Here at the Academy, we love to laugh, and we love to share information. We also love to open doors. Brrrng, Brrrng (that's the sound of the doorbell ringing) as we open the door to special guest, Stephen Mooser. Steve is the illustrious co-founder, with Lin Oliver, of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and author of over 60 children's books! In this free webinar, Stephen will be sharing about how to write funny stories and how to self-publish. He'll also be sharing about his fabulously fun book Class Clown Academy. Yep all this and more is free in Class Clown Academy Meets Children's Book Academy Thursday October 30th 5PM Pacific Daylight Time. Sign up below to either attend or receive the recording afterwards. It really is an extraordinary opportunity to meet a great and funny human being. Questions are welcome in this interactive presentation!!! To find out more about Steve, visit www.stephenmooser.com

Some of the funnest children's books feature what's called a 2nd visual story where either the writer has written the visual story in or the illustrator plays with their illustrator voice by adding another layer with their own purely illustrated story that isn't included in the text. Other times the writer and the illustrator do a dance between image and text to create something extraordinary that's greater than the sum of it's parts. In this fun FREE webinar, Chronicle Books Design Director and Art Director extraordinaire Kristine Brogno, and CBA founder Dr. Mira Reisberg will do a show and tell about improving your craft with both of these techniques. See some of Kristine's fabulous work here: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/kids-teens

Hosted by Mark Mitchell of Marks and Splashes on Friday October 17th at 5PM Pacific Daylight Time, don't miss this exceptional event. Register now with the form below (don't forget to hit submit) and please share this page with your friends. :) 

We are so thrilled to be offering a bunch of scholarships for the upcoming Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books interactive e-Course for a second time! The course has been newly updated with all the goodies and tips Mira learned from the editors and art directors themselves! Come check it out!

As a former Army kid, Pat has had more than her share of heroic journeys.  Besides these adventures, Pat has written and/or illustrated 35 books, won lots of awards, and done tons of good in the world. We are thrilled to be honoring her with the Pat Cummings Hero's Art Journey Scholarships Award for 10 official winners to the 2014 Hero's Art Journey interactive e-Course. Come have a peek right here.

Don't miss our next exciting webinar January 21st 6PM Pacific Standard time. Details here!!

Meet Maya Gonzalez, multi-award-winning author/illustrator of over 20 picture books (and me) October 1st 6PM Pacific Standard Time for a standout webinar/workshop on working through creative blocks, creating creative flow, the art of narrative in text and art, and discovering your own hero's journey. This webinar is for both writers and illustrators or aspiring artists. Mark Mitchel of Make Your Splashes will be asking his usual insightful questions and facilitating this event. Come with questions, come with party hats. We are working our butts off to create something wondrous and super helpful for you. Just sign up below to receive the super special somewhat secret link. (This has now been removed) Do attend the event if you can, and/or receive the video recording later :) Of course, LIVE is the most fun :)

Woop woop!! We have some super exciting news.
This Thursday September 26th at 6PM Pacific Standard Time, the brilliant Marsha Diane Arnold and I, supported by Mark Mitchell of Make Your Splashes, will be sharing with you tips and tricks to make your children's book characters memorable. Marsha will be focusing on writing and I'll be focusing on art. We'll also be sharing information about our super exciting 1 week contest with FABULOUS PRIZES including!!

• First prize – The opportunity to submit your manuscript to extraordinary editor Christy Ottaviano of Christy Ottaviano Books at her own Henry Holt imprint, and the Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books e-Course for free!
• Second prize – A one-on-one Skype critique with Marsha Diane Arnold and the Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books e-Course for free!
• Third prize – The opportunity to submit your manuscript to Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary Agency!
• Fourth prize – The opportunity to submit your manuscript to Mira Reisberg of Hummingbird Literary Agency!

Bring questions and your own sweet self, it's FREE!! To register click here. Even if you can't make it to the event, if you register, we'll send you a video recording link for later!!! - See more at: http://www.picturebookacademy.com/news.htm

And here is the link to the contest which ends October 2nd!! Do join us - it will be fun.