The New Writer's Journey
With The Waikato Children's Literature Association
At Southwell School - two days to inspire you. Come to one or both!
SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER
Exciting new authors for young adults will talk
about their writing journeys.
SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER
Learn about editing, illustrating, publishing and marketing books for children and young adults in the exciting new world of publishing.
Waikato Children's Literature Association Seminar - New Children's Writers
Saturday, Nov 2, 2013, 09:30 AM
200 Peachgrove Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Saturday Agenda
9.30 am Registration and Refreshments
View the Books for Kids children's bookshop display
10.00 am Rachel Stedman - A Necklace of Souls
11.00 am Hugh Brown talks with Alison Robertson - Reach
12.00 pm Lunch
Book signing opportunities
1.00 pm Rachael King - Red Rocks
2.00 pm Tessa Duder - Storylines Writing Awards
Rachel Stedman
Winner of the 2012 Tessa Duder Award for A Necklace of Souls, Rachel is a physiotherapist by training who now works for the Ministry of Health in Dunedin. Her husband and two boys make excellent reviewers . Rachel’s work has also been published in The School Journal.
Hugh Brown
Author of Reach, Hugh is the winner of the 2011 Tessa Duder Award and the 2013 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, Best First Book. He has worked as a dishwasher, cook,editor, conservation worker and house dad. He studied literature at university and now lives in Paekakariki with his three kids, where he writes, edits, gardens and plays music.
Rachael King
The author of Red Rocks, Rachael has also written two novels for adults: The Soundof Butterflies and Magpie Hall. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from Victoria University and lives with her husband and two sons in Christchurch.
Tessa Duder
The latest Storylines Award for a new Young Adult writer is fittingly named for Tessa. She is the author of so many wonderful children’s stories from Night Race to Kawau in 1982, Jellybean, The Alex and Tiggie Thompson series, through to The Story of Sir Peter Blake in 2012.
The New Writer's Journey
Sunday, Nov 3, 2013, 09:30 AM
200 Peachgrove Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Sunday Agenda
9.30 am Registrations
10.00 am Margaret Cahill – From the Editor’s Desk – As an editor at Learning Media for 11 years, and now working freelance from her home in Kerikeri, Margaret has a wealth of experience to share with those who’ve always wondered how to get their manuscript to the top of the “slush pile”. Margaret will talk about how editors work, what they look for in submissions and how to avoid rubbing an editor up the wrong way.
11.00 am Morning Tea
11.30 am Break out groups (choose one):
- Picture books – How words and pictures work together
Deb Hinde, picture book illustrator, will give an insight into the role of the illustrator in the creation of a picture book. Learn how picture books are created and the important connection between words and pictures. Deborah has illustrated 18 picture books to date, including 10 Kooky Kiwis which featured in the Booksellers Weekly Bestsellers List for more than four months. She also illustrated Kyle Mewburn’s Three Cheers for No Ears, Yvonne Morrison’s Kiwi Night Before Christmas and Cow Power by Kim Riley.
2. Spit and Polish!
A first draft is seldom, if ever, your best draft. There are ways to improve your writing that help bring it to life; through your narrative, plot, voice, sentence structure, or dialogue. Publishers these days expect manuscripts to be as near ‘complete’ as possible so the more you can do to refine your work before sending it off, the better chance of acceptance. Join award-winning author Alison Robertson to learn ways to add sparkle to your text.
3. Getting the nuts and bolts right
From punctuation to grammar, Margaret Cahill and Louise Clark will answer questions about the nuts and bolts of proof reading and editing your manuscript to give it the best chance of being published. Louise has taught university papers including children’s literature, creative writing and the practical aspects of writing. Margaret Cahill worked as a teacher before becoming an editor at Learning Media.
12.30 pm Lunch
1.30 pm Publishing Panel discusses aspects of publishing, self-publishing, e-book publishing, marketing and distribution. Four panelists will each speak for 30 minutes including questions.
1. Julie Thomas, from Cambridge, sold more than 45,000 copies of her e-book for adults, The Keeper of Secrets, via Amazon and Kindle. The online book caught the eye of a senior editor at HarperCollins New York and it is now available in paperback. Julie received an advance and was contracted to write a second novel. She will explain how she achieved success through Amazon and Smashwords and give tips on how children’s authors can do the same.
2. Karolyn Timarkos, self-published author, posted the first four chapters of her novel Keeper of the Atlas online. Gaining 200 "likes" on Facebook as well as positive feedback gave her the confidence to self-publish her novel. To find out more about self-publishing, she googled the phrase and came up with more than 156 million hits. Karolyn will filter those results down to “A Distilled Guide to Self-Publishing”, advising on who can best help you achieve your goal.
3. Sharon Holt started publishing her Te Reo Singalong series nearly two years ago. She has now sold more than 9,000 copies and has just published the fifth book in the series. Sharon will focus on the “other” side of self-publishing – how to market and sell the boxes of books sitting in your garage.
4. Liza Raybould, works at South Pacific Books, which is a leading independent book distributor in New Zealand. Liza will explain how book distribution companies can work with publishers and self-published authors to get their books to the public.
Cost of Registration
$30 WCLA members $40 non members $20 adult students
Sunday: The New Writer's Journey - a professional development day
$100
Lunch is included both days
For registration forms, email: gerri.judkins@southwell.school.nz