Ever heard of it? No? Then let me tell you about this amazing initiative.
BoomWriter is an innovative creative writing website for children. Based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts and with the help of professional and aspiring writers, BoomWriter has kids reading, writing and voting to create new stories. When completed, these stories can be converted into books and then purchased by the students and their families in either electronic or soft-cover form.
BoomWriter is made available for use in schools for free, and since the Spring of 2011 the site has expanded its presence and is now in close to 600 schools spread throughout 11 different countries! It is an effective and highly engaging teaching tool, and by the end of the upcoming school year BoomWriter will be in well over 1,000 schools spread throughout 20 different countries! Plus, BoomWriter is a tremendous vehicle for connecting students and their teachers with the authors of children's and young adult books.
You can help create a Marketplace of 500 to 1,000 word story first chapters (what they refer to as “story starts”) that can be used on the site as a starting point from which kids can write. Teachers and their students will be best served by having quality story starts written by creative and talented writers, such as you guys. BoomWriter is offering an initial payment of $100 for any original piece that is submitted to and approved for use on their site. Additionally, you will receive a royalty of $0.50 for every book that is purchased from their site using a story start that you originally submitted. Please keep in mind there are well over 100,000 public and private schools in the United States alone, so this may be a sizeable market for your work. You will also retain the right to use your story starts in your own non-competing works, so feel free to raid your work-in-progress folder for ideas.
Accepted pieces will be placed in BoomWriter’s Marketplace in the appropriate category, and the grade ranges are broken down as follows: Grades 4-6, Grades 7-9 and Grades 10-12 with a majority of the users in the 4-6 and 7-9 grade ranges. The Marketplace’s genre categories include: Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Myths & Monsters, Science Fiction, Sports Stories, Suspense & Thrillers and Realistic Stories.
BoomWriter also produces a monthly newsletter that is sent electronically to teachers and parents who are registered on the site. A segment of the newsletter is designated for promoting various writers represented in the Marketplace site as well as highlighting some of the story starts they have contributed.
If you’re interested in being part of this project, here’s what to do:
First - Write a story start of approximately 500 to 1,000 words and submit it to greg at boomwriter dot com along with wordcount, Marketplace genre (see above), a short author bio, and link to your website or blog if you have one. (Submitting to Greg is the correct way of doing things. If not, you may choose to sign up through the website)
Second – Revisions may be requested. If/once approved, you will be referred to the site to register officially as a guest author. This process will include your agreeing to the terms and conditions of the site.
Third – Upon approval of your piece and completion of Boomwriter’s Guest Author registration process, you will be compensated $100 for the piece and $0.50 for every individual book purchased from the site that uses your piece as the story start.
