Online Writing Kid Lit workshop with Katie Hearn, editorial director, Annick Press, & author Lana Button, Sunday, Nov 14

Wolf's Curse a YA novel by Kelley Armstrong,
a NYT #1 bestselling author
and one of Brian's students

Writing for Children and for Young Adults

  with Annick Press editorial director

     ~ Katie Hearn

  and picture book author

     ~ Lana Button

Sunday, November 14, 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. Katie 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! ~Brian

Guest speaker Katie Hearn is the editorial director at Annick Press. Annick publishes fiction and nonfiction for children of all ages, including board books, picture books, early readers, middle grade, and young adult.

Annick is perhaps best known for classic picture books, including Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess and Kathy Stinson’s Red is Best.

Annick’s middle grade nonfiction titles cover a wide range of topics, from personal stories such as Fatty Legs, by Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton & Christy Jordan-Fenton, to fact-filled science books such as Why Does My Shadow Follow Me and Why Don’t Cars Run on Apple Juice by Kira Vermond.

Annick is also proud to publish award-winning young adult titles that speak to the complex issues young people deal with every day, including Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugess, #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women, Fire Song, and Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum.

As editorial director, Katie’s responsibilities include overseeing the acquisition and development of Annick's publishing program, which consists of 20–25 new titles a year. She also acquires and edits select titles in a wide range of formats. Prior to her time at Annick, Katie worked in both educational and adult trade publishing. 

Guest speaker Lana Button grew up in the tiny border town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick. She has a background in acting and is an early childhood educator. Today Lana writes for young children and reads out loud to crowds of kids whenever she gets the chance. 

She has eight published picture books, with Kids Can Press, Owlkids, Tundra, and Pajama Press, including her latest The Cow Said Boo (see here), and Tough Like Mum (see here). And she has more books coming out – one in 2022 and another in 2024.

Lana’s picture books have been shortlisted for awards including The Blue Spruce, The Shining Willow, the Jean Throop IODE Award and the Rainforest of Reading, and have been recognized as Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Bets and the IBBY Outstanding Book for Young Children.

Find out more about Lana and her books at www.lanabutton.com and connect with her on social media on Twitter @LanaButton and Instagram lanabutton.

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.

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

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.