"The First Draft" Webinar with Monica Rodriguez
Apr 26, 2025
Online event
"The First Draft: How to NOT be Afraid of the Blank Page"
Event Description
Please join the Oklahoma/Arkansas Region of SCBWI in an inspirational and informative webinar by Monica Rodriguez, Literary Agent at Context Literary on "The First Draft: How to NOT be Afraid of the Blank Page".
The webinar will be on Zoom and recorded to watch or rewatch for 30 days following the presentation. The live webinar will be on April 26, 2025 at 10:00 am CST.
Attendees have the opportunity to purchase a critique for $55, until they are sold out. Attendees also will receive submission guidelines on the day of the webinar for post webinar submissions to all three faculty members.
About the Speaker
Monica Rodriguez:
Monica Rodriguez is a literary agent and the Director of Brand Management at Context Literary Agency. Her mission as an agent is to help uplift underrepresented voices in publishing, specifically within the Latinx community. She’s mentored authors at The Writing Barn and is a faculty member at The Manuscript Academy. In children’s literature, she is actively looking for MG, YA & Graphic Novels. She also represents illustrators and comic artists. In adult fiction, she’s looking for contemporary romance, speculative, sci-fi, and book club fiction.
Monica is also a first-gen, Mexican-American author. Her love for books can be traced back to elementary school, where the best days were spent attending book fairs and author readings. She enjoys writing about self-love and identity, family dynamics, and red flags in attempted relationships. Her writing online covers similar themes in movies & tv shows and her words have been published in HipLatina and LatinaMediaCo. She runs a self-love journey podcast called Find A Lovely Life.
Other Faculty
Sara Sproull
Sara Sproull (she/her) is an Associate Editor working remotely from her home state of KY. Since joining ABRAMS in 2018, she’s been growing her own list while assisting Andrew Smith, Emma Ledbetter, and Howard Reeves. With a focus on picture books, she’s always looking for fresh nonfiction as well as stories with big heart, offbeat humor, a slice-of-life feel, read-aloud appeal, bilingual texts, folklore/mythology/fantasy elements, and/or spooky vibes. Her past lives as a bookseller and children’s library assistant inform her love of books that open the imagination and speak directly to kids, especially readers who don’t often see themselves reflected. Sara enjoys binge-watching, guzzling coffee, playing rugby, and guzzling more coffee.
Meg Gaertner
Meg Gaertner is the Managing Editor of Fiction at North Star Editions, where she acquires middle grade and young adult titles for the Jolly Fish Press and Flux imprints. Her authors and their books have earned starred reviews, won awards, and made recommended reading lists around the country--and, more importantly, have touched young people's lives, inspiring and empowering them as dreamers and changemakers. She is excited to work on books across all genres that expand perspectives, increase representation, broaden imaginations, and explore challenging topics with nuance and care.
Critique Information
Monica Rodriguez, Literary Agent at Context Literary, will critique:
PB complete manuscript or first 10 pages of a Chapter Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, Nonfiction, or Comic/Graphic Novel. Or the link to an illustrator website.
Meg Gaertner, Managing Editor of Fiction at North Star Editions, will critique:
The first 10 pages of a Chapter Book, Middle Grade, or Young Adult.
Sara Sproull, Associate Editor, Abrams Books, will critique:
PB complete manuscript or the first 10 pages of a Chapter Book, Early Reader, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Comic/Graphic Novel, or link to an illustrator website.
For all Critiques:
Critiques are $55 each.
Please submit the complete manuscript of a board book or picture book.
-OR-
The first ten manuscript pages of an Early Reader, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult novel, or Graphic Novel.
-OR-
the link to an illustrator website.
Before submitting your work, please do a spell check. Consider running your work through a free writing assistant website like Grammarly or Pro Writing Aid.
In the header of your manuscript, put the title of your manuscript in all caps, followed by a backslash, followed by your real last name, followed by a backslash, followed by the category of your book (i.e. HARPER/Sanders/Middle Grade).
Add page numbers to the middle of your footer.
Format your manuscript in industry standard submission format: black color, 12-point Arial or Times New Roman, double spaced, use a 1-inch or 1.25-inch margin on all four sides of the page.
PLEASE save your file with your last name and manuscript title so we can easily identify it. (i.e. SQUIRRELS FRIEND-Jones-for conference critique.docx)
Send your manuscript in Word or PDF to Gaye Sanders at [email protected]. Word is preferred for manuscripts. PDF for art.
It is helpful if you put Critique for (AGENT/EDITORS NAME) in the subject line of your email.