Led by Kathy MacMillan (she/her), a writer, editor, instructor, nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and signing storyteller. She writes picture books (including The Runaway Shirt and the Little Hands Signing series from Familius Press), children’s nonfiction (including She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World from Familius Press and Super Cities!: Baltimore from Arcadia Publishing), middle grade fantasy (the Chronicles of Cavallon series under the pen name Kim Forester), and young adult fantasy (Sword and Verse and Dagger and Coin, both HarperTeen).

Learn more about Kathy in our Meet the Teaching Artist series.

Let’s dig in together and polish your picture book! Bring your completed picture book manuscript to work on as we complete real-time revision that addresses the big picture, plot and character beats, and line-by-line strengths and weaknesses of your manuscript.

Throughout the process, you’ll also develop your project pitch, and have the chance to receive feedback on your pitch and cover letter, as well as two rounds of manuscript critique from the instructor.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: What is revision?/Why is revision important?/Revision tips and tricks/Picture book structures/Structure versus plot/The 3 acts/Important story beats/The 4 questions/Picture book pitches 

Week 2: Titles/ Line editing/Show, don’t tell/Dialogue/Meaningful action/Emboldening each line/Taking the reader along/Leaving room for the pictures 

Week 3: Micro-edits/Final polish/Picture book submission packages/Series/Developing a picture book career

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Identify strategies for big-picture considerations in revision 
• Demonstrate line-level editing techniques such as signposting, looking for hedge words, and editing to enhance voice 
• Develop a solid picture book logline and pitch 
• Discuss marketing considerations for picture book titles

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: