Early Harvest - Time Travel back to 2019

The theme is adventure. The stories are in. The editors are eager to begin. We can’t wait for Term 3 at school to start! 

In Term 3, the Early Harvest program will see this year’s panel of young editors, aged 11 - 12, pore over hundreds of submissions, edit stories, create illustration briefs, brainstorm content and make a million difficult decisions - all to produce a book that vibrantly showcases the creative work of their peers. 

Before our 2020 Early Harvest editors begin exploring this year’s adventure theme, we’re time-travelling back to last year to reflect on the process involved in making a publication by children for children.

For the 2019 publication, The Sound Of The Dark, the editor’s brought together an anthology of spine chilling tales sure to make even the bravest of readers afraid of the dark! Including stories by 14 young Australian writers, alongside beloved children’s writer Oliver Phommavanh, it was sold in over 30 bookstores across Australia and New Zealand and has been shortlisted for an ABDA award in the Children’s Fiction Book category.

Here’s some of the feedback we received from the 2019 Early Harvest editors: 

What did you learn?

‘We learnt how to tell the difference from a good story and a bad story.’

‘I learned to speak up and I learned that I have to put everything aside so I can learn.’

What was your favourite part?

‘How to edit stories, how to give feedback, how to debate, and how to match illustrations.’

‘Early harvest is a cool and fun way to write stories or edit them.’

What are you most proud about?

‘I feel proud of choosing stories to go into the book.’

‘I feel proud of reading and giving good feedback to the story submissions.’

Anything else to add?

‘If these stories give someone like me the chills, then it'll obviously freeze your whole body in fear.’

‘A great program for fun, creativity, and publishing an awesome book.’

We can’t wait to hear what the 2020 Early Harvest editors say about their experience.

Early Harvest is a dynamic program for upper-primary students that gives them an in-depth experience of the publishing process. 100 Story Building brings together an editorial board of Year 5 and 6 students who publish an annual fiction publication written by their peers, to be published in November 2020. 

You can buy The Sound Of The Dark at our online shop. 

Read more about the Early Harvest program here: https://www.100storybuilding.org.au/early-harvest