PVLF 2025

APA Launches Children's Editorial Program

The APA's new Children's Editorial Program will enhance skills for children's book editors, starting with a Picture Book Editing Intensive on October 24-25 at RMIT, Melbourne.
on Jun 25, 2024

The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has launched a new Children's Editorial Program, modeled after the existing Residential Editorial Program, with the inaugural picture book editing intensive taking place in October.

The APA announced that the Children's Editorial Program will address training deficiencies for editorial staff working in children's publishing. In addition to practical skill development, the program will offer opportunities for community building and knowledge sharing among editors in this broad profession.

A two-day Picture Book Editing Intensive program will take place on October 24 and 25 at RMIT in Melbourne, with sessions covering subjects such as rhyme use, collaboration with artists, art direction, story editing, and producing works for domestic and international markets.

Children's book publisher and novelist Jane Godwin, who created the program with the APA's children's publishers group, stated, "Picture books are a huge and varied area of publishing, in terms of style, content, and audience." Editing a picture book needs a particular approach, and our goal with this program is to provide picture-book editors with the skills and perspectives that will allow them to create the greatest versions of the picture books they work on.