This will be an ongoing list, which I’ll update periodically

Organizations:

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)           www.scbwi.org               

The main organization for writers for children; has chapters which host regional conferences as well as two national conferences each year, held in NYC and LA; has a nationally distributed monthly magazine and an on-line forum for members.

 

 

The Young Adult chapter of Romance Writers of America (YARWA)          www.yarwa.com                                                                                                                 The Romance Writers of America is a large organization with lots of special interest areas within in—including this very active YA chapter that operates mostly on-line, but usually holds an annual meeting and mini-conference during the national organization’s big annual conference.

Websites and Fora:

Children’s Writers and Illustrators Message Board      www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php                                                                                Also known as the “Blueboards” – a large, supportive, and free on-line community for writers of children’s books, including a large population of YA authors

The Purple Crayon                                                                         http://www.underdown.org/                                                                                            Website of children’s book editor Harold Underdown, author of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books.  Includes frequent updates of industry news, including personnel changes at publishers and agencies.

Cynsations                                 www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/cyalr_index.html                                         Author Cynthia Leitich Smth’s website has a great resource section for children’s and young adult writers

Children’s Book Council                                                                             www.cbcbooks.org 

 

Books  (by no means exhaustive, but more a list I’ve found most useful over the years)

General Books on Writing:

Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King

GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Deb Dixon

On Writing by Stephen King

The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner

Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass

Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft by Jane Yolen

Writing for Children:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books by Harold Underdown

Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market, published yearly in August by Writers Digest Books

Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks

Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl Klein (editor at Scholastic Books)

Writing and Selling the Young Adult Novel by K.L. Going