Finding Jewish Joy: An intensive mini-course on writing picture books

SCBWI Israel presents...

Finding Jewish Joy: An intensive mini-course on writing picture books

Online: October 28 – November 11 (extending to Nov 18 if the course fills up)
Mondays 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in Israel
12:30 – 3:00 p.m. in Toronto (Eastern Time) for the first week, then 11:30 – 2:00 p.m. after that, due to the clock change.

Notes: Initially registration is open only to SCBWI members, but on Wednesday, Sept 25, registration opens to everyone.

First readings will be sent out Oct 21 (and I start making the schedule of when your pieces will be due a couple weeks before that – so please sign up as early as possible! Space is limited ~Brian)

Get ready to roll up your sleeves and polish your picture book manuscripts until they gleam. For this course, you’ll be asked to bring in two of your manuscripts for detailed feedback. Usually, this will be two different picture book manuscripts, but it could be just one and then a revised version. 

Our theme is “finding Jewish joy,” but your stories don’t need to be all sweetness and light. We can find joy in any manuscript we create as long as it’s genuine and touches on the lives of our readers or tickles their imaginations.

Besides critiquing pieces, we’ll have short discussions/lectures addressing the needs of the group. In addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

This is a highly dynamic, interactive course for serious writers – but we think you'll have a lot of fun, too!

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years and has a particular interest and love for Jewish Kid Lit. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. 

Brian is also the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing), but his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reviews and pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's various writing courses, workshops, and retreats here (and scroll down).

As a writer, Brian mostly writes commentary. For his recent work, see here (and scroll down). But he also writes about Jewish books, particularly books for young people. See here (and scroll down).

Fee: for SCWIBI member: $100 U.S. For the general public: $140 U.S.

To register or for more information go here: https://www.scbwi.org/events/pbminicourse

FAQs

Is this mini-course in English or Hebrew?
This and all other SCBWI Israel events are in English unless otherwise stated.

What does SCBWI stand for?
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Is this for picture book or middle grade writers?
This mini-course will focus exclusively on picture books.

Do I have to live in Israel to participate?
This mini-course is open to all SCBWI members, regardless of where they live.

Do I have to be a SCBWI member to participate?
After September 25th, if space permits, we will open this mini-course up to non-SCBWI members as well.

Do I have to be Jewish to participate?
All SCBWI events are open to anyone, of any ethnicity or religion. It might help if you write "Jewish stories" or "Jewish picture books." But you get to choose how you define those terms!

What forms of payment do you accept?
For your convenience, you can now pay via the SCBWI site using any internationally recognized credit card.

What currency will I be paying in?
All program pricing is now listed in $US (US dollars). The payment gateway may offer you the option of paying in your local currency (e.g. converting the cost to shekels if you live in Israel). This is beyond our control. Please contact us at Israel@scbwi.org if you have any questions about paying for this event.

 What other events does SCBWI Israel have going on?
Glad you asked! Hope to see you at another event soon.

What else does Brian Henry have going on?
Check out all his upcoming on-day writing workshops, four-day retreats, and weekly classes here.

“When a Cuppa Won’t Do” by Margery Reynolds

The whirling flash of red and blue emergency lights across the street drew my attention to the kitchen window. Two cruisers pulled up alongside the ambulance and unmarked car already in the driveway across the street. An army of police officers spilled out of the vehicles and surrounded the house, while the plain clothes officials went inside.

The whistling of the kettle pulled my thoughts back to the kitchen, and Jenny who sat at my table, her head buried between her trembling hands.

“What if…?” Jenny asked.

“A bit late for ifs,” I said.

Jenny’s husband of twenty-two years had been having an affair. I would never have believed it. Sid just wasn’t the type. I’d said as much when Jenny first mentioned she suspected something was going on. “He’s a family man, a brilliant father, devoted to you and the kids,” I’d said.

I was wrong. Five years later, things came crashing down and now Jenny sat at my table, waiting, wondering, worried.

I dropped three tea bags into Granny’s porcelain pot, poured in the boiling water the way I’d done a hundred times before, because that’s what you did, when someone’s world was caving in. You made tea.

“There’s nothing a good cup of tea can’t fix,” Granny used to say. “A cuppa cures all.”

But then I realized something. Jenny and I weren’t children anymore, and this wasn’t a skinned knee in the playground. A cup of tea just wouldn’t do. This called for something other than tea. I reached into the cupboard above the stove and hauled down a bottle of the good scotch.

Jenny slid back her chair, fetched two of my best tumblers from the cabinet and set them on the table, her eyes flitting to the scene unfolding across the street at her house. “Now you’re talkin’,” she said, a slow smile spreading over her face as I poured the amber liquid.

Jenny slid back her chair, fetched two of my best tumblers from the cabinet and set them on the table, her eyes flitting across the street to her house, and back again.

“Now you’re talkin’,” she said. A slow smile spread over her face as I poured the amber liquid.

The first sip burned all the way down and when it hit the pit of my stomach, it lay there smoldering. I ventured a look out the window when I heard the ambulance doors slam shut. A woman in handcuffs, flanked by uniformed officers, was escorted out of Jenny’s house and into the back seat of a cruiser. In less than a minute they were gone, nothing left but ribbons of yellow crime scene tape flapping in the breeze.

My eyes met Jenny’s. I raised my glass in a mocking toast. “To freedom, because Sid will never darken your doorstep again.”

Jenny’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “To Mary. It’ll be twenty-five to life before she ever ruins another marriage.”

Dale Margery Rutherford aka Margery Reynolds gave up her bookstore and tea shop, called Novel-Teas, in 2016 to pursue her interest in writing. In 2022 she published her first novel, followed by her second in 2023, and will have two releases in 2024. One Autumn at Ril Lake (the third in the Muskoka Cottage Novel Series) and the first in her Dotty Hamilton Series; A Tapestry of Lies.

Besides writing, Margery is also a freelance developmental editor and facilitator of a local writing group. Her personal reading choices lean toward historical fiction, family drama, women’s fiction, cozy mysteries, and the occasional suspense. When she isn’t writing, she’s researching her family tree, doing jig-saw puzzles and watching binge-worthy TV shows.

This story, “When A Cuppa Won’t Do,” started from a writing prompt at one of Brian Henry’s writing retreats at the Briars.

You can find Margery’s books in e-book form anywhere you usually buy e-books, or on loan through Overdrive or Hoopla at your local library. Print copies are available on Amazon or Ingram Spark.

You can follow Margery on Facebook here, on her website here, or on her Substack here.

Read more short stories, essays, and reviews by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

See upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day  retreats here. 

Amy Moore-Benson joins Canadian literary agency Cooke McDermid, seeks commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction

All the Colour in the World
by CS Richardson
represented by CookeMcDermid

CookeMcDermid Literary Management

219 Dufferin Street
Unit 208B
Toronto, Ontario

https://cookemcdermid.com/ 

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to  Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here:  https://brian999.substack.com/

CookeMcDermid was created in 2017 by the amalgamation of two pre-eminent Canadian agencies, The Cooke Agency and The McDermid Agency.

CookeMcDermid is a full-service literary agency, representing authors in Canada, the U.S., and throughout the world. The agency represents literary, commercial and speculative fiction, a broad range of nonfiction, and middle-grade and young adult books. These books have been adapted into major motion pictures and translated into more than 60 languages.

CookeMcDermid sells directly into Canada, US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and India and sells translation rights in conjunction with 35 co-agents around the world. CookeMecDermid also has an in-house film/tv division that sells these rights directly or works with associates to do so.

Amy Moore-Benson is the newest member of the team at Cooke-McDermid, but she’s been in publishing since she was 17 and worked for Passion magazine in Paris. After graduating from McGill University, she spent 13 years at Harlequin Enterprises, where she launched and acquired fiction for MIRA Books, the company’s mainstream commercial fiction imprint. 

After leaving Harlequin, Amy became a literary agent, first at her own agency, AMB Literary Management, and then with Meridian Artists, representing a stellar roster of authors, both in Canada and the US.

Amy is primarily focused on commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction: domestic thrillers, high-concept suspense, romance, voice-driven women’s fiction, memoir, ripped-from-the-headlines narratives, personal investigations. At the heart of all the books she sells are singular voices and high-impact storytelling, stories that challenge the reader, offer new experiences and more than anything else, entertain and engage.

Some of her clients include: Rick Mofina, Alisha Rai, Victoria Helen Stone, Elaine Lui, Johanna Schneller, Brandi Leifso, Teo Paul, Jamie Mason, Andre Fenton, Corey Liu.

Amy lives in Toronto with her family.

You can query Amy here.

Rachel

Note: Rachel Letofsky of CookMcDermid will the guest speaker for our upcoming “How to Get Published" workshop. Details here.

Read more about the CookeMcDermid agency here.

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

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. For more literary agents looking for authors see here (and scroll down). If you’re looking specifically for Canadian agents, see here (and scroll down). And if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.

You have until Sept 30 to submit your Kid Lit manuscripts to Groundwood Books (but for adult books, wait till Feb)

House of Anansi Press (for adults)

and Goundwood Books (for children)

128 Sterling Road
Lower Level
Toronto, Ontario

https://houseofanansi.com/

House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and David Godfrey to publish work by Canadian writers. The House got its start publishing authors such as Matt Cohen, Michael Ondaatje, Northrop Frye, Austin Clarke, Harold Sonny Ladoo, Daphne Marlatt, Roch Carrier, and Margaret Atwood (who also worked for the press as an editor).

Now under the ownership of Scott Griffin, House of Anansi Press aims to continue breaking new ground with award-winning and bestselling books that reflect the changing nature of the country and the world.

Anansi publishes about 35 books a year, including fiction, poetry, drama, French-Canadian writers in translation, lifestyle, and authors from around the world.  Anansi also publishes children’s literature under its Groundwood imprint….

Groundwood Books publishes literary picture books, fiction, poetry, nonfiction and graphic novels from Canada and around the world. The press is home to award-winning authors and illustrators, such as Deborah Ellis, Marie-Louise Gay, Sydney Smith and Jillian Tamaki, among many others. 

Groundwood is open for submissions August 1–September 30 and February 1–March 31.

In Picture Books, Groundwood seeks beautifully written manuscript, featuring distinctive stories and children in real-life situations.

Groundwood is always looking for new authors of book-length middle grade and young adult fiction. Their mandate is to publish high-quality, character-driven literary fiction with a strong narrative voice. They do not generally publish stories with an obvious moral or message, or genre fiction such as horror or high fantasy.

Groundwood is also looking for nonfiction for children of all ages, from informational picture books to issues-driven works for middle grade and young adult readers.

For middle-grade and YA nonfiction, they do not require a completed manuscript. Please submit a proposal that includes a compelling introduction to and argument for the book, followed by a chapter outline that conveys the proposed content of the work, plus one or two sample chapters that convey the proposed tone and approach. 

Please also include a bio and/or previous publishing credits that demonstrate credentials relevant to your book or give you authority on the proposed subject.

Groundwood is also looking for Canadian illustrators. 

Submit to Groundwood through their submissions  portal here.

But first, look over their detailed submission guidelines here.

---

Note: Karen Li, the Publisher of Groundwood Books, will be a guest speaker for our “Writing for Children and for Young Adults” workshop on Sept 22, 2024. Details here.

---

House of Anansi Press is open for direct submissions from authors {as opposed to agented authors} only in August and February. In all areas, they’re open to submissions from new authors, as well as established authors.

In fiction, they seek literary, upmarket, and genre novels, plus short story collections.

In nonfiction, they look for creative nonfiction, essay collections, “book-length deep dives,” and life-style oriented projects. Currently they’re not looking for personal memoirs or autobiographies.

In poetry, they’re pursuing “experimentations with lyric traditions.”

Like everyone else, they especially welcome “work by writers from historically underrepresented communities, including—but not limited to—those who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, disabled, neurodivergent, and LGBTQIA+.”

Anansi is also particularly interested in authors debuting later in life or without an MFA.

Full guidelines here.

Note: If you’re interested in meeting an agent and in getting published, don’t miss our upcoming “How to Get Published” workshop. Details here.

See all of Brian Henry's upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. For more children’s and young adult publishers, see here {and scroll down}. For book publishers in general, see here {and scroll down}.

"Get thee to the Briars," a review of the Briars Writing Retreat, by Mark Baker

You go to a writer's retreat to write, right? Well, sure, that's part of it. I've written some stuff I'm fond of at retreats. But I can write at home too, and I’m really not going to finish that novel in a weekend. No, for me, writer's retreats are really about the things I can't do at home, even about the person I can't be at home. 

See, writers are nuts. We work for a pittance that Oliver Twist would turn his nose up at. We spend hours alone between four walls imagining worlds full of light and color and adventure, worlds peopled by the good and the beautiful, the pious and the damned. And yet there is just such a world outside the room in which we sit scribbling. We're mad, mad I tell you!

The world knows we’re nuts. They treat us as they treat all crazy people, with gentle condescension. "Would I have read anything of yours?" they ask, knowing full well that they haven't read anything other than the back of a cereal box in ten years. "Oh, I doubt it," you say modestly. And there ends the conversation. The normal person can now escape safely without troubling their conscience. They asked a polite question about writing; their social obligation has been met. 

The Briars is full of lovely places
to sit and write; such as the library  

Of course, there is one other question we get from time to time. "Where do your get your ideas from?" If you hear this one, back away slowly. People who ask this are crazier than you are.  

But you know the one place that no one will ever ask you these inane questions? A writer's retreat. Because we all get it. Of course we haven't read each other's books yet, because we haven't cracked the best seller list yet. And we have no clue where our ideas come from: life, the universe, everything?

That is why we go to writer's retreats, for there, like Hamlet in England: "Twill, a not be seen in him there; there the men are as mad as he."

A writer's retreat is a place where everyone is just the same amount of crazy as you are, which is almost like being in a place where everyone is sane.

You can sit staring out the window with a notebook idle in your hand and a well-bitten pencil between your teeth and no one will assume you are bored and in want of conversation. No, they will tiptoe by you in silence because they instantly recognize that you are WRITING!

 A writer's retreat is a place where you can sit the the bar, supping wine and discussing the relative merits of Hamlet, Hornblower, and Harry Potter and no earnest grad student will derail the conversation with a Marxist critique or semiotic blither blather. 

What makes a great writer's retreat? It comes down to two things: the facilities and the company. The best place to find both? Probably some literary salon in Paris, London, or New York in the 1930s. But in Ontario in the 21 century, it is Brian Henry's annual retreat at the Briars in the fall.

The Briars also feature elegant dining

(With all due respect to Brian's retreats in Algonquin Park, if I want endless grey-green forests and sunrises on still, misty, silent lakes disturbed only by the cry of a loon, I can write them myself, but I can't write a decent glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Briars has a well stocked bar with comfortable seating. Algonquin park has trees.)

The Briars also has history, character, endless nooks and crannies where you can install yourself to write or to chat, as the mood takes you. There are even trees and grass and a lake outside, if you are into that sort of thing. It has good food and good wine. 

Most importantly of all, it has the company of aspiring writers: people who are exactly the same amount of crazy as you are. You can talk about the craft and about books and about your ambition for that book contract that will leave you in penury for many years to come.

You can read your work aloud if you wish. No one will laugh (except at the jokes). No one will back away nervously. Here they are all as mad as we. Get thee therefore to a retreat. Specifically, get thee to the Brian's retreat at The Briars in November. See you there. 

***

For information about upcoming writers’ retreats, at both the Briars on Lake Simcoe and Arowhon Pines in Algonquin Park, see here (and scroll down). For a report on Arowhon Pines Resort and pieces inspired by retreats there (by who do like trees), see here.

Mark (G.M) Baker  is trying to revive the serious popular novel, the kind of story that finds the truth of the human condition in action, adventure, romance, and even magic. He writes the newsletter Stories All the Way Down and is the author of the historical novels The Wistful and the Good, St. Agnes and the Selkie, The Needle of Avocation, and the fairy-tale fantasy Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook or connect on LinkedIn.

See all upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day  retreats here. 

More places to send your short prose and poetry (and get paid by some of them)

See information about upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here: https://brian999.substack.com/

 

Freefall: Canada’s magazine of exquisite writing

Freefall is a literary magazine based in Calgary, Alberta. It publishes two issues a year, with one of them dedicated to their annual prose and poetry contest. They accepts submissions of h poetry, fiction, non-fiction, literary reviews, author interviews, and visual arts.

For prose, submit up to 4,000 words. They accept short stories and novel excerpts; nonfiction, including writing-related or general-audience topics; creative nonfiction; plays; and postcard stories. Pays $10 per page in the magazine (to a maximum of $100) and one copy of the issue your piece is published in.

For poetry, submit 1–3 poems of any style. The length of any individual poem cannot exceed 6 pages. Pays $25 per poem and one copy of the issue your piece is published in.

For art, submit photographs of original artwork or any other subject matter. Photos must be submitted in black and white with maximum dimensions of 6” by 4”, minimum 300 dpi, and artistnametitle name scheme. FreeFall pays $100 for cover art/photos and one issue copy upon publication. They also provide the artist/photographer a one-page bio inside the issue to promote themselves.

For interviews and book reviews, submit proposal queries only (guidelines supplied when proposal approved). Pays $50 and one copy of the issue in which your piece is published.

Deadline for upcoming issue: September 30, 2024. Full guidelines here.

 

Blue MarbleReview is a quarterly online literary journal showcasing creative work of writers ages 13–22. They publish sort fiction, poetry, nonfiction, photography and art.

Pays $30 U.S. per published piece or $75 for cover art.

For fiction, submit stories of 1,500 words or less. You may submit up to three pieces at a time.

In nonfiction, they publish memoir, personal essays, travel adventure, and the occasional research paper and book review. You may submit one or two pieces at a time.

For poetry, submit up to three poems; otherwise, wide open.

With art, submit up to four pieces (scanned, jpeg format) or four photographs.

Full submission guidelines here.

 

Uppagus literary journal accepts poems, flash fiction, and visual art. 

“Uppagus is your childhood friend that adults never meet. They think he's imaginary, but you know better. Adults fear the psychological damage they'll cause by disbelieving you. So one day, they all start pretending to see him too.

“That makes Uppagus real. Doesn't it?

“Uppagus is a mother-son venture, something we do for fun.”

Submit up to four poems or one flash fiction piece. They prefer flash fiction shorter than 750 words.

For visual art, submit up to six files (.jpg or .png)

Full submission guidelines here. No deadline; accepts submissions on an on-going basis.

CommuterLit is looking for short stories, memoir, novel excerpts and poetry (one poem or a series of poems), in any genre, with a word count of 500 to 4,000. They always need stories. This is one of the best places in Canada to get your first publication.

Deadline: Ongoing. Full submissions guidelines here.

 

See information about upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

For information about other places to send your short works, see here (and scroll down).