A cozy place for serious writers.
A home for picture book, middle grade, and young adult writers. Workshops, mentorships, and retreats with award-winning working authors, editors, and MFA faculty.
WHAT IS WHALE ROCK?
WHAT WE DO
We help you write your best books.
Whale Rock is a home for writers of children's, middle grade, and YA books. Our community consists of authors, published, agented, and developing, all dedicated to their craft and to creating the stories that will shape the next generation of readers.
Our teachers come to Whale Rock for the same reasons our writers do: we are small enough to know each other by name and serious enough to know that craft matters.
Whale Rock is for writers who love to write and who want to keep growing. Our workshops, mentorships, and retreats are built around elevating craft: the sentences, the structure, the revision work that feels like it never ends. At our foundation are the teachers and community that keep writers coming back.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Access matters to us.
Whale Rock is committed to giving our community access to our incredible faculty: the award-winning authors, editors, and agents shaping children's literature. They are the kind of teachers who are excited about mentorship, who are excited about your growth and development. And because that kind of access shouldn't only be available to writers who can afford it, we do what we can to help. We offer early bird pricing, sliding scale workshops, specially priced packages, discounts for educators and librarians, and scholarships for writers with underrepresented stories and voices.
OUR PROGRAMS
Single Day Seminars
A 90-minute live session on one craft or industry topic, taught by our incredible faculty and by guest authors, editors, or agents. Something new to bring back to your desk.
Weekly Classes
Multi-week classes for deeper exploration of craft skills like structure, voice, and revision. Taught by our curated, award-winning faculty as well as guest authors, editors, and agents.
Week-Long Workshops
A full week of teaching from our curated, award-winning faculty as well as guest authors, editors, and agents. Week-long workshops may be online or in person.
Retreats
An unstructured writing week away with a cozy group of writers, plus one-on-one time with our award-winning faculty and guest agents and editors. The perfect writing getaway, whether you're on your first draft or your fifth.
Mentorship
Months of one-on-one work with members of our curated, award-winning faculty. Structure and submission guidelines may vary depending on your project's needs.
Write Now!
Regular community sessions where writers gather over Zoom to write side by side, even from a continent apart. Structure and company for the hours you set aside to write.
THE FACULTY
Taught by writers you admire.
Great teachers change lives at all ages. Between them, our faculty has won or edited Newbery Honors, National Book Awards, Caldecott Medals, and Coretta Scott King Medals. Many teach at MFA programs like Vermont College of Fine Arts, Spalding, and Hamline. The faculty includes Patricia Lee Gauch, Gary D. Schmidt, Liz Bicknell, Kathryn Erskine, Deb Noyes, Shelley Tanaka, Phyllis Root, Liz Garton Scanlon, Karen Krossing, Leah Henderson, Laura Shovan, and Lisa Papademetriou, along with visiting agents and editors.
"Great teachers change lives at all ages."
A note from Shari
Dear Friends,
I started Whale Rock almost ten years ago because I couldn't find the workshops I needed. I was ready for deep learning from master instructors and that was completely unavailable outside of an MFA program, which I could not afford. (Besides, I had two little kids and I'd already written a thesis.) MFA programs are expensive. Conferences felt overwhelmingly big, competitive, cliquey, and pricey . Online webinars felt impersonal. I wanted a place in between, where I could work closely with great teachers, where the people running the events knew my name, and my skill development wouldn't equal the cost of one, no two, new cars.
We talk all the time about how great teachers change lives for our children, but I realized that I needed great teachers, too!
And so I built what wasn't there. Every year we run about 20 events, and we give each one the same attention and love. We are super picky about our faculty members. We're small on purpose. It's how we create community.
I hope you'll join us for one of our events. I'd love to meet you!
Shari Becker
Founder, Whale Rock Workshops
What writers are saying
"AMAZING. My mentor's comments were kind, thought-provoking, and gave me the boost in confidence I needed to do the work."
— Kim P.
"The mentorship helped get me back on track. I was paralyzed in my creativity. My mentor was available, prompt, and reassuring, but also read with a critical eye, which I appreciated."
— Mary C.
“"The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. The course material was rich and insightful. Brainstorming with Gary D. Schmidt was surreal."
— Maria M.
Ready when you are.
Reach out today to learn more about our programs, mentorships, scholarships and more!
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