About Chapter 510 MISSION
Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center. Our teaching artists and volunteers work side by side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community so Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8–19 can bravely write.
VISION
Every young person in Oakland writes with confidence and joy.
WHY WE EXIST
We believe that writing is an act of liberation. Young people transform themselves and their communities when they write and get published, succeeding in school, work, and life.
WHAT WE DO
Through writing programs at our center and within Oakland public schools, we help young people improve their writing craft, confidence, and competency at every stage. We publish youth of color in programs led by paid artists of color who reflect the young community we serve.
About the workshop From February through May, we will welcome ten 3-5th grade scholars to write a story with us, each to be published as professionally illustrated, single-author titles in winter of 2024. The workshop will be held in person on Wednesdays from 2:30pm-4:30pm, led by Author and Teaching Artist Tiffany Golden.
During the workshop, each student will be paired with a local writer as their editorial mentor and assigned to a professional illustrator.
Workshop Description:
MOODY MYSTERIES
A picture book writing and publishing program for 3-5th graders
Want to write a story about strange disappearances, mysterious messages, and weird findings? If so, MOODY MYSTERIES is the class for you! Join local children’s book author and teaching artist Tiffany Golden in our magical youth writing center as she teaches how to write a mystery.
Each student will be assigned a fantastic writing mentor, a talented illustrator and have the opportunity to publish a single author picture book by the end of the program.
Teaching Artist:
Tiffany Golden is an award-winning author who finds great joy in working with youth. She is the winner of the 2020 New Visions Award by Lee & Low Books and the inaugural Judith Tannenbaum Teaching Artist Fellowship. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. In addition to her own work, Tiffany has also worked with school-aged youth for nearly 20 years, supporting them in sharing their voices and visions.
Illustrator’s roleWe are looking for artists to create full-color cover art and internal illustrations for our youth-written picture books penned during this workshop.Illustrators must be able to commit to meeting with a young writer twice during the workshop duration:
Wednesday, March 20, 2:30–3:30pm
Wednesday, April 17, 2:30–3:30pm
Plus a celebratory event on May 8, 3:00-4:30pm
Once the workshop is over, you will work to bring their book(s) to life. We will then take students’ stories and your illustrations and have the books professionally designed and printed for publication to be released at a book fair and reading. We require you to attend our small celebration on May 8, 3:00-4:30pm. These youth imprints will be sold in our store, local bookstores, and will be in circulation in our Oakland Public Libraries.
Illustrations required:
4 full-color 2-page spreads or 8 full-color 1-page spreads
1 color cover illustration (lettering optional)
Book specs:
Horizontally-oriented, 8.25” wide x 6.25” tall* Note: final illustrations should include an additional half inch on every side to account for bleed.
Compensation We will pay illustrators $1,500 per book. If you are interested in bringing our students’ books to life, email [email protected] with a cover letter and a link to your work or attached work samples.