Thank YOU to all of you who shared about this year’s Summit on social media and welcome to our new picture book writing friends!
Let’s get to the announcement of the Reveal Giveaway and BIPOC Scholarship Winners!READ MORE
Unmasking the Perfect Manuscript:
Insider Secrets from Editors
How can your manuscript outshine the rest?
Editors read hundreds of picture book submissions, but only a select few make it to acquisitions. Want to know how to land in that coveted yes pile? Join us for a no-holds-barred discussion where real editors share what makes them stop, read, and get excited about a manuscript. This editor’s panel is your opportunity to hear from the pros what makes a manuscript publishable, the biggest red flags in submissions, and how to take your picture book from “maybe” to “must-have.”
Join us for this year’s Featured Agents Panel and find out!
Agents Assemble: Query Critiques to the Rescue
Is your query strong enough to leap over the slush pile in a single bound?
Join our superhero agents—Leah Pierre of Ladderbird Agency, Lori Steel of SteelWorks Literary, and Ritu Anand of D4EO Literary—as they use their industry X-ray vision to analyze picture book queries from Summit attendees. Learn how to avoid query kryptonite and supercharge your submission strategy.
Picture Book Summit is offering 3 scholarships to unagented BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) children’s authors and illustrators to this year’s Summit. Our 2025 Summit is on October 4, 2025. Don’t worry if you can’t attend live. The entire conference will be recorded, and scholarships include access to the replays through the end of January, 2026.
This year, we’re training you to develop your superhero writing powers with BIG, BOLD, & BRAVE: SUPERCHARGE YOUR PICTURE BOOKS! Mark your calendar for October 4, 2025, for a full day of online picture book writing fun including:
Here’s how YOU can score a free ticket to all the festivities!
Our Picture Book Summit 2025 theme is: Big, Bold, and Brave: Supercharge Your Picture Books
Online Conference Date: October 4, 2025
Workshop #1: Wordcount Wizardry with Emma Walton Hamilton
Drum roll for Workshop #2 please! We are thrilled to present you with…
Secret Superpower:
How to Inspire Young Readers Without Teaching a Thing
Whether writing narrative fiction or nonfiction, SEL or LOL, we want our readers to leave with lessons they can apply to everyday life. But lessons are best learned when discovered by the reader. So how do we offer big, bold, and brave takeaways in our stories without preaching? Bethany Hegedus, award-winning author and founder of The Writing Barn, reveals how to wield this secret superpower, from her early hit-you-over-the-head drafts to her more balanced published books. Suit up for Bethany’s tips and tools to take you from teachy and preachy to engaging and empowering.
Get ready to use your secret superpowers for the good of all kidkind with Bethany’s help!
READ MORE
It’s a BIG, beautiful day here at Picture Book Summit! Today, we officially announce the theme of our 11th annual online Picture Book Summit. What’s a Summit without a good theme, amiright?
This year we’re ready to turn all of YOU in picture book writing superheroes with Big, Bold, and Brave: Supercharge Your Picture Books!
Who will our Superstar Speakers be? What amazing workshops do we have in store for you? Which agents and editors will be open to pitches AND manuscripts from Summiteers?
We’ll answer all these questions and more in the coming days, so stay tuned to this email inbox for more information AND details on how you can win a ticket this year’s event!
For now, mark your calendar to attend live on October 4, 2025.
It’s time to save the planet from boring picture books!
This year’s Picture Book Summit is coming October 4, 2025.
We’re announcing our theme, presentation descriptions, and pricing structure as we build our way toward registration opening on June 12th. Be the first to know! Sign up for our Insiders List to be notified as soon as Early Bird registration opens. Plus, get our free download 9 Tips for Aspiring Writers!
Our final picture book giveaway of July starts NOW!
This week, our Book Bundle features picture books created by our very own Picture Book Summit Founders: Emma Walton Hamilton, Julie Hedlund, and Katie Davis!
Read below for a quick preview of each picture book and then enter to win at the bottom of this post.
Enter today!
Our third picture book giveaway starts NOW! This week, our Book Bundle features picture books created by bestselling, award-winning creative duo Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett!
Read on for a brief description of each book and then enter to win below. Don’t miss this giveaway!
Our second picture book giveaway begins TODAY! This week, we feature picture books written by the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Meg Medina!
Read on for a brief description of each book and then enter to win below. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
