Workshops

“When I first started to wrap my mind (and life!) around the idea of switching for journalism to fiction, you were the FIRST person to offer encouragement and to show me and a room full of hopeful writers the path forward. I was still breastfeeding my son when I travelled from Los Angeles to New York to attend a seminar you gave and hear you share your knowledge and tell us it was possible. And it was for me and I’m eternally grateful. Thank you again, Marcela!”—Margo Candela, author of The Neapolitan Sisters

LKBF Latinx Storytellers Conference

WHAT: The LKBF’s Latinx Storytellers Conference is an annual, in-person gathering of Latinx children and adult book writers and illustrators. During this two-day event, hundreds of Latinx storytellers will enjoy craft masterclasses, professional development sessions and have access to hard-to-reach industry professionals such as publishers, editors and literary agents.
Marcela Landres will be participating in three ways:
1. Moderating a one-hour panel session with literary agents, titled Query Letters Read Aloud
2. Moderating a one-hour panel session with editors, titled First Pages, First Promise
3. Conducting one-on-one manuscript consultations

WHEN: Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13, 2025

WHERE: Scholastic’s Headquarters, 130 Mercer Street, NY, NY

WHO: Marcela Landres helps writers get published by editing their manuscripts and educating them about the book business. Writers who have worked with her—such as Daniel Jose Older, author of the New York Times bestseller Shadowshaper and Elba Iris Perez, author of the USA Today bestseller The Things We Didn’t Know—have gone on to be published by the likes of Pocket, St. Martin’s Press, and Scholastic. Marcela publishes Latinidad®, an award-winning e-zine which was chosen as one of the 101 Best Web Sites for Writers by Writer’s Digest, and has served as an NEA Literature Grant Panelist and as a judge for the PEN Beyond Margins Award. A graduate of Barnard College, she was formerly an editor with Simon & Schuster. Raised in the projects of Long Island City, Queens by Ecuadorian immigrant parents, Marcela now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and very verbal daughter.

TESTIMONIAL: “Your suggestions (to trim away anything that ‘stops’ the reader and slows the narrative) were excellent. I appreciate your sincerity in pushing authors to achieve our best. Your enthusiasm, passion for excellence, and amiable nature make the time spent with you most valuable and memorable!”—Rudy J. Miera, author of The Fall and Rise of Champagne Sánchez, http://www.rudyjmiera.com/

TO REGISTER: https://www.latinxstorytellersconference.com/