Kid Lit workshop with Katie Hearn, editorial director at Annick Press ~ Coming soon!

“Writing for Children & for Young Adults”

~ with guest Katie Hearn, editorial director at Annick Press

Sunday, July 27, 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.

Katie 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 Katie Hearn is the editorial director at Annick Press. In 2025, Annick is celebrating its 50th year publishing books for young readers across a range of formats, including board books, picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. The publishing house is perhaps best known for the classic picture books The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Kathy Stinson’s Red is Best.

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. 

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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.