KidLit Summer Camp Day 5
Welcome to Day 5, our final day of camp! Don’t worry if you haven’t been able to watch the previous interviews. They’ll be available through June 18. You can catch up on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 until then.
We’re going to wrap up the week by talking about sharing our work with others.
Author and book coach Julie Artz explains best practices for finding and working with critique partners. Forming critique groups happens to be one of Julie’s specialties, as she hosts a matching service called CP Meet Cute.
Independent bookstore co-owner Terri M. LeBlanc tells us how her store typically sells PB, MG, and YA, and she offers valuable tips for collaborating with your local bookstore. Terri’s store, Swamp Fox Bookstore, is the gracious host to our KidLit Summer Camp Book Fair!
Teacher and author Colby Sharp is doing remarkable work to help kids develop their own reading taste. Known for his expertise in building classroom libraries and helping connect young readers to books they will love, Colby shares a bit about what the kids are reading in his classroom.
You’ll find relevant links below and don’t forget to connect with our guests to let them know what resonated with you!
Ways you can thank our guests for their generosity:
follow and thank them on social media (don’t forget to tag them and you can use #kidlitsummercamp to refer to this event)
buy their books or request your library buy them
leave a positive review for their books, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.
Julie Artz
Julie Artz spent her young life sneaking into wardrobes searching for Narnia. When people started to think that was creepy, she went in search of other ways to go on mystical adventures. Now she finds those long-sought doors to magical story worlds in her work as an author, editor, and book coach. An active member of the writing community, she has volunteered for SCBWI, TeenPit, and Pitch Wars and is a member of EFA, the Authors Guild, and AWP. A social and environmental justice minded story geek, Julie lives in an enchanted forest outside of Redmond, Washington, with her husband, two strong-willed teenagers, and two naughty furry familiars.
Connect with Julie through her website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Julie runs a critique partner matching service, called CP Meet Cute. Matching rounds open several times a year. Sign up here to be matched.
Julie also helps writers through her YouTube channel and weekly newsletter.
Terri M. LeBlanc
Terri M. LeBlanc is the owner of LeBlanc Consulting, co-owner of Swamp Fox Bookstore, and an Operations Strategist for Business Laid Bare. Her strengths fall heavily in strategic thinking and executing. Terri loves to tease out the best and most efficient processes and pair them with just the right tools. Want to see Terri really get really excited? Mention automations and Zapier and her eyes will absolutely sparkle with the possibilities.
When she’s not busy managing operations and developing strategy, Terri can be found wandering her TARDIS-sized independent bookstore, Swamp Fox Bookstore, she co-owns with two of her friends. She plays matchmaker with books and readers in search of their next great read. When she’s not recommending books, she spends hours reading, petting her cats, Selene and Simon; doting on her horse, Finn, and watching a good movie with her husband.
Connect with Terri on her bookstore’s website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Swamp Fox also has a YouTube channel.
Terri and the fine folks at Swamp Fox Bookstore are hosting the KidLit Summer Camp book fair! A portion of the sales will benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC), a nonprofit organization that helps independent booksellers.
Colby Sharp
Colby Sharp is a husband and father of five. He teaches fifth grade in Parma, Michigan. Colby is the co-founder of Nerdy Book Club. He co-hosts The Yarn podcast with Travis Jonker. Colby co-authored Game Changer! Book Access for All Kid with Donalyn Miller, and he is the editor of The Creativity Project: An Awesometastic Story Collection. His latest book, with Donalyn Miller, A Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library is now available.
Connect with Colby through his website, Instagram, and Twitter.
Colby has a popular YouTube channel and co-hosts The Yarn podcast with Travis Jonker.
Colby’s books are available in the KidLit Summer Camp book fair.