Schedule Of Events
Note: With your free Children’s Book Mastery pass, you can only watch the expert sessions for 48 hours from when they broadcast. Each day, new sessions will be uploaded, and the sessions that have been live for 48 hours will be removed. If you want to watch any of the expired sessions, you’ll be redirected to purchase the Premium Pass to get lifetime access.
If you’re a Premium Pass holder, you can watch the sessions here, but this page is NOT your member’s area. You need to log in to the Premium Pass members’ area to access the expert sessions after they get locked away on this page. (You’ll find links in your emails how to do that).
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DAY 0 – Children’s Book Mastery Kick-Off
Friday, 14 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
Karen Ferreira
Children’s Book Mastery Kick-Off
Here is the replay of the live kick-off where your host ran through a bird’s eye overview of all the steps of creating and publishing your children’s book, and explained how you can get the most out of the summit.
DAY 1
Sessions become available on Monday, 17 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
Laura Backes
Tips for Developing a Saleable Book Idea
Find out why it’s important to think through different aspects of your idea before you write. Learn about the first steps a fiction and nonfiction writer should take to develop their story idea to make it saleable, and how to know when you’re ready to start writing.
Bethany Green
How to Become the Author You Want to Be
Bethany shares how authors can get out of their own head and out of their own way. Discover how feedback can help you write better, and how you can stop worrying about the “rules” or expectations of you story, and just write from your heart.
Marcy Pusey
How to Write a Memorable Children’s Book
Discover how you can know if your story idea is good, how to choose one idea, and how to go from idea to a written manuscript. Learn how you can get past feeling stuck while writing and some top ways you can improve your manuscript.
Heidi Fiedler
How To Create A Series-Worthy Picture Book Character
In this session, Heidi shares why character-driven books are so popular and how you can develop a character that’s kid friendly. Learn how to help readers get to know a character in a natural, engaging way and how you can make a secondary character stand out, and where you can find your inspiration.
Gena Maselli
5 Literary Techniques that will Improve Any Children’s Book
Gena shares five literary techniques that will improve any children’s book, including metaphor, extended metaphor, parallelism, repetition and questions. She not only explains what they are but also shows examples of how they can be used to improve any written piece.
DAY 2
Sessions become available on Tuesday, 18 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
Brooke Van Sickle
The 3 Things Your Story Must Have To Be Ready For Publishing
Find out what the first thing is that you should do when writing a children’s book and the three things you should include so that readers connect with it. Learn how to know if you have a good story idea and if you should include a message.
Christopher Maselli
Common Children’s Book Blunders
Discover some of the blunders that come up time and again, and which ones are specific to children’s books. Get tips on how you can check your own manuscript, section by section for common mistakes.
Karen Ferreira
Essential Elements of Writing a Successful Children’s Picture Book
Karens shares the indispensable first step authors should do before writing their book, how to improve your ideas, the key to a strong plot, why a character arc is crucial and how to achieve this, plus essential writing craft and revision strategies.
Margrete Lamond
How To Be The Art Director Of Your Own Picture Book
Find out what it means to be the art director of your own picture book, what the benefits are, and how exactly to go about it, including dividing your picture book into scenes and spreads. Learn about page turns and pacing, and how to get the illustrations to convey your message and vision.
Tamara Dever
The Ins And Outs Of Book Layout And Printing
Tamara shares her pointers to ensure your illustrations are done correctly, the difference between an illustrator and a book designer, and what to look out for when hiring a designer. Find out the key elements to consider and common mistakes to avoid, plus how to use layout and printing to make your book stand out.
DAY 3
Sessions become available on Wednesday, 19 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
April Cox
The A-Z of Self-Publishing
Discover the pros and cons of self-publishing, all its steps, and April’s advice to ensure your book is professional, plus tips for getting wonderful illustrations and book design/formatting. Learn about recommended platforms for self-publishing, and advice on marketing for self-publishers.
Alexa Bigwarfe
Children’s Book Publishing and Hybrid Presses
Alexa shares what a hybrid press is, and when and how you would work with them. Learn about their fees and royalties and how they are different from vanity presses and from self-publishing assist. Learn how much you should expect to spend, and how to know if the company is legit.
Arielle Haughee
Traditional vs Self-Publishing, and How to Get Traditionally Published
Discover the pros and cons of working with a traditional publisher versus self-publishing and key factors traditional publishers consider for accepting submissions. Find out what kind of support you can expect from a traditional publisher, how they typically handle royalties and advances, and common mistakes to avoid when submitting.
Eric Van Der Hope
Maximizing Your Market Reach: POD vs. Bulk Printing
Eric shares an overview of print on demand vs. bulk printing, the pros and cons of POD, and his recommended platforms for each. Learn about three important things you should implement before publishing to increase your chance for success.
Keith Wheeler
How to Make Activity and Puzzle Books
Find out how to create engaging and educational activities for children, the creation process from start to finish, as well as how to decide on the difficulty level of the puzzles and what marketing strategies you can use to promote your activity and puzzle books.
DAY 4
Sessions become available on Thursday, 20 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
Laurence O’Bryan
What Is New In 2023 For Children’s Book Promotion
In this session, Laurence talks about authenticity over production or perfection, sales in audiobooks and e-books, and whether you should have a podcast or start a book club, plus how to increase your all important reviews. Laurence also shared his views on using AI for authors.
Philip Duncan
Why You Need an Email List & How to Start Building One
Discover why you need an email list, the best time to start one, and different ways to gain more subscribers. Plus, Philip shares some ideas about what to write about in your emails.
Laurie Wright
Top Email Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
Laurie shares tactics for growing an email list for children’s book authors. Discover key elements for effective email marketing, writing interesting subject lines and emails, and how to use email to build relationships. Find out more about automation and which metrics you should track to measure success.
Quinn Cummings
Strategies for Growing Your Email List as a Children’s Book Author
Discover how to overcome mindset blocks about building and emailing your list and how to use a freebie to grow your list. Quinn shares her “Telephone Method” and all its steps for reaching more readers and growing your list.
Derek Doepker
Author Collaborations to Expand Your Reach
Find out about different types of collaborations and how you can make your collaborations successful. Get important tips for collaboration opportunities, what the best strategies are to maximize collaborations for the most reach, recommended platforms, and what mistakes to avoid.
DAY 5
Sessions become available on Friday, 21 July 2023 at 1 pm EST | 10 am PST | 12 pm CST | 5pm UTC
Ray Brehm
Launching Your Book Right for Long-Term Sales
Ray shares his strategies to launch to #1 on Amazon, which pre-launch actions are most important, and how to ensure your book has longevity on Amazon. Discover how to create and maintain your marketing campaign, techniques to drive sales and maximize visibility and how to stand out from the competition.
Paul Brodie
Launching Your Book with a Proven System
In this session, Paul shares why it’s important to launch your book, how long in advance to start on the launch, and the key things to have in place to launch successfully. Discover how to choose better Amazon categories and effective keywords, plus effective promotional services to use during launch.
Foreword Publicity
Proven PR and Marketing Strategies for Children’s Authors
In this session, you’ll find out the top marketing tactics an author should consider for children’s books and YA, what your marketing timeline should look like and the benefits of hiring a PR firm.
Richard McCartney
Practical Marketing Strategies for Real Results
Discover ways to market that actually get results, tips to get the most out of these strategies, and which marketing strategies Richard advises authors not to use, and why. Richard shares ways that authors can get reviews, as well as his views on AI for authors.
Brian Berni
How to Succeed with Amazon Ads and BookBub Ads
Brian shares who should use Amazon and BookBub Ads, strategies for effective ad campaigns, and how to use metrics to measure and esnure your success. Find out how Amazon and Bookbub Ads can be used together to maximize book sales and what budget you should set.
