Top 10 Questions for Picture Book Agents

You’ve stretched your writing skills. You’ve practiced writing until your fingers felt like they were going to fall off. You’ve trained under expert coaches. You’re ready to jump the next hurdle: submitting to agents.

So, what will lead your manuscript from the slush pile starting block to the top spot on the podium? We ask 3 experienced picture book agent that question and more in…

Top 10 Questions for Agents: Featured Agent Panel

Get ready to hurdle over the competition in your submissions! Charlotte Wenger of Prospect Agency, Jazmia K. Young of Curtis Brown, and Jennifer Rofé of Andrea Brown Literary come together in this one-hour pre-recorded panel to give expert advice to apply to your submissions immediately. Hosted by Emma Walton Hamilton.

Let’s get to know this year’s Featured Agents:

Get to know Charlotte Wenger:

Born and raised in Pennsylvania and Virginia, Charlotte Wenger grew up with a bookish, editorial mind but was first drawn to publishing work in college. She then worked for a publishing services company in Philadelphia until shipping up to Boston to earn her MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons.

After gaining editorial, sales, and agency experience, she became an associate editor for Page Street Kids, where she loved working with debut talent and building relationships with authors and illustrators.

She brings the same mindset to agenting, valuing the developmental and relational work that goes into creating successful stories and fostering long-lasting collaborations. She also serves on the national advisory board of the Mazza Museum, the world’s largest collection of original artwork by children’s book illustrators, and enjoys music and adventuring outdoors in her free time.

Get to know Jazmia K. Young:

Jazmia K. Young is an associate agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at the City College of New York and was a graduate of the Publishing Certificate Program at CCNY.

She is interested in representing children’s books, picture books through YA, focusing on middle-grade fiction/non-fiction with the goal of amplifying underrepresented voices and experiences. She particularly loves stories with friendship ties, complicated family dynamics, and grief or loss.

Being a New York native, anything based in the great NYC has her heart. Jazmia is also the Administrative Assistant of the Association of American Literary Agents.

Get to know Jennifer Rofé:

Jennifer Rofé wanted to live in the Berenstain Bears tree house when she was a child. Today, she represents the authors and illustrators who create the characters and worlds that inspire young readers.

As a senior agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Jennifer works with creators primarily in the middle grade, picture book, and illustration spaces. Her clients range from seasoned, award-winning, and bestselling authors and illustrators to industry newcomers.

Generally, she always seeks masterful writing, distinct voices and perspectives, and richly developed characters. A common theme in the middle-grade books Jennifer represents is children finding their space in their world — especially strong-willed underdogs or quirky, misunderstood, or overlooked children who come into their strength.

In authored-illustrated picture books, Jennifer seeks funny, character-driven stories; beautifully imagined and written stories; and milestone moments with a twist. The endings also elicit an emotional response – be it a guffaw, hurrah!, or a heart-tug. In chapter books, Jennifer seeks commercial and action-packed series for emerging readers in the vein of The Princess in Black and The Dragon Masters series. And in illustration, she seeks unique voices and perspectives that have a voice so strong that it’s immediately recognizable as belonging to the creator.

Plus, each of these Featured Agents are part of this year’s pitch submission opportunities with the Summit + Submissions ticket!

Attendees who purchase the Summit + Submissions ticket will have the opportunity to pitch a manuscript to each Featured Agent and Featured Editor. They will each have their own submission form. That means you will be able to tailor your pitch to each individual agent or editor according to what they are seeking in submissions.

For example, you could submit the same pitch to every agent and editor, a different pitch for a different manuscript to each agent and editor, or anything in between. No matter what, you’ll have six opportunities to pitch YOUR project(s) to these industry professionals.

At this time, only two of these agents are accepting unsolicited picture book submissions from picture book writers, so this is an excellent opportunity to get your pitch in front of these three awesome agents!

Mark your calendar and make plans to join us for:

Picture Book Summit 2024:

Perfect 10: Going for Picture Book Gold!

October 5, 2024

Early Bird Registration opens soon!

This year, we celebrate 10 years of Picture Book Summit! Mark your calendar for October 5, 2024 for a full day of online picture book writing fun including:

• Three Superstar Speaker Presentations
• Two in-depth Craft Workshops
• Agent Panel
• Editor Panel

Ticket Giveaway!

Registration opens June 11, 2024. But, you have a chance to win a free ticket to this year’s Summit just by sharing the good news with your fellow picture book writers!

Scroll to the bottom of this post and follow the directions on the Rafflecopter. You can get entries for visiting us on Facebook, following us on Instagram, and tweeting about our 2024 event on Twitter/X. You get a new entry each day you share the event on Twitter/X. See the details below.

The Rafflecopter is open until June 10, 2024. Five Picture Book Summit 2024 Ticket Winners will be announced on June 11, 2024.

Stay tuned and add yourself to our newsletter list as we reveal the rest of this year’s Superstar Speakers, Workshop presenters, Featured Agents and Editors, and 2024 pricing structure over the coming days! Join the Insider’s List here.

Good luck!!

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