What does it mean to be a part of the writing community? How can you be a good literary citizen within the writing community?

In this episode, Emma Walton Hamilton, Julie Hedlund, Katie Davis, and Kelli Panique share easy ways you can support your fellow writers and illustrators, as well as booksellers and libraries. (Guess what? Many of these suggestions are free things you can do help get the word out about books and support the reading, writing, and literacy communities.)

What will you do to be a good literary citizen in your neighborhood and online?

When National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Meg Medina joined the Picture Book Summit, she discussed the three Rs of picture book writing: Readers, Relationship, and Revision. Today, Meg shares about what it means to write for young readers and what matters to them by exploring the genesis of her own books. She even provides a fun writing exercise to get us started on our own stories.

Book mentioned in this episode:

• Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina and Claudia Munoz
• Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina and Angela Dominguez
• Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away by Meg Medina and Sonia Sánchez

At no additional cost to you, Picture Book Summit may earn a small commission on books purchased through the links above.

Julie Hedlund and Angela Dalton are both authors of picture book biographies about well-known celebrities. Julie wrote SONG AFTER SONG: The Musical Life of Julie Andrews and Angela authored TO BOLDY GO: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights. Before their books were acquired, they did everything wrong. In this snippet from a past Picture Book Summit workshop, Julie and Angela reveal a couple of mistakes they made so you don't have to.

Can a car company executive help you find your picture book writing why? Grace Lin thinks so! In a past Summit, Grace divulged an insightful (and relatively easy) way to find your why. She challenged us to look at our picture book manuscripts and ask if those stories really want to be picture books or if they are served better in a different kidlit genre. If you've been fighting with a work-in-progress, Grace Lin is here to help!

What makes a great picture book? Artistic duo The Steads share their approach to picture books and how something seemingly so simple actually takes a lot of work, nuance, and collaboration.

Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead are the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal Book A Sick Day for Amos McGee. They have collaborated on many books together, including Bear Has a Story to Tell, Lenny & Lucy, Music for Mister Moon, and The Sun Is Late and So Is the Farmer. Philip and Erin create their books in the hayloft of an old barn at the edge of the world.

Time is running out! Get your ticket to Saturday's online Picture Book Summit today!

www.picturebooksummit.com

What in the world is going on in picture book publishing? Is it slow for everyone or is it just you? Are global events affecting the industry? Surely, COVID-19 isn't still impacting our market.

In this episode, Emma, Julie, and Kelli explore what publishing looks like currently for picture book creators, what we hope it looks like in the future, and what we can do about it right now.

With the current state of picture book publishing, every submission opportunity counts. Lucky for you, there's still time to get a Summit + Submissions Ticket to Picture Book Summit 2025 and take advantage of our SEVEN manuscript submission opportunities. Go to www.picturebooksummit.com.

One of the big advantages of attending a conference—online or in-person—is the opportunity to submit to Featured Agents and Editors. Many agents and editors are open to submissions from conference attendees, even when they aren't open to general submissions. Simply by making the effort to attend a conference, you demonstrate to agents and editors that you are committed to refining your craft.

This episode also includes:

• Tips for making a good first impression.
• What to include in your query letters.
• How to research agents and editors to target your submissions.
• Why you should have 3-4 polished manuscripts ready to go.
• What to put in your bio paragraph if you don't have any published work.
• Why you need comp titles and how to choose them.
• Bonus: A Fun Writing Exercise!

There's still time to get a Summit + Submissions Ticket to Picture Book Summit 2025 and take advantage of our SEVEN manuscript submission opportunities. Go to www.picturebooksummit.com.

Every year, we host what we like to call a "mini" Summit. It's a short webinar to give writers a taste of what we offer at our full-day event.

In this episode, we share a past Mini Summit all about creating Game Changing ideas. Our goal is to spark your imagination and creativity by showing just a few ways other picture book creators have turned ideas on their heads.

Get ready to be inspired by the Picture Book Summit Founders and be sure to find out about our latest event by going to picturebooksummit.com.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• Follow That Frog by Philip Stead and Matthew Cordell
• There Are No Ants in This Book by Rosemary Mosco and Anna Pirolli
• Who Hops? by Katie Davis
• One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read
• Waiting in the Wings by Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, and E.G. Keller
• Tumblebaby by Adam Rex
• The Story of the Saxophone by Lesa Cline Ransome and James E. Ransome
• School's First Day of School by Adam Rex
• XO, Exoplanet by Deborah Underwood and Jorge Lacera
• A River of Dust by Jilane Hoffman and Eugenia Mello
• Vlad the Fabulous Vampire by Flavia Z. Drago
• The Bees of Notre Dame by Meghan P. Browne and E.B. Goodale
• Mole is Not Alone by Maya Tatsukawa
• Snail in Space by Rachel Bright and Nadia Shireen
• There was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds and the Pumphrey Brothers
• Mel Fell by Corey Tabor
• Ursula Upside Down by Corey R. Tabor
• Big by Vashti Harrison
• Days Like This by Oriane Smith and Alice Gravier
• Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo
• Spencer's New Pet by Jessie Sima

More and more picture books include backmatter these days—including fiction picture books. In today's Roundtable discussion, Julie Hedlund and the team share many different ways to include backmatter with your manuscript, including dos and don'ts of creating additional content.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The First Notes by Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, and Chiara Fedele
• Tricky Chopsticks by Sylvia Chen and Fanny Liem
• Reindeer Remainders by Katey Howes and Marie Hermansson
• Over, Bear! Under, Where? by Julie Hedlund and Michael Slack
• Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
• Hurricane by Jason Chin
• If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall
• To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton and Lauren Semmer
• Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane by Kirsten W. Larson and Tracy Subisak
• Shell Song by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson
• Springtime Storks by Carol Munro and Chelsea O'Byrne
• Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper
• The Bees of Notre Dame by Meghan P. Browne and E. B. Goodale
• Waiting in the Wings by Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, and EG Keller
• The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, and Christine Davenier

Webinars on Backmatter:

• Backmatter: Form and Function with M.O. Yuksel
• Backmatter Matters with Heidi E.Y. Stemple

The amazing and talented Caldecott Medal Winner Vashti Harrison is one of our Superstar Speakers for 2025. Vashti won the Caldecott Medal in 2024 for her beautiful picture book BIG. Shortly after that win, the PBSummit Team discussed the brilliance of this book in our Caldecott video series. We bring that discussion to our podcast today to help you get to know Vashti Harrison and her wonderful book.

Be sure to grab your ticket to our online Picture Book Summit 2025 on October 4, 2025, at picturebooksummit.com. Get Early Bird pricing through August 28, 2025. So go get your ticket now.

Enjoy this insightful discussion of BIG, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison. Emma Walton Hamilton leads our discussion with insight from Julie Hedlund and Katie Davis.

Grab your ticket to hear Vashti Harrison at Picture Book Summit 2025 today: www.picturebooksummit.com.

Get $100 off with Early Bird pricing available through August 28, 2025.