You're invited to “Writing Kid Lit” with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Mortified by Kristy Jackson a finalist
for the Governor General's Prize
this year ~ yay, Kristy!

“Writing for Children and for Young Adults”

 ~ with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Saturday, March 1, 2025
 1:15 – 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.

This is your chance to speak with someone within a publishing company in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring 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 800 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.

Patricia and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started! ~Brian

Guest speaker Patricia Ocampo is a Senior Editor at Kids Can Press. Since 1973, Kids Can has published award-winning, best-selling books for young readers, including The Most Magnificent Thing and the Franklin the Turtle series.

Patricia acquires books for children and tweens, both fiction and nonfiction. She has a particular interest in laugh-out-loud stories – she’s forever looking for the next Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging – and unique approaches to nonfiction.

Patricia has worked at HarperCollins, Annick Press, and Simon and Schuster. She was also a literary agent at Transatlantic Agency. Patricia served five years on the International Board on Books for Young People, including two years as president of the Canadian chapter. She teaches a course on editing books for children at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

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 and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 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 four-day retreats here.