“Big Sur was all about making connections with other writers and professionals in the publishing industry, and making improvements in my work. If you write anything from picture books to YA, and you’re thinking about attending a writing workshop, please consider going. You won’t regret it….”

The next workshop will be Dec. 6-8, 2013 in Big Sur, CA! Click here to join our mailing list and be the first to know when we open registration!

And can you blame them?  We’re sitting here with a Cheshire Cat grin and whistling Johnny Mercer tunes.

Why?

We’re basking in the soft afterglow of the Big Sur Writing Workshop!

Yep, it wrapped up on Sunday, and it was one for the ages.  Don’t just take our word for it; here are some honest-to-goodness comments from participants.  To further prove their validity, we’re presenting each of them in gentle colors.

• “Thank you for putting together a wonderful weekend.  I absolutely loved this workshop.  I will recommend it and plan to return.”
• “I loved the workshop – it was the best experience I’ve had at a writer event. I’ve never had so much time with editors before and I really feel they helped elevate my work.”
• “I thought the whole weekend was terrific. I came back home tingling with excitement, the urge to write,  a  much better sense of who I am as a writer and full of hope!! Thanks so much!!”

We have that “Carol Channing Feeling!”

So if you missed out, fear not.  The next workshop will be Dec 6-8, 2013 in Big Sur!  And/or be the first to know by signing our email list HERE.

Until then, if you need us, we’ll be jumping and clicking our heels mid-air.

Case in point: we already extended the deadline to submit to our March 1-3 workshop in Seaside (near Monterey) CA. And that’s because as a loving parent, we know what’s best for you: the workshop is the best of it’s kind in the world.

Andrea Brown, president of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency

It’s co-sponsored by the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. You could get discovered by one of their agents and land a publishing deal (proof here.) And at the least, your manuscript will be magnificently transformed and you’ll make amazing friendships and professional connections. Proof here.

But this is life, and life is hard. And we can no longer extend the deadline. The workshop is right around the corner. We have things we need to do like go to the dry cleaners, pick up your sister at soccer practice, and go “big” food shopping. So the final-final-final deadline is February 20th.

As in TOMORROW. There are a few spots left, so register here or call 831-667-2574.

As much as it pains us, we can’t extend it forever.

This is some classic tough love, and though you’ll curse us and wish you were never born and/or never asked to be born, much like the saxophone lessons, we sincerely believe you’ll thank us in the long-run and will come to understand once you have kids of your own (if that’s what you decide, if course. It’s your own life; don’t let our irrepressible need for grandchildren convince you otherwise. Although did you hear Patti Conway’s daughter Allison is having twins?)

Big Sur, March 2011. L-R: Jan Elfman, Mrs. Adams, Laura Rennert, Eric Adams — with Laura Rennert.

So when people get overwhelmed by the sheer quality and quantity of our Big Sur Writing Workshop testimonials – honest-to-goodness raves from previous alumni – on our site, we tend to be forgiving.  It’s a lot to process.  A lotta words.   As we say in Big Sur, “Hate the game, not the player.” (?)

So to make things easier we’ve gone ahead and extracted key quotes from these testimonials on one page.

The goal?  To get you to register for the world’s-best writing workshop for children up to YA fiction before the Feb. 20th deadline.  It’s March 1-3 in Seaside, CA.

If you’re a novice with a gleam of a germ of an idea, it’s an ideal venue to watch that germ blossom (ewwww.)  If you’re already published but want to take it “to the next level?” also ideal.  If you wanna score a publishing deal?  Ideal, ideal, ideal.

Here’s the summary of quotes.  Register here today or by calling 831-667-2574.

And when you’re done reading, walk away from the computer, put down the iPod, and for god sakes, do some light gardening or something.

• “Was it worth it? Definitely. It was fun, it was invigorating, and it’s given me a heck of a lot to think about.” – March ’12 alumni Becky Allen.  Read the whole thing here.
• “If you are considering going and you are like me (shy), all I can say is GO. The critique groups are very small (no larger than 5), so you get a lot of individual attention (I workshopped with a literary agent and an editor). – Sean Byrne; Read the whole thing here.
• “The professional for my first and third sessions was Eric Elfman.  It would have been worth the cost of the trip and the workshop just for those two sessions alone.  Eric demonstrated an amazing ability to zero in on a problem.” Read the entire testimonial here.
• “I was addicted to the Big Sur Writers Workshop put on by the Henry Miller Library and the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. I’d go every year. If I missed a year, I’d start jonesing.”  Aaron Ritchey; Read the whole thing here.
• The workshop also helped me get a better understanding of the publishing world. I came home with a world of information that helped me put the finishing touches on my first book and plenty of ideas for the next 4 books.”  E. Lina Echeverria

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; more testimonials here!  Register now!

Big Sur, March 2011. L-R: Jan Elfman, Mrs. Adams, Laura Rennert, Eric Adams — with Laura Rennert.

We all know the trope: writers procrastinate. They wait till the last minute. They thrive on deadline-induced adrenaline.

It’s a comforting trope.

But sometimes it pays to be punctual: the deadline to register for the March 1-3 Big Sur Writing Workshop for Children to Young Adults is February 6th.

Waiting to the 11th hour is bad news because the thing will sell out and people will be left holding their manuscripts wondering what went wrong (answer: you waited too long.)

The workshop rules. Participants get constructive feedback on their manuscripts and some get publishing deals from Andrea Brown Literary Agency agents in attendance. It happens quite a bit actually – see?
So register today – click here!

We’re very pleased to add three editors to our esteemed faculty. Spaces are filling up, so register today HERE!

And here are our wonderful new additions!

Alyson Heller is an associate editor at Aladdin Books, an imprint of S&S Children’s, where she edits everything from picture books through middle-grade novels. Some of her upcoming projects include Don’t Wear Polka Dot Underwear with White Pants (and other Lessons I’ve Learned), Frosting and Friendship, and a picture book debut called The Monstore.

She also edits many of the books within the Aladdin MIX line and several on-going series. She is particularly interested in middle-grade fiction with a strong girl protagonist, distinctive and true voice, and a fun/unique commercial hook—a little magic never hurt, either.

Melissa Manlove is an Editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. She has been with Chronicle for seven years. She is passionate about all age groups and genres of children’s books, with the exception of religious topics.

When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She has 12 years of children’s bookselling experience.

Special talents include reading and walking at the same time, batting her eyelashes (but only ironically), and making killer desserts. She has no nicknames, but several toddlers know her only as a puppet alligator.

Cynthia Frank, president of QED Press, Cypress House and Lost Coast Press, has more than twenty-five years experience in writing, publishing, editing and teaching. Her articles, essays, book reviews and poetry have appeared in magazines, newspapers, books, newsletters and anthologies.

Cypress House is a full-service book production and promotion company as well as royalty house. Cypress House books have won awards and grants from the Before Columbus Foundation, WESTAF, PMA, Independent Publisher, ForeWord Magazine, IAPHC, the Society of Automotive Historians, the Antique Automobile Club of America, the Cat Writers Association, the Camoes Institute, the IBL and the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Do aspiring children and YA writers come to the Big Sur Writing Workshop — the next one is March 1-3, 2013; taking registrations HERE – and, say, hone and sharpen their manuscripts under the tuo of our world-class faculty? Yes.

Big Sur Writing Workshop alumni Chris Howard

Do they walk away from the workshop satisfied, so much so that they write us gushing, mind-blowing testimonials about how amazing it was? Yes – and you can read some of them here.

Lastly, do some bring their manuscript, catch the eye of an attending Andrea Brown agent, and poof! get a publishing deal? Oh yes. Quite often, in fact – you can read some of them here, AND, keep reading because this next one’s a doozy.

The YA author Chris Howard attended a past Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop and, well, take it away Publisher’s Weekly:

His unpublished first novel had caught the attention of an agent, Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, whom Howard had met at writing workshops in Denver and Big Sur, Calif., and then signed with in 2010. It was Rennert’s rejection of his first novel that gave him “the encouragement and confidence to tackle a new story.”

Howard’s future editor, Mallory Kass, was also at the Big Sur Writing Workshop, as faculty. Kass bought Rootless in mid-2011, and Howard has been gratified by the input he’s received from both agent and editor. “One of the greatest things Mallory said to me was that it’s her job to make sure readers got to experience my vision of the novel as clearly as possible. She was never trying to put ideas in my head or change the story,” he says.

Read the whole thing here.

The aforementioned story is elegant in its simplicity – aspiring writer comes to workshop, meets agent, gets publishing deal (it’s not very often when real-life is this orderly and sublime, no?) – but it’s also quite common.

There are dozens of Chris Howards out there – again, read about them all here – and odds are, there’s a few of you out there, just waiting to be discovered. You can’t hide from us forever!

But Andrea Brown’s agents won’t come knocking at your door. That’d be creepy. You gotta sign up, so do so now and here before it sells out like it always does.

And congrats Chris!

As you may know, besides being one of the most brilliant and successful YA writers working today, Ellen is also a faculty member for the Big Sur Writing Workshops for Children to Young Adults.

And by participating in the workshop, aspiring writers (such as yourself perhaps?) will have the opportunity to work closely with her and other industry pros on your draft, network with other amazing writers, and learn how to sell your manuscript in a hyper-competitive industry.

We’re accepting registration for the March 1-3, 2013 workshop! Go here!