THE CHILDREN'S BOOK ACADEMY
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See Dreams Become Real: The New Updated
Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books
A 5 week highly interactive e-Course/Talent Search with
Golden Ticket opportunities to submit to editors and agents
Starts June 29 2015 for 5 glorious weeks (with a catch up week July 27th)!

Dear Friend,
Do you have a great idea for a children's book or are unsure if your idea is any good? Or did you start writing but hit 'the wall' and don't know where to go next? Or maybe you have a finished manuscript you are in love with but just can't seem to find a way to get it in front of the right eyeballs and the only feedback you've been getting are those sweetly worded but still pretty soul crushing rejection letters.

That's why a few years ago I created a very special course that  now has a wonderful track record of published and contracted students. I have been reviewing, revising, revamping and retooling this course so that this year it's better than ever. Allow me to introduce...

The New Updated Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books

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Join Random House/Knopf editor Kelly Delaney and Dr. Mira Reisberg - that's me - plus over 25 fabulous guest experts as we explore the wonderful world of children's picture books and create the kind of books that editors want now!! Learn about the changing paradigm in children's book publishing and how you can take advantage of it. This superb course happens once a year in the comfort of your own home, at your own pace (except for live webinars which are also recorded) and with the convenience of easy payment plans that make the whole thing affordable.

Meet the Instructors

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Kelly Delaney is an Assistant Editor at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, where she acquires and edits picture books and middle grade and young adult novels. She has a master’s degree in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from NYU and has been at Random House Children's Books for five years. In that time she has been fortunate enough to work with many esteemed authors including R.J. Palacio, Markus Zusak, Anita Lobel, Eileen Spinelli, Kevin Hawkes, and Norton Juster, among many others. She is always on the lookout for quirky humor, bright characters, and writers that don't underestimate their readers. You can follow her on Twitter at @kellyunderwater.

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Mira Reisberg has helped MANY authors and illustrators get published. She has worn just about every hat in the industry including art director, editor, illustrator and author, and literary agent. Mira holds a PhD in Education and Cultural Studies with a focus on children's literature. She is also an award-winning children's book illustrator and writer. You can follow Mira on Twitter at @ChildrensBookAc

Just think. Whether you are a complete beginner or an award-winning author or illustrator, would you like to:
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Write a fresh children’s picture book story from start to finish

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Polish an existing children's book for publication

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Revise your work to make it easy for an editor to say yes

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Radically improve your chances of publication or getting an agent

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Write a story that you can later illustrate to increase your chances for publication

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Create a targeted cover letter ready to send to your ideal editor or agent!

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Participate in weekly critiques and our super interactive private FB group

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Have lots of fun

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And have all sorts of opportunities that you wouldn't get anywhere else?

Then this course is for you!!

Join former students who have received over 40 contract offers in just over 2 years and others who have signed with their dream agents. Here's a wee video from former student Yuyi Morales who recently won a Caldecott honor.

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Then there are the Golden Tickets! What's a Golden Ticket?

A Golden Ticket opportunity is when you get to submit directly to an agent or editor and bypass the slush pile or closed house submission policy. In this course we are having a Golden Ticket contest where editors and agents will be reading your pitches and then choosing ones that they would like to see the full manuscripts for. Here are SOME of your awesome judges!!
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Karen Greenberg
Random House/Knopf
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Kelly Delaney
Random House/Knopf
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Sean McCarthy
Rocketing Literary Agent
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Mystery Agent or Editor or Both
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Stephen Brown
Random House/Knopf

Ready to Take the Leap of Faith?

The Early Bird Big Bonus is currently only 437.00 and comes with a sweet payment plan and over 750.00 worth of extra bonuses. Price goes up to 537.00 starting June 15th!!! You can attend tons of conferences, or pay for lots of other courses, but this flagship course is so incredibly helpful with proven results that we are offering it with a 100% money back guarantee that if you take it, do what we recommend, and at the end of a year you don't feel like you learned a tremendous amount of truly helpful information, you'll get your money back, so the risk is all on us.
Here are the links:

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And now for that incredibly rare opportunity for a ONE-HOUR heavily discounted in-person via telephone or Skype or email one-on-one critique with Kelly Delaney for only 537 (with an easy payment plan), click below:

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And if you'd like to work with the Picture Book Whisperer herself in a ONE-HOUR heavily discounted one-on-one critique via telephone or Skype or email for only 537 (with an easy payment plan), click below:

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More Bang for your Buck! Just what will you get for your money?

There are two levels of payment available for this 5 plus week course, which in some ways keeps on going indefinitely.
ALL LEVELS INCLUDE THESE BONUSES:
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Access to the 25 lessons plus 6 bonus lessons for the 5 week course plus an additional SIX months of access

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Lifelong access to our own highly interactive private Facebook group

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Access to our live weekly topic-specific conference calls/workshop/webinars where you can get help with everything from pitches, plots, titles, and endings, and ask any questions you like (these interactive videos will also be recorded)

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The Exclusive Barbara Bottner Big Bonanza Bonus of FIVE topic specific interviews

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Fabulous templates, worksheets, and done-for-you scripts

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The Little Big Book of Children's Book Writing Techniques and Terminology!!!

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A beautiful CBA badge for your website

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Your own optional critique group

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Entry into the Golden Ticket skip-the-line pitch fest contest where Random House/Knopf editors will select 6 manuscripts to consider for publication.

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Secret half-off link for the awesome on-demand e-course Get Your Grammar Groove with Miranda Paul. Get Your Grammar Groove will teach you everything you need to know about Grammar and Formatting and a whole bunch more about Writing

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Secret half-off link for an awesome beginning and advanced on-demand e-course for fearful beginners to long-time Photoshop users on using Photoshop

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Plus other opportunities and goodies too numerous to mention!

TOTAL VALUE an additional $750
The Early Bird Big Bonus Package is only $437 and comes with a sweet payment plan! Ready to go for it and rock your writing world? Click here!
OR
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The Early Bird I Am Ready for Success with Kelly Delaney Package includes:
EVERYTHING ABOVE, plus a possibly life-changing one-on-one ONE HOUR in person via Skype or phone critique with Kelly Delaney
(normally unavailable except for short critiques at conferences) is only $537 and comes with a sweet payment plan (will be 637). There are only a limited number of these available, so act fast!

This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with an awesome editor who is actively building her list. Click here to register with Kelly
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The Early Bird I Am Ready for Success with Mira
includes:

EVERYTHING ABOVE, plus a possibly life-changing one-on-one ONE HOUR in person via Skype or phone critique with Mira Reisberg (normally unavailable except for a limited number in interactive courses or short critiques at conferences) is only $537
and comes with a sweet payment plan!
There are only a limited number of these available, so act fast!

Ready to register for a critique with Mira? You can right here!

Still a little unsure? Here are a few more testimonials from the amazing students who have taken this transformative journey before you:

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From Tanja BauerleI– I just completed The Craft and Business of Writing Children’s Picture Books. The wonderful Mira Reisberg is so incredibly generous and knowledgeable that the past five weeks have been filled with resources, information and practical applications that I can’t wait to implement into my own writing. I feel so inspired and feel like my inner writer is blossoming, all that’s to the marvelous Mira. I highly encourage you to take any of Mira’s courses. You will not be disappointed and the tools that she will bestow on you will propel you onwards.

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From Melanie Moschella–I thoroughly enjoyed the online format of “The Craft and Business of Writing Children’s Picture Books”! Every weekday there was a new lesson posted with lecture notes and informative videos from other children’s book authors [and editors, agents, and book sellers]. I had an idea for a picture book, but as a new writer I did not know how to get started. What I especially liked about this class was our small critique groups and the one-on-one critique with Dr. Reisberg. Dr. Reisberg understands the children’s book industry and her feedback and continued encouragement has been wonderful!

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From Marcy Pusey - Just completed five weeks with the Children's Book Academy… and I have to say: It was SUPERB. FANTASTIC. The class has so inspired and equipped me, that I’ve been more intentional about submitting, working, pitching, querying… and writing. I have some new, great, practical “tools” in my writer’s toolbox that I didn’t have before.  I’ve left with a new fantastic critique group, an e-book with all the information, access to the website for awhile longer, and Mira. Mira is amazing. Since the class ended ( a couple of weeks ago),  I've won second place in the Perfect Character Driven Pitch contest. I submitted a book to a publisher I’ve worked with before (SNAP Learning) who loved my work and bought it!"


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From Wendy Greenley–For the past five weeks I've been a student at Dr. Mira Reisberg's Children's  Book Academy. Mira's passion for the subject was palpable, and her record of successes with previous students an inspiration.  I came away with a renewed sense of focus and a conviction that it isn't enough to write good picture books--children deserve great picture books and it is up to writers to rise to the challenge. Seriously, thanks, Mira. 

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From Danielle Heitmuller– Dr. Mira Reisberg is an excellent teacher.  She pushes you to do your best, but in such a supportive and nurturing way. The Children's Book Academy improved my writing skills tenfold. I feel confident in submitting my manuscript and ready to write more with my newly acquired knowledge.

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From Audrey Couloumbis–One of the truest truths of writing is that we never know it all, we rarely face the
same challenges with the next book that we met with the last. Consequently, we're always learning. I've taken two courses with Mira Reisberg's Children's Book Academy, although I had my doubts, at first, that an online class would be satisfying. But it had been too long since I'd had the opportunity to take any class, anywhere, and I decided to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. I learned a lot in each class and of course...I'm looking forward to the next. 

And how about this for an awesome guest faculty? Some of the best of the best in the business - some of whom are also my beloved friends - are ready and waiting to help guide you:

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Allison Wortche
Knopf/Random House
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Amy Allen
Henry Holt
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Tracey Baptiste
Rosen Publishing
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Sean McCarthy
Sean McCarthy Literary
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Brett Duquette
Sterling Publishing
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Brilliant mystery editor or agent
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Yuyi Morales
Author/Illustrator
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Jim Averbeck
Author/Illustrator
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Lori Mortensen
F & NF Author
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Ashley Wolff
Author/Illustrator
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Caroline Arnold
NF Author
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Alexis O'Neill
Author
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Tara Lazar
Author
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Miranda Paul
Author
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Maya Gonzalez
Author/Illustrator
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Patricia Newman
NF Author
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Deborah Hopkinson
F & NF Author
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Marsha Diane Arnold
Author
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Lee Wardlaw
Author
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Dashka Slater
Author
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Luann Stauss
Book Buyer
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Deborah Warren
East/West Literary Agency
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The Revisionaries Phenomenal Critique Group
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Kathryn Otoshi
Author/Illustrator
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Steff Green
Social Media
Maven
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Greg Pincus
Social Media
Maven
In a recent course, someone mentioned that our courses are the equivalent of 20 conferences and in some ways they are. We have 27 experts (including the co-instructors) bringing a wealth of expertise and in-depth knowledge You might notice that we end with 2 social media experts because we do everything in our power to help our students succeed in the contemporary publishing landscape where having a social media presence is becoming more and more important.

Is this going to be the year for you?

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Our guest contributors will speak to you in custom created videos and written interviews sharing their perspectives on everything from writing tips and secrets on how they structure their books, researching and writing non-fiction, writing biographies, crafting perfect rhymes, creating luscious language, working with plot, getting rejected and keeping on going, what they look for in buying books, what they look for in submissions, creating an authors platform to make you more attractive to publishers and so much more.

Your real world results include:

  • Getting a truly powerful education in how to write and submit a children’s picture book story
  • Lifetime knowledge of how to write that story and cover letter
  • Understanding of how the illustration process works
  • Discovering how to find that "perfect for you" publisher or agent and how to submit to them
  • And much more
Here's a tiny sneak peek from a much larger video interview with Marsha Diane Arnold where she shares words of wisdom for beginning writers. In the full interview Marsha shares about her writing process, how she embeds or unearths deeper meanings in her stories, and how she crafts character-driven stories. She's pretty fabulous as are our other gifted contributors.

For even more detailed specifics visit our FAQs page here
Or take the leap of faith and sign up below now:

The Big Bonus
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Success With Mira
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  • Home
    • THOH KidLit Creative Retreat
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
    • Mastering Graphic Novels
    • 2022 Kidlit Palooza >
      • 2022 Palooza Program
      • 2022 Palooza Faculty
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • NEW!! Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship