Blog of the Week:
Teen Fiction Cafe...


"The idea for the Teen Fiction Cafe was hatched in March 2007 I was chatting online with fellow RWA member Sara Hantz and we realized our debut teen novels launched within a few months of each other," says founding member Wendy Toliver. "We thought it would be cool to gather up-and-coming as well as multi-published YA authors for a group blog, covering topics their teen readers would find interesting--as well as fellow authors, librarians, teachers, etc."

After this initial discussion, Sara and Wendy emailed a group of international YA authors they knew or wanted to know and every one said they'd love to participate. Kelly Parra volunteered to take care of the technical aspects of starting and maintaining the blog.

Here is the fabulous list of contributors to Teen Fiction Cafe:

• Amanda Ashby
• Lauren Baratz-Logsted
• Teri Brown
• Jessica Burkhart
• Liza Conrad (Erica Orloff)
• Linda Gerber
• Sara Hantz
• Stephanie Kuehnert
• Alyson Noel
• Kelly Parra
• Wendy Toliver
• Melissa Walker
• Sara Zarr

How do they handle so many cooks in one kitchen? "Every week, three or four authors post on a recommended topic. Whenever someone has an idea for a new topic, it's added into the rotation, and Sara Hantz is great at sending reminder emails to everyone." says Wendy. "The authors post any time during that week, with the goal of keeping the blog fresh and fun. Additionally, once a month the blog hosts a 'Promo Week,' where the authors may promote their work, an event, or someone else's work, hold a contest, etc. Teen Fiction Cafe gets approximately 500-1000 hits a week."

Besides blogging together, the TFC authors share industry and personal news, promote each other's book launches, brainstorm, hang out at conferences, arrange group book signings, and otherwise support one another. Says Wendy: "It's been an amazing ride, and only gets more exciting as time goes on."