A training program for children's book editors will enhance their skills in developing book projects.
Inspired by the highly esteemed Residential Editorial Program, which has been running for over 25 years, the Children’s Editorial Program will address gaps in training available for editorial staff working in children’s publishing. As well as practical skills development, the program will also provide opportunities for community building and knowledge sharing among editors working in this diverse field.
Plans are underway for the 2026 Children's Editorial Program.
2024 Picture Book Editing Intensive
The Children's Editorial Program in 2024 saw a Picture Book Editing Intensive held in Melbourne in October 2024, with a series of presentations and workshops on the craft of picture book editing over two days.
The APA’s Children’s Publishers Committee developed the Picture Book Editing Intensive alongside esteemed children’s book publisher and author Jane Godwin, who says of the unique challenges for editors:
‘Picture books are a huge and varied area of publishing, in terms of style, content and audience. Editing a picture book requires a unique approach, and our aim with this program is to equip picture-book editors with the skills and different perspectives that will help them to create the best version of the picture books they work on.’
Our thanks to the APA’s Children’s Publishers Committee for their development of the program, the Independent Publishers Committee for their contribution of the bursaries, and RMIT for the venue.
Participants
Twenty-six editors were selected to participate in the Picture Book Editing Intensive. They were selected by a working group of the APA’s Children’s Publishers Committee out of 42 applicants from across the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
Learn more about the 2024 program, with reflections from participants.
Further information
Please contact the APA for any further information about the program.