Monday   Tuesday   Wednesday   Thursday   Friday

7:30-8:30	Breakfast
8:20-9:20	Manuscript critiques/portfolio reviews
9:30-10:15	Before It’s a Book Allyn Johnston, Marla Frazee Before a book becomes a book, it is an editorial process - occasionally funny, often messy, and always full of surprises. Then once the book is made, it must journey through a maze of marketing and sales departments, reviewers, booksellers, and book buyers. How does a creative person stay centered in the face of this daunting challenge? In a lively slide presentation, Allyn and Marla offer an honest - and inspiring - answer.
10:30-11:15	Classic Story Structure, part 2 Bonny Becker In addition to external events, stories are about the inner transformation of your main character. Find out how story structure relates to your character’s “arc,” and how you can use key structural moments to reveal and develop your character’s inner struggle, change and growth.
10:30-11:15	My Brother’s Girlfriends: or, How I Became Interested in Doing Research Susan Rubin Here are the basic steps of researching a nonfiction book: finding a subject that excites your curiosity so that you are motivated to do the legwork, follow clues and put up with false leads. Susan explains the difference between secondary sources and primary sources and how using each can make your work exciting and authentic. Issues of fair use, permissions and copyright are covered, as well as techniques for gathering illustrative material.
11:30-12:15	Taking the Mystery Out of Mystery Writing Dave Patneaude You love reading a good mystery. You'd love even more to write a mystery for kids. So what are the unique elements that place a story in the mystery genre? What does the genre have in common with other fiction? What qualities make a mystery appealing to you and to other readers? And how can you incorporate those qualities into your own writing? Through discussion and example, Dave will provide clues to solving the mysteries of writing mysteries for young people.
11:30-12:15	The Illustrator’s Toolbox* Elsa Warnick The power of an illustration comes not from its particular subject or the what it is. It comes from the visual mind, the voice and skill of the illustrator, or the how it is. This session defines the primary tools of an illustrator: the ability to make discerning choices of scale, vantage point, palette, composition and sequencing. Elsa also demystifies the complex tug of war between what I like to do (pleasing yourself) and what I think I’m supposed to do (pleasing other people.)             *for illustrators only
12:30-1:30	Lunch
1:45-2:30	Publishing Income: An Oxymoron? Linda Zuckerman Why are advances so low for first-time authors and illustrators? Will they hate me if I ask for more money? What is the connection between an advance and a royalty anyway? Linda answers these questions and more in this enlightening session.
2:45-4:45	Workshops for Writers Workshop for Illustrators
5:00-6:00	Individual manuscript/portfolio critiques
6:00-7:00	Dinner
7:30-8:30	Faculty readings