Tips from remarks by three speakers at the Writers Life 2009 program, co-sponsored by the National Writers Union and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

(notes by Yleana Martinez)

The Beacon Street Girls started as a brand and was heavily tied into the website and other online marketing offerings. The main purpose of the brand: to promote self-esteem and positive role models for 'tweener girls. Twenty Beacon Street Girls books have been published so far. One, Lake Rescue, which dealt with childhood obesity, was included in a Duke University study that showed girls who read the book lost more weight. But "brand" parameters means limits: the writers who write these books cannot write about seriously dysfunctional families, alcoholism, graphic sex, or use certain swear words. The books have won many awards so the formula works for many, especially parents who want to encourage reading among young girls but don't want them exposed to more graphic material such as the Gossip Girls series. McPhee said that writers should be savvy about legalities and marketing: "own your media rights."

Donna Freitas, author of The Possibilities of Sainthood and Boston University religious studies professor:

As a well-published author of articles about religion, and as a religious studies professor, Freitas didn't think she would end up writing fiction. But she had and idea in her head and was able to sell it. She did not know that the first draft was not expected to be perfect: her first draft was revised several times. Her second book had seven major rewrites. Publishers feel that the Young Adult genre is the only market flourishing right now. A lot of publishers went after vampire/zombie fiction after the success of the Twilight series. Freitas writes for Publishers Weekly and for one article counted 76 books on vampires in one year. Although Freitas feels that "anything is fair game," she also says, "if sex is on every other page, I do wonder where is the editor?" School libraries and teachers won't buy books with a lot of sex, gay relationships, or a lot of the F word, but "if it's part of the story, it's part of the story. A book will do well if it gets on state reading lists. Freitas refuses to do blogging because it takes away from her writing.

Amy Kwei, author of Intrigue in the House of Wong and former schoolteacher:

All things Chinese are hot, it seems to Kwei, and there is a dearth of young adult material relating to Chinese culture. She has often written about Chinese history, but since the last 100 years have been "sad," she turned to young adult fiction to have some fun. She was unfamiliar with teen lingo so she turned to TV for help, and took notes. Her aim was to write about a child who wants to honor her parents but also wants to assimilate into the larger society. She is turned off by books aimed at Chinese young boys that focus on sex.