Some BIG News on the You-Write-I-Comment Workshop

I was thinking that maybe you would like to have more than just help with your work resulting from this workshop.  I have discussed the idea with a couple of publishers I'm friends with and they agree to look at anything I deem of exceptional merit.  They will not, however, reveal their names and comments except through me, unless they see something they want to publish right away.

I have reviewed and edited hundreds of picture books over the years.  In a picture book, the illustrations are just as important as the text.  And so I'm quite capable of judging illustrations.  I also know a few professional illustrators who have agreed to add their help to my comments, if I'm not sure what to say. 

Given this, here are some new rules, to give you time to really get the word out and also to polish your manuscripts or illustrations with such possible rewards in mind.

New Rules

1.  Sign-up for entries close Monday midnight October 11, 2010, and will be made as a comment on my blog, just as a number of people have already posted.  If there are not 15 entries willing to provide stand-alone work-in-progress by that extended deadline (I've given you an extra weekend to drum up the minimum number of participants), then the workshop will be cancelled.
2.  Once I announce whether the workshop is definitely going to happen, you must send me your real full name through the contact us link on www.booksbywelwyn.ca, along with the nickname you'll use on the workshop.   I need the real full name to make sure no one tries to enter more than once and also for discussion purposes with publishers, if that wonderful event should happen.  I don't do this kind of thing without serious belief that my judgment is not going to be undervalued by the publisher afterward.  In other words, don't expect me to do this on your kindness or niceness or how hard you work.  It's what I read that I'll recommend on, if I can do it at all.
2. MINIMUM OF 15 participants, NO MAXIMUM.
3. Any kind of writing is accepted except for fan-fiction or undergraduate essays.  Must be original work.  Maximum of 2 poems. Otherwise, your work is limited by the size allowed by the space of my blog post (my own personal space is larger than the comment size).  That means you must send your work to me as a word attachment without html so that I can post it.  Illustrations should be jpeg at maximum resolution.
5. Must be standalone work: i.e. understandable without the entrant having to explain who people are or any backstory.
6. There has been interest expressed in allowing illustrations to be submitted for comment.  And so, I will allow this by request sent via the "contact us" link on http://www.booksbywelwyn.ca by people such as Rettakatt. We will discuss procedures there.
8. Workshop runs like this: October's entrant is first person to post (on my blog, already done).  S/he is asked to send me work by the third Monday of each month (except October: you have till the third Friday in October.) Send your work to the address I'll give you once you've followed-up by posting on bog: http://welwynsworld/ that it is sent.   I will respond to your work by the first Monday (health etc. permitting) of the next month.  Entrant then asks up to two questions on my comments by the third Monday of the month I respond in.  I will respond by the following first Monday of the next Month, and ask the next entrant to post for the third Monday of that month.  So there will always be something new coming in on the first and third Monday of each month, except for  this month.
9.  Any questions, please post to this blog.

Don't forget, YOU are responsible for getting people to sign up here.  I have done my best to publicize it.  Now it's your turn.  Luck to you all!

Welwyn

Labels: publishing, rules for workshop