better news, Hale's keynote address will be free to watch for everyone. I've heard her speak several times now, gotten to converse with her a few, too, and she's GREAT. An excellent and funny public speaker who will inspire you. If you like reading, writing, fairy tales, laughing--then you should listen to her speak. She also is blunt and honest about writing and publishing for those who are interested. And she does it all as the mother of four, twins included. And don't we all have to love her for bringing The Goose Girl and Maid Maleen out of full modern obscurity?

The most unfortunate part of the event is the lack of a great explanation of what it is, so I will borrow from the great blog, Word for Teens, where the event is explained very well:

The Teen Author Boot Camp, founded by the Utah-based group Writers Cubed and sponsored by Utah Valley University is one of only a few writing conferences nationwide geared solely for teenagers who have a love for the written word. For the first time ever, Writers Cubed is offering the conference to anyone who wants to attend through Live Stream.

Interested? Here are the deets!

When: Saturday, March 16, 2013
From: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MST)
Where: Worldwide via the internet
Who: Teens, teachers, librarians, book lovers
Cost: $4.99 for the Live Broadcast; $9.99 for the All Pass

The keynote address by Newbery Winning Author Shannon Hale will be free for anyone to watch. It will be on March, 16th, 2013 at 9 a.m. MST. A subscription to the Live Broadcast costs $4.99 and includes the following:

9:00 - 9:15 a.m.: Writers Cubed: Welcome
9:15 - 9:55 a.m.: Keynote by Newbery Award winner Shannon Hale (Princess Academy)
10:00 - 10:45 a.m.: Tyler Whitesides (Janitors)
Class: Imagine and Create.
10:55 - 11:40 a.m.: Janette Rallison (My Fair Godmother)
Class: Bad dialogue can kill a story.
12:50 - 1:35 p.m.: NYT bestseller Kiersten White (Paranormalcy) Class: Plot Like a Villain.
1:45 - 2:30 p.m.: J. Scott Savage (Farworld)
Class: Finding Your Voice.
2:50 - 3:25 p.m.: Journey to Publication Panel
Agent Amy Jameson & authors Chad Morris, Tess Hilmo, J. Scott Savage, Cindy Bennett
3:35 - 4:20 p.m.: NYT bestseller Aprilynne Pike (Wings)
Class: World-building is the invisible foundation to your book.
4:30 - 4:45 p.m.:
Writers Cubed: Winner of the First Chapter Contest and closing remarks.

If you just can’t get enough of TABC, there is also an All Pass Subscription to the rest of the conference (including more than fifteen awesome presentations, including mine--haha). That only costs $9.99 and, as if it wasn’t a sweet enough deal already, you can watch the whole conference whenever you want for an entire year.

To register to watch Shannon Hale’s Keynote for free, visit www.teenauthorbootcamp.com and click on Livestream. It only takes a minute. While you’re there, check out the other presenters who will be teaching at the conference under the tab “Drill Sergeants.”