Today we want to focus on the supernova talent this year’s Featured Agents are bringing to our panel for The Write Stuff: Creating Picture Books That are Out of This World, online on October 8, 2022
First Contact: Agent Query Critiques
This episode is an excerpt from the Picture Book Summit presentation Performance on the Page by author and uber-librarian Betsy Bird.
Betsy provides an in-depth examination of what separates the good picture book read-alouds from the great picture book read-alouds. Librarians have always known that picture books can often break down into two groups: one-on-one titles and read-aloud titles. One-on-ones are great for getting snuggly at bedtime, but if you want to engage a large crowd of kids, you need a text that pops in an entirely different way.
Betsy breaks down some of the most successful read-alouds, from classics to lesser known titles and more recent favorites.
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Today’s episode comes from Picture Book Summit Co-Founders Emma Walton Hamilton and Julie Hedlund. Emma and Julie are also co-creators of the Complete Picture Book Submission System. In this episode, you’ll hear them share their submission expertise as they provide you with the key components of a killer query letter and break down three real query letters critiqued by Emma or Julie that resulted in agent representation or a book contract. You’ll leave this episode with actionable items you can apply immediately to your own queries. Get ready to polish those queries until they shine brighter than you thought possible.
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A beginning that hooks your reader?
Or, an ending that leaves them feeling satisfied?
The short answer is both! While each of these elements has a very important role in your story, what is equally vital is how they work together.
Enter Emma Walton Hamilton and Julie Hedlund and their 2022 Picture Book Summit Workshop:
From Lift-Off to Landing:
The Cosmic Connection Between the Beginnings and Endings of Picture Books
We’ve been there, too. That’s why PBSummit Co-Founder Katie Davis developed this year’s workshop: Houston, Your Manuscript Has a Problem.
We love being able to give you a leg up in today’s marketplace by providing you with tips for making your manuscripts sparkle and by helping you demystify how the business of publishing children’s books really works.
Today we’re excited to announce we’re hosting a FREE online Mini Summit to showcase two editorial assistants and one agent assistant who will share what happens behind the scenes of the publishing industry and how to get your manuscript past the first read!
Join us August 25th at 8pm ET/5pm PT for this FREE event:
Today it’s time for part three of Where the Idea Are series: Developing Ideas. Listen to the first two parts of the series below:
Once you’ve generated the ideas and assessed them to see which ones are viable for a picture book, then you have to develop that idea and actually write the story.
At the core of every good picture book is a central dramatic question. What is that, anyway? Picture Book Summit co-founder Emma Walton Hamilton discusses the importance and function of the central dramatic question and how to find it while developing ideas.
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It’s time to announce our Book Bundle Giveaway Winners! Thank you to everyone who tweeted, visited our Facebook page, and joined our newsletter! Picture Book Summit is so much more fun when more creators are involved and inspired! Without further ado, here are our winners:
Congratulations, Julie, Kyra, and Carol! Email support (at) picturebooksummit.com with your mailing address so we’ll get your new books on their way to your mailbox! Get ready for some happy mail!
If you didn’t win this time, head to your local library and check out these books to get to know our 2022 Superstar Speakers better! Be sure to join us October 8th to hear the stories behind these books and to discover how to you too can write stories that are out-of-this-world! It’s going to be an stellar day of galactic-sized picture book writing fun!
Don’t miss your chance to see Superstar Speakers Kate DiCamillo and The Fan Brothers, along with workshop presenters Shadra Strickland, Katie Davis, Emma Walton Hamilton, and Julie Hedlund LIVE ONLINE at Picture Book Summit 2022 – The Write Stuff: Creating Picture Books That Are Out of this World!
Join us for the LIVE online conference October 8, 2020. For a limited time, you can register at the Early Bird price. (That’s $100 off this year’s regular price!)
Click this button to see the full program and register today!
Our yearly free Mini Summit is one of our favorite events. Our previous Mini Summit: Where the Idea Are was so full of juicy goodness, we decided to share it here on the podcast. Listen to Part 1 – Generating Ideas with Katie Davis here. In Part 2 of Where the Ideas Are: Assessing Ideas, PBSummit co-founder Laura Backes shares how to assess if your idea is one worth pursuing including…
Start assessing ideas before you write and be on the road to picture book writing success.
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After the Summit each year, we survey our attendees to see what they liked, what we can improve, and who they’d like to see at future events. In last year’s survey, one of our Summiteers recommended picture book creator Shadra Strickland saying, “her advice was game-changing!”
The more we got to know Shadra, the more excited we were to bring her expertise to you in one of this year’s Summit workshops!
