Michael Gale asked Laurel Wanrow:

Do you have any advice for other ecofiction YA writers?

Laurel Wanrow Hi! It's a small niche. If you mean to become known, I'm still trying to find similar authors and make my way. I believe there is enough awareness out there that we need to take better care of our natural world, but reaching those readers who care about the same things we do is still hard. I use a lot of hashtags that relate to nature and the specific natural element each book highlights (wildflowers, trees...) Retweeting like-minded people and hoping they will do the same is a strategy of mine. Maybe we need a FB group? ! Also, I do subscribe to the theory that the best ad for your book is another book.
Maybe you didn't mean to ask about the marketing side? Book plotting? Characters? The story in an ecofiction is just like any other story--the character drive, motivations and conflict have to be strong. If I make character relatable and the story exciting, then I believe my character will act as a gateway for readers who weren't aware of environmental issues or didn't care. Hopefully their interest is piqued to learn and do more to help. Like for any teen book, I avoid spewing facts and moral preaching.

That's all I have. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts! Every writer and reader brings different ideas to the table that could help us all bring awareness to helping nature.
Laurel

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