Registration will be open September 1, 2016

Free In-Person Peer Critique Sessions:

Peer critiques are scheduled around the region, so choose to attend the one nearest you. Each participant is asked to bring five copies of the first five pages of a YA or MG novel, chapter book, non-fiction book, or graphic novel, or a complete picture book manuscript or a poem. These pages will be shared on-location so your peers can follow along as you (or someone else) read your piece out loud. Constructive critiques will follow, with each person sharing what they liked about your piece and something that could be improved upon. Please bring one manuscript or a series of four illustrated postcards to be critiqued at the in-person peer critique.

Please choose from the following locations/dates/times and register below:

Boise, Idaho Illustrators, October 13th - Thanks to our six attendees!

Rexburg, Idaho on Friday, October 14th, 6 - 8 pm. Madison Library District's community room (http://madisonlib.org/), with volunteer Annie Bailey [anniebailey7 (at)yahoo(dot)com]. NOTE: THIS IS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE STORYTELLERS CONFERENCE. Please register for the conference here: http://rexburgstorytellers.wixsite.com/rexburgtwc Please register for the peer critique here.

Payette, Idaho on October 15th, 1-3 pm. Agape CoffeeHouse, 20 S. 16th St. with volunteer Melaney Auxier [mauxier22(at)gmail(dot)com]. Please register here.

Garden City (Boise), Idaho on Monday, October 17th, 7 - 9 pm. Shari's Restaurant, 8121 W Chinden Blvd. (near Glenwood) with ARA Sarah Tregay utahsouthidaho-ara@scbwi.org - Please register here.

St. George, Utah on Friday, October 21st, 6:30-8:30 pm. At a private residence. Please e-mail volunteer Shelly Pollock [shelly.pollock(at)gmail(dot) com] for address and directions to her home. Please register here.

Logan, Utah Thursday, October 27th, 7:00 – 8:45 pm. The Ephraim Room at the Logan Library, 255 N Main St with volunteer Susan Haderlie [sshaderlie (at) juno (dot) com]. Please register here.

Wendell (Twin Falls/Magic Valley), Idaho, Saturday, October 22nd, 1:00 - 2:30 pm Wendell Middle School Library, 920 E. Main Street. With volunteer Chelly Wood [estersparhawk9(at)gmail(dot)com] Please register here.

Idaho Falls, Idaho Villa Coffeehouse and Café in downtown Idaho Falls, 344 Park Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. With volunteer Daniel Noyes [danieltoddnoyes(at)gmail(dot)com] Please register here.

Salt Lake City, Utah (Millcreek) for WRITERS on Wednesday, October 26th, 7:00 - 8:45 pm. Millcreek Public Library, 2266 E. Evergreen Ave. (3435 South) with volunteer Bruce Luck [bruceluck(at) ymail(dot)com]. Please register here.

Salt Lake City, Utah (Millcreek) for ILLUSTRATORS on Wednesday, October 26th, 7:00 - 8:45 pm. Millcreek Public Library, 2266 E. Evergreen Ave. (3435 South) with illustrator volunteers. Please bring a series of up to four postcards that you'll send to publishers for this illustration critique. Picture book dummies are also welcome. Please register here.

Orem, Utah on Thursday, October 27th, 7:00 - 8:45 pm. Orem Public Library, 58 N. State St., Orem, with RA Travis Rawlings utahsouthidaho-ara@scbwi.org - Please register here.

Each session will be led by one of our volunteers. Every participant will get the opportunity to have one manuscript or a series of four illustrations critiqued and offer feedback to others during the session.

Paid Written Professional Critiques

Thank you to the fifty writers and illustrators who supported our region by purchasing a critique! All 88 critiques will be returned to Sarah on Halloween and will be sent to participants the first week in November. Most critiques will be electronic files, and a few will be paper Gold Forms and copies that will be mailed to you. Please note that paper copies may take a little longer to reach you.

Are you looking for a written critique from a children's book industry professional? We know our region is large and it can be difficult to attend a conference in another city, so we would like to offer distance critiques from editors and agents to help you polish your work. To read more about each of our faculty members, click here.

Written critiques will utilize the SCBWI Gold Form, where the agent or editor will make notes on the following: the positive aspects of this work; the elements that require attention and improvement; character development; plot/structure; language/diction; voice; marketability; and next steps.

Our Great Critique Faculty:

Alex Ulyett, Viking/Penguin Young Readers
YA or MG novels or nonfiction. (Note you can send Alex up to 15 pages.)
7 member and 3 non-member critiques available

Andrea Welch, Beach Lane Books/Simon and Schuster
Picture books, chapter books, MG or YA. (Note that you can send a full PB or 15 pages.)
7 member and 3 non-member critiques available

Christa Heschke, Agent, McIntosh and Otis, Inc.
Picture book, MG or YA, fiction or nonfiction biography.
7 member and 3 non-member critiques available

Joanna Cardenas, Editor, Viking Children's Books/Penguin Random House
Picture books, chapter books, and middle grade; fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels.
7 member and 3 non-member critiques available

Liz Kossnar, Assistant Editor, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Picture book, MG or YA.
15 member and 5 non-member critiques available

Orli Zuravicki, Senior Editor, Scholastic
Picture book.
4 member and 4 non-member critiques available

Rachel Orr, Agent, The Prospect Agency
Picture book or picture book dummy (either fiction or non-fiction), MG or YA Novels. Illustrators welcome.
7 member and 3 non-member critiques available

Victoria A. Selvaggio, Assoicate Agent, The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Picture book, chapter book, MG, or YA, fiction or non-fiction.
15 member and 5 non-member critiques available

Danielle Chiotti, Agent, Upstart Crow Literary
YA or MG novel, including novels in verse.
One member critique will be available.

Please note that these are not face-to-face critiques--these professionals will NOT be attending any of our peer critique sessions.

Paid critiques are $50 each for current SCBWI Utah/Southern Idaho members and $65 for non-members. You may register for more than one. Your fee will pay the professional for her time and benefit your SCBWI region so that we can continue to offer workshops, events, and critique groups around the region and throughout the year. Thank you!

For faculty bios and what they are interested in critiquing, please click through to our

*** Great Critique Faculty Bios ***

Manuscript Formatting for both In-Person and Paid Written Critiques

Manuscripts will be submitted in the standard industry format. Your manuscript should have 1-inch margins on all sides, be double-spaced, and set in 12 point Arial or Times Roman, in black "ink" on 8.5 x 11 in. paper. The first page of the manuscript should be clearly marked with the participant's contact information and email, as well as genre, age category, and word count. Manuscripts should also have a header on each page (starting on page 2) in the upper left-hand corner (last name of writer/title of manuscript) and a footer noted the page number in the lower right-hand corner (starting on page 2).

Poetry: this includes rhyming picture books, novels in verse, and stand-alone poetry collections. Poetry submissions should conform to the guidelines above; however, they may be single spaced with a double space between stanzas, per industry standards. Stand-alone collections (i.e. a group of poems intended to be published as one book) must have a page break at the end of each poem.

Manuscript Submission for Paid Written Critiques ONLY

Manuscripts for paid written critiques will be submitted electronically.

Please send your manuscript(s) to Sarah Tregay at utahsouthidaho-ara@scbwi.org with GREAT CRITQUE in all caps in the subject line.

Manuscripts are due September 30th.

Please submit ONE manuscript per paid critique, not to exceed 10 pages.** Participants may include an optional title page and/or a one-page synopsis, which will not be counted toward the 10 pages. If submitting a title page or a one-page synopsis, proper format is appreciated (double-spaced, all caps for first mention of a major character, etc.)

Please submit novels as Microsoft Word files and picture book dummy and graphic novel pages as PDFs.

**Note that Alex Ulyett and Andrea Welch would like to receive 15 pages.

Registration for all in-person peer critiques and paid written critiques will be open from September 1st - 30th.

Please note that the number of paid critiques are limited. Space will be reserved for you when payment is received. Just be sure to send your manuscript by September 30.

You may do both an in-person peer session and one or more paid critiques, so you can have more than one manuscript critiqued!

Any other questions, to pay by check, or to cancel an in-person peer critique reservation, or to send your manuscript please contact Sarah Tregay, Assistant Regional Advisor, at utahsouthidaho-ara@scbwi.org with GREAT CRITQUE in all caps in the subject line.

If you are an SCBWI member and the "member" critiques have sold out, but there are "non-member" critiques still availble, please e-mail me and I will open one up for you at the member price.

Please note that reservations for paid critiques are final and refunds will not be issued.