Pitch Perfect: Picture Books
How to prepare yourself for the submission process
Picture book authors, author-illustrators, and illustrators, this course is for you!
With over four decades of experience in the Australian picture book publishing industry in various roles, Erica Wagner is perfectly positioned to teach you how the submission process works, how you can craft your pitch, and how to find the best publication outcome for your picture book or illustrations.
Over two one-hour sessions, we will cover all steps of the process. Picture book creators will learn:
- The current state of the picture book publishing landscape
- The publishing opportunities available for picture book creators in Australia
- Strategies for developing and polishing your picture book manuscript or illustrator portfolio
- What publishers are looking for from picture book creators
- The key elements of a picture book and illustrator portfolio pitch
- How to prepare your submission materials
There will be time for questions. Detailed handout documents will be provided to all registered participants.
Who is this for?
- Picture book authors and author-illustrators with a completed manuscript
- Illustrators interested in pitching their portfolio to publishers and agents
Pitch Perfect: Picture Books will set you up for success when submitting your work to publishers and agents in written form and attending pitching events, such as those hosted by organisations like the ASA and SCBWI. You can find a list of publishers, literary agents, and their submission guidelines in the ASA’s Book Industry Directory here.
Previous participants of this course have been highly praised by the attending publishers and agents at our Virtual Literary Speed Dating events. We strongly encourage all members who intend to pitch at the new Virtual Literary Speed Dating event, Picture Book Matchmaker, to attend this course. However, it is not necessary to attend in order to gain any kind of access to the Picture Book Matchmaker events.
Can't make it to the live session?
No problem! Everyone booked in to this event will be emailed a link and passcode to access the recording afterwards. This recording will be available to view for 10 days after the live session. This also means that if you wish to revisit the session after attending it live to take further notes, you can do so!
After 10 days, the link will expire and the recording will no longer be available to view.
Will there be an opportunity to pitch my work at an ASA Literary Speed Dating event after this course?
Yes! Due to popular demand from picture book creators, we are launching a new, specialised Virtual Literary Speed Dating event for picture book creators called Picture Book Matchmaker.
Picture Book Matchmaker has been specifically created for authors, author-illustrators, or illustrators of children’s picture books. Pitches for any children’s book in a picture book format, including non-fiction picture books, and illustrator portfolios will be accepted at this event.
The ASA is hosting a separate free information session introducing Picture Book Matchmaker where we’ll be sharing everything you need to know about the new event format, including what you can expect from this event and how you can best prepare for it.
Stay tuned to our events newsletter for updates.