PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR WRITERS

2021 Online Masterclasses for Writers

This ADULT SERIES includes three consecutive sessions across the following dates:

8 June 2021

15 June 2021

22 June 2021

Writers will receive practical, insightful tips and information from book industry experts

in a course that will:

· Get you started

· Keep you motivated

· Put you in front of the experts

· Familiarise you with publishing processes

· Give your publishing dreams a kick-start!

Designed to inspire, inform and engage writers at all stages of their pre-publication career, our guest speakers are senior representatives of the Australian book industry.

Take the opportunity to listen to the stories of other writers, interact with book industry professionals and ask the questions to suit where you're at with your development as a writer.

After each session our aim is for you to come away with renewed energy, a clearer pathway and solid next steps.

Cost: $295

Time: 8 00pm – 9 00pm

Dates: 8/6/2021; 15/6/2021;22/6/2021

Bookings can be made HERE

For all enquiries: Kristin@northernbooks.com.au

This series will be limited to 15 delegates

Course Detail

Session One:

In this session we will chat with two very different authors about getting started and we will ask for tips on the following aspects of getting started:

Finding your story
Planning
Plotting
Preparation
QnA

Our guest speakers will be:

Cate Kennedy
Cate Kennedy is the author of the highly acclaimed novel The World Beneath, which won the People’s Choice Award in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 2010. She is an award-winning short-story writer whose work has been published widely. Her first collection, Dark Roots, was shortlisted for the Steele Rudd Award in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. She is also the author of a travel memoir, Sing, and Don’t Cry, and the poetry collections Joyflight, Signs of Other Fires and The Taste of River Water, which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry in 2011.

Tabitha Bird

Tabitha Bird is a writer and poet who lives and works in the rural township of Boonah, Queensland. By day Tabitha may be found painting, working on her next book or with her husband, three beautiful boys and Chihuahua.

Her books include: The Emporium of Imagination and The Lifetime of Impossible Days

Session Two:

In the second session we will explore the importance of editing your own work.

Jane Pearson, senior editor at Text Publishing will talk us through:

Developing a manageable story arc
Drafting and rewriting
Knowing when your work is publisher ready

Text Publishing is an independent, Melbourne-based publisher of literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction. Text has been awarded the ABIA Small Publisher of the Year three times and won the Leading Edge Books Small Publisher of the Year in 2018 and 2019.

Session Three:

In our third session, we will discuss helpful hints on submitting your work for publication and marketing and publicity tips. Our guest speakers will are Jane Pearson (Text publishing), Clive Hebard (Managing Editor, Penguin Random House), Kristin Gill, (Bookseller – Northern Books and publishing – Penguin Random House ) and literary agent Jacinta Di Mase (Di Mase Literary Agency)

Jacinta di Mase Management is a literary agency committed to the creation of quality books that engage, entertain, and inspire.

The agency represents a diverse range of award winning and emerging writers and illustrators across all areas of the publishing market including fiction, non fiction, and books for children and young adults.

Clive Hebard is the Managing Editor, Melbourne – Penguin Random House Australia

When authors deliver their manuscript, they expect to hold a book in their hands within a few months, to download their ebook, and listen to the audio edition. Clive's role at Penguin Random House Australia is to help make this happen. He has worked at independent and corporate book publishers in the UK and Australia, leading editorial and production processes from manuscript to final files, with twenty years hands-on editing experience of fiction and non-fiction for adults. He especially loves literary and commercial fiction, memoir, cookery and personal development.

Kristin Gill has worked in the book industry for more than 30 years in both trade and educational publishing. Currently she is the Publishing Manager for Young Readers at Penguin Random House and is also the events and marketing manager for Northern Books, an events-based bookseller in Castlemaine.

Writing for Children

Masterclass Series for Writers of Children’s Books

The CHILDREN’S series includes three consecutive sessions across the following dates:

20 July 2021

27 July 2021

3 August 2021

Writers will receive practical, insightful tips and information from book industry experts

in a course that will:

· Get you started

· Keep you motivated

· Put you in front of the experts

· Familiarise you with publishing processes

· Give your publishing dreams a kick-start!

Designed to inspire, inform and engage writers at all stages of their pre-publication career, our guest speakers are senior representatives of the Australian book industry.

Take the opportunity to listen to the stories of other writers, interact with book industry professionals and ask the questions to suit where you're at with your development as a writer.

After each session our aim is for you to come away with renewed energy, a clearer pathway and solid next steps.

Please note that we will keep the session to a maximum of 15 people to ensure plenty of opportunity for QnA, interaction with guest speakers and fellow delegates.

Cost: $295

Time: 8 00pm – 9 00pm

Dates: 20 July 2021

27 July 2021

3 August 2021

Session 1: Finding Your Story

Getting started, Planning, Plotting and Shaping your story

Guest Speakers Sally Rippin and Martine Murray

Session 2: The Editorial Process

Developing a story to appeal to the intended readership

Drafting, rewriting, self-editorialising, sharing your story with other readers.

Knowing when your work is publisher ready

Guest Speaker Davina Bell

Session 3: Submitting your work for publication

Rules and regulations around submitting a manuscript

Which publishers take-on unsolicited manuscripts

The question of self-publishing

Do I need a literary agent?

Guest speakers: Alex Adsett (Agent) , Lisa Riley (Publisher), Gabrielle Wang (Author)

Bookings can be made HERE

About our Speakers:

Sally Rippin

Sally Rippin is Australia’s highest-selling female author and has written more than 50 books for children and young adults. Her widely popular Billie B Brown books are beloved across the globe, and have sold more than five million copies in eighteen countries. She loves to write stories with heart and characters that resonate with children, parents and teachers alike.

She has taught Writing For Children as a part of the Professional Writing and Editing Program at RMIT and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators.

In 2021, she released her latest series for young readers, School of Monsters.

Martine Murray

Martine Murray was born in Melbourne and now lives in Castlemaine in Victoria. She is an award-winning children’s novelist and illustrator and is the creator of Molly and Pim, Cedar B Hartley, Henrietta and Marsh and Me. The Last Summer of Ada Bloom was her first novel for adults. In 2021, Martine self-published, The Wanting Monster, A gentle and humorous fable about a tiny monster who causes enormous trouble in one village.

Davina Bell

Davina Bell is a writer for young people of many ages, and a children’s book editor. Her award-winning and Notable picture books include All the Ways To Be Smart, All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors, Under the Love Umbrella, The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade, Oh Albert! and Hattie Helps Out. She is also the author of the Alice books in Penguin’s best-selling Our Australian Girl series, the Lemonade Jones series of Junior Fiction, and the Corner Park Clubhouse series (Middle Grade). Her debut young-adult novel will be published in June 2020.

Having been a Senior Editor at Penguin Books, she has also worked as a commissioning editor for Affirm press and is currently the children’s publisher at Allen and Unwin.

In 2021 Davina won the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature for her most recent book, The End of the World is Bigger than Love.

Lisa Riley:

Lisa is currently Publisher: Books for Young readers at Penguin Random House. She has worked in the industry, across various publishing houses for over 25 years and has published many award-winning books in that time.

Gabrielle Wang

Gabrielle Wang is an author and illustrator born in Melbourne of Chinese heritage. Her maternal great grandfather came to Victoria during the Gold Rush and her father from Shanghai. Her stories are a blend of Chinese and Western culture with a touch of fantasy.

Gabrielle's first children's novel, The Garden of Empress Cassia, won the 2002 Aurealis Award, was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and was a CBCA Notable Book. The Pearl of Tiger Bay was shortlisted for the 2004 Aurealis Award and The Lion Drummer was a Notable Book in the 2009 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. A Ghost in My Suitcase won the 2009 Aurealis Award, was a CBC Notable Book, was shortlisted for the 2011 Sakura Medal and received a Highly Commended in the 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Her first young adult novel, Little Paradise also received a Highly Commended in the 2011 Prime Minister's Awards. Gabrielle's picture book The Race for the Chinese Zodiac (2010) illustrated by Sally Rippin and Regine Abos was a Notable Book in the CBCA Awards for 2011 and shortlisted for the 2011 YABBA and WAYBRA awards. Her latest books are part of the highly successful 2011 Our Australian Girl series published by Penguin - Meet Poppy, Poppy at Summerhill, Poppy and the Thief and Poppy Comes Home.

The Wishbird was a CBCA 2014 Notable Book and was shortlisted for the 2014 Australian Book Design Awards, Yabba Awards, Kroc Awards, Koala Awards, Cool Awards and Crystal Kite Award.

The Beast of Hushing Wood, for middle readers, came out in 2017 and her latest book is the sequel to the award-winning A Ghost in my Suitcase. It's called Ting Ting the Ghosthunter.

Alex Adsett

Alex Adsett is a literary agent and publishing consultant, who has been working in the publishing and bookselling industry for almost twenty five years. She has managed Alex Adsett Literary since 2008.

As a literary agent, Alex is always seeking amazing manuscripts, with a focus on fiction and narrative non-fiction, especially SFF, crime and romance, for all ages from picture books to adults. She is proud to represent an outstanding stable of authors, including Melissa Lucashenko, Isobelle Carmody, Hugh Breakey, Ruby Hamad, and Sasha Wasley.

Tutorials

ONLINE TUTORIALS, ONE HOUR AT A TIME, WITH INDUSTRY EXPERTS, LIMITED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

Why the editorial process is SO important (adults/Children)
I’ve written my story – what’s next – getting published 101
The picture book process – writing stories with fewer than 500 words for very young readers.
You ASKED for it – bring your questions to this amazing Book Industry panel
- EDITOR/PUBLISHER
- BOOKSELLER
- AGENT
- MARKETING and PUBLICITY GURU

Cost: $49.95 for session 1-3

$65.00 for session 4

Dates and all other information for these tutorials will be published shortly – in the meantime….