Learn the Craft Through the Eyes of a Picture Book Star

Every Part of Your Picture Book Has a Job to Do.

Picture books may be short, but creating a compelling story in so few words takes thoughtful craft.

Your beginning needs to introduce someone readers will care about, establish a problem that matters, and make them want to find out what happens.

Your middle needs to build on that problem. Your character’s efforts, setbacks, and decisions must give readers a reason to keep turning pages.

And your ending needs to bring it all together—with a resolution that feels satisfying, makes readers feel something, and perhaps gives them a delightful surprise.

When those parts work together, a picture book becomes more than a sequence of events. It becomes a story children want to experience again.

In this all-new workshop, Lori will help you understand how to create that connection.

Lori Mortensen is an award-winning children’s author of more than 100 books. Her work has been published by HarperCollins, Henry Holt, Abrams, Bloomsbury, Peachtree, and other notable publishers.

Lori Mortensen's picture books are renowned for being funny, surprising, heartfelt and unforgettable. On October 20th, she'll teach you how to follow in her footsteps, by writing complete, satisfying picture books that will appeal to editors, parents & kids.

See How Successful Picture Books Come Together—And Apply What You Learn to Your Own Writing.

How does a cow’s determination to jump over the moon become a picture book?

How do a cowboy’s attempts to bathe his dog keep a story moving?

And how does a child’s frustrating drawing experience lead to an ending with heart?

Lori will take you inside the choices behind her own published books, including Cindy Moo, Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg, If Wendell Had a Walrus, and Arlo Draws an Octopus.

She’ll also examine other picture books to show how their beginnings, middles, and endings work together.

You’ll see the craft in action—and learn what to look for in your own manuscript.

On October 20th (with lifetime on-demand replay), a master of the picture book craft will be your personal guide to creating manuscripts that work - from the first page to the last.

You'll learn:

• What makes a picture book a picture book: how economical text, illustrations, read-aloud language, and page turns work together.

• How to recognize an idea worth exploring: notice the spark that excites you and consider how it could connect with children.

• How to create an opening that pulls readers in: introduce your main character, setting, and story problem while giving readers a reason to continue.

• How to give your character a problem that matters: understand why readers need to care whether your character succeeds.

• How to build a middle that moves: use attempts, setbacks, and growing tension to develop the story.

• How to build toward a pivotal moment: bring your character to a decision or discovery that leads toward the resolution.

• How to find a stronger ending: explore possibilities beyond your first idea and connect the ending to the problem established at the start.

• How to leave readers feeling something: bring your story’s underlying theme and emotional journey together.

• How to study published picture books with a writer’s eye: identify choices you can apply to your own work.

$47 now for the live workshop + lifetime replay • Recording alone is $67 after the event

Write a Picture Book That Works:

Craft a Beginning That Hooks, a Middle that Builds and an Ending That Delivers

A Comprehensive Workshop with Lifetime On-Demand Replay & Handouts