Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
Calling all Picture Book Author-Illustrators: Ever wish you could have the same publishing professional look at your dummy a second time? After you made their suggested revisions? Well now you can! Two-Step Critique participants will meet with literary agent Kait Feldmann to discuss their picture book dummy (illustrations and completed manuscript) once in May, then have about 3 months to revise and resubmit for a second round of feedback in September.
Webinar Description: ILLUSTRATOR DAY—LIVE! IN LANCASTER 2026 PARTICIPANTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERED FOR THIS EVENT!! Larissa guides participants through the art of using humor as a storytelling superpower in picture book illustration. From cracking character expressions to crafting the perfect visual and text contradictions, you'll learn how strong story moments become comedic gold. A limited number of PORTFOLIO, PB DUMMY, GN ART, CB ART, or BOOK COVERS ART CRITIQUES available at an additional cost.
Invisible identities shape the lives of countless young readers, yet they often go unrecognized or are portrayed inaccurately in children’s literature. This workshop explores how to authentically represent experiences that aren’t immediately visible—such as bilingualism, chronic conditions like diabetes or epilepsy, and neurological or psychological differences including dyslexia, ADHD, or depression. We’ll discuss how to avoid stereotypes, build fully realized characters, and integrate these identities naturally into story. A limited number of MG, YA, & NIV CRITIQUES available at an additional cost.
Webinar Description: MG & YA DAY—LIVE! IN LANCASTER 2026 PARTICIPANTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERED FOR THIS EVENT!! A picture may be worth a thousand words, but an author’s pen can capture something beyond the view of any camera lens: the experience of a moment from inside the body and mind of the person experiencing it. This webinar will explore the critical concepts of point of view and narrative voice, then dive deep into strategies for channeling your main character’s unique, embodied perspective. We’ll examine how to use first person and third-person intimate POVs to bring your character’s story to life in setting, action, and interiority, drawing examples from picture book, middle grade, and young adult mentor texts. You’ll come away from this workshop with concrete tools to help you render your main character’s perspective on the page and transport your readers far past the superficial, deep into your story’s heart. A limited number of PB (manuscript or dummy), MG, YA, & NIV CRITIQUES available at an additional cost.
Join us live in Lancaster for a full day of learning for illustrators and children's novelists! This in-person event will feature a track for illustrators and a track for MG & YA writers and translators with presentations and critique opportunities from industry professionals.