Teen Author Bookshelf: List of Published Teen Authors
I remember when I was 13. I’d just written my first novel, and I was so incredibly proud of myself. I was certain that what I had written was a literary masterpiece, and it was going to be snatched up by a major publisher looking for a “guaranteed bestseller” in a second. (I miss that ignorance.) Of course, both things were false, but I specifically remember searching for “advice for teen writers.” The first result I got was from a published author whose name I won’t say, and the advice was basically (I’m paraphrasing): “Your writing is terrible as a teen. Keep at it, but you won’t get published until you’re an adult.” The second result, by another published author, said almost exactly the same thing. The third result talked about the pros and cons of teens writing, and it ended with a poll asking the blog readers whether teens should be writing seriously. Almost everyone answered “No.”
I’d never been more discouraged in my life. All these professionals saying that teens–that I–should not be writing seriously. It hurt. It made me question whether they were right, whether I should just give up now. And all of the “advice” I found was like that–negative. (This is partly what inspired TCWT, actually, to show teen writers how talented they truly are.) But the point being, there are always going to be people who don’t believe in you. There are going to supporters, and there are going to be skeptics. Always. The thing is, you wrote a book. As a teen. You’re going to write more. You’re going to get better. And to all you aspiring teen writers looking for advice like I was, I’d say: “Keep at it. You’re closer than you think.” Because really, you’re almost there.
And to show this, I’m creating a “Teen Author Bookshelf,” a list of authors who sold their books to major publishers as teens. (I’ll do self-published teens in the future.) Hopefully, this will inspire you, and will remind you all that you can do it.
You can do it.
(I’d like to note that while I love many of these authors, I’m not a fan of a couple, but I do feel the need to include them anyway. The first two teen authors on the list are, for what it’s worth, my idols. This is because they both write well–they write true–and they have sizeable fan bases. They don’t market themselves as “writing prodigies,” like many teen writers do; they’re able to stand up in the current YA market as ordinary writers. I love that. They are just ordinary writers, who happened to be published as teens. And so, Hannah Moskowitz and Kody Keplinger, you two inspire me.)
***
Kody Keplinger
The Duff, Shut Out, A Midsummer’s Nightmare
***
Hannah Moskowitz
Break, Invincible Summer, Zombie Tag
***
Christopher Paolini
Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr
***
Vahini Naidoo
Fall To Pieces
***
Kat Zhang
What’s Left of Me
***
Stefan Bachmann
The Peculiar
***
Rachel Coker
Interrupted
***
Steph Bowe
Girl Saves Boy
***
Dan Elconin
Never After
***
Alexandra Adornetto
Halo, Hades, Heaven
***
Nancy Yi Fan
Swordbird, Sword Quest, Sword Mountain
***
Ned Vizzini
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Teen Angst, The Other Normals
***
Jessica Dunn
Teens Guide To Getting Published
***
Isobelle Carmody
Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, Ashling
***
Flavia Bujor
The Prophecy of the Stones
***
Jack Heath
The Lab, Remote Control
***
S.E. Hinton
The Outsiders, That Was Then This Is Now
***
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
In The Forests of the Night, Hawksong, Demon In My View
***
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
***
Cayla Kluver
Legacy
***
Lindsay Cummings
*Coming in 2014. Cover not yet revealed!*
The Murder Complex
***
Stephanie Diaz
*Coming in 2014. Cover not yet revealed!*
Extraction
***
Katherine Ewell
*Coming in 2014. Cover not yet revealed!*
Dear Killer
***
Have other teen authors to add to the list? Please let me know in the comments below!
Posted on October 6, 2012, in Banned Books Week, Teen Author Bookshelf and tagged 13 year old author, amelia atwater-rhodes, christopher paolini, hannah moskowitz, kody keplinger, published teen authors, teen author list, teens with books, teens writing for teens. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.
Great post! Just the sort of inspiration I needed today, hehe!
Woot!
It’s funny. I never encountered the negativity you seem to have come across, except from family and friends. But I think that’s because I never looked for writing advice for teens. I didn’t realise there WAS writing advice for teens. I hadn’t yet come out into the world of the internet and I didn’t realise I wasn’t the only one who wrote novels at the age of twelve… so I just looked for the general advice. I behaved, to all intents and purposes, like I was an adult writer. It never even occurred to me that there might be advice directed at people my own age.
I think that’s for the best. At the time, I didn’t really understand much about publishing and I thought advice directed at teen writers would help. Well, it didn’t.
Ehehe, no… it’s either patronising or discouraging and neither of those are helpful!
Cayla Kluver’s Legacy Tril was picked up by Harlequin Teen and published in June of this year. She is 19, I believe but wrote the book when she was 15… don’t quote me on that, you might have to look into it.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10072160-legacy
Thank you! Added it.
Hi John!
I’m sorry you weren’t encouraged by more adults. I don’t like to hear that! Good for you for ignoring the negative and persevering your dreams. I’m proud of you. Thanks for including these books here. I’m going to tweet this. Thanks.
M
I had that same advice when I first started doing writing courses. In a nutshell? “Don’t write until you’re 30 because you haven’t experienced enough.” I couldn’t BELIEVE it! What have I been doing for the last 5 years?! Least to say, I don’t believe it. Teens can write rubbish, but so can adults. And if we want to write, then heck, we jolly well should write.
And we jolly well will! I disagree with the “experience” thing too. What, did JK Rowling go to Hogwarts before she wrote Harry Potter? A teenager starting to write is the same as a 60-year-old starting to write
Yeah, I hate the “experience” thing as well. Actually, I wrote a post on this in May of this year. You don’t need experience to write fiction. You just need to research, and to sensibly imagine what your character is going through and their emotions and everything. Plus, teens are in the best position to do that in YA, because we’re there EVERY DAY.
I came across EXACTLY the same website as you. Funny how that happens. I believed it, too, when I was thirteen…which is not a good thing, because I didn’t have the courage to start writing again for a while. I’m so glad you’re running this and giving teens a chance to shine
Haha, I’m glad too!
But yeah, it’s so discouraging, and at the time I almost believed it because I didn’t know better. Thank gosh I kept writing anyway.
YAY for teen writers. Gordon Korman and Kenneth Oppel were also both published as teens, as well as Cayla Kluver I think.
Kenneth Oppel and Gordon Korman were? Really? Oooh! I’ll look into that.
Teen writing is awesome, usually because we’re young-we’re not jaded or cynical yet. People don’t tend to take us seriously because our lives are so freaking awkward. This is just an awkward time, so publishers think we write awkwardly too.
Great post though, I’ll definitely check these out!
P.S Can you do a post on ideas for novels(how to get them ect.) and how to pursue them (e.g making time through school, keeping at it, warding off procrastination ect.)?
Haha, yeah! And that’s a great post suggestion. I’ll definitely write one and post it by the end of the month.
Hi all I like the post I am a 13 and I am writing a book it’s nice to know that I can still make my book thanks for the help for making me happy
Pingback: Why Teen Writers Are Taking Over The Universe « Teens Can Write, Too!
Pingback: On Teen Writing and its Non-Suckage | The Loony Teen Writer