KIDLIT411 BIRTHDAY BASH 2016 Day 3: ALL ABOUT CRITIQUES

© Yvonne Mes

Jan. 13, 2016

Welcome to Day 3 of the Kidlit411 Birthday Bash Giveaway!

This week's giveaways have followed the path of a creator's journey. 

• First, you read a lot of great books (Jan. 11: All About Books). 

• Then, you learn all you can about craft (yesterday: All About Craft).

• Today's prizes are the next step--ALL ABOUT CRITIQUES: getting impartial feedback of your work. 

• Tomorrow, you will be ready to submit to agents (All About Submissions). (If it were only that easy!)

You may enter into any and all of the giveaways. All giveaways end at noon, EST, Jan. 21, 2016. 

Taking one action (such as commenting on this post) qualifies you for that entry (commenting) for all of the giveaways for the day. If you already follow us on Twitter, in our FB group, or subscribe to our emails, you can take those entries in every giveaway.

We are lucky to have these giveaways due to the incredible generosity of our kidlit community, so if you happen upon these people elsewhere on the internet, please be sure to thank them! 

TODAY'S GIVEAWAYS: ALL ABOUT CRITIQUES

PRIZES 1 and 2: For Illustrators: TWO Seats in Mark Mitchell's Next Marks and Splashes Guest Critique Webinar

Mark Mitchell, illustrator and founder of the online course, Make Your Splashes, Make Your Marks Children's Illustration Course  (check out a review of it on Sylvia Liu's blog) runs a monthly critique webinar with guest experts to help critique your illustrations. It's always great to get an outside, expert opinion on your work, and listening to others get critiqued is a valuable learning experience.

TWO winners will be picked to participate in the next monthly critique session.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PRIZE 3: A FULL Picture Book Critique by Author Jen Swanson!

Win a critique by the amazing author of BRAIN GAMES, Jennifer Swanson. Jennifer is an award winning author of over 20 nonfiction and fiction books for children. Her books in the HOW THINGS WORK series by The Child’s World were named to the 2012 Booklist’s Top 10 Books for Youth: Series Nonfiction. She has received awards from the Pennsylvania TriState Young Adult Review Committee, The Moms Choice Awards, and The Dove Foundation. Top reviews include a starred review in Booklist, and recommended reviews from School Librarians Workshop, Library Media Connection, and the National Science Teacher Association.

Jennifer Swanson offers a range of critique services for fiction and non-fiction picture books, as well as work-for-hire submission packages. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


PRIZE 4: A FULL Picture Book Critique by Danielle Davis!

Danielle Davis is an agented writer with a children's book blog called This Picture Book Life and a master's degree in literature and creative writing. She offers critique services for picture books, middle grade, and YA.

Danielle helps writers make their work the best it can be while staying true to their own voice and vision. She will offer comprehensive notes in your manuscript, in-depth feedback, and comparative titles. Check out her critique services here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PRIZE 5: A 30 Minute Picture Book Consultation with Cynthea Liu


Win a 30 minute critique/consultation. Cynthea Liu is the author of two picture books, BIKE ON, BEAR! (Simon & Schuster, 2015) and WOOBY AND PEEP (Sterling, 2013, a Barnes & Noble summer selection); a middle grade novel, PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE (Putnam 2009); and a YA novel, THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA (Penguin 2009), part of Speak’s bestselling S.A.S.S. series. Based in Chicago, Cynthea has spoken to schools in Illinois and across the country and at national teacher and librarian conferences. She is a writing coach and faculty member for conferences associated with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and local universities and colleges. Cynthea is represented by the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Cynthea provides a range of critique services but due to her schedule, she currently only provides 30 minute picture book consultations. She is also the author of WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS: A CRASH COURSE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PRIZE 6: The Penguin Posse Picture Book Critique Pack (7 critiques for one PB ms!)

The team behind Kidlit411 is part of a picture book critique group composed of agented, contracted, and published children's authors. If you win this prize, ALL SEVEN OF US will critique ONE of your picture book manuscripts (under 800 words) just as we would each other's. Having seven critiques of the same story will give you invaluable feedback on what works and what doesn't in your story. Members of the team include: 

• Alayne Kay Christian - author of award-winning independently published picture book, BUTTERFLY KISSES FOR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA (Blue Whale Press), founder of Sub Six, a writer's support group for submissions, and creator of the online course, Art of the Arc: How to Analyze Your Picture Book Manuscript (available in yesterday's giveaway).   

• Elaine Kiely Kearns - children's author, elementary school teacher and founder of KidLit411. She is represented by Linda Epstein of the Jennifer DiChiara Agency.  

• Renee LaTulippe - kid lit poet with a published collection of poetry and poems in a number of anthologies; co-author of nine award-winning early readers; founder of The Lyrical Language Lab, which teaches kidlit writers to punch up their prose (available in yesterday's giveaway), and children's poetry blogger at No Water River. 

• Sylvia Liu - children's author and illustrator whose debut picture book, A MORNING WITH GRANDPA, illustrated by Christina Forshay (Lee & Low Books) is coming out in May 2016. The other half of the Kidlit411 team.

• Yvonne Mes - children's author and illustrator whose picture books, MEET SIDNEY NOLAN, illustrated by Sandra Enterovic (Random House Australia) and OLIVER'S GRUMBLES, illustrated by Giuseppe Poli (Dragon Tales Publishing) were published in late 2015.

• Teresa Robeson - children's and adult author who has been published in Babybug, Ladybug, the SCBWI Bulletin, and other magazines; contributor to several science fiction anthologies.

• Victoria Warneck - children's writer who has held editorial positions at McGraw-Hill, The MIT Press, Addison-Wesley, and Pearson Education.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PRIZE 7 and 8: For Illustrators: TWO Separate 30 Minute Session/Consultations with Stephanie Olivieri- (1) How to Work and Make a Living as an Artist or (2) From Pencil to Pixel: Transitioning From Hand Drawing to Computer

Stephanie Olivieri is a professional illustrator and writer who specializes in the children's market. She has illustrated over 20 children's books, both educational and fiction. Before getting into kidlit Stephanie worked in traditional animation for Disney, Warner Bros. and other big studios. Currently she works from home as an illustrator. Visit her website at www.stepholivieri.com.

Stephanie is offering two separate prizes:

•  Stephanie is working on a course and book called I LOVE MONDAYS for artists and writers who want to reach their dreams and goals by working and earning a living as an artist. She will provide a 30-minute consultation on this topic.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• She is putting together a workshop FROM PENCIL TO PIXEL, to help people through the frustrations both mentally and financially of transitioning from traditional media to digital. She will provide a 30-minute consultation on this topic.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

BONUS WRITING COURSE PRIZE: An ALL ACCESS PASS for 2016 to Joyce Sweeney's 3 Writing Classes, 3 Webinars, and All the Videos (over $1,000 value)!

We are super excited to present this extraordinary giveaway:

Joyce Sweeney is the author of fourteen books and the writing coach for more than fifty traditionally published authors. She has won numerous awards including the Delacorte Press First Young-Adult Novel prize for Center Line and the Nevada Young Reader’s Award for Shadow. Joyce has been critiquing manuscripts for twenty-five years, has been an active member of SCBWI, and teaches workshops on craft. Joyce offers her writing expertise through video taped classes and webinars via www.SweeneyWritingCoach.com.

The winner of an ALL ACCESS PASS will receive enrollment in 3 ten-week classes. Each class has an interactive forum for homework and follow-up.

• Fiction Writing Essentials. This is the perfect class for everyone, since we “don’t know what we don’t know.” You’ll learn everything from pre-book decisions to marketing.

• Advanced Fiction Writing. You’ll delve deeper into the superstructure of your work, bringing your level of writing up better than you could have imagined.

• Revision. This is our new class this year which will complement and refine the work you completed in the first two classes.

In addition, you’ll receive three live webinars (and their replays). First up is Flashbacks, scheduled for February 2.

On top of everything else, you’ll have access to 

• Lessons from her two other ten-week classes, Picture Book Essentials and Mystery and Suspense
• All her other webinar recording: Marketing, Dialogue, Endings, and Emotion.

You must provide your email to qualify for this giveaway (and we will provide your email to Sweeney Writing Coach). Everyone who enters will receive access to Joyce’s Plot Clock Webinar.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway