July 29, 2010: The Editor to Write “Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies”

The Editor, Deborah Halverson, has signed on to write “Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies” for Wiley Publishers’ For Dummies… line, to hit stores June 2011. To learn more about the For Dummies… books, go to www.ForDummies.com.

June 18, 2010: The Editor Guest Posts about Setting in Novels on “Cynsations”

The Editor, Deborah Halverson, wrote a guest post today about setting in novels on author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s fabulous blog “Cynsations.” Cynthia is a New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-selling author of YA Gothic fantasies, including Tantalize and Eternal, as well as several picture books for children. Here’s a teaser from Deborah’s guest post, “Setting, Wherefore Art Thou?“: “We need setting in our stories. We need the richness that makes up setting, the sensual engagement that can only come from hearing the crunch of frosty grass under the protagonist’s bare feet, or feeling the sudden whispery kiss of a spider’s web dangling from the eaves. We’d just have a girl walking across a lawn and a creepy old house. Where’s the joy in that?” Check out Cynthia’s blog for the whole post. To learn more about Cynthia, go to CynthiaLeitichSmith.com.

May 31, 2010: The Editor’s Article about Teen Fiction & Melodrama Appears in “The Inside Story”

The Editor, Deborah Halverson, wrote the feature article “Melodrama Isn’t a Four-Letter Word” for this month’s “The Inside Story”, a monthly newsletter by Bruce Hale, author of two hilarious chapter book series—the Chet Gecko series, and the Underwhere series. Here’s a teaser from Deborah’s article: “So, you’re thirty-something writing a teen novel, and you want your narrative voice to sound convincingly youthful? That’s an outstanding goal. A believable voice makes all the difference in the success of a manuscript. But how do you actually do it? The answer might surprise you.” To subscribe to “The Inside Story” and read Deborah’s full article, go to http://bit.ly/b3yXd5. To learn more about Bruce Hale, go to BruceHale.com.

May 25, 2010: The Editor Interviewed for SCBWI’s “Industry PROfiles”
The Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators has just posted an on-line interview with Dear-Editor.com’s resident Editor, Deborah Halverson. The interview focuses on Deborah’s literary journey from playroom to publishing house to author’s chair, and explores how she balances her roles as Author/Editor/Mom. The full interview appears in SCBWI’s “Industry PROfiles.”

May 3, 2010: The Editor to Speak at SCBWI-San Diego Chapter Meeting
The Editor, Deborah Halverson, will present “How Do You Know Your Manuscript Is Ready for Submission?” at the season-opening meeting of the SCBWI-San Diego chapter, on September 11, 2010, from 2-4pm, in Hahn Nursing Hall on the University of San Diego campus. For details about the meeting and the chapter, visit their website.

April 15, 2010: One-Month Anniversary Edit Giveaway Winner Announced
Congratulations to Annemarie O’Brien, winner of the giveaway of a free substantive edit of a YA/MG manuscript. Annemarie’s manuscript is an upper middle grade novel titled Dance with Borzois. Congratulations, Annemarie! To the rest of Dear-Editor.com’s readers, there will definitely be more giveaways like this in the future. Thanks for your enthusiastic support during Dear-Editor.com’s inaugural month!

April 7, 2010: GIVEAWAY! a FREE Substantive Edit of one YA or MG Fiction Manuscript
The Editor is giving away a FREE Substantive Edit of one Young Adult or Middle Grade fiction manuscript to celebrate the one-month anniversary of Dear-Editor.com.  To enter more than once, spread the word! See Dear-Editor.com home page for rules and to enter. Deadline: April 14, 2010.

April 6, 2010: The Editor Interviewed on SellingBooks.com
The Editor, Deborah Halverson, talks writing, editing, and why half of females aged 18 – 25 want to be run over by a truck in a new interview on SellingBooks.com. Check it out!

March 13, 2010: Interview on Writers’ Waiting Room about the Creation of Dear-Editor.com
An interview with The Editor, Deborah Halverson, was posted today on Writers’ Waiting Room. The interview focuses on the creation of Dear-Editor.com. The Writers’ Waiting Room was launched on the premise that all writers are waiting for something–the next idea, an agent, a publishing contract or the type of quiet that happens when the kids go to bed. It is run by writer Tami Casias, who interviews authors to get their take on living a writer’s life.

March 24, 2010: The Editor to Present Workshop at SCBWI’s Summer 2010 Conference
The Editor, aka Deborah Halverson, will be presenting a workshop at the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators’ 39th annual summer conference, which will be held at the Century Hyatt in Los Angeles July 30 through August 2, 2010. Deborah’s session is “The Ultimate Checklist for Submitting to Editors: 10 Tests a Novel Must Pass to Prove It’s REALLY Ready for Submission to Editors.” Registration for the conference starts April 28th at www.scbwi.org.

March 3, 2010: Dear-Editor.com Utters Its First Tweet
Dear-Editor.com just tweeted its first Gr8 1st Line: “The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship.” from Stiff by Mary Roach. For more Dear-Editor.com tweets, go to http://twitter.com/Dear_Editor or just tweet to @Dear_Editor.

March 3, 2010: Dear-Editor.com Launches
Dear_Editor.com has just gone live! The first post answers a writer’s question about how to sound like a teenager. Special thanks to this site’s designer, Theresa Stanton at Blogs for Photogs, who took the vision for Dear_Editor.com to a fantastic new level.