Yabbadabbadoo! It's the...
2022 Kidlit Palooza!
Online Live & Recorded ​Sept. 17-18
Schedule + Program

The 2022 KidLit Palooza is THE PREMIERE and most directly helpful online career camp/conference/lovefest that you'll ever attend providing education and connections into the craft and business of making, selling, and publishing quality children's books. Connect with editors, publishers, and award winning authors and illustrators, and each other!
This event has it all when it comes to KidLit.

And, as an added bonus, the event is a Scholarship Fundraiser! This helps us raise funds for folks who identify as low-income, BIPOC, Jewish, Muslim, having a disability, or being LGBTQ+ to receive scholarships and opportunities in our intensive interactive courses. 

Each of these programs comes with worksheets and/or handouts and is designed by experts to literally help you succeed in the children's book publishing world through learning and hands-on-activities. 
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Each panel will also feature at least one prize or giveaway to make it even more exciting!

Click here to download a schedule 
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​Everything is Live and Recorded for people in different parts of the world. Click here for a handy, dandy time converter for wherever you are!

 Saturday, Sept 17th, 11:30-12:45 PM PDT
KEYNOTE: YOU'VE GOT CULTURE! Find, celebrate, and share yours and others in KidLit (PB and MG) 

• Melissa-Jane Fogarty & Dr. Mira Reisberg:  Fun with Collaborative Cultural Mashups - Indigenous Australian and Jewish books
• A. J. Sass: Crossing Cultures and Gender Norms in KidLit
• ​Marsha Diane Arnold: Creating much-wanted Social Emotional Learning Books from Family Cultural Values 
  You'll leave inspired with foundational knowledge of how infusing different kinds of culture into stories makes them more meaningful, more authentic, more fun and more commercially viable along with a good sense of how to work collaboratively with someone else to take your work to another level! 

Saturday, Sept 17th, 12:30-1:00 PM PDT
Live Interactive Networking and Workshopping Party Time (optional for those who want to use the super helpful worksheets) or just take a break!

Saturday, Sept 17th, 1:30-3:00 PM PDT
BUILD AN ILLUSTRATION CAREER - For beginners to established illustrators 

• Larissa Marantz: Illustrating Picture Books and Graphic Novels, Clip Studio Pro and Art Makeovers
• Chantelle and Burgen Thorne: Trade versus educational illustration + Fabulous digital illustration tips
• Katie Mazeika: Practical ways to get illustration work
• Vincent X. Kirsch:  Get Inspired with Vince's Writing AND Illustration Inspiration Suggestions
  Both illustrators and writers will learn inspirational and practical  techniques and information about both illustrating and writing!

Saturday, Sep 17th, 4:00 - 5:30 PM PDT
IT'S A SMALL WORLD: PUBLISHING AROUND THE GLOBE: Locating new markets!

• Yvonne Mes: What’s new and happening in Aussie KidLit?
• Sandhya Parappukkaran: Diversity in Aussie KidLit
• Debasmita Dasgupta: Illustrating & Publishing Picture Books and Graphic Novels in Singapore & the UK
• Miri Leshem-Pelly: Contemporary Publishing in Israel
• Richa Jha : Writing and Publishing in India: A Colorful World of Imagination
• Mira Reisberg: Contemporary European & US books
  You'll leave with a great sense of how publishing works in different countries, publisher lists for both Australia and the US, and an awareness that publishing in other countries might be an untapped market for you.

Saturday, Sept 17th, 5:30-6:00 PM PDT

• Live Interactive Networking and Workshopping Party Time (optional for those who want to use the super helpful worksheets) or just take a break!​

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Sunday, Sept 18th, 11:00-12:30 PM PDT
KEYNOTE: YOU CAN DO IT ALL! Writing and illustrating Board Books, Picture Books, Chapter Book Series, and Graphic Novels
Update- Because I had to change the date, and some folks couldn't make it or are in very different time zones, I pre-recorded some of these, which are now available as fantastic instant access presentations and instead we bumped up the Graphic Novel component. 

• Ruth Spiro: Interview with Ruth Spiro on how to find your niche to write and publish Board Books to Picture Books
• Samantha San Miguel : The Magic of Writing Middle Grade
• Bryan Patrick Avery: (PB and CB) - Top Tips for Writing and Publishing Picture Books to Chapter Book Series
• Debasmita Dasgupta: Writing and Illustrating PBs to YA GN
  Get inspired to try writing or illustrating outside of your usual comfort zone with foundational knowledge of how each age of children's book works.

BRAND NEW ADDITION: HOW TO MAKE A GRAPHIC NOVEL!

• Dr. Mira Reisberg: Time Saving Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Writing and/or Illustrating Graphic Novels
• Aron Nels Steinke: Getting Started & Going Places with Graphic Novels
• Andrea Miller: You Don't Have To Do It All Alone - The Many Ways of Collaborating When Making a Graphic Novel
  Receive some cool graphic novel worksheets and comic drawing template along with some confidence and inspiration to maybe .

Sunday, Sept 18th, 1:30-3:00PM PDT
WHAT'S YOUR CREATIVE PB SWEET SPOT? AKA Write What You Love

• Jennifer Swanson: How to make STEM Nonfiction fun
• Elizabeth Brown: Creativity, History, Life: The Art of Writing NF 
• Karen Yin: Writing Techniques for subtly weaving social justice themes (and humor) into your work
• Ana Siqueira: Culture + Humor = a Winning Combination
• ​Nancy Churnin: The beauty and joy in writing award-winning biographies
  Whether you want to write STEM nonfiction, lyrical biographies, hilarious fiction, or stories that will help make the world a better place, you'll learn techniques to do so in this brilliant panel.

Sunday, Sept 18th, 4:00-5:30 PM PDT
WHAT DO EDITORS & AGENTS WANT?

• Kaitlyn Sanchez - Context Literary: How to Find Your Perfect Agent
• Kate DePalma: What I write, love, and acquire
• Joni Sussman: Jews & Non-Jews Writing Jewish Kids Books
• Helen Wu: What I write, love, and publish
• Clarissa Wong: How to publish with Scholastic
  If you want to get your stories or art out and into children's hands (and don't want to self-publish and distribute), these door-openers will tell you what you need to do (and also look at your optimized pitches and bios with an eye toward acquisitions if you're a Palooza Premium member!)
  
  

Sunday, Sept 18th, 5.30-6:00 PM PDT

• Live Interactive Networking and Workshopping Party Time (optional for those who want to use the super helpful worksheets) or just take a break!

PALOOZA PREMIUM
Monday, Sept 19th, 4:00-5:30 PM PDT

• LIVE & RECORDED: MUST KNOW CRAFT & PUBLISHING ESSENTIALS with Q&A
• Random House/Doubleday Editor-in-Chief Frances Gilbert
• The Path to Acquisitions and What Happens Next
• Agent Charlotte Wenger: The Path to Acquisitions and What Happens Next
• Mira Reisberg: Seven Essentials Before Submitting Your Work​Paloooza Premium peeps will learn the inside scoop of what exactly they need to do to get chosen for acquisition at a publishers (the step before a contract is signed) and what happens next. Frances and Charlotte will also look at your optimized pitches and bios with an eye toward acquisition or representation. 

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Monday, Sept 19th, 5.30-6.30 PM PDT

• DR. MIRA'S MAGICAL PITCH & BIO MAKEOVERS with Q&A
  Part of publishing means writing enticing, clear, and engaging pitches and bios. Learn how to do it here and maybe get yours made over by the maestra herself before pitching to our NINE Golden Ticket judges who will be looking at submissions with a friendly eye towards acquisition or representation

Monday, Sept. 26th, 10:00AM PDT It's time for your PREMIUM PITCH & BIO SUBMISSIONS

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But wait! There's more with our brand new addition:

+ Instant Access Programs beyond the panels, worksheets, and handouts and parties for all attendees from Sept 17-18th: Rules to Break to Make Your Picture Book Masterclass, + just added Last Year's Fabulous WRITING & PUBLISHING JEWISH , MUSLIM & CHRISTIAN KIDLIT
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Instant Access Programs for Palooza Premium (only $70 extra) from Sept 17-19th: 

• A brand new live and recorded Masterclass on: ​The Path to Acquisitions and What Happens Next + Seven Essentials Before Submitting Your Manuscript: with extraordinary Random/Doubleday House Editor-in-Chief Frances Gilbert, Prospect Literary Agent Charlotte Wenger, and Dr. Mira Reisberg AKA the KidLit Whisperer whose students have now contracted over 860 children’s books and won just about every major US kidlit award that we know about.
• Submission opportunities to a multitude of editors, agents, and art directors
• A Live and Recorded Interactive Session with Dr Mira’s Magical Pitch and Bios session
• A Free Instant Access Masterclass on Writing Pitches, Bio, and Queries that Sell
• ​A Free Rules to Break to Make Your Picture Book Masterclass
• A Free Instant Access Masterclass on Writing with Emotion for both Writers & Illustrators
• ​A Free Instant Access Masterclass on Three Top Techniques for Writers & Illustrators: Rhythm, Pacing &
  ​Page Turns

There's a reason why we give you a whole year of access. We like to promise a lot and then over-deliver! Our student's success rates proves this smorgasbord approach pays off! YAY!

* And to make the Palooza even more helpful, bring your completed re-usable worksheets from the Palooza course platform to the Workshopping and Networking Parties to make your own work more meaningful,
​or fun, and marketable! Here's a quickie graphic about Palooza Premium - just click it to register for only $45 more!

Or if you'd simply like to make a donation of any amount,
​just click here & fill out the amount!