Publishing house directors giving workshops at UPEI

The co-founder and director of a national publishing house will give one-on-one feedback to participants of a workshop at UPEI in July.

The workshop, “The Insider’s Guide to Writing and Publishing for Young Readers’’, will be held July 12-14 in Charlottetown.

Rick Wilks with Annick Press will co-facilitate the workshop with Cynthia Good, past editorial director, president and publisher of Penguin Books Canada.

The workshop, a collaboration between UPEI and Humber College’s School for Writers and Creative Book Publishing program, is open to all writers, no matter what stage of writing they’re at.

“Writing a kid’s book can be an exciting but intimidating task,” said Belle DeMont, a past participant who went on to write “I Love My Purse’’, published by Annick in 2017.

“I came to the Humber P.E.I. writing workshop with many ideas but had no direction. This course changed that dramatically.”

Wilks has more than 40 years’ experience in children’s publishing and has worked with Canada’s top authors for young readers, including Robert Munsch and Sharon McKay. Wilks will spend time with each participant’s writing, with practical tips on how to improve the manuscript.

Sarah Sawler, a children’s author and publicist from Halifax, will join the facilitators for a session to highlight what writers need to know about getting their books into the hands of readers.

For more information visit creativearts.humber.ca/pei.