What's scarier than love? Join us February 14th before all your Valentine's Day festivities for a webinar led by Stuti Telividara with Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management, as we delve into the secrets of age-appropriate suspense, from tension that tingles to jump scares that spark giggles.
Registration
This webinar dives into crafting scares that feel thrilling, clever, and emotionally rich, and the current market trends for the genre.
We’ll explore how to escalate tension without overwhelming, build atmospheric settings that hum with unease, and create characters whose fears feel as real as their crushes, friendships, and late-night anxieties. Expect tools for timing your jump scares, sharpening your stakes, and weaving in humor and heart so the chills land with style.
You’ll leave ready to craft stories that shiver with charm—stories that make them lean in and whisper, “Okay… maybe just one more page.”
$25 for SCBWI members; $30 for non-members.
To register for the event, please click on the green "Register for event" button above by the event title.
The recording of the webinar will be available for 30 days after the event for those who purchased the event.
Also, there are limited number of OPTIONAL critiques with Stuti available for purchase:
· $PRICE for SCBWI members; $PRICE for non-members
o For all submissions, format your work in 12-point font, with one-inch margins, and double spacing. (US Letter paper size-Include all materials in the same document; please don’t send two documents)
Please include your name on every page of your work as a header or a footer, as well as identifying information on page one: first & last name, email address, title, genre.
Please save your file as Faculty Last Name_Your Last Name_TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT as a .pdf, .doc, or .docx. Example: Telidevara_Flahive_A BLADE SO KEEN
If you would like to purchase a critique, please add the critique option that you want during the registration checkout. All critiques are due on February 16th, 2026 at 11:59pm EST. Please submit your manuscripts using this link: JOTFORM LINK
All critiques will be completed and returned to you by March 16th, 2026.
Faculty Bio
More about Stuti
Stuti Telidevara works on sharp, commercial adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction. She is looking for diverse storytellers and vivid, detailed worldbuilding across genre, and fiction with a strong, high-concept hook. She is especially interested in fantasy and speculative fiction and is actively building her list. Her clients include bestsellers and published names such as Tashie Bhuiyan, Becka Mack, Rebecca Mix, Alyssa Sheinmel, Trang Thanh Tran, and Joelle Wellington; as well as debuts like Maia Kane, Petra Lord, J.K. MacLaren, Charlotte B. Plumb, Melody Robinette, and Elle Tesch. Prior to joining Park & Fine (now Park, Fine & Brower) in 2021, she held positions at Raven Quill Literary, Orbit Books, and Transatlantic Literary. She holds a B.A. in English from Harvard University and spends her free time watching ice hockey, listening to history podcasts, and brewing perfect cups of tea.
Questions?
For any questions regarding the event, please contact us at [email protected]