This KidLit Events listing focuses on webinars, courses, and conferences that are accessible for a majority of people. Most are online, but I have included larger in-person events. I update this list continually, so please let me know if I am missing or incorrect information.
THE KIDLIT WEEKLY: You can now receive weekly KidLit events in your Inbox
every Thursday morning for the following week.
You can find now and sign up for The KidLit Weekly on Substack!
JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC
DESCRIPTION OF EVENT CATEGORIES
Webinar: a single session class online
* Cities noted refer to location of in-person events.
Workshop: one-to-two session intensive
Online Course: multiple-session class online
Online Program: longer-term or ongoing programs
Conference: multiple courses within a single event
Hybrid Event: in-person event with an online option
Contest: submission opportunity where winner(s) are selected
Pitch Event: opportunity to pitch projects to editors/agents
Challenge: timed event set to accomplish a certain project(s)
Blog Event: special blog series that run for a short period of time
JUNE 2026
(1) 2026 SEASONS OF KIDLIT BOOK AWARD OPENS FOR SUBMISSIONS
Contest: Seasons of KidLit
(1) WRITING YOUR CHILDREN’S BOOK with Lesley Parr
Online Course: Writers & Artists
(1-5) KIDLIT ZOMBIE WEEK
Online Event: BlueSky
(2-4) EDUCATIONAL WRITING: NAVIGATING NEW PATHS FOR YOUR WRITING
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
(3) THE LONG ROAD TO PUBLICATION: THE THRILLS AND SPILLS OF WRITING MIDDLE GRADE
Webinar: SCBWI England North
(3) THE CRASH COURSE IN CHILDREN’S BOOK PUBLISHING
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(3) THE RISE OF DARK ESCAPIST FICTION
Webinar: The Writing Barn
(3-6) ALL ABOUT PICTURE BOOKS
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(3-9) MGHub Pitch Party
Discord Event: MGHubPitch
(4) 8 BOOKS IN 3 YEARS: SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESS
Webinar: SCBWI Maryland-Delaware-West Virginia
(4) EARLY REGISTRATION OPENS FOR PICTURE BOOK SUMMIT
Online Event: Picture Book Summit
(6) WHERE WORDS MEET IMAGES: INTEGRATING TEXT AND ART
Webinar: The Writing Barn
(7) JOURNEY BEYOND THE PAGE
Montclair, NJ: SCBWI New Jersey
(8) SELF-PUBLISHING 101: TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BOOKS, BUSINESS, & FUTURE
Webinar: SCBWI San Francisco South
(8-10) PICTURE BOOK MIDDLES: BRIDGING BEGINNING AND END
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(9) TOUGH TOPICS with Liz Wiemer
Webinar: SCBWI Wisconsin
(9) ILLUSTRATING WITH BOTH SIDES OF YOUR BRAIN
Webinar: SCBWI New Mexico
(10) CONVERSATION WITH EDITOR JOY PESKIN, FARRAR GIROUX BOOKS
Webinar: Inked Voices
(10) FROM FIRST PAGE TO OFFER
Webinar: The Writing Barn
(10) STORYSNOBS PITCH CONTEST
Online Event: Good Story Company
(11) WRITING HUMOR IN TODAY’S COMPETITIVE MARKET
Webinar: Rosie J. Pova
(11-14) SPOTLIGHT ON THE MIDDLE OF YOUR NOVEL
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(12-14) EXPERIENCE REVISION RETREAT
Hiawatha, IO: Nonfiction Ninjas
(13) HALF DAY EVENT WITH AGENT CARTER HASEGAWA
Online Workshop: SCBWI Kansas-Missouri
(13) WRITE A BOOK SERIES FOR KIDS
Webinar: SCBWI Canada East
(15) PICTURE BOOKS with Elizabeth Lazowski
Online Course: Inked Voices
(15-18) CELEBRATING NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STORIES IN KIDLIT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(15-19) WIFYR CONFERENCE
Draper, UT: Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers
(16) WRITING TOUGH TOPICS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Webinar: SCBWI Wisconsin
(16) LURE ‘EM IN WITH LAYERS
Webinar: SCBWI Houston
(16) ADDING ENTRY POINTS TO YOUR PICTURE BOOKS
Webinar: The KidLit Hive
(16) BEYOND “X MEETS Y”: CREATING EFFECTIVE COMP TITLES
Webinar: SCBWI Texas Austin
(16) INSIDE INDIES: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES
Webinar: SCBWI MidSouth
(17) THE SECRET SURVIVAL KIT FOR BOLOGNA 2027
Webinar: SCBWI Israel
(18) Q AND A WITH JULIA CHURCHILL OF A.M. HEATH
Webinar: SCBWI England North
(18) PANEL BY PANEL: WRITING GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR YOUNG READERS
Webinar: The Writing Barn
(18) THE ROCKY ROAD TO PUBLISHING: MAPPING THE SMOOTHEST ROUTE FOR YOUR BOOK
Webinar: SCBWI Montana
(18) QUERY WRANGLING 101: A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO SUBMISSION SANITY
Webinar: SCBWI Texas Austin
(18) DIVING INTO THE CRAFT OF POETRY
Webinar: SCBWI Oregon
(23) GET FEATURED FAST: 3 EASY PUBLICITY TACTICS FOR KIDLIT AUTHORS
Webinar: At Home Author
(23) TEXT AND IMAGES OF PICTURE BOOKS
Webinar: SCBWI England North
(25) WRITING FOR THE EDUCATIONAL MARKET
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(25) UNPUZZLING PSYCHIC DISTANCE
Webinar: Whale Rock Workshops
(29) INDUSTRY READY: BEST PRACTICES FOR ILLUSTRATORS
Webinar: SCBWI Maryland-Delaware-West Virginia
(29) DAN SMITH: A WRITER’S JOURNEY
Webinar: SCBWI New England
(30) NEWSLETTERS 101: WHY, HOW, AND WHAT
Webinar: Whale Rock Workshops
(30) ACFW KIDLIT CONTEST DEADLINE
Contest: ACFW KidLit Chapter
(30) PITCH-A-PALOOZA
Contest: SCBWI Southern Breeze
JULY 2026
(1) #QUEERPIT
Pitch Party: X and BlueSky
(7) CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING I
Online Course: Gotham Writers
(7) CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING II
Online Course: Gotham Writers
(7) REVISING WITH FOCUS: THE THESIS OF A NOVEL
Webinar: SCBWI New Mexico
(8-12) SUMMER CAMP FOR WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS (Session One)
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(9) WRITING IRRESISTIBLE PICTURE BOOKS
Webinar: Good Story Company
(9-12) GREEN GULCH WRITING RETREAT
San Francisco, CA: Katherine Rothschild
(11-12) CYA WRITERS & ILLUSTRATORS CONFERENCE
Brisbane, Australia: CYA Conference
(11-12) CHILDREN’S LITERATURE SYMPOSIUM: The Pleasures and Problems of Pooh
Online Event: Hollins University
(12) BOOTCAMP- KILL YOUR DARLINGS: SELF-EDITING & CRITIQUING
Webinar: SCBWI Texas Austin
(12-16) SUMMER CAMP FOR WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS (Session Two)
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(13) AGENT TALK GEORGIA TOURNAY-GODFREY @ THE BRIGHT AGENCY
Webinar: SCBWI England North
(13-19) #SMALLPIT
Pitch Party: X and BlueSky
(15-22) CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING BOOT CAMP
Online Workshop: Blissfully Bookish Studio
(22) JUMPSTART YOUR YA/MG FICTION
Online Course: Grubstreet Center for Creative Writing
(23) WRITING CHARACTER INTERIORITY
Webinar: Good Story Company
(23) MAKE WRITING FUN AGAIN with Adam Wallace
Webinar: At Home Author
(24) #QUESTPIT
Pitch Party: QuestPit
(26) FROM DULL TO DAZZLING: SYMBOLISM
Webinar: The Writing Barn
(28-30) CHAPTER BOOKS AND EARLY READERS: GETTING STARTED WITH BEGINNING READERS
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
AUGUST 2026
(4) CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITING I
Online Course: Gotham Writers
(4) PICTURE BOOKS R&R with Charlotte Wenger
Online Course: Inked Voices
(4) PITCHES AND PICTURE BOOKS with Danielle Collins
Online Course: Inked Voices
(5) WRITE YOUR PICTURE BOOK
Online Course: Writers.com
(5) PICTURE BOOKS with Melissa Manlove
Online Course: Inked Voices
(8-15) PICTURE BOOKS
Online Workshop: Gotham Writers Workshop
(9) CRITIQUE GROUP RENAISSANCE with Melissa Manlove
Webinar: SCBWI Wisconsin
(9-12) WRITING SHORTER: WHY (AND HOW) LESS CAN BE MORE
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(11) MG/YA OPENING PAGES with Hannah Hill
Online Course: Inked Voices
(11-13) PICTURE BOOK ESSENTIALS
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
(11-13) GRAPHIC NOVEL STORYTELLING: WHERE WORDS MEETS PICTURES MEETS READERS
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
(12) PICTURE BOOKS R&R with Carina Licon
Online Course: Inked Voices
(15) HOW TO WRITE FOR YOUNG READERS
Webinar: Grubstreet Center for Creative Writing
(15-20) THE WHOLE NOVEL WORKSHOP RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(17) PICTURE BOOKS with Carter Hasegawa
Online Course: Inked Voices
(18-20) BUILD YOUR PLOT: STRUCTURES & STRATEGIES
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
(20) WRITING AN IRRESISTIBLE QUERY
Webinar: Good Story Company
(22) WRITING STRONG VOICE: HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT AND ACHIEVE IT
Webinar: SCBWI Texas Houston
(25) THE HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Online Course: Whale Rock Workshops
(26) STORYSNOBS PITCH CONTEST
Webinar: Good Story Company
(27) CRAFTING AUTHENTIC INVISIBLE REPRESENTATION IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Webinar: SCBWI Pennsylvania East
(27-30) CELEBRATION ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN STORIES
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
SEPTEMBER 2026
(2) FROM IDEA TO SKETCH TO DUMMY
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(3) PICTURE BOOKS with Celia Lee
Online Course: Inked Voices
(8-10) #PITCHDIS
Pitch Party: X and BlueSky
(9-30) REVISION ROADMAP
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(12) WRITING FOR THE CHILDREN’S MAGAZINE MARKET
Online Workshop: Write2Ignite (Direct Link Coming Soon!)
(15) #LATINXPITCH FOR KIDLIT
Pitch Party: X and BlueSky
(16) FEELING IT: CREATING EMOTIONAL DEPTH IN YOUR NOVEL
Online Course: Whale Rock Workshops
(16-19) PICTURE BOOK AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(17) WRITING IRRESISTIBLE FIRST PAGES
Webinar: Good Story Company
(18-19) AUTHOR AND THE ROUNDTABLES
Asheville, NC: SCBWI Carolinas
(23) JUST DO IT: FINISH YOUR DRAFT
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(23) PICTURE BOOKS with Jamie Gelman
Online Course: Inked Voices
(24) PICTURE BOOKS with Rob Broder
Online Course: Inked Voices
(26) 2026 MINI MFA CONFERENCE
Austin, TX: SCBWI Texas Austin
OCTOBER 2026
(1-4) MIDDLE GRADE WRITERS RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(3-4) RECONNECT AND RECHARGE RETREAT
Warm Springs, GA: SCBWI Southern Breeze
(4) MIDDLE GRADE OPENING PAGES with Miloni Vora
Online Course: Inked Voices
(6) WHOLE NOVEL WORKSHOP: MG & YA WRITERS
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(6) MG & YA OPENING PAGES with Kristin Ostby
Online Course: Inked Voices
(7) REVISING YOUR NOVEL IN VERSE
Online Course: Boyds Mills
(8-10) ENGAGING STORIES CONFERENCE
Green Lake, WI: SCBWI Wisconsin
(12) PITCHES AND PICTURE BOOKS with Kat Brzozowski
Online Course: Inked Voices
(14-18) ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND: EXPLORING POINT OF VIEW
Online Workshop: Whale Rock Workshops
(18-23) WHOLE NOVEL WORKSHOP RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(21) PICTURE BOOKS with Catherine Laudone
Online Course: Inked Voices
(22) WRITING IRRESISTIBLE PICTURE BOOKS
Webinar: Good Story Company
(23-26) EARLY READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(24) PACKAGING YOUR IMAGINATION CONFERENCE
Toronto, Canada: Canadian Society for Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers
(24) ONE PLUS ONE CONFERENCE
New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature
(26-27) MIDSOUTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Nashville, TN: SCBWI MidSouth
(26-29) NOVELS IN VERSE RETREAT
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(27-30) R(EV)ISE AND SHINE RESIDENCY
Marlboro, VT: R(ev)ise and Shine
(30) BIG SUR CHILDREN’S WRITERS WORKSHOP
Cape Cod, MA: Big Sur Children’S Writers Workshop
NOVEMBER 2026
(1-6) CABOOSE FARM RETREAT
Sabillasville, MD: Whale Rock Workshops
(2) PICTURE BOOKS with Erika DiPasquale
Online Course: Inked Voices
(3) PICTURE BOOKS with Sheila Fernley
Online Course: Inked Voices
(4) #QUESTPIT
Pitch Party: QuestPit
(5-8) POETRY PALOOZA
Milanville, PA: Boyds Mills
(8-14) MASTER SKILLS WORKSHOP
Sabillasville, MD: Whale Rock Workshops
(10-12) PICTURE BOOK APPROACHES: CONCEPT BOOKS, BIOGRAPHIES, & MORE
Online Workshop: Boyds Mills
(13-14) YALL FEST BOOK FESTIVAL
Charleston, SC: YALL Fest
(19) EVALUATING YOUR WIP AND MOVING FORWARD
Webinar: The Good Story Company
DECEMBER 2026
(27) ROCK YOUR WRITING GOALS
Webinar: Good Story Company
JANUARY 2027
(28-30) CAPE COD CHILDREN’S WRITERS WORKSHOP
Cape Cod, MA: Andrea Brown Literary Agency
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