NZSA Webworkshops – a series of webinars to enable ongoing professional development

Featuring writers and industry professionals offering virtual workshops on topics such as self-publishing, romance writing, poetry, structure, short stories, pitching, contract advice, dystopian writing and the business of writing.

All Webworkshops are hosted on Zoom. Zoom is free to download 

Learn more about what to expect in a Webworkshop in this article from the NZ Author magazine – Spring 2020

Webworkshops – 2023 season

Writing YA with Eileen Merriman

6:30pm – 8pm, Wednesday 18 October

This workshop will focus on writing for young adults, with a particular focus on point of view/voice and plotting. This will incorporate some exercises so have your pen and paper or laptop ready!

Eileen Merriman’s first young adult novel, “Pieces of You”, was published in 2017, and was a finalist in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and a Storylines Notable Book. Since then, a stream of novels for adults and young adults have followed. She has received huge critical praise, with one reviewer saying: ‘Merriman is an instinctive storyteller with an innate sense of timing.’ In addition to being a regular finalist in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Merriman was a finalist in the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel and Moonlight Sonata was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction 2020. Editions of some of her young adult novels have been released in Germany, Turkey and the UK and three have been optioned for film or TV, including the Black Spiral Trilogy.
Her other awards include runner-up in the 2018 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award and third in the same award for three consecutive years previously. She works as a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital.

Fee: NZSA Members – $35. (Non-members – $65)

 

Sign up for this webworkshop
  • Bookings close at 2pm on the day prior to the workshop or when workshop reaches capacity.
  • If you are unable to make the live event, all attendees can access a recording of the Webworkshop to view for one month after it is aired live.

    Pitch to the US Market with Graci Kim

    10am – 11.30am, Thursday 2 November

    The US is home to the biggest publishing market in the world. Learn some tips and tricks on pitching your manuscript with the US agent/editor in mind. Comps, loglines, elevator pitches, and query letters – a practical guide on putting your best foot forward.

    Graci Kim is the Kiwi diplomat turned New York Times bestselling author of The Last Fallen Star, The Last Fallen Moon, and The Last Fallen Realm. The Korean mythology-inspired trilogy has been optioned by the Disney Channel for a television series and is being translated into multiple languages. It was named a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Children’s Book, an Amazon Best Book, a Barnes & Noble Young Reader Pick, and a Whitcoulls Kids Top 50. In 2022, Graci was awarded the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent. In a previous life, Graci was a New Zealand diplomat, a cooking show host, and once ran a business that turned children’s drawings into cuddly toys. She now lives in Auckland with her husband and daughter. You can find her on Instagram @gracikimwrites and at her website gracikim.com.

    Fee: NZSA Members – $35. (Non-members – $65)

    Sign up for this webworkshop
    • Bookings close at 2pm on the day prior to the workshop or when workshop reaches capacity.
    • If you are unable to make the live event, all attendees can access a recording of the Webworkshop to view for one month after it is aired live.

“Can I just say that I am so enjoying these online classes – so much better than having to go out in the cold, wrestle for a park etc. Please keep providing these! I live part of the time on a farm and it is just so wonderful to be able to participate in these sorts of things when I am not in the city. Makes all the difference!”

Past Webworkshops

  • Adapting Your Novel (Story?) For The Screen – with Kathryn Burnett
  • Writing in an AI world: an introduction to the use, limitations, and ethics of ChatGPT for writers – with Kit Willett
  • The art of self-editing: Preparing a manuscript for publication – Madison Hamill
  • Book Promotion for Authors – Caroline Barron
  • Take your novel to the next level – get your manuscript assessed – Sue Reidy
  • Getting Through the Hoops – Siobhan Harvey, Mikaela Nyman, Gigi Fenster
  • The Business of Being a Writer – Elizabeth Kirkby-McLeod
  • Mixing it up: Genre Mash-Ups – Angelique Kasmara
  • Creative Rights for Creative People – Karen Workman
  • Research for Writers: where and how to find the info you need – Philippa Werry
  • Narrative Poetry: Writing your story-poem – Anne Kennedy
  • World of wonder: Microfiction and prose poetry – Michelle Elvy
  • Psychology for Writers – Darian Smith
  • The End of the Line – an introduction – Joanna Preston
  • Hearing Voices: Bring your fiction alive through dialogue – Catherine Robertson
  • Short and Sharper – Taking your flash fiction a step further – Jack Cottrell
  • License to Steal – Lynley Edmeades
  • Pitching, and getting your pitch accepted – Ataria Sharman
  • Introductory to Memoir Writing – Maria de Jong
  • Take your stories to the world, the self-publishing way – Cassie Hart
  • Book promotion for authors – Caroline Barron
  • Crossing the Line or Staying Within It? Exploring Hybrid Forms – Diane Brown
  • Editing for Authors – Anna Mackenzie
  • Writing Your First Young Adult Novel – Fleur Beale
  • Getting your manuscript assessed – Sue Reidy
  • Conflict is a narrative necessity – Terese Svoboda
  • Tea & Chat with crime writer Liam Mcllvanney
  • Using Amazon ads to find your readers – Deb Potter
  • Exploring poetic repetition – Lynn Davidson
  • Tackling the ‘School Visit’ – Melinda Szymanik
  • Writing Action: The Emotional and Dramatic Moment – Paula Morris
  • Poetry’s Bare Essentials – with David Eggleton
  • The Business of Writing – with Nalini Singh
  • Starting Right: Drawing Readers into your World – with Bren MacDibble
  • From the First Sentence: A Workshop on Crime Writing – with Paddy Richardson
  • Introduction to Flash Fiction: The what, why and when of it – with Michelle Elvy
  • Ethical Storytelling – with Pip Desmond
  • Picture Book Magic – with Kyle Mewburn
  • Novel 101 – with Paula Morris
  • Poetry Masterclass – with Siobhan Harvey
  • The short story: character, setting, voice – with Catherine Chidgey
  • Writing as Manaakitanga – with Whiti Hereaka
  • Who Are You? Tina Shaw on Creating a Successful Protagonist
  • Getting through the hoops – with Siobhan Harvey, Geoff Walker, and Geraldine Warren
  • Making author life work for you – with James Russell
  • Psychology for Writers – with Darian Smith

WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THESE ORGANISATIONS FOR THEIR SUPPORT: