Tis the Season for Planning on Passing It Forward

I picked up a little freebie newspaper called Voice of the Village and found that they support young people interested in writing and journalism. As I understand it, Voice of the Village is funded by a nonprofit community fund (501c3) that supports student organizations at the community’s local high school with matching grants, pays for the printing of their school newspapers, and encourages students to write for Voice of the Village. 10,000 copies are delivered to more than 200 locations in their community in California.

I remember how I loved my little high school newspaper (and the boys who were on the staff! Ahem!). And how I appreciated opportunities that awarded youth for achievements in general but especially writing. I always felt that the young lived Catch-22 lives—they wanted to work but needed experience to get a job, but couldn’t get experience until someone would give them a job. No, it didn’t make sense to me either!

It occurred to me that my SharingwithWriters subscribers and visitors might fund a 501c3 like this to support writers as part of a marketing program that keeps giving. Or start a blog featuring work/essays/opinions from young writers.

And then it occurred to me that I could give over at least one blog day a month on this SharingwithWriters blog (http://SharinwithWriters.blogspot.com) where I could feature similar material. Of course, I’d need you to let young people in your families or communities know about the opportunity they have to spread the word about the joys of writing and then use this blog to spread it further.

I notice that the editors at Voice of the Village “reserve the right to edit articles and/or not to publish them.” I guess that would be part of the learning curve for young people. That life (and writing) is never that easy. But it seems even those who don’t make the cut for publishing could be given a certificate honoring their participation.

So, are you in? Any ideas? E-mail me at hojonews@aol.com. And if you decide to start something on the Net or in your community let me know and I’ll help you pass it forward. Yay!

Oh! And congratulations to the young writers featured in the issue I picked up: Juan Godinez, student writer, and Eric Owens, Youth News/School Columnist.

PS: Another way to pass it forward and market your writing career at the same time is to start a scholarship at your local high school or community college.

 

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  Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .