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“Extremely valuable for developing craft and bringing a manuscript closer to publication.
I learned how to fix my story, which I'd thought was ‘perfect.’ Unique opportunity
to connect with outstanding faculty and peers.” — Elizabeth Fais, alum |
OVERVIEW
Applying to the Workshop
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| Year-round: Request info, and/or
your e-application |
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| April 17: Deadline to email your application for priority consideration (click here for sample essay questions); deadline to postmark your optional
First-in-Line deposit for discount |
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| By May 3: Receive your invitation to register in a critique-based or auditor enrollment group |
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| May 17: Last day to
postmark your registration fee for Early Bird discount |
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| June 17: Deadline to postmark your faculty manuscript |
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| Early July: Receive your peer roster, manuscripts; other hands-on prep |
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| August 15: Enter the Hilton Ballroom for our gala sixth annual gig! |
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Like the in-depth workshop we offer, our enrollment process is multi-layered and literary. Our application helps us get mutually acquainted. It consists of two parts.
Part 1 is basic info about you as a writer, with fun variations and surprises. Part 2 is for those who request a manuscript critique. It includes creative, stimulating questions about your manuscript, exploring the main character’s “emotional journey.” These questions may help you determine answers to the following: How well do you really know your story? Are you ready to pitch it to an editor or agent?
Anyone interested in youth novels may apply, with or without a manuscript for critique. If you’d like a critique, you may state your faculty preferences. While face-to-face critiques are limited (based on craft and suitability for our educational masterclass format), we fill as many requests as possible.
Nearly all enrollees may, at the least, receive a faculty critique on their first five manuscript pages, and on their brief synopsis or plot outline.
To apply for a critique (in-person or written; with editor, agent, and/or faculty author), your e-application must include a sample of your novel (up to 15 manuscript pages, plus brief synopsis). See guidelines when requesting our e-application form. |
DETAILED TIMELINE
For Application, Registration, and Manuscript Submissions
Year-round: Request information and/or e-application
March 1: Applications accepted by email starting on this date. Confirmation of receipt is given within 48 hours. Within one week of submission, applicants will be given preliminary feedback regarding their manuscript—either the manuscript seems suitable for the workshop, or not. Sometimes our panel offers brief comments on the content as well. (See also May 3.)
April 17: Deadline to email completed Application (for priority consideration, including choice of faculty for critiques). Application includes a manuscript sample—preferably, the novel you’d like critiqued at our workshop—and stimulating essay questions about your story. This manuscript may be revised before the June 17 submission to faculty.
Don’t wait until the last minute! The sooner you request an application, the more time you’ll have to reflect on our meaty questions—the fun, stimulating, practical journey through your own story. (See SAMPLE ESSAY QUESTIONS below.)
April 17, continued: Deadline to post your optional, nonrefundable, First-in-Line $30 deposit to earn a $10 discount.
May 3: By this date, you’ll be invited to register in one of our four enrollment groups. Three groups offer various manuscript critiques; another is designed for Auditors, aka active observers. Also, our website’s Members Only bulletin board will open for enrollee dialogues.
May 17: Deadline to postmark Early Bird Registration Form (includes payment, by check or money order only). After this date, please add $30 to registration fee; enrollment subject to availability.
June 17: Deadline to postmark your manuscript to workshop director for faculty. Before this date, you may revise the manuscript submitted with your application. After this date (if openings exist for late critiques), please add a $30 Late Manuscript Fee to cover individual handling and postage.
Early July: Receive your emailed Writers Roster (annotated peer directory), anthologies (enrollee manuscript samples, including some to critique before our seminar), and course manuals—a treasure trove of craft and publishing materials.
August 15: See you at the Pacific Coast Children’s Writers Workshop!
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Join us on the sunny Central California coast—a cornucopia
of nature and culture. Perfect for a writer’s retreat! |
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SAMPLE ESSAY QUESTIONS
Both of these may unearth useful material for your synopsis and/or query letter.
 QUESTION 1
Write a one-sentence blurb about your novel, distilling it to no more than 40 words. Don’t try to compress every important event into this sentence; just answer: “What’s your story about?” Be as specific as possible. Include protagonist’s age (deleting “years old” saves words); time and place, if not contemporary; and the main character’s urgent, well-motivated need or desire (internal and external conflict).
Examples (one-sentence story summary in 40 words or less)
Provided by alumni of The Pacific Coast Children’s Writers Workshop (PCCWW) and others:
- When Seth’s best friend, Matt, illegally shoots a wolf, 12-year-old Seth struggles to determine if their friendship can overcome their philosophical differences. — By multiple award-winning author Mary Casanova, summarizing Wolf Shadows, a then-in-progress novel (now published by Hyperion). More tips included in Casanova’s helpful article accompanying our application. (22 words)
- Haunted by her dead baby sister, 12-year-old Bree struggles to exorcise or at least soothe not only the ghost but the guilty memories of her own role in the death. — By PCCWW alum Joni Sensel, summarizing Blank Pages. (30 words)
- Living in a 1922 world of poverty, strikes, prejudice, murder, and mine accidents, Toby, 13, musters his inner strength to save an antagonistic classmate trapped in a Utah coal mine. — By PCCWW alum K. Mandel, summarizing Footprints in the Coal. (30 words)
- When Justin, 16, spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, he’s forced to decide which is more important—peer social order or getting to know someone extraordinary. — Adapted from the book jacket of Buddha Boy (Kathe Koja; Penguin/Speak) by PCCWW Director Nancy Sondel (38 words)
What is your novel’s blurb? Don’t be surprised if this single sentence takes you a few (well-spent) hours to construct!
QUESTION 2
Sales pitch: Imagine you’re an editor presenting this manuscript to your publisher’s editorial board for a vote. Answer the following: What’s the hook that will help us market this book; what distinguishes it from others of its genre? How might this story touch an adolescent’s emotions and cultivate his/her thought processes? Why do you think this novel would appeal to kids, educators, booksellers, and other readers? (Why are you passionate about writing it?)
Limit your pitch to 25-75 words (several sentences). Draw/quote from the above questions, as needed. Be matter-of-fact; no self-praise or “infomercials.”
Keep this statement handy when writing your future query letter to agents or editors!
We look forward to receiving
your 2008 application!
| “One way of thinking about the suspense in your story is as a rubber band. You, the author, stretch the rubber band gradually over time, making drama in your plot more and more taut with every event, every plot point. After each scene or sequence you write, ask yourself, ‘How did this event stretch the rubber band?’” —Robert Kernan, Building Better Plots |
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