August 2019 Notable Maryland Author Jake Marcionette

JAKE Marcionette

“I have my Mom to thank for my developing my love for writing.” - Jake Marcionette

Jake Marcionette, (3/20/2001) released his debut book, Just Jake, when he was just 12. It is a middle grade, loosely autobiographical, laugh-out-loud comedy adventure. In doing this, Jake made history by being the youngest author to hit the New York Times Bestseller list and the youngest author in the history of Penguin Books to land a publishing deal.

Jake started writing as a result of his Mom making he and his sister write every day during summer vacation. At first, he hated writing, but eventually he got into it and wrote about how his day was going and how he was feeling. He soon realized he wanted to write books about a kid, for kids, and weave into the books his experiences being a kid. At the time, his family had just moved from Florida to Maryland and he was adjusting to a new school, so he wrote his first book about a kid named Jake who moved from Florida to Maryland who has to adapt to a new school.

About how he landed a publisher, Jakes says, “I printed out a list of agents and called them. I would say “My name is Jake. I’m twelve. I have a cool book. Do you want to read it?” I got a lot of hang ups and “Nos.” Then I called Dan Lazar, an agent at Writer’s House in New York City, and he said “Email it to me, sure.” A couple days later, he said he liked it and wanted to represent me. Then a month after that, I was in New York meeting with four major publishers.

Jake has written three books and has become popular as a speaker at schools. “A lot of young people are scared to write a book because they think they can’t do it, but let’s face it - It’s either “no” or your dreams come true.” I tell kids to be fearless and be passionate and take all the chances you have and do it with an open mind. I tell them to set a goal and work towards it. My goal was to get published.

Genre: MIddle Grade

Middle Grade – Books that feature a 10-13-year-old protagonist. Middle grade fiction deals with what kids go through at those ages: friendships made and lost, family relationships changing, physical changes, a wide range of school experiences, and a growing awareness of the wide world outside of oneself and the injustices it often contains.

Jake Marcionette’s Books: Just Jake, Just Jake: Dog Eat Dog, Just Jake: Camp Wild Survival.

Writer's Prompt - Fun With Words

Maryland Writers’ Association (MWA) invites you to have fun writing like Jake. Using just 100 words, write a middle-grade story that takes place in the present day and includes a 10-13-year-old boy, a strange neighbor, a snowshoe, a physical change, and a boat show. Have fun and send us your result.

Submit Your FUN WITH WORDS Prompt

Submit by the 25th of the month and receive an MWA Fun With Words Submission Certificate.  Selected submissions may be published the following month.