Writing Kid Lit workshop ~ online ~ with guest, Orca Books editor Liz Kemp, Saturday, April 24

Loki's Wolves, a MG novel
by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr.
Kelly is a New York Times #1 bestselling author
and one of Brian's students 

Writing for Children and for Young Adults

  ~ The world’s hottest market

With Orca Books Editor ~ Liz Kemp

Saturday, April 24, 2021
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book. Be sure to bring all your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 1,000 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop. We want to do some peer critiquing for everyone, and Liz and I will publicly critique half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t and how to improve your story-telling. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot! ~Brian

Guest speaker Liz Kemp is an editor with Orca Book Publishers.  Founded in 1984, Orca is an independently owned Canadian children’s book publisher. With over 1,000 titles in print and more than 80 new titles a year, Orca prides itself on publishing Canadian authors and bringing them to a wider market. 

Orca publishes a wide array of children’s books: board books for babies through to younger young adult novels for kids aged 12+, as well as graphic novels and books for reluctant readers.

Liz is the board, picture, and early chapter book editor at Orca. After completing her undergrad in Biology at the University of Guelph she went on to work in magazine publishing in Toronto and Vancouver before attending the Master of Publishing program at SFU. She’s been with Orca for eight years and works closely with the other editors at the house. She’s proud to have developed a comprehensive list of award-winning books for our littlest readers.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.

“Brian’s the real deal.  He isn't just an inspiring teacher – he's plugged into the publishing world! He got me an agent who sold my first novel, to publishers around the world.  My 13th novel, The Awakening – a YA urban fantasy – hit number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. Currently, Random House Canada, Bantam U.S. and Little Brown in Britain have contracted my next seven books.  So it looks like I’ll be writing for a while.”

~ Kelley Armstrong, Aylmer, Ontario

P.S. Kelley and I will be doing an online workshop "How to Write a Bestseller," on Saturday, April 11. Details here. 

Read reviews of Brian’s classes and workshops here.

Fee: $43.36 + 13% hst = $49 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~ Brian

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including online and in-person writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Southampton, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.