Teen Author Boot Camp Blog Tour & Giveaway!

I am very happy to announce an awesome writing-based workshop opportunity. While it's entitled the Teen Author Boot Camp, it's really geared towards anyone who wants to improve their writing skills. It's an online writing conference hosted by Utah-based group Writers Cubed. This incredible group is hosting this even on Saturday, March 16th from 9 AM- 5 PM. The best part? The keynote is FREE to watch live and is presented by none other than Shannon Hale!

But who really wants to stop at the keynote when there are other presentations by Kiersten White & Aprilynne Pike? It only costs $5 to watch ALL of the content for that day. Now here's where it gets even better. I have been given permission to give away ONE livestream pass for that day. Check out Lois D. Brown's explanatory post below and enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win an all day livestream pass!

There is a famous line from a movie that says, “I was always a band geek. I just never joined the band.” I could relate. When I was in high school I was a president of the dance team, a singer in the choir, a hang-out-with-my-boyfriend-until-mom-and-dad-forced-me-home kind of person. But in my heart, I was a writer. This is why I tell people all the time, “I was always a writer. I just always hated English.”

Because I was a closet writer, I didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of, no one to tell me when I stank, no one to teach me how to craft a really great story. My teachers were the millions of books I read (not in a closet—but hidden away when my friends were around). And I WISHED I could have had someone to talk to about my hidden obsession.

If this sounds like you…. Then I’m happy to say there is a solution.

The Teen Author Boot Camp, founded by the Utah-based group Writers Cubed and sponsored by Utah Valley University is one of only a few writing conferences nationwide geared solely for teenagers who have a love for the written word. For the first time ever, Writers Cubed is offering the conference to anyone who wants to attend through Live Stream.

Interested? Here are the deets!

When: Saturday, March 16, 2013
From: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MST)
Where: Worldwide via the internet
Who: Teens, teachers, librarians, book lovers
Cost: $4.99 for the Live Broadcast; $9.99 for the All Pass

The keynote address by Newbery Winning Author Shannon Hale will be free for anyone to watch. It will be on March, 16th, 2013 at 9 a.m. MST. A subscription to the Live Broadcast costs $4.99 and includes

9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.—Writers Cubed: Welcome

9:15 a.m. to 9:55 a.m.—Keynote by Newbery Award winner Shannon Hale (Princess Academy)

10 a.m to 10:45 a.m.—Tyler Whitesides (Janitors) Class: Imagine and Create.

10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.—Janette Rallison (My Fair Godmother) Class: Bad dialogue can kill a story.

12:50 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.—NYT bestseller Kiersten White (Paranormalcy) Class: Plot Like a Villain.

1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.—J. Scott Savage (Farworld) Class: Finding Your Voice.

2:50 p.m. to 3:25 p.m.—Journey to Publication Panel:
Tess Hilmo, J. Scott Savage, Cindy Bennett

3:35 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.—NYT bestseller Aprilynne Pike (Wings) Class: World-building is the invisible
foundation to your book.

4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.—Writers Cubed: Winner of the First Chapter Contest and closing remarks.

If you just can’t get enough of TABC, there is also an All Pass Subscription to the rest of the conference (including more than fifteen awesome presentations, including mine--haha). That only costs $9.99 and, as if it wasn’t a sweet enough deal already, you can watch the whole conference whenever you want for an entire year.

To register to watch Shannon Hale’s Keynote for free, visit www.teenauthorbootcamp.com and click on Livestream. It only takes a minute. While you’re there, check out the other presenters who will be teaching at the conference under the tab “Drill Sergeants.”

Margie Jordan is a co-founder of Writers Cubed, a group of Utah writing activists who created the Teen Author Boot Camp in 2010. In her spare time, like when she isn’t writing, she is a Literacy specialist for her local school district. Please visit her website at www.writerscubed.com.

There you have it! A great opportunity for those looking to develop their craft & listen to some inspiring authors in the process! Since the conference is Saturday, March 16, this giveaway will end Monday, March 11 to give the winner time to claim their access code to the free subscription to the TABC Live Broadcast. (Value $4.99) If the winner decides he or she would like to upgrade to the All-Pass subscription, then they will receive a $5 off coupon to the cost of an all-pass (normally $10). You must be over 13 years old, but you can live anywhere in the world! That's right, this one is INTERNATIONAL! Bear in mind that the presentation will take place in English in the U.S. Mountain Standard Timezone.

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