Picture Book Summit Podcast Picture Book Summit

Agents and publishers are always saying they're looking for stories that are "fresh and unique", but what does that mean? In this episode, the PBSummit Roundtable takes a look at some stories which perfectly exemplify what fresh takes on classic picture book topics can look like, and the common thread between them. 
Books talked about in today's episode:
How This Book Got Read written by Margaret Chiu Greanias and illustrated by Melissa Iwai The World's Best Class Plant written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao  Time is a Flower written and illustrated by Julie Morstad Having a fresh take is a great way to get the attention of an agent or editor! How else can you avoid being rejected? Grab our free download with questions to ask yourself to avoid the 3 Biggest Reasons Manuscripts Get Rejected. Click here.
 
*Picture Book Summit may receive a small commission at no cost to you when books are purchased through the link above.

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