Laura Franks from Affirm Press will be doing online and in-person assessments and in-person bootcamps at this year’s CYA Writers & Illustrators Conference.

She has a Master’s in Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing from the University of Melbourne and oversees the management and assessment of unsolicited submissions to Affirm Press and has also written many freelance manuscript assessments.

Laura is passionate about working on manuscripts regardless of genre and approaches manuscript assessments like a team sport, warmly and enthusiastically providing honest, constructive feedback.
 
The in-person assessments and bootcamps will be held at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square.

Book your session:
www.cyaconference.com/assessments
www.cyaconference.com/bootcamp

#CYAConference #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

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

You do not need to attend the conference to join the bootcamps.

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Peter Rowland will be running a class on Non-fiction books in the real world at CYA 2026.

Peter is a Whitley Award-winning author, naturalist, and photographer who loves finding the sweet spot between scientific facts and a great story. With a library of work that includes 14 wildlife books and five scientific papers, Peter has also been the lead editor on two key guides on landcare and revegetation.

Join in-person at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane or online on 11 July .

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

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Such exciting news today… 4 book babies for the CYA Conference… 2 from previous competition winners and 2 from the March bootcamps contracted… and we heard about them all on the same day… It’s days like this that make us smile so hard our cheeks hurt!!!!!

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

You do not need to attend the conference to join the bootcamps.

#CYAConference #WritingCommunity #WritersLife #ChildrensBooks

Anna Solding, founder and publishing director of MidnightSun Publishing, will be offering online manuscript assessments at CYA on 4–5 July.

Anna publishes award-winning books for adults and children and is seeking submissions across a wide range of categories, from picture books to adult literary fiction.

She will be reviewing Adult Literary Fiction, Chapter Books, Early Readers, Illustrations, Junior Fiction, Literary Fiction, Middle Grade, Picture Books, and YA Writing.

Book your session: www.cyaconference.com/assessments

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Rowena Beresford is the publisher and Managing Editor at Riveted Press, where she works closely with new and emerging authors as a writing coach and editor. She will be running in-person writing bootcamps at the CYA Conference, Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane, on July 12.

Group 1 will be Chapter Books/Young Adult novels. Group 2 will be a Picture Book group. Each group is limited to four people.

The bootcamp is a day spent with an editor where you will receive feedback on your work, time to work on your manuscripts, followed by a progress session where they will give you further feedback. There is also a discussion panel and a Q&A session. 

Book at www.cyaconference.com/bootcamp

You do not need to come to the conference to join a bootcamp.

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Fiona Smith from Beyond Words Literary Agency represents a string of successful authors. She is also a manuscript editor and published author.

Fiona will be assessing the following manuscripts at the CYA Conference
• Adult Literary Fiction
• Commercial Adult Fiction
• Crime
• Fantasy
• Historical
• Literary Fiction
• Middle Grade
• Mystery
• Narrative Non-Fiction
• Romance
• Speculative Fiction
• Thrillers
• Women's Fiction
• YA Writing
• Memoir

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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www.cyaconference.com/bootcamp

Lauren Clarke from Creating Ink will be running an all-day writing Bootcamps for Young Adult, Chapter Book and Adult writers at this year’s CYA Writers and Illustrators Conference at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, Brisbane, on July 12.

These sessions are well-suited to all writers, regardless of where you are in your writing journey.

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

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

#CYAConference #WritersLife #writerscommunity #amwriting #writingworkshop

Laura (she/her) works as an editor at Melbourne-based publishing house @affirmpress and 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 Young Adult Novels and one for Adult Novels.

Laura is passionate about working on manuscripts regardless of genre and approaches manuscript assessments like a team sport, warmly and enthusiastically providing honest, constructive feedback.

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

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

#CYAConference #WritersLife