frequently asked questions
What is Picture Book Summit?
Picture Book Summit is a one day live event for picture book creators including interviews, workshops, and agent & editor panels. The Summit takes place in early October every year.
It’s a full day workshop for picture book writers and illustrators at all levels.
Find out about this year’s program here.
How do I attend?
From the comfort of your own home! You log in, sit back, and enjoy. The event is broadcast online using technology accessible from most computers and laptops with video streaming capabilities. Don’t worry! When we get closer to the event day, we will have a PJ Party where you can test out our web room. Registration is open June – Summit Day in early October.
Register for this year’s event here!
How will the event be presented?
Picture Book Summit is an all-day online broadcast in webinar format. You log in, sit back, and enjoy each session one after the other. Almost the entire day is live, so you have the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered. You can attend from anywhere in the world with a good Internet connection.
What if I can't make all or part of the event?
The entire Picture Book Summit event is recorded and replays are available within a week of the event. All registrants will have access to the recordings through January of the following year.
Is the content new each year?
Yes! Picture Book Summit is designed to be a conference you want to return to, year after year. Every Summit is totally unique, and features ALL NEW CONTENT!
Our Picture Book Summit Founders choose different topics to address each year, plus we have a new line-up of superstar keynote speakers and workshop presenters from throughout the children’s publishing industry. The keynote speakers present on trending topics that are close to their heart, and that they know writers and illustrators want to learn about. There are always new networking opportunities and fun surprises for our Summiteers. Plus, previous attendees get the best price on the future events.
So even if you’ve joined us before, you definitely want to join us again!
Will your Superstar Speakers actually teach, or just be making appearances?
Our amazing group of Superstar Speakers is doing more than simply showing up and saying hello. They are headlining their own complete session discussing their craft and giving you actionable advice. Plus, they’ll answer attendee questions.
Picture Book Summit is all about you. These Superstars are here to teach and share, while you learn more about how to be a successful picture book writer.
Why do you charge to attend your online conference?
We think authors and illustrators should earn a living. In support of that, we pay our speakers a generous honorarium. In addition, we invest in a robust system to house the online conference and a team of people to serve our attendees through the conference.
Because our mission is to bring attendees world-class speakers, world-class workshops, and world-class service, we invest a full year of planning for each Summit and hire a support team to help us make every year amazing. We strive to make our one-day conference intentional, educational, inspirational, and the best investment you make each year for your writing career.
We are pleased to donate a portion of our proceeds to a different charity each year. Thus far, we’ve donated over $50,000 to We Need Diverse Books, Reading Partners, two Title I schools in Oregon and Connecticut, the San Juan Public Library in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Project Night Night, Binc – Book Industry Charitable Foundation, Little Free Library’s Read in Color Program, Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) Program, and Reach Out and Read. Find out more about our charity efforts here.
Will this summit cover both traditional publishing and indie publishing?
Our goal with Picture Book Summit is to bring you in-depth instruction on the craft of writing picture books—no matter how your book will be published.
Who's putting on this event?
Picture Book Summit is the creation of a group of friends and colleagues within the picture book industry. It’s a collaboration between Julie Hedlund (picture book author, creator of 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge, co-creator of The Complete Picture Book Submissions System), Katie Davis (bestselling picture book author-illustrator, former director of the Institute of Children’s Literature and Institute for Writers), and Emma Walton Hamilton (bestselling picture book author, freelance editor, teacher at Stony Brook University’s Creative Writing MFA Program).
An idle conversation about the hassles and expense of traveling to writing conferences led to a “What if we…..” moment. The rest is history!
Does your organization support a charity?
Every year Picture Book Summit donates a generous portion of our proceeds to a different charity. In 2024, we are partnering with Reach Out and Read.
To date, we have donated over $50,000. Here is a list of the charities we’ve partnered with thus far:
For 2023, we partnered with the R.E.A.D. – Reading Education Assistance Dogs. (Even sweeter than it sounds!) Find out more (and see pictures of adorable pups) here.
The San Juan Community Library in Puerto Rico was so diligent with their previous PBSummit donation, we partnered with them again in 2022. You can even find a dedicated PBSummit bookshelf in their library containing all the books our donation helped them purchase!
In 2021, we partnered with the Little Free Library in support of their Read in Color initiative! Find out more here: https://littlefreelibrary.org/read-in-color/.
Our 2020 beneficiary was BINC – Book Industry Charitable Foundation. BINC provides assistance to bookstore employees and shop owners who have a demonstrated financial need arising from severe hardship and/or emergency circumstances. You can find out more about BINC here.
Our 2019 charity partner was Project Night Night, a nonprofit organization that provides Night Night Packages to kids in homeless shelters. Packages include a blanket, stuffed animal, and a book.
2018 was the year we sought to help those affected by Hurricane Maria. We donated to the San Juan Public Library in San Juan, Puerto Rico to help them restock their library shelves as they continue to recover from the aftermath.
In 2017, Picture Book Summit donated to Title I schools Harrison Elementary in Cottage Grove, OR, and Lincoln Elementary, New Britain, CT, to update and replenish their out-of-date and inaccurate libraries.
We teamed up with Reading Partners in 2016. Reading partners mobilizes communities to serve under-resourced schools by engaging volunteer reading partners to work one-on-one with students who struggle with reading. You can learn more here: ReadingPartners.org
Our 2015 inaugural charity partner was We Need Diverse Books (#WNDB). We Need Diverse Books’ mission is to put more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. You can learn more here: weneeddiversebooks.org/
Find out more about Picture Book Summit’s charity efforts and how they’ve impacted these groups on our Charity Page.
What exactly will Picture Book Summit include?
Picture Book Summit combines online Superstar Speaker presentations, workshops with industry insiders, agents, and editors for a full day of picture book education. Plus, there will be a dance parties (with goats!) or other picture book fun along the way.
And, you might even find a surprise or two exclusively for our attendees!
After the live event, participants will have access to recordings of Picture Book Summit for a limited time and will receive downloads and handouts as provided from each instructor.
We offer the option to buy a Summit + Submissions Tickets or a Summit Only Ticket based on whether you’d like to submit pitches to our six Featured Agents and Editors.
All Summiteers will have access to the replays until the end of January, the following year. Attendees will be able to watch them as many times as they’d like until they expire at the end of January. Here’s what one Summiteer had to say about the replays:
“I’ve been consistently impressed by the caliber of The Picture Book Summit speakers. While at the Summit, I’m able to just listen and soak it all in. It’s nice to know that you don’t have to furiously write everything down for fear of missing it. Later, I listen to the replays and take notes.” – Meghan Daniels
What is your refund policy?
If for some reason you change your mind about attending this historic event, Picture Book Summit will refund your registration in full up to 30 days from the date of purchase. Registrations made within 30 days of the event are not refundable. Remember, if you are unable to attend live (or have internet problems the day of the event), you’ll still get full access to the recordings.
What happens if the event is postponed?
In the highly unlikely event of extreme external circumstances (e.g. widespread internet outage or global disruption etc.) occurring on the scheduled day of the event, we will deliver the entire event as a recording and/or arrange for each speaker to be available for a Q&A.
Does Picture Book Summit include critiques and one-on-one attention?
To keep the costs low, and because of the size and scope of the event, we aren’t able to provide such personalized services. However, as an attendee, you will have opportunities to post questions to, and share feedback with, our presenters and with your fellow attendees throughout the day of the event. You also get access to our private Facebook group, where you meet, mingle, and develop relationships with our Team and your fellow attendees, all year long
How do I pay with my credit card?
We process credit cards through PayPal. You can use your credit card without signing in to PayPal (as long as that card is not associated with a Paypal account).
To use your credit card:
- Add a Summit + Submissions or Summit Only ticket to your cart.
- Click on “Proceed to Checkout” when you get to the cart.
- Enter your billing information and click the black “Debit or Credit Card” button.
- New fields will pop up so you can enter your credit information without logging in to PayPal.
- Click “Pay Now” to process your transaction.
How do I change my email address?
When you register for Picture Book Summit, the email address you used during the payment process is the one we will use to send you all the details about the event.
If you would like us to use a different email address, scroll to the bottom of any email from us and click “Change Subscriber Options.” A new window will open up and you’ll be able to change your email address.
If you don’t have access to the email address associated with your payment, please send a copy of the receipt, the old email address, and the new email address to [email protected].
Can I get access to previous Superstar Speaker presentations and workshops?
Yes! Previous speaker sessions and workshops are available for individual purchase (and lifetime access) on our Picture Book Summit FreshLearn site HERE.
You can get lifetime access to video presentations from
Jane Yolen
Mac Barnett
Adam Rex
Andrea Davis Pinkney
Peter Brown
Paul O. Zelinsky
Carole Boston Weatherford
Tomie dePaola
Kate McMullan
LeUyen Pham
David Shannon
Matthew Cordell
Rukhsana Khan
Samantha Berger
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Sophie Blackall
Peter H. Reynolds
Jon Klassen
Yuyi Morales
The Fan Brothers
Kate DiCamillo
Our co-founders, Laura Backes, Julie Hedlund, Katie Davis, and Emma Walton Hamilton.
Check out the bundles too. Go here: https://picturebooksummit.freshlearn.com/
How do I sign up?
Go here: https://picturebooksummit.com/
Susan Verde
Emma Walton Hamilton
Leah Pierre
Lori Steel
Ritu Anand
Jason Chin
Bethany Hegedus
Caitlin Johnson
Julie Bliven
Irene Vázquez
Sylvie Frank
Vashti Harrison
