Charmaine Ross will be presenting a masterclass on “How to know when your book is truly market-ready: Beyond passion projects: how to recognise a professional, saleable book.” at CYA 2026

Charmaine brings together a rare combination of creative and commercial expertise. With a background in fine arts and graphic design, she has spent more than 30 years working in marketing and advertising, specialising in visual communication and producing professional, saleable materials.

She has been a published author for over 15 years and has written more than 80 romance novels. In addition to writing, Charmaine has designed market-ready book covers and worked extensively with illustrators and printers, giving her practical insight into what separates a passion project from a professional publishing product.

Join in-person at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane or online.

View the full program and book at www.cyaconference.com/program

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Kate Stevens has over sixteen years’ experience as an in-house book editor, most recently as an Associate Publisher at Hachette Australia.

As a freelance editor with extensive in-house experience, Kate loves working with children's authors to help them develop their manuscripts and pitches to publishers. She's particularly interested in reading submissions for fiction and non-fiction picture books, as well as middle-grade and young adult manuscripts.

This year, Kate will be doing online (4 July) and in-person (11 July), assessing manuscripts in the following categories
• Chapter Books
• Junior Fiction
• Middle Grade
• Picture Book
• YA Writing

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book, providing an opportunity to gain feedback across multiple projects.

Find out more at: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Rochelle Stephens is the editor and publisher at Wombat Books and has repetitively chosen manuscripts from the CYA Writers & Illustrators Conference for publication.

This year, Rochelle will be online (4 & 5 July) and in-person (11 July), assessing manuscripts in the following categories
- Chapter Books
- Commercial Adult Fiction
- Crime
- Early Readers
- Fantasy
- Historical
- Junior Fiction
- Middle Grade
- Mystery
- Picture Book
- Romance
- Speculative Fiction
- Thrillers
- Women's Fiction
- YA Writing

She will also be doing illustration assessments.

Wombat Books has taken on picture books from pitches every year for the last few years and Rochelle is keen to keep supporting CYA attendees.

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book, providing an opportunity to gain feedback across multiple projects.

Find out more at: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Savannah Hollis from Hardie Grant will be running two in-person writing bootcamp groups at CYA at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane CBD on 12 July; one for Chapter Books, including Young Adult Novels and a second for Picture Books.

Savannah has edited everything from literary fiction to picture books, and has been lucky enough to work with award-winning authors from around Australia. Her career has regularly seen her working with emerging writers, LGBTQIA+ creators, and occasionally on global brands like Star Wars.
 
She has a passion for weird and wonderful books that respect young readers and is really interested in smart/funny picture books, own-voices children's books, inventive graphic novels, and sci-fi and fantasy in all child age ranges.

To learn more about the writing bootcamps and reserve your spot, visit www.cyaconference.com/bootcamp

Savannah is also doing online (4 and 5 July) and in-person (11 July) assessments which can be booked at www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Please join us in welcoming @kai_ash to the #CYASuccess family!

"My assessor had one main comment: 'This is not a picture book,' she said, which was rather confronting to hear at the time! Though, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see how right she was."

Read Kai's story at www.cyaconference.com/cyasuccess/kai-ash

The Boy Maeve, due for release on 26 May 2026 by Hardie Grant Children's Publishing.

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Daniel Pilkington is a Literary Agent and publishing consultant based in the Inner West of Sydney. With a background as the former Sales Director of Hachette Australia, Daniel brings a wealth of industry experience to his current endeavours. His unwavering passion for Australian writing and storytelling is at the heart of his work, driving him to connect authors with the literary world.

Daniel will be doing online manuscript assessments for
• Adult Literary Fiction
• Commercial Adult Fiction
• Crime
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Literary Fiction
• Mystery
• Narrative Non-Fiction
• Non-Fiction
• Romance
• Speculative Fiction
• Thrillers
• Women's Fiction
• Memoir

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book, providing an opportunity to gain feedback across multiple projects.

Find out more at: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Kate Chisholm, Publishing Director at FIVE MILE is interested in assessing picture book manuscripts, picture book illustrators, and any author/illustrator projects. Kate will also assess early readers, junior fiction, middle grade and chapter books.

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book, providing a valuable opportunity to gain targeted, professional feedback across multiple projects.

Find out more at: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Sarah McKenzie Literary Management is a Melbourne/Naarm-based agency representing new, emerging and established authors across literary and commercial fiction, narrative non-fiction, middle grade, junior fiction and picture books.

Sarah will be offering online manuscript assessments at this year’s conference across a wide range of categories, including adult and commercial fiction, crime, memoir, romance, thrillers, non-fiction, and children’s categories from picture books through to middle grade.

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book, providing a valuable opportunity to gain targeted, professional feedback across multiple projects.

Secure your session: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Zena Shapter will be running a class on Self-editing for novelists.

Zena is a multi-award-winning author of science fiction, fantasy, speculative, and contemporary fiction.

Join in-person at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane or online.

View the full program and book at www.cyaconference.com/program

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Brenda Gurr from Little Story Wren is an IPEd accredited editor with 20+ years of experience in working with children’s books. She is the author of numerous books for children, including fiction and nonfiction titles with New Frontier Publishing, Heinemann and Macmillan Education.

Brenda will be assessing picture book manuscripts at the CYA Conference

Assessment sessions are 15-minute one-on-one online meetings, with pre-read material and tailored feedback.

www.cyaconference.com/assessments

There is no limit to the number of assessments you can book.

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