Picture Books, with freelance editor Elizabeth Lazowski (3 rounds), Winter 2026

January 14th, 2026 - May 29th, 2026

with Elizabeth Lazowski

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In this workshop, picture book writers will work with Elizabeth Lazowski and a curated group of peers to revise and polish a manuscript for submission. At the start of the group, writers will submit two stories to determine which story to focus on for the remainder of the workshop. Writers will do a broad revision of the selected story for their second submission, and will polish their work for their third submission. Writers will peer critique one another's work in addition to receiving feedback from Elizabeth. 

While the workshop allows significant time for revision and critique, the time tends to pass quickly, and participants should be mindful of their schedules when considering this group.

<p>You may register for one picture book workshop in winter season. If there is extra space 1 month ahead of the workshop start (6 weeks for multi-round groups), you may register for another.&nbsp;</p>

Notes

Who this workshop is for: <p>This workshop is geared towards intermediate and advanced picture book writers. This includes agented writers, writers who have published picture books, and writers who are in the query trenches. You will get the most out of this workshop if you have a strong working knowledge of craft elements in picture books and are willing to revise deeply.&nbsp;</p>

Focus: Children's - Picture Books - Fiction - Children's - Picture…

Group size: 5 writers

Submissions: <p>There will be three rounds of submissions. Writers will begin by submitting 2 stories. After the first round, writers will select <u>one</u> of these two stories to work on for the remainder of the workshop.</p><p>Fiction stories should be under 900 words and nonfiction stories should be under 1550 words including any backmatter (submit headers only if your backmatter runs over).<br></p>

Fee

Members: $415; Non-members: $495

About Elizabeth Lazowski

Elizabeth Lazowski is a freelance editor currently based in New York City. Most recently she was an Associate Editor in the Children’s group at Chronicle Books where she cultivated a list of picture books and graphic novels. Her list includes Together We Swim by Valerie Bolling & Kaylani Juanita, Lost Words by Leila Boukarim & Sona Avedikian, Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplett & Daniel O’Brien, and Too Many Golems by Jane Yolen & Maya Schleifer. She’s interested in stories that address the overlooked spaces in and outside the US —who has not been, and still is not being, fairly represented in the literary space. In 2021 she was named a PW Star Watch Honoree.

Schedule:

  • Wed, Jan 14 - Submissions due
  • Wed, Feb 4 - Critiques due
  • Wed, Feb 11, 7-9:20 pm ET - Debrief call (26 min per writer, no screensharing)
  • Wed, Mar 18 - Round 2 Subs due (Revise one of your Round 1 manuscripts) 
  • Tues, Mar 31 - Round 2 Critiques due 
  • Mon, April 13, 7-9pm ET - Round 2 call  (22 min per writer, screensharing ok)
  • Mon, May 11 - Round 3 subs due (Revise your Round 2 manuscript)
  • Thurs, May 21 - Critiques due
  • Weds, May 27, 7-9pm ET- Round 3 call (22 min per writer, screensharing ok)