Live First Page Clinic with Holiday House Editor Elizabeth Law
Mar 07, 2025
Online event
Watch live as Elizabeth critiques first pages from a PB, chapter book, MG, YA and graphic novel. Submission opportunity.
Are you ready to take your first pages from good to great?
We are thrilled to invite you to a one-and-a-half hour event designed to elevate your first pages and boost your chances of literary success.
Drawing from her extensive experience as editor for Viking Penguin, Puffin Books, Frederick Warne & Co, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, Egmont USA, and Holiday House, Elizabeth will offer feedback, pinpointing common mistakes and providing practical solutions to make your first pages shine.
Watch Elizabeth at work as she unveils the artistry of 10 manuscripts, editing in real time (60 min), moving from chapter book, middle grade, young adult, picture books, to graphic novels, depending on what she receives from our members. For each picture book, she will critique 2 pages; for each graphic novel, 3 spreads.
Date: Friday March 7
Time: 8:00 PM (Amsterdam time)
Duration: 1 hour and 30 mins
Where: Zoom
Price: $20 members, $25 non-members/registered users
Last day to register: Thursday March 6 midnight
OPTIONAL FOR MEMBERS ONLY: If you wish Elizabeth to critique your manuscript, you can do so for an extra $25 - first come, first serve.
For picture books, you may submit the first 2 pages.
For graphic novels, you may submit the first 3 spreads.
Please submit first pages to Fanely at benelux-ra@scbwi.org no later than Friday February 28 and write "Elizabeth Law" in the subject line.
For those based in Europe and elsewhere, do not worry. The system will automatically change the currency to dollars when you send payment.
Event Highlights:
- Elizabeth will analyze (without seeing them beforehand) 10 first pages, offering constructive criticism and actionable advice.
- Q&A Session: Have questions about editing, submitting, or publishing in general? Stick around for a Q&A segment at the end of the event.
- Submission perk: Participants have up to 3 months after the webinar to submit their manuscript to Elizabeth for publication consideration.
Event Schedule:
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Elizabeth analyzes and critiques first pages
9:00 pm - 9:30 PM: Q&A with Elizabeth
The event will be recorded for the participants who can’t attend live and will be available for a limited period of time.
Registration closes Thursday March 6 at midnight, no exceptions.
Questions? Email Fanely at benelux-ra@scbwi.org or Mayra at benelux-ara@scbwi.org
More about Elizabeth Law...
For Elizabeth Law, editing children’s books is a vocation. She began her career at Viking Children's Books, then moved to Simon & Schuster as Associate Publisher and Egmont USA as Publisher before joining Holiday House in 2017, where she is currently Editor at Large.
Two recent books she edited received starred reviews and show the range of her taste: A New Car for Pickle by Sylvie Kantorovitz is an “I Like to Read Comic,” and The Donut Prince of New York by Allen Zadoff is a funny and moving YA about an overweight teen boy.
Other recent picture books she’s edited include Five Stories by Ellen Weinstein and Goodbye Hello by Angela H. Dale and Daniel Wiseman, and two middle grade novels are Polly Farquhar's Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream and Dan Gutman’s Houdini and Me.
Elizabeth also runs a freelance editorial business for writers who want to improve their manuscripts or get career help at Elawreads.com. She tweets frequently about children's books on X @elawreads.
