Today’s guest is picture book author Carrie Finison make sure to check out her newest release, Pigs Dig A Road illustrated by Brian Biggs to see her incredible rhyming skills in action!

We chat about Carrie’s start with Baby Bug magazine and writing short snippets, Latin scansion, of all things, and how rhyme has ruined radio for her! We also dove into the Rutgers conference and Carrie was kind enough to share the intro to a piece that landed her her agent along with the query letter! 

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man. 

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Carrie Finison. You can find Carrie here. 

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This episode’s book reviews:

TOO MUCH! AN OVERWHELMING DAY by Jolene Gutiérrez and illustrated by Angel Chang 

LITTLE LION GIRL by Olivia Hope and illustrated by Fiona Woodcock

A PINECONE! by Helen Yoon

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

Do you know Bitsy Kemper? You should. She's fastidious, fanatical, and fantastic. If you've never seen it before, check out her List O'Publishers and all her books, especially her two upcoming books, Best Friends with Grandma and Best Friends with Grandpa!

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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!

Our reviews this week:

THE CAFE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS by Mikey Please

RIDING THROUGH RICE FIELDS: A TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES by Michelle Sterling, illustrated by Bianca Austria

CRANKY FRANKY: THE SELFISH SHELLFISH by Michelle Chu and Joseph Penner, illustrated by Sonya Abby

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man. 

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Alastair Heim. You can find Alastair here. 

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

OLLIE, THE ACORN, AND THE MIGHTY IDEA by Andrew Hacket and Kaz Windness

WHEN ISAAC HEARS THE RAIN by Julie Thompson and illustrated by Leah Giles

URSULA UPSIDE DOWN by Corey R. Tabor

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

Carter Higgins, author, illustrator, motion designer, librarian, great thinker, is here! You have probably read her books already because they're great, but one of Josh's favorites is discussed within!

And hey, not that you weren't going to anyway, but stay til the very end for an introspective discussion about Carter's next book, Round and Round the Year We Go, which is delightful and contains human children!

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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025!

Our reviews this week:

TUMBLEBABY by Adam Rex and Audrey Helen Weber

MUNCHPIE MORGAN by Merry Lorenz and Kenneth Anderson

EVERY SECOND by Bruno Gibert

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man. 

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Erika Cohen Lyons. You can find Erika here. 

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MILLIE FLEUR’S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

PARROTFISH HAS A SUPERPOWER by Jill Esbaum and Bob Shea

THE ISLAND BEFORE NO by Christina Uss and illustrated by Hudson Christie

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

If any editors are listening, Adria Goetz loves you!

Adria stays open. She reads your queries. She tracks editor interest (even poop jokes). She's thoughtful and nice and get ready for an educational chat.

This conversation was recorded so long ago (April 2024!) that we still called Twitter Twitter (and we still enjoyed a community there). I think the state of the industry is just as glacial and frustrating as it was way back then, but either way this is a valuable inside look into the mind and ways of working of an inspirational and considerate agent.

The two client books Adria mentions at the back of the episode are linked here too!

MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

IN THE GROVES by Andrea Cruz Floren

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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025!

Our reviews this week:

GRAVITY IS BRINGING ME DOWN by Wendelin Van Draanen, illustrated by Cornelia Li

SOME DADDIES by Carol Gordon Ekster, Illustrated by Javiera Mac-Lean Alvarez

MOST PEOPLE by Michael Leannah, illustrated by J.E. Morris

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Today’s guest is Chiara Colombi, author of Rocket Ship, Solo Trip and the follow-up Rocket Beams, Lunar Dreams both illustrated by Scott Magoon. We chat about marketing your debut, being your own advocate, and asking yourself why you write. But you’ll have to listen all the way to the end to hear our ideas on revolutionizing the query process and to hear Chiara’s Dead Manuscript!

But, really, agents, if you’re listening, please chime in, we’d love to hear your thoughts on querying.

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man. 

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Chiara Colombi. You can find Chiara here. 

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SCHOOL’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL written by Adam Rex illustrated by Christian Robinson

JONTY GENTOO: THE ADVENTURES OF A PENGUIN written by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler

PROPER BADER written by Lauren Glattly illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

Zany hijinks ensue with Kirk Reedstrom! News flash, we had this conversation six months before publishing it, and wouldn't you know it, it's dated because there's now a FOURTH book in Kirk's Duck and Moose series out next year! The man is hustling!

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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press and our reviews happen to be coincidentally for Neigh Kid, by Alan Mayfair and Gabi Moraes, just out as of December 7, 2024 <3

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man. 

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Phaea Crede. You can find Phaea here. And Phaea’s podcast Brodents can be found here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE PIRATE’S BED, written by Nicola Winstanley and illustrated by Matt James

DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL, by David Shannon

SHARING IS UNBEARABLE, by J. E. Morris

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

A yoga instructor's guide to demon hunting? Not this time. It's Kat Chen and her Play with Me series! A hoot indeed. Thank you to Joyce Sweeney for hooking up this conversation and - in the intervening months - signing me (Josh) as a client! This conversation serves as a huge endorsement of working with The Seymour Agency through the lens of Kat's super charming experience.

Our little podcast is sponsored by Tielmour Press! For a two-moon special, check out and order Sue Lancaster's Supermoon and/or (preferably and) Neigh Kid by Alan Mayfair!

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DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

I HATE EVERYONE by Naomi Danis

NUTSHIMIT: IN THE WOODS by Melissa Mollen Dupuis and Elise Gravel

REAL TO ME by Minh Lê and Raissa Figueroa

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!