KLC News

We’re back, after a much-too-long hiatus. Find out why and what’s next for KidLit Craft in the letter below.

Announcing In-Betweens, a short series of podcast interviews in between our regular seasons. Read on to see the varied topics and interviewees. (They are all delightful!)

from anne-marie

Hello, writers!

Hello Subscriber First Name,

The 2025-2026 school year has been one of upheaval and transitions. My youngest went off to college, I did some hard work with a business coach for creatives to make realistic decisions about how I was spending my time and energy, I closed out querying a YA novel, I finished drafting another novel, I did some consulting, I taught some workshops, I took an excellent class on Creative Writing Pedagogy. And then, this month, I started a new job as the Program Coordinator for the new MFA in Writing for Young Readers at University of San Francisco—my first non-freelance employment in quite a long while. My work life has been full and varied, but very, very busy. Overwhelmingly so.

KidLit Craft has been patiently waiting for me to have the time and bandwidth to get back to it, and I appreciate your patience, too.

Liz Garton Scanlon sends out lists of 10 on her Substack, and I’m always inspired by her, so I’ll give you my own here. (Liz’s are mostly about the world around her, but I’m going to be a little more self-centered.)

1. I am still writing. (I’ve been listening to the podcast Still Writing with Sara Zarr and Corey Ann Haydu, and they are still writing too!)

2. I still have perhaps too many projects going at once: a YA novel revision, prepping another YA novel for revision, revising a picture book, and writing flash fiction to keep myself in the mindset of generating new words.

3. My work with writers has shifted to author coaching. I love working one-on-one with writers to bring their stories to fruition.

4. To prep for working with a client who’s writing a chapter book, I’m reading my very first Junie B. Jones. (I know! How is it possible?) Next up is my first My Weird School. Send a reply with your favorite chapter books so I can add them to my list!

5. I’m also reading novels-in-verse for work with another client. Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga is beautiful.

6. Singing is good for the soul. I started taking voice lessons in 2024, for the first time since college, and I joined a community choir in 2025. Both have been wonderful to get back into performing. (I recently sang a duet with my daughter at a recital. We rocked it as Aunt March and Jo from Little Women.)

7. Writing retreats are also good for the soul. I went on two this spring, one you can hear about on the KLC podcast, and the other was five days by a river in southern Oregon with writers who write for adults. I got tons of writing work and play done at both, and soaked in writing wisdom from all the wonderful writers I got to spend time with.

8. Summer strawberries fresh from the farm box. Is there anything more delicious and delightful?

9. Widow’s Bay on AppleTV. It’s like Jaws but darker and with supernatural elements. I take my horror in small doses, and this show delivers just the right amount. Episode 4, “Beach Reads,” is wildly good (but does require the first 3 episodes to make any sense).

10. What I’m reading: Heiress of Nowhere by Stacey Lee, Holloway by Elana K. Arnold, Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett (check out the beautiful edges!), and Homebound by Portia Elan.

As Liz always asks at the end of her lists, What are YOU reading?

Read on for the happenings at KidLit Craft, podcast episodes, craft articles, a Substack essay that’s a must-read for me, and more.

Happy Writing!
Anne-Marie, KidLit Craft founder, editor, and teacher

PS--If you’re not subscribed to this newsletter, we’d love to have you sign up! We currently send no more than one newsletter a month. You can subscribe here. And we’d love it if you’d share this newsletter with your writer friends!

PPS--Follow us on Instagram (@kidlitcraft), Facebook (facebook.com/KidLitCraft/), and Bluesky (@kidlitcraft.bsky.social).

Note: this newsletter contains Bookshop.org affiliate links, which help to support KLC and independent bookstores at no extra cost to you.

Coming up . . .

Here’s what’s next for KidLit Craft:

Podcast: you’ll see new episodes below. I’m working on getting Season 3 ready to release. We’ll be breaking apart the Newbery Award-winning middle grade novel The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. We designed the season to be a “read-along” style, so each episode we tell you what chapters we’ll be discussing in the next episode. I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Classes and Workshops: both are on hiatus for now, but I’m keeping the possibility for more workshops in the future.

Author Coaching: if you’re stuck at any stage of writing your middle grade or young adult novel, working with a book coach may be the answer! I have limited slots open starting in August. You can find more information here, and if I’m not the right fit for you, I’m happy to recommend other coaches to you.

Craft Articles: our craft articles are searchable! We have over 400 articles and author interviews on all aspects of craft. We’ll be adding a few new ones this year, including one up now on writing mental health.

New Craft Article

You can find 400+ searchable craft articles, as well as author interviews, at kidlitcraft.com/craft-articles.

New Podcast Episodes!

While we’re finishing up recording our third podcast season, I’ve been having conversations with writers, teachers, and editors in a series I’m calling “In-Betweens,” about all sorts of writing topics, from applying to an MFA program to writing about mental health. Enjoy!

Craft Advice on SUBMAKK

Writerly Inspiration

"I used to think ideas were rare, special things, but the more I’ve been at this [writing books], the more I see that everything is interesting and connected. . . . I think inspiration is found by saying ‘I wonder’ and ‘what if’ a lot. Even if you don’t make something with your wonder, as a person you can live a more wonderful life if you loosen and notice more.”

       --Elana K. Arnold, author of Holloway and many other books for children, in an interview with Orange Coast Magazine

“Our job as writers is not giving answers, in my opinion, but asking questions. The more difficult the questions are, the better. Our job is putting our readers in situations which engage their moral barometer. Our readers must ask themselves: what would I do if I were in the protagonist’s shoes? How would I react to such and such statement or action? What is the right thing to do in such and such situation? Naturally, I take sides in the moral dilemmas of the stories I write, but I prefer for the readers to infer where I stand from the dramatic situations instead of my observations.”

 --Eugene Yelchin, author of The Genius Under the Table and I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This, in an interview with The Official SCBWI Blog

You can find KidLit Craft logo T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other merch at Cotton Bureau. The tri-blend Ts are super soft, and the sweatshirts are ridiculously cozy. We've also added totes and drinkware! All items feature our logo, designed by Sandra Bosscher of Contagious Design.