In the first half of this year (how can we be halfway through the year already?) I benefited from several webinars about different aspects of writing. A few were free, a few had a fee, but all were worthwhile.
Among them were an Agents Day hosted by SCBWI Wisconsin, a webinar about writing first pages in middle grade and YA novels hosted by SCBWI-SouthWest Texas, one on writing the middle of novels entitled (Un)Stuck in the Middle presented by Lorin Oberweger and hosted by SCBWI Nebraska, a couple of webinars about revision from the Children’s Book Insider, and a couple from KidLit Nation. It was a rich time of learning.
How did I find out about such fabulous webinars, you ask? Here’s the scoop:
SCBWI-Nevada does all SCBWI members (and others) a huge favor by keeping track of SCBWI webinars that are happening all over the United States. You can access the list at their site, Nevada SCBWI (you’ll see webinar in the sidebar if you’re on their homepage). Their listing of webinars is kept current and there are always gems to be found. Usually there’s a charge for non-members, as well as a lower charge for SCBWI members. For someone like me, who lives out of easy traveling range to my SCBWI chapter, this gives me an opportunity to make use of my membership in a tangible way. And my writing has definitely benefited!
Children’s Book Insider is a fantastic resource for anyone who writes children’s books, from board books on up through YA. There’s a membership fee involved, but the tons of resources, monthly ‘magazine’, and frequent learning opportunities make the fee worthwhile. Some of the webinars I’ve participated in have been free, others have had a fee, but all have been excellent.
KidLit Nation is a fabulous source of webinars and of great discussion on Own Voices writing, and on ensuring that diverse books are available to all, and that our writing is sensitive to the needs of all. In their own words: Our mission is to help educate and provide opportunities for diverse children’s writers and illustrators of color and connect them to resources and opportunities from around the publishing industry.
Emma Walton Hamilton and Julie Foster Hedlund offer great webinars from time to time, as well as the fantastic one-day online conference, Picture Book Summit, coming up this year on Saturday, October 6. For the Summit, they are joined by Laura Backes and Jon Bard of Children’s Book Insider and Katie Davis of the Institute for Children’s Literature. Watch for the Mini-Summit coming up at some point before the full one!
There are many other sources of great webinars. This should get you started.
(and, in passing, I hope you’ll be able to read this post — at the moment, the message on the bottom of my screen says “not saved, editor out of focus.” LOL)
