I bought the 2011 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market a few weeks ago. The yearly CWIM lists book and short story markets, agents, conferences, and markets. And the first hundred pages or so are devoted to articles about writing tips, trends, and new authors. If you turn to page 75, you’ll find a great article by our own Sara Bennett Wealer about the Elevensies: “Authors Unite Online: Support, Sharing & Celebration During the Debut Year.” Nice!
In the 2007 (or 2008) CWIM, I first read about another debut group, the Class of2K7. I remember thinking what a brilliant idea it was for several debut authors to band together to market their books. And I told myself when I sold my first book, I’d join something like that.
I did. Actually I joined two debut groups (plus the group blog, League of Extraordinary Writers). While searching for the Class of 2K11, I found the Elevensies. (I also found the Class of 2K11 because most of us are also Elevensies.) The two groups serve different purposes, but both are invaluable for debut young adult and middle grade authors.
