Kid's Book Revisions Workshops:
What's Coming Up and What We Offer

Kids Book Revisions has a number of workshop and retreat programs available, with different topics and workshop lengths.

We are local for workshops in the NY/NJ/CT/MA/PA area and have done a working retreat every summer at the Highlights Foundation near Honesdale, PA (currently being held online), but we also do online classes--see below for some options. We are now taking bookings for 2023, 2024, and beyond. Please contact us if you want to set up a retreat or workshop in your area, or offer an online workshop or retreat.

Here are examples of some events we have given in the past: 1-day workshops, such as "Editing without an Editor," Columbus, OH SCBWI, March 2018, including model critique groups; 2-day mini-retreats, given with the West/Central NY SCBWI in Syracuse in October 2017; 3-hour intensives, such as "Revising Your YA or MG Novel," LA SCBWI conference, August 2016; 4-day Revision Retreat, held annually at the Highlights Foundation, near Honesdale, PA.

Free preview: See what our classes are like in this recording and materials from "The Unwritten: What You Don't Say When Writing a Picture Book"--about one hour long, it was originally created for our picture book revision webinar class, as both an exploration of what "the unwritten" is and a preview of the class: The Unwritten--video recording.

Read what people say about our workshops and webinars.

Upcoming Events:

2023

• August 17 to September 22: The Kid's Books Revision Virtual Retreat at the Highlights Foundation is open for registration. We are again offering this annual revision class and retreat. We teach our revision "curriculum" online in 5 classes in August, 3 of them live on the evenings of the 17th, 24th, and 31st; those classes are recorded and made available along with 2 additional pre-recorded classes. We then hold the 4-day Virtual Retreat, carefully structured to help you be productive, from September 18 to September 22. Space is limited to 18 participants.

Additional bookings to be posted when confirmed.

Formats Available for Workshops:

• 2 to 4-hour mini-workshops, aka "intensives," which can stand alone or fit into a conference schedule.
  • Example: Editing without an Editor, 3-hour version.
  • Example: Picture Book or Magazine Story.
  • Example: Re-Imagining Your Picture Book.
  • Example: Cover Letters, Query Letters, and Synopses (Oh My!).
  • Mini-workshops on revising novels, both MG and YA, or nonfiction, are also available.
• 1 to 3-day workshops (8-hour days).
  • Sample 1-day workshop schedule.
  • Sample 2-day weekend mini-retreat schedule.
  • Sample 3-day workshop schedule (we can compress the 3-day to a 2-day schedule, though we recommend the 3-day).
• 2-day to 1-week working retreats, with sessions in the mornings or evenings, writing time in afternoons.

Topics/Themes:

• Editing without an Editor (sample schedule, from our Westport series): an overview for writers across all genres.
• Revising Your Picture Book/MG Novel/YA Novel/Nonfiction: Dig into a specific manuscript with two experienced editors.
• Line-editing: New hands-on workshop that digs into this important but seldom covered area.
• Critique Group Recharge: Workshop for critique groups--we come to you.
• Additional topics under development, including Writing Nonfiction for Fiction Writers.

We can also custom-build a workshop or retreat on request, and can bring in other editors and agents, or experts in other areas (marketing, social media, etc.) as needed.

Kid's Book Revisions Home Page