< Meet your Mentor >

Jordana Frankel is the author of two young adult novels, The Ward and its sequel The Isle, both published by Katherine Tegen Books, a HarperCollins imprint. 

After receiving her M.F.A. in creative writing from Hollins University in 2009, Jordana jumped headlong into the world of publishing as an editorial intern under agent Frank Weimann. She waded through the slush, learning which query letters were most likely to catch her boss's eye. At Linn Prentis Agency, Jordana went on to become an assistant working with bestselling authors Patricia Briggs and Kage Baker.

During her time at The Book Report Network as a publicity associate for Teenreads, Kidsreadand GraphicNovelReporter.com, Jordana worked under Carol Fitzgerald, interviewing authors and leading promotional campaigns for bestselling novels like Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and Torment by Lauren Kate. 

In 2010, Jordana signed up for Media Bistro's Young Adult Novel writing class, where her weekly installments of The Ward were read by Executive Editor, Claudia Gabel. Claudia liked Jordana's pages so much, soon The Ward and its unwritten sequel had been sold to Katherine Tegen Books, a HarperCollins imprint, in a six-figure deal. Jordana went through five passes with Claudia before the book was ready for publication.

What does that mean, exactly? 

FIVE drafts. FIVE rounds of edits. And we're talking BIG edits. Jordana had made the first realization that comes to any burgeoning writer...

She had no idea no what the hell she was doing. 

But she learned! Claudia's insights about plot, character, and world building were invaluable, and soon Jordana was able to anticipate what kind of feedback her editor might give. 

Jordana took those insights to Writopia Lab in 2012, an NYC based non-profit, where she lead creative writing classes for kids 8-18. Here Jordana broke in her teaching and editorial skills, staring from the ground up. Apparently, everyone makes the same mistakes --- be it MFA grads like herself, or thirteen-year-olds. 

In 2015, after she'd finished the sequel to The Ward, Jordana returned to her alma mater as Goucher College's Writer-in-Residence. There she taught an upper level workshop in Young Adult Novel Writing. The same truth she'd learned at Writopia held fast: everyone really does make the same mistakes -- and now she knew exactly what to look for. 

Her creative writing offerings are the culmination of years learning both the industry and the craft.