Tags
fiction, Flipped, Hope In The Mail, inspiration, interview, nonfiction, Sammy Keyes, Wendlin Van Draanen, Writing Life
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Wendelin Van Draanen, a member of the SCBWI Central-Coastal California region, has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped, which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21st Century by SLJ, and became a Rob Reiner directed Warner Brothers feature film.
Her first non-fiction book, Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life, is part memoir, part writing guide, and part publishing insight.
ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Congratulations on your newest book Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life! You have written many novels, why a non-fiction book, why now?
Kirsten W. Larson, former NASA employee, is the author of numerous nonfiction books and magazine articles for curious kids. Her most recent book is a nonfiction picture book biography. 
Wouldn’t it be nice if editors approached you, asking if you’re available to write a book? That’s the reality of the work-for-hire market, for fiction, nonfiction, or illustration. If you’d like to learn the secret to breaking in through work-for-hire, what to send and how to be successful, SCBWI-CenCal and 
