20 Agents: 119 Picture Book Sales

Brenda Sturgis reports on the top literary agents for selling picture books in this recent post. Let’s talk about this report.
Top Literary Agents for Picture Books
Self Reported Statistics. The statistics for Sturgis’s report was compiled from reported sales on Publisher’s Marketplace. This is a big caution because

Animals Stand in for Kids

I’m currently revising a picture book and finding it to be a bit tricky because I created animal characters. Of course, in a fiction picture book, animal characters are often just stand-ins for kids.
Why Use an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book?
Get Rid of Adults. I wanted to have two characters playing on a [...]

Value of school visits

Yo-Yos v. Author
When I first started doing school visits, I was uncertain, trying to figure out what to do and why. That’s when I had a near encounter with a yo-yo.
I went to a rural elementary school a week after a yo-yo company had performed at the school. The yo-yo people had charged the school [...]

First Contract Advice

Last weekend, I was in Chandler, Oklahoma, a sleepy little town on the old Route 66. I didn’t get much sleep, though, because I was there to teach a Picture Book Retreat. Here are reports from Sara,
Susan Meyers, and Leeth. Also, check out the Okie Book Woman, who added lots of photos of the [...]

Top 10 Picture Book Topics to Avoid

Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics
Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular [...]

Touchstones

Touchstones: a reader’s way into your story
In this guest post by Martha Brockenbrough, grammarian, freelance writer, columnist, and author discusses how to pluck the heartstrings of your reader.
When I worked as a freelancer for a company that created really special games—games designed to draw out the best talents of each player—I learned [...]

Quoted at the Conference

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National Conference
Many speakers used quotes in their presentations or made memorable statements. Here’s my collection of quotes from the conference:

About True Love: “It’s great when a publisher loves my work, but a contract is better; a contract is True [...]

Jennifer Rees, Scholastic

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National Conference
One main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]

Jennifer Greene, Clarion

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National Conference
One main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]

Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National Conference
One main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]