Manzanita's publisher Laura Atkins offers a variety of services for aspiring and published children's book creators. Read below to find out more about the new Mentoring and Workshop Program, which is an additional offering to her manuscript critiquing and mentoring. You will also find testimonials from people who have worked with Laura or studied with her.

Mentoring & Workshop Program – 
​Writing for Children and Young Adults

Are you looking for on-going writing support, with monthly deadlines, expert feedback, and participation and discussion along with other committed children’s book creators? Maybe you have thought about doing an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, but not had the flexibility or been able to afford the high fees, which can be around $50,000. Then this could be the perfect opportunity!
Here’s a chance to work one-on-one with award-winning children’s book author, editor and publisher, Laura Atkins, along with a cohort of other writers. You will submit writing on a monthly basis, followed by an exclusive one-on-one session with Laura to discuss your work and writing goals. There will also be a monthly teaching workshop, where Laura will focus on a topic drawn from reading participants’ work, with time for exercises, sharing and discussion. You can take part in person if you are in the Bay Area or be part of an online community if further afield. One-on-one sessions can be in person in Berkeley, CA or via phone/online. 

​There are different tiers, depending on how much writing you want to discuss each month. The first month is a trial to be sure this is a good fit. After that, if approved, you can sign up for six-month blocks. At the end of six months, you will receive a bonus one-hour call with Laura to talk about you writing and career goals. To be accepted, you must submit a writing sample and have an introductory conversation. Places are limited, with a maximum of 10 per group (one in-person Bay Area group and another online). 

​Laura's approach focuses on serving each person and helping them to developing their particular voice and writing. This is based around building a strong relationship – sometimes it almost feels like writing therapy. The books we tend to love are those that speak from the heart, while exploring larger themes and issues. Laura is passionate about helping people to explore these heart-stories, while also developing the writing craft and learning along the way.
 
Contact Laura for more information: laura@lauraatkins.com. A limited number of scholarships are available for writers from under-represented backgrounds. Talk to Laura for more.

Tiers and Benefits per month – 
join early for Introductory low pricing!

Lupine
 • Submit up to 3,000 words/month
• 45-minute one-on-one mentoring​ session plus written comments/month
• Two-hour group workshop session/month
Cost: $400/month
or $2,400 for six months
Sagebrush​
• Submit up to 7,000 words/month
• 1-hour one-on-one mentoring​ session plus written comments/month
• Two-hour group workshop session/month
$600/month
$3,600 for six months
Live Oak
​• Submit up to 15,000 words/month
 • 1.25-hour one-on-one mentoring​ session plus written comments/month
 • Two-hour group workshop session/month
 $800/month
Or $4,800 for six months
Alternative
Attendance in monthly two-hour workshop sessions only –
​doesn’t include critiquing or mentoring
$100/month
$600 for six months

How it Works
The mentoring and workshop program will start in January 2020. People can sign up in advance, and enroll and start at any time after that.

1. We will set a deadline by which you will submit creative written work, up to the word count tier you choose. You can submit up to three projects within that word count (so three 1,000 word projects if you choose the Lupine tier). You can also submit any particular questions or issues you would like to discuss.

2. We will set a regular time to do the one-on-one mentoring session to discuss your work, which will take place within five business days of your submission deadline. Laura will provide you with written comments on your manuscript, but the main feedback will take place within the mentoring session, including discussion of craft aspects such as plotting, characterization, audience, voice, and anything else that comes up. This is very much a conversation, and aimed to help you to develop your own writing craft and journey. Laura will suggest books you should read, including craft books and children's/middle grade/YA books that are relevant to your work.

3. You can attend the monthly workshop sessions, either in-person or online. These will be based on a particular theme, such as building strong characters, looking at external plotting alongside the internal character arc, non-fiction picture book intensive, and other topics inspired by reading participants' work. Participants can feel free to suggest areas they would like to see covered. The two-hour workshop will include a short lecture, writing exercises, and discussion time for participants to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. The in-person Berkeley workshop will take place on the same night each month - most likely the third Tuesday or Thursday from 6-8 pm. This date will be finalized once people sign up with an attempt to work with the group's schedule. The on-line group will be a set night as well, possibly the fourth Tuesday or Thursday of the month from 6-8 pm, Pacific Standard Time.

Laura has been developing this idea informally with Christian Adams, who wrote this to describe their work together:
​
I’ve been working with Laura for over a year now on a series of projects. She has provided spot-on feedback that has greatly improved all aspects of my craft. We have worked on a middle grade novel, short stories, picture books and are currently doing an in-depth study of writing non-fiction writing for children. Laura has helped me find where to focus my writing. (At first I thought I wanted to write for adults! Laura helped me find my true writing passion.) Laura has given me the tools, advice and insight needed to explore different areas of children’s literature and to grow as a writer, and a person. Along the way she has provided reading assignments from across children’s literature, from YA to picture books to literary criticism and even to insightful podcasts. We then followed those readings with literary discussion and follow-on writing. Laura is extremely knowledgeable and provides deep insights spanning the spectrum from craft to social justice to publishing advice. I would highly recommend working with Laura.   
—Christian Adams, student

Here's what people have to say about working with Laura:

“Laura Atkins does exactly what you hope she'll do—and way, way more. Her edits were sharp, thorough, and thoughtful, but she also went above and beyond just marks on a page; she offered invaluable suggestions for how to expand and enhance the text. She knows her stuff and is committed not just to diverse, high-quality children's literature, but to supporting the artists and writers working to create it.”
—Kate Schatz, author, Rad American Women A-Z, New York Times best-seller

​“As an award-winning author, I've had the pleasure of working with many editors from publishing houses such as St. Martin's Press, National Geographic, and Lee & Low. My all-time favorite editor was Laura Atkins. It would be an honor for any writer to work with Laura—she is wonderful and enthusiastic, brilliant and patient.”
​—Ginger Park, co-author, Where on Earth Is My Bagel?
 
“Laura is an excellent editor with a keen eye for detail. As a young publishing house based in Africa, we very much appreciate her skills and most importantly her interest and commitment to presenting a diversity of children’s worldview from across the globe.” 
—Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Publisher, Cassava Republic Press, Nigeria
 
“If you are seeking an editor who is compassionate about your writing, talented at editing and revisions, and honest about her impressions of your concept and its execution, then please consider the editorial services of Laura Atkins. She’ll revolutionize your way of thinking about your book(s), leaving you both educated about the genre and, best of all, inspired.”
—Elaine Miller Bond, author/photographer of Running Wild, Living Wild (Heyday Books)
​
“Laura is an ultra-talented editor. I am an award-winning children's book illustrator for over fifty books and at the time received a major literary award on my first book. It wasn't easy for her to bring up the closed off body language and somewhat awkward facial expression of the main character to a young illustrator with newfound success, but she did. It was done with such tact and reason that I simply saw the light.”
—R. Gregory Christie, illustrator, DeShawn Days and Love to Langston
 
Evaluation feedback from teaching at the Mendocino Writers Conference:

“Laura was a fantastic workshop facilitator. She was organized and communicative, [and] set a positive tone for the workshop. Her feedback was in-depth and constructive.”
 
“Laura’s workshop was FANTASTIC! Laura is a skilled facilitator. We had a great group with very constructive and insightful feedback. This, I think, has a lot to do with the tone Laura set with the group from the beginning.”
Picture
Photo by Janine Macbeth
Laura Atkins is an independent children's book author, editor, and publisher of Manzanita Books, who has worked in the children's book field for over 25 years. She spent seven years in editorial departments in the United States where she helped to produce winners of the Coretta Scott King Award and American Library Association Notable Book selections, among others. She continued to work as a freelance editor and as a Lecturer at the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature (NCRCL) at Roehampton University in London. Now based in Berkeley, California, She works with clients all over the world. 
Laura has an MA in Children's Literature from Roehampton University, where she taught creative writing within the MA program for several years, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Finally, She is the author of the light-hearted picture book, Sled Dog Dachshund, and she is the co-author of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up  and Biddy Mason Speaks Up in the Fighting for Justice series.

​Laura's editorial clients include Nigerian publisher Cassava Republic Press, and Blood Orange Press, City Lights Publishing, and Parallax Press in the Bay Area. She offers manuscript critiques to a variety of clients - see her Portfolio selection for more. You can find a full list of books she edited and more about her background on her LinkedIn page. And if you'd like to see Laura in person, you can watch this video from a panel on diversity in children's books from April 2015, or this older video interview taken when she directed the Brighton Children's Book Festival.
Above and all manzanita header photos by Elaine Miller Bond
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