What is the Spilled Ink Young Authors Accelerator?

Welcome to the Spilled Ink Young Authors Accelerator Summer Program! This program is designed to help young authors (ages 9-18) create, develop, and publish their own stories in a professional anthology. Our comprehensive curriculum covers the entire process of writing, editing, and publishing a book. With personalized guidance from our experienced instructors your child will learn the skills needed to become a successful author & book producer. But, most of all, our program is designed to be fun and engaging, so your child will have a great time while learning. Sign up now and give your child the opportunity to become a published author this summer!

Does your kid love to write?

Would they like to be a published author by the end of this summer and learn hands-on what it takes to produce a book?

The Spilled Ink Author Accelerator can make that happen. 

The Author Accelerator is a fun online program designed to help young writers (aged 9-18) hone their skills in storytelling, self-awareness, research, writing, and book production/publishing so they can start to build their AUTHORity and marketable skill set just by leveraging their natural curiosity and creativity. 

Unlike other summer camps, there’s no driving required, and with just one fun 2 hours max meeting per week, plus 3 quick peer group check-in meetings scheduled at the convenience of participants, the accelerator is an ideal supplement to your student’s no doubt already action-packed summer schedule.

Why being an Author Matters

In just about every list of the top skills that will help you get ahead in life, the top two are problem solving / critical thinking, and communication / collaboration. 

In other words, the key to success in life is to be able to come up with innovative solutions to real-world problems, and convince other people to be part of those solutions. 

Writing and publishing doesn’t just help students hone those skills, it allows them to step directly into leadership as an AUTHORity on their chosen subject.

It’s easy to dismiss things like storytelling, empathy, curiosity, and creativity as squishy “nice-to-haves,” but the truth is that these are the cornerstone skills of any great leader. There can be no problem-solving or critical thinking without curiosity & creativity, no communication or collaboration without storytelling, empathy, and articulation of our innovative ideas.

Author and authority both come from the same root word, “auctor,” meaning an articulate, well-spoken leader. By tapping into their authentic voice to become a published author before they graduate high school, your child won’t just be building self-confidence around leadership, they’ll be actively leading readers to take action to build a better world.

Being Published

In addition to having their work published** in a professionally edited, formatted, cover-designed and categorized anthology, by the end of the summer, participants will have:

• A clear sense of purpose 
• Awareness of what truly lights them up
• Alignment to their natural creative process, the DOER cycle, so they can create & innovate w/ ease & enjoyment in all areas of life
• Tools for effective exploration (a.k.a. research)
• An articulate core message to share with the world
• A firm grasp of story structure & how to use it to transport & transform an audience
• An understanding of how to elicit emotional responses & motivate readers to take action
• Tools to overcome blockage, procrastination, and perfectionism to pour out a messy first draft
• A process by which to transform that messy first draft into a publish-worthy piece
• An understanding of, and hands-on experience with every aspect of the publishing process, including: editing, formatting, category placement, cover design, marketing, and book launch
• First-hand experience in book production, including: drafting, peer-editing, submission, working with a professional editor, giving final sign-off, design, collaborative participation in marketing & publicity, and stepping into the title of “published author”

**PLEASE NOTE: The most effective chapters produced in Session 1 will be selected for inclusion in the published anthology; participants whose chapters are not selected will still have an active role in the production of the book, getting hands-on training in highly marketable skills such as design, editing, formatting, keywords & categories, marketing copy, etc., as well as a 1-2 page written description of their contribution w/ headshot and bio published in the anthology. All participants will be listed as co-authors of the book.

Meet Your Guides

We are proud of the team of leaders that make up Red Thread & Spilled Ink. We harness our skills & strengths to offer something truly unique & fun. 

Spilled Ink Press & Red Thread Books

Spilled Ink is the youth division of Red Thread Books. 

Our mission is to support young people (under 21) to write/create & publish. Creation is a messy process. Let's keep it that way. 

Vision: a world where young people harness the power of their voice and use it to impact the world.

A world where 1000's of kids are published authors,  illustrators & book creators. 

Young people have natural open access to creativity. We nurture and preserve that. 

*Fiction & Non-fiction

Origin Story

(from the founder, Sierra Melcher)

I struggled learning to read as a child. Dyslexia separated me from making sense of the written word. 

Despite that, I learned in other ways... and published my first book, a cookbook, at the age of 14. I designed the graphics & made every fundamental decision from binding to paper choice. I sold over 250 physical copies. 

In my teens, I lost my childish belief in myself and lost touch with the inherent power of my voice & imagination. 

It took me 15 years before I came back to my love of writing... and the belief in myself. ... and another 10 years before I published again. 

Young Authors Accelerator exists to nurture skills & confidence through practice & experience. Paired with the publishing/ educational team of Spilled Ink Press, we teach young people all the steps to share their voice & message with the world. The world needs a fresh perspective.