[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,641 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

The 2016 SCBWI Florida Mid-Year Workshop is full of awesome comprehensives and workshops, and is the perfect excuse for a Disney vacation. It's at the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel on June 10-11, 2016.

NEW!!! TWO-DAY COMPREHENSIVE Presented by JONATHAN MABERRY and LORIN OBERWEGER, this hands-on, two-day workshop is for experienced novelists who have several scenes of a finished novel or WIP. ***Sign up soon if you're interested. There are only a few spots left!

FRIDAY, JUNE 10 – COMPREHENSIVES 9 AM to 5 PM

·      Illustrator Comprehensive: Presented by DAN SANTAT, CHAD BECKERMAN, and LAURENT LINN this course is specifically designed for illustrators only. Come learn the ins and outs of creating stunning, memorable artwork for children’s books in a close-knit, hands-on setting. Limited to 15 participants

·      Picture Book Comprehensive: Presented by JIM AVERBECK and TRACEY ADAMS, this course is for those wanting a hands-on course on the fine points of writing and revising picture books. Limited to 25 participants


SATURDAY, JUNE 11 – WORKSHOP TRACKS 9 AM to 4 PM

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TRACKS. Note: you must remain in your selected workshop track all day.

·      Picture Book Track: Presented by LAURENT LINN, FRED KOEHLER, and MEREDITH MUNDY

·      Middle Grade Track: Presented by JIM AVERBECK, TRACEY ADAMS, and LINDA SUE PARK

·      Young Adult Track: Presented by MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH, ANNETTE POLLERT-MORGAN, and JOSH ADAMS

·      Graphic Novel Track: Presented by DAN SANTAT and CHAD BECKERMAN

·      Chapter Book Track: Presented by BONNIE BADER and NANCY KRULIK

Click this link for full conference and registration info: https://florida.scbwi.org/2016/03/10/2016-mid-year-workshops-information/

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,641 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

Don't forget that manuscript critique submissions for the Orlando Workshop are due by this Friday, May 6. Look at all the amazing success stories that happened as a result of a critique. So send, send, send! I'm sending tons of good luck vibes your way and hope I'll be shouting out lots of new success stories in our newsletter soon. https://www.facebook.com/MindyAlyseWeiss/posts/10209310098613366?pnref=story

I'll paste one success story here. Click the above link if you'd like to check out the rest of them.

Steven dos Santos: I had just arrived at the 2009 SCBWI Miami Conference, when I received an extremely disappointing email rejection from an agent who felt there wasn't a market for books with LGBT characters. The next day, still feeling down, I had a critique with Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown Ltd. She really liked my story and asked me to send her the entire manuscript on Monday, right after the conference. Three days later, I got a call from a 212 area code, which made my pulse race. As soon as I answered the call, Ginger greeted me, told me she loved the book, and asked if she could represent me. Needless to say, I was ecstatic that she "got it" and had faith in the book, and did the happy dance around my office lobby, basking in the glory of achieving a new and significant milestone in my publishing career! You can imagine how thrilling it was when Ginger finally sold my first book, The Culling, to Flux books, which interestingly enough, wasn't the novel she initially offered me representation on (that novel was Dagger, which eventually sold to Evernight Teen). Moral of the story? Keep writing and NEVER give up!