Summer School Picture Book Critiques: Two Options

For those taking our "Summer School Picture Book Revision" class, we offer a special "speed" critique group option that will give you focused feedback from a small, structured group (3, 4, or 5 students and 1 teacher) and wrap-up notes from the faculty person. The session will also be recorded, and the recording will be available to you. After the summer school is over, we offer a discount on our standard critique rates for all participants.

Here's how the speed critiques work: To sign up, you first need to decide when you can meet on the phone for the critique group session. Options are Wednesday, July 12, at 8:30 PM (all times Eastern); Saturday, July 15, at noon; Thursday, July 20 at 8:30 PM; or Sunday, July 23, at 4 PM. The session will last from an hour to 90 minutes. If you can meet for more than one of those 4 times, rank them by preference. Email us (link below) your session choice(s) and the title of your manuscript.

One of us will contact you with your assigned session and ask you to send in your manuscript, by email, in standard manuscript format. If you are an illustrator, you may include a dummy. We will also ask you to pay the critique fee of $65 at this time. In the event that we can't assign you to a particular session, we will let you know.

We will then distribute manuscripts ahead of time to the group, along with guiding questions relating to plot, character, setting, and language. Students will address these in a rotation, so that each manuscript receives comments in each of those areas from one student, and each student gets to address each area in turn with different manuscripts. During the session, each student gives and receives this structured feedback, as facilitated by one of us, with our closing comments; after the session, the teacher/facilitator will provide a summary and additional feedback. See this snippet from the guides we will provide for students to get a sense of how the rotation works:


Cost and registering: These cost $65, a considerable discount from the minimum fees we normally set for critiques as part of our editorial services or the tutorials we offer through KBR. Use the email link below to register: please include your preferred session(s), the title of your manuscript, and a short description of it. We will send a mailing to students with assigned group times, ask you to confirm your preferences, send us your manuscript for distribution, and make payment via a Paypal link we will include.

Registration for the critiques is closed.

Critique discounts after the summer school: We also offer picture book critiques for participants for a year after the workshop ends at 25% off our usual rates. For this offer, contact us through our websites. For Eileen Robinson, start at her F1rst Pages Critique Fees page. For Harold Underdown, start at his PC Editorial Services Rates and Services page. You are welcome to explore our sites for additional information about our backgrounds and services, but please keep in mind that the webinar discount only applies to picture book critiques, not to any of the other services we offer.

Remember: please register and attend the webinar to be eligible for a critique, and use the same email addresses for both so that we can quickly identify you. We are offering these rates only to those taking the webinar.


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