DR. J I L L M.

OL T HOUS E
15 WAYS TO IULISH
STUDLNT WRITINC
IULISHINC: WHY & HOW`
Why?
Publishing is probably the least used aspect of the writing process in
schools.
Publishing emphasizes finishing a complete work and producing a
quality product.
Publishing emphasizes that writing is a social process an exchange
of ideas between authors and readers, not just a performance for the
teachers..
Having feedback from readers provides motivation for writing and
emphasizes higher level thinking such as creativity and organization.
How?
Give students examples of child writers who published best selling
works it is possible! (Mattie Stepanek, Christopher Paolini, Brianna &
Brittany Winner, etc.)
Caution that instant success is not probable: Children should begin
with small goals such as publishing for family and friends, and later
progress to publishing online and entering contests.
Students and teachers should never pay to enter contests and should
never buy more copies of self-published books than they are willing
to distribute.


TOONTASTIC AII
Summary: iPad app that allows children to create animated
stories using a puppet-theater interface.
Key Features:
Educational: Teaches basic story arc, along with setting,
character, and tone.
Multimedia: Includes images, animation, and sound.
Accessibility: Children move puppets directly by touching the
screen, and they can narrate the story into the microphone.
Publishing: Cartoons can be posted to the apps online gallery.
Costs: Free edition or 9.99 for access to all characters and settings
Great for kids who:
Are preschool students or preliterate
Have handwriting, spelling, or fine motor difficulties
Need visual supports for building ideas

COMICOOK AII
Summary: 1.99 iphone and ipad app that allows you to
create comic books from photos and images.
Key Features:
Photo filters
Layouts
Captions and callouts
Publishing: pdf, facebook, twitter, print
Great for kids who:
Are reluctant writers
Love comics, cartoons,or superheroes
Like to put themselves in their stories


STORYIRD.COM
Summary: Website where students compose storybooks based on
collections of original artwork.
Key Features:
Collaborative: Student pairs can take turns adding pages to a common
book.
Commenting: Students can post comments on each others books.
Management: For added cost, teachers can build assignments & classes.
Safety: Comments and stories are moderated.
Publishing: Hard copy, paperback, and pdf at cost. Online free.
Bare bones platform: No fonts, colors, or custom pictures
Great for kids who:
Are young or emerging writers
Are reluctant writers
Like to work with peers
Need visual supports for building ideas
Enjoy writing fiction
Are too easily distracted by full-featured programs like Microsoft Word
SCRILL IRLSS.COM AND AII
Summary: Website and iPad app that students can use to create
books which they can pay to have printed as hardcover.
Key Features:
Visuals: Stickers that look like childrens drawings can be added
to the book. In the iPad version, children can draw pictures and
type text on the screen.
Publishing: Hard copy (14.95) Free in-app publishing.
Cost: Pay to publish. Some sticker packs cost extra. In addition to
books, Scribble Press also publishes clipboards and notebooks
featuring childrens art.
Great for kids who:
Love to draw
Write simple sentences and stories
Have parents who are willing to pay to print a copy of their childs
book

OOK CRLATOR AII
Summary: iPad app that allows children to create
multimedia ebooks that can be read in iBooks and can be
shared via dropbox.
Key Features:
Publishing: Epub (iBooks) and pdfs.
Multimedia: Include picture, video, music, and speech.
Cost: Pay 4.99 for the app, and publishing is free. Books
are not sold in the app store, but are viewable using the
ibooks app. To sell an ebook, see iBooks Author Mac
App or Smashwords, Lulu, etc.
Great for kids who:
Have iPads
Want to add music and video to their books.

CLOCSTLR.COM
Summary: Website that allows students to create and
share multimedia collages.
Key Features:
Publishing: share on glogster and post to facebook
twitter
Multimedia: Integrate video, audio, picture, and text
Cost: 2.50 a month for more than 10 student licenses
Great for kids who:
Are emergent writers
Are visual, creative learners
Need to learn how to organize primary sources

KIDLOC.COM
Summary: Teacher moderated blogging website
Key Features:
Publishing: share on kidblog in a private class
Multimedia: Embed links, pictures and videos
Cost: Free
Great for kids who:
Are motivated by social interaction and peer
commenting
Need to practice daily writing habits, develop a
portfolio, or keep a journal

CLASS WLSITL
Summary: Keep parents and students up to date by publishing
writing on a class website or blog.
Key Features:
Teacher or tech savvy adult does much of the work formatting
and publishing
Free, ad-free websites that can be distributed widely.
Use only first names of students, no photos.
Many sites available, but my favorite is googlesites.
Hint: For 9.99 a year, you can register your own domain name.
Great for kids who:
Want to share their writing with faraway friends or relatives
Want a free way to distribute writing.
IICMLNT.COM
Summary: Website where can write fiction, post their fiction with a cover
imagine, comment, discuss, and collaborate with other writers, and enter
contests.
Key Features:
Collaborative: Students can join interest groups and workshop each others
stories.
Commenting: Students can post comments on each others books.
Safety: Educators can set up private groups for their classrooms.
Publishing: Online stories only.
Funding: Includes advertisements for YA (Young Adult) titles.
Social Networking: Writers can connect via facebook and twitter.
Great for kids who:
Are eager or independent writers.
Have specific genre interests (romance, nonfiction, etc)
Like to work with peers
Need specific goals (such as entering contests, or getting page views
WRITINCKID.COM
Summary: Free website and email listserve that
keeps track of publishing opportunities for young
writers.
Key Features:
About 12 new opportunities posted each month.
Great for kids who:
Have stories, poems, or articles they want to publish
in magazines
Like entering contests
Are in grades 1-12
SLLI-IULISHINC
Summary: Web-based companies that offer self-publishing and
editing services in hard copy and ebook.
Key Features:
Free to publish on-demand printing. You only pay for the
copies you print, no minimum order.
Costs range from free to thousands of dollars depending on
what services you order. Editing, design, and marketing
services cost extra. Publishing to amazon, kindle, and iBooks
can get very difficult because of formatting requirements. Will
NOT distribute to bookstores.
Great for kids who:
Have worked hard and want to sell a class anthology as a
fundraiser. Are computer savvy and can edit, format, and
make PDFs and cover designs.

WATTIAD AII
Summary: Mobile app for writing and sharing
ebooks.
Key Features:
Free app for iphone, googleplay, or ipad
No teacher features (classes, moderators)
Great for kids who:
Love their cell phones and want to read and write
on the go in their free time.
13 and older, only.


NANOWRIMO.COM
Summary: Web-based free project encouraging
students to write a 50,000 word book in one month.
Key Features:
Teachers can set up class where students can
workshop books and track their total word count.
Students who successfully finish their books can get
5 free copies self published from createspace.
Great for kids who:
Are gifted, or highly productive writers.

IRINT IULICATIONS
Imagine Magazine John Hopkins CTY
Themed writing by youth
Stone Soup
Stories and Art by 8-13 year olds
The Concord Review
Academic Writing in History by Teens
TeenInk
Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction by Teens

IASTWL.COM
Summary: Web-based free search engine for
finding essay and scholarship contests.
Key Features:
Large database of specialized scholarships.
Great for kids who:
Are planning on college and need money.