Breakout Session Four

Description: Join literary agent Kate McKean as she talks about the journey from pitch to published for her book "Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life (Simon Element, 2025)". In this session, we'll talk about the secrets and insights Kate learned by being on both sides of the publishing desk. We'll cover everything from crafting a pitch when you've read one million pitches, how to deal with failure and success, best practices for not procrastinating, how to do social media when you have a full-time job, and what lessons to take from your first book on to your next. Participants will walk away with key questions to ask and answer to see if they're ready to take the next steps.  

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate

This workshop is best for participants…

Who have or want to publish a book with a traditional publishing house, but feel lost and are looking for general guidance. Writers will find comfort in the fact that they're not the only ones who feel this way. Best for writers who want to know what to expect from the publication process and how to prepare for their own. Writers of all genres and age groups welcome, illustrators too. 

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation:  None

Description: So often in writing, we are seekers. We want to find everything from our voice, our style, our process, and ultimately, publication. We seek to follow rules (never start a novel with a dream, for example) or use techniques that will wow agents, editors, or readers in a climb to our ultimate goal. But what happens when you let it all go? When do we stop and remember why we wanted to be writers? And when do we tap into that weird version of ourselves and our lived experience to put on the page not just a story, but our story? Writers for young readers are seekers—we seek to make sense of the truth of the world. But sometimes, finding the truth is not about controlling the process of our writing, and more about allowing it to unfold. This workshop, through generative writing prompts and mini-lectures about surrealist automatic writing and emotional catharsis, aims to bring you back to yourself and find the voice of your next novel. Participants will have opportunities to share their generative work, have fun working in small groups, talk about the trauma our young readers experience and how we can soothe that trauma with honesty mined from our own lives.

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced

This workshop is best for participants…

who write for any age group (though works best for MG and YA novelists) and who would like to explore experimental writing and letting go of traditional processes. Participants will be examining lived experiences and should be prepared for the emotional attention required to approach personal cathartic narrative.

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation: Participants will need whatever equipment they use to write. All participants will receive a prep packet with several examples of surrealist or stream of consciousness writing and instructions on how to keep a Special Journal for this workshop.

Description: Think about The Bible and its impact. Many believe in it, live by it, and will forever refer to it in times of need. The Winsome Bingham Craft Bible is created with the same vision. It is created with purpose and intention to help writers jumpstart creativity, approach writing with confidence, hone their writing skills, and craft the best stories. This hands-on workshop is for attendees who would like to write board books, picture books, early/transitional readers, and chapter books. Attendees will create a blueprint which includes idea generators, first lines, poetic devices, plot progression, plot twists, “what ifs”, endings, beginnings, and heartfelt moments. Whether you are new to writing or have been published before, the Craft Bible is your plan to outline, synchronize, and approach your story knowing you have already done half the work. Your ideas are there, your story format is set. All you need to do is piece together the components of a great story. We will create the bible through a craft activity using 3-ring binder, scissors, glue, construction paper, markers/crayons, highlighters, dividers, and artistic flair. Attendees will leave with a binder of ideas ready to go off and begin writing.

Skill Level: Whether you have written before or just embarking on this journey, adding additional “tools” and “know how” will take the dread out of writing.

This workshop is beneficial for...

...folks who want to write, know they have stories within them to tell, but they have no idea how to begin. 

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation: Bring your supplies: 3-ring binder, scissors, glue, construction paper, multi-colored stock paper, markers/crayons, highlighters, dividers, and labels.

Description:  In picture books, the flip of a page is a magical thing. It can move us through time and space. It’s the action that allows a story to expand. This magic is born from the physicality of the book — and in this workshop for illustrators, we’ll conjure that magic together. This hands-on session invites participants to think as bookmakers, designers, and visual storytellers all at once. We’ll begin by looking closely at a selection of boundary-pushing picture books that harness format, die cuts, negative space, and sequencing to transform the reading experience. Then, through a fast-paced and playful collaborative exercise, participants will create their own handmade spreads using flaps, folds, and openings to explore how structure can shape storytelling. This is an invitation to discover new possibilities within the book as a physical object — and to reflect on how design can open up new layers of meaning, movement, and surprise.

Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced

This workshop is beneficial for...

...illustrators and writer–illustrators interested in exploring the narrative potential of physical book design. Writers are also welcome and will be encouraged to pair with illustrators for the hands-on portion.

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation: No ideas or sketches are necessary. Please bring basic bookmaking tools: paper, scissors, glue, tape, cutting mats (if using box cutters), and any drawing materials you enjoy. Materials that produce strong, visible marks are encouraged. All exercises will be handmade.

Description: Procreate and iPad Pro have become increasingly popular amongst artists. The freedom of having a portable workstation is amazing! You might be a traditional artist looking to start in digital mediums. Or you might have already doodled in it for a while. But is Procreate alone enough to handle an entire book illustration project? During this workshop, we’ll go through basic app features, brush settings, textures, and print file set up. We’ll work on a small project together while getting to know the app. By the end you should have a new workflow setup ready for book projects in Procreate.

Skill Level: Beginner, Intermediate

This workshop is beneficial for: Traditional or digital artists, who have some or no experiences with Procreate.

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation:  iPad, Apple Pencil and Procreate is best, but Procreate on the phone is ok too. Think of a small scene with background and at least one character. You can do some thumbnails but it’s not necessary.

Description: African folktales are timeless treasures—repositories of culture, values, and wisdom—yet many are fading from everyday life. How do we preserve these stories and reintroduce them to children in ways that feel fresh, relevant, and resonant? In this generative workshop, we will explore the traditional elements of African folktales such as structure, characters, refrains, and moral lessons, and learn how to reimagine these timeless tales for today’s picture book audience through the art of fractured folktales. Participants will learn strategies for incorporating stock characters, songs or call-and-response refrains, and creative twists that honor tradition while adding originality. By the end of the session, participants will have developed new story concepts or revisions that honor tradition while breathing new life into it.

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate

This workshop is best for: Writers of picture books interested in drawing on African or other cultural traditions or seeking to explore folktales as a source of inspiration for original or reimagined works.

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation:

Bring along:

• A folktale (African or otherwise) that resonates with you.
• Notes or a draft of any story idea you would like to “fracture” or reimagine.
• An openness to experimenting with lyrical refrains, call-and-response, and traditional folktale structures.

Description: Meeting the moment in picture book nonfiction means engaging readers with humor, poetic language, innovative story structures, and gripping true narratives. Picture books that read like articles are a tough sell in today’s market, but there’s still great demand for high-concept nonfiction that explores big ideas and curriculum-friendly subjects in kid-friendly ways. In this session, we’ll explore what editors are looking for now (and what they wish you’d quit sending them) and study a sampling of current informational picture books, deconstructing these successful mentor texts to discover why they work and how you can apply their secret strategies to your own projects. Please come prepared with an unpublished manuscript to reimagine and your current ideas file – the list of nonfiction topics you might like to write next.

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced 

This workshop is beneficial for: Curious writers who have lots of ideas but want to think outside the box, engage more deeply with revision, and explore strategies for making projects irresistible to editors and readers.

Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation: To make the most of this hands-on workshop, please come prepared with one or more manuscripts you’re working on, either on your laptop or on paper with a pen for making notes. (We’ll be actively revising these during the workshop!) Also bring your current list of nonfiction picture book ideas; we’ll do some brainstorming about different approaches, and you’ll leave with a myriad of ideas to try out when you get home.