Magic & Mayhem: Discover the secrets to creating magnificent books for kids and teens.

Meet Suzanne O’Sullivan, commissioning editor for Lothian Children’s Books and the Associate Publisher of Children’s Books for Hachette Australia. Suzanne is looking for authors with strong and fresh voices who tell unique stories. Learn what else Suzanne looks out for when considering a new author, including social media presence, school visits, and more middle grade, please!

Meet Marisa Pintado, YA publisher for Hardie Grant Egmont in Melbourne. Marisa is also the author of award-winning middle grade and YA fiction and manages the Ampersand Prize for debut novelists. As a publisher, Marisa knows exactly what she wants from YA authors: a sense of fun, an understanding of the market, and a willingness to collaborate.

Meet Kimberly McCreight, best selling author of the Outliers YA trilogy. When Kimberly missed out on a job, she took it as a sign that she had to publish her next manuscript. Fortunately, her book Reconstructing Amelia was picked up and she has gone on to forge a successful career as a YA author. Learn why you should treat writing like a job, how to tolerate a messy manuscript, and why it’s okay to lower your standards.

Find out how Rachael Craw turned a dream into a bestselling YA trilogy. After dreaming the prologue for her Spark series, Rachael carefully worked through important questions about plot, motivation and character. Writing is 99% sweat, after all! Learn how to stay sane between stories, the benefits of hiring a manuscript assessor, and why you should respect your readers.

How Ellie Marney discovered her crime-writing superpower. Ellie had written in many genres, but after winning the Sisters in Crime award, decided to focus on crime writing for young adults. Learn how much you need to watch your language for a YA audience, why an author should be like a plumber, and why a writer doesn’t need to know who dunnit until the end.