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Webinar: From Mayhem to Murder in Picture Books—How to Scare the Little out of Kids with literary agent Sera Rivers

Nov 04, 2024

Online event

Description: What makes a scary picture book successful? There’s much more to a spooky tale than the fear factor. In this workshop, learn about the various elements of the horror genre and how to apply them to stories appropriate for younger audiences. We will analyze highly successful “horror” picture books as well as tips and tropes to craft a delightfully creepy picture book that will chill—and thrill—the hearts of littles and the adults who read to them.

Quick Facts

HOST REGION: Eastern Pennsylvania

CONTACT: Kristen Strocchia epa-ara@scbwi.org

COST:

  • Premium Members: $15 USD
  • Preview Plan: $25 USD

CRITIQUES: available at an additional cost; scroll down for more information

RECORDING

The webinar will be recorded, and the recording will be available for one month following the event. Attendees will receive a link and a password by email about two days after the event.

REGISTRATION CONFIRMATIONS

Upon completion of payment, you will receive a payment confirmation by email. You will also find a registration confirmation on the website that will include event-specific details. Go to your Member Home and click on My Events under the black bar at the top of the page. All events you have registered will be displayed on this page. If there are additional meeting details (i.e. Zoom links for virtual events or materials required for the event), this information will be found under the green Meeting Info button.

Meet the Faculty

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Meet Sera

Sera Rivers is a Literary Agent at Speilburg Literary, an AALA member, and a writer. She holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University. Prior to agenting, Sera worked as an editor in educational publishing for seven years. Sera lives in Western Massachusetts with her partner and their puppy Jett. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found running all over New England training for her next race. Check out her website at SeraRivers.com for her MSWL, events, and updates. She tweets at @writeloudly.

PB, MG & YA CRITIQUES available: (at an additional cost)

ADDITIONAL COST:

  • Premium Members: $60 USD
  • Preview Plan: $65 USD


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.)

  • For Picture Book (PB): Please send entire manuscript or dummy and a 1- to 2-sentence pitch (in the same document). Translator submissions should include a brief note about the source work (also in the same document).
  • For Middle Grade/Young Adult (MG/YA): Please send up to 10 pages of your manuscript and a one-page, single-spaced synopsis (in the same document). Translator submissions should include a brief note about the source work (also in the same document).

⇒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 Webinar Faculty Last Name_Your Last Name_TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT as a PDF or DOC or DOCx.   

Example: Rivers_Strocchia_REVENGE OF THE PURPLE CARROTS

⇒Then send your file to Kristen at epa-ara@scbwi.org. The subject should read: Webinar Faculty Last Name_Your Last Name_TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT (same as saved file name).

Submission deadline: Friday, November 8, 2024.

We anticipate critiques to be returned on or about Sunday, December 15, 2024.