You've written and refined your manuscript, you've sent the query to your agent or to a publisher....and now to wait for months and months. During the pandemic, everything slowed to a halt. But now that it's over and the picture book industry is back up and running, what's the hold up? 

The answers are in this episode, and it's actually good news! 

One way to avoid getting rejections (or no responses at all) is to ensure your manuscript and query letter are 100% submission-ready. Grab our free download with the 3 Biggest Reasons Your Manuscripts today! Click here.

It's our final dive (for now!) into Picture Books with Great Voice! If you're just joining us, be sure to catch up with this series at the links below:

• Episode 56 - Julie Hedlund defined the types of voice found in picture books and Katie Davis introduced books with humorous voice.
• Episode 57 - Founder Emeritus Laura Backes shared book examples of using a lyrical voice
• Episode 58 - Emma Walton Hamilton dug into character voice.

Today in part 4, Julie gets chatty while talking about conversational voice in picture books.

Let’s get to it.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT MARGARET WISE BROWN written by Mac Barnett and illustrated Sarah Jacoby
• A POEM FOR PETER written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated Steve Johnson

Let's continue to dig into voice in picture books! We started this series in episode 56, where Julie Hedlund defined the types of voice found in picture books and Katie Davis gave us hilarious examples of the funny style of voice. In episode 57, Founder Emeritus Laura Backes shared examples of using a lyrical voice in picture books to reinforce certain types of stories.

In part 3 of our series, author and Picture Book Summit Founder Emma Walton Hamilton discusses character voice: how to recognize it, distinguish it from other types of writing voice, and how to utilize it in your own work! 

Let’s get to it.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• THE PANDA PROBLEM written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated Hannah Marks
• CROWN: AN ODE TO THE FRESH CUT written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James

In this episode, we continue to discuss voice in picture books. We started this series in the last episode, where Julie Hedlund defined the types of voice found in picture books and Katie Davis gave us hilarious examples of the funny style of voice. If you haven’t already, be sure to go back and listen to episode 56 for help pinning down the elusive meaning of “voice.”

Today, we bring you Founder Emeritus Laura Backes and examples of using a lyrical voice in picture books to reinforce certain types of stories.

Let’s jump in.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• GIANT SQUID written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohman
• WHEN YOU ARE BRAVE written by Pat Zeitlow Miller and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

In working with authors, one thing comes up again and again is how to develop “voice.” How do you find your characters’ voice? Is your story’s voice the same as the character voice? And, how do you find your own voice as an author?

Voice is tough to define and even tougher to capture, so we’re bringing you excerpts from a Mini Summit we gave on books with great voice. This is part 1 of a four-part series. We start with Co-Founder Julie Hedlund defining the types of voices found in picture books and jump to funny girl and Co-Founder Katie Davis for thoughts and examples on using a funny voice.

This is a fun one! 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

THIS BOOK IS GRAY by Lindsay Ward

SNAPPSY THE ALLIGATOR AND HIS BEST FRIEND FOREVER PROBABLY written by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Tim J. Miller

Grab a big piece of paper and some brightly colored markers because today we are mind-mapping our way to great picture book ideas! 

Listen to excerpts from our Picture Book Summit workshop with author and educator Rob Sanders. Rob is known for his funny and fierce fiction and nonfiction picture books and is recognized as one of the pioneers in the arena of LGBTQ+ literary nonfiction picture books. Rob’s books include Two Grooms on A Cake: The Story of America’s First Gay Wedding (Little Bee Books) and Mayor Pete: The Story of Pete Buttigieg (Henry Holt & Co).

Rob shows how mapping your experiences and personal favorites can bring you one step closer to creating stories that uniquely you. 

Get ready for the ideas to flow!

In this episode of the podcast, we are joined by picture book author and illustrator Yuyi Morales. Yuyi has created many books for children, including the New York Times bestseller Dreamers. She is also a six-time winner of the Pura Belpre Medal for an outstanding work of literature for children that best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. In 2015, she received the Caldecott Honor for her book Viva Frida.

In her Picture Book Summit keynote, Yuyi discussed the idea bank inside all of us and how we can use it to tell the stories that are unique to each of us and our experiences.

Get ready to be inspired!

In this episode, children's authors Emma Walton Hamilton and Julie Hedlund give an overview of the four essential components of a query (introduction, pitch, bio and market info, and conclusion) and then dig deep into crafting a pitch that captures the story and spirit of your book and piques an agent or editor’s interest. If you’re in the querying trenches, this one’s for you!

It’s our last episode for this initial round of the Picture Book Summit Roundtable series. We plan to bring you more episodes on topics that affect picture book creators in the future. Thank you for your feedback and we hope we get you thinking!

You can catch the first two Roundtable episodes here:

• PBSummit Roundtable – Book Bans
• PBSummit Roundtable – Anything Goes in Picture Books These Days

Today, it feels like we’ve entered a time portal as we discuss the future of Artificial Intelligence, more commonly referred to as AI, and what it means for creatives like picture books writers and illustrators. It has huge implications for all picture book creators and this is the first of what is sure to be a series of discussions we have on the subject as it grows and develops in the coming months and years.

Thanks for joining us for this fun series! We look forward to creating more episodes in the future. If you have a topic you’d like us to cover, leave your suggestions in the comments!

Today, we bring you the next episode of our Picture Book Summit Roundtable series. We'll record and share PBSummit Roundtable at various times throughout the year, so we can continue to share current events that affect publishing and you.

You can catch our first Roundtable episode here:

• PBSummit Roundtable – Book Bans

This week's discussion centers around how Anything Goes in Picture Books these days!

From books about untold history to books that break all the rules, Julie Hedlund leads us on new adventures in picture books. We also talk about when you can break the rules and how to know if your story is fit to be a rule-breaker.

Download the book list from this episode and other resources we mentioned here.

Check back in two weeks as we discuss artificial intelligence and what it means for the future of creative careers.

This week, we are thrilled to bring new feature to the podcast: The Picture Book Summit Roundtable!

In our weekly Summit planning meetings, we often discuss current events in publishing, how they affect picture books, and how they affected picture book creators like you. We decided to record our conversation and invite you to listen in! 

Our Picture Book Summit Roundtable includes Julie Hedlund, Katie Davis, Kelli Panique, and Emma Walton Hamilton. 

And because we like to start everything we do with a bang, we’re jumping right into the national conversation on book bans. Emma Walton Hamilton leads our discussion with the background and history of book bans as well as how today’s book bans compare to book bans of the past. We'll discuss the history, myths, and current news about book bans in schools. Find out how book bans specifically affect picture books and their creators. (Spoiler alert: having your book banned does NOT mean it becomes a bestseller.)

Emma shares facts about book bans from PEN America. You can download that PDF here.