Children's Writers and Illustrators Who Also Work In the Industry

Featured last month in Publishers Weekly, this article by Pooja Makhijani, Children’s Writers Who Wear Multiple Hats, was a fascinating look into how for a number of notable creatives working in children's books, their day jobs are ALSO in children's books!

(And they have day-jobs, something we don't talk about a lot, but maybe we should.)

With shout outs and weigh-ins by Daniel Nayeri, Mallory Kass, Eric Smith, Andrea Davis Pinkney, John Cusick, Andrew Arnold, Grace Maccarone, Arthur Levine, Jonah Newman, and Patrice Caldwell, it's well-worth reading.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Listen to SCBWI's Newest Podcast: A Conversation with Andrea Davis Pinkney

Andrea Davis Pinkney is vice president, executive editor at Scholastic Books, and is also a New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning author. Andrea speaks with Theo about her path to being a reader and an editor, the insights she's gained from her background in journalism, the evolution of diversity in publishing, and much more!


Listen to the episode trailer here.

Current SCBWI members can listen to the full episode here (log in first).

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Sneak Peak of Faculty at #LA18SCBWI

More information will be announced soon at the SCBWI Website, and registration opens on April 17, 2018...

For now, here are some of the amazing luminaries in our world of children's literature who will be featured at The SCBWI 2018 Summer Conference in Los Angeles, August 3-6, 2018:

Lois Lowry, Author and two-time winner of the Newbery Award

Lois Lowry, photo creative commons

Libba Bray, New York Times Bestselling Author and winner of The Michael L. Printz Award.

Libba Bray, photo by David Shankbone, creative commons

Marc Brown, Author/Illustrator of the 65 million book-selling Arthur series.

Self-Portrait from Marc's Twitter profile

Ekua Holmes, Caldecott Honor, Robert F. Sibert Honor, and John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner.

Ekua Holmes with some of her art behind her as on Facebook.

Mike Curato, Author/Illustrator and winner of The Society of Illustrators Original Art Show Founder's Award.

Mike Curato, from his website

Brian Pinkney & Andrea Davis Pinkney: Brian is an Author/Illustrator who has won two Caldecott Honors, four Coretta Scott King Honors and a Coretta Scott King Award, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and Andrea is a children's book editor and author of numerous books illustrated by Brian, with multiple Coretta Scott King Book Awards, Jane Addams Children’s Literature Honor citations, four NAACP Image Award nominations, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor medal to her credit.

screen shot of Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney from the African American Literature Book Club

Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the International Latino Book Award.

Daniel José Older, from his website here.

Eliza Wheeler, New York Times bestselling author/illustrator and past winner of the SCBWI portfolio showcase grand prize award.

Eliza Wheeler's profile pic from Twitter

Lynda Mullaly Hunt, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the ALA's Schneider Family Book Award.

Lynda Mullaly Hunt, signing, in a photo from Facebook

Plus acquiring agents and editors actively seeking new work from writers and illustrators!


Registration for the Summer Conference opens online on April 17.

When Editors Say They Need To LOVE A Manuscript to Acquire It...

Would YOUR manuscript inspire an editor to shave the title into their head? How about get a tattoo of your character?

Wait a minute, I can hear you saying. That's not reasonable.

You're right. It's not reasonable. It's passion.

But check out the editor love that inspired Andrea Davis Pinkney to shave the title of Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld’s Friendshape into her hair:

From Facebook

and the editor love (and maybe a lost/won bet?) that inspired Connie Hsu to get a tattoo of Dan Santat's character Beekle, from his Caldecott-winning The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend:

From Facebook

Is what you're writing/illustrating going to inspire THAT kind of passion? THAT kind of love?

Wouldn't it be amazing to say YES?

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee