Happy Tuesday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
Oh, my goodness. School starts tomorrow!? Our eldest son, Peter, is officially beginning kindergarten and I begin year ten in education and year six as an English Language Arts teacher. Just wow. It seems to go faster and faster and here we are yet again.
As much as I love summer freedom I tend to get caught up in the back-to-school excitement and feel a sense of renewal with the approach of autumn. In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, "life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." We have all four seasons in Kansas City, and fall has always been one of my favorites. Bring on the crisp weather and the inexplicable desire for cinnamon!
In addition to school and impending pumpkins, there are a lot of things to be excited about. Some of the things I can't talk about...but I can be vague about them. I can be vague about wolves. Copious amounts of wolves the likes of which the kidlit world has yet to encounter! Let's just say all the years of yapping about wolves online and weirding you people out just might have finally led to something. And maybe I won't be a wolf fraud without a wolf book. Or maybe I will. Or maybe I won't. I CAN'T TALK ANYMORE ABOUT THE VAGUE WOLVES, OKAY! VAGUE, VAGUE, VAGUE! Stay tuned as wolf news develops...
Today's Agent Spotlight features Lisa Gouldy of Corvisiero Literary Agency. Although Lisa is not a wolf, she did just open back up to accepting picture book queries--like literally last week as of this post date! Lisa has generously offered to do a pretty rad giveaway with this interview so be sure to check out details at the end of the interview.
But before we dive in with Lisa, I've got some announcements and new developments to share.
First, my picture book story coaching service is still trucking along. If you have a manuscript without wolves, I'll help you determine where a wolf or wolves might be best. We'll discuss wolf-related strategies. Wolf querying. Wolf attacks and SO MUCH MORE! Actually...that's not entirely true. Ask any author clients how much of our time is spent discussing wolves and they'll probably say zero. But we CAN talk about wolves if you want to...
I offer 1-hour Zoom critique sessions, written-only critiques, and second-look critiques. I'd love to be part of your story. (wolves or not!)
Back-to-school season is in full force now and I've enjoyed observing the annual revived interest in my debut picutre book, The Book of Rules (illustrated by Tom Knight). If you're new here, it's a highly interactive read-aloud in which kids have to follow the rules of the book lest they be eaten by the monster in the margins (Dennis). This November marks three years since pub day. HOW!? Where did the time go!? If you need a fun way to establish a postive classroom climate or mix up your typical bed time story routine, you can't go wrong with The Book of Rules.
Speaking of Dennis, on my coloring book page, I've recently added some nifty color posters that can be downloaded for free should you need a Dennis-themed playful redirection on your classroom walls. Dennis has been helping manage classrooms since 2021 and he's mighty good at it. Watch out, little monsters! Thanks in advance for sharing with any PreK-early elementary teachers you may know. 🤓
If you didn't know, I offer signed copies for sale and would love to personalize one or 200 of them (should you need that quantity). Signing books has been one of my favorite author tasks over the years. I recently got to sign 75 for my school district! Our education foundation got one for every kindergarten and first-grade teacher--even Peter's teacher! I'd love to keep signing them so if you have a teacher in your life or family with unruly little monsters, please consider grabbing a copy.
And in other author-stuff news, my wonderfully creative wife, Katherine, suggested a new idea for me to try. She knows how much fun I have making completely random and silly videos so that's what I'll be doing! If you would like me to pop into your classroom, event, party, library storytime, I would love to digitally say hello. The digital author pop-in will be 1-minute in length and tailored for whatever occasion or audience you have. Want to know more about how it will work and where to register? Check it out!
Okay, I know that was a lot and we all came here to learn more about Lisa. So, let's do just that! Who knows? There might be something in this interview you can mention in your query to her or something Lisa says that helps you think about your author craft more broadly in a new way. I sincerely hope you find just that and something meaningful unlocks. With that hope in mind, let's dim the lights and cue that spotlight...
Here's Lisa!
Welcome to Picture Book Spotlight, Lisa! First things first…are you currently open to picture book submissions and actively taking new clients? If so, what are you hoping to see? What are you hoping not to see?
Hi, Brian! I’m so happy to be here. Yes, I’m actually reopening to queries this week and am excited to find some new picture book clients! I’d love to see high-concept stories that surprise me with a story or approach I haven’t seen before, lyrical or voicey writing, characters with big personalities, stories with the potential for lush, beautiful illustrations or for fun art that interacts with the text of the story in unexpected ways, and stories that deliver big laughs or big emotions. I’m especially looking for stories that incorporate the perspective of children from underrepresented or marginalized groups, including children with disabilities. I’m also interested in non-Western stories with narrative structures that might differ from Western conventions. I’m not currently looking for rhyming picture books or for quiet stories. Show me big, loud, and innovative stories that will give me all the feels!
To help us get to know you better, what three picture books would you have LOVED to represent? What do you like about them?
BIG by Vashti Harrison – This book broke my heart and put it back together again. I love how the author takes on a perspective we don’t see very often in picture books, and really digs into the stigma about body size in a relatable, child-friendly way. The illustrations are so innovative and add so much to the arc of the story – the spreads where the girl gets bigger and bigger have such a huge emotional impact. I actually gasped when the girl decides to take up more space and the next spread’s pages fold out to literally give her more space. I also loved how realistic the ending was – not everyone had come to understand the girl, but she felt comfortable in her own body, and that was all that mattered. Such a wonderfully inspiring book!
MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD by Matt de la Peña (illustrated by Christian Robinson) – Matt de la Peña’s poetry in this story blew me away. “Milo is a shook-up soda” – I can’t imagine a more beautiful, evocative, accessible way to describe a character’s excitement and worry. This story also has a strong narrative arc, a ton of imagination (including in Christian Robinson’s amazing illustrations), a perspective we don’t commonly see in picture books, an SEL lesson that resonates with kids and grown-ups alike, and a big emotional finish that sticks with you long after storytime is over (and, if you’re me, also makes you cry).
THE DARK by Lemony Snicket (illustrated by Jon Klassen) – I love the innovation in this story – how the author personifies the dark to help Laszlo (and the reader) figure out how to come to terms with it. The lyrical language in this story is outstanding; the author so deftly captures the creepy feeling of a dark house in so few words through strong, active sentences, spare dialogue, and just-right details. “At night, of course, the dark went out and spread itself against the windows and doors of Laszlo’s house.” Beautiful. And I love how the text leaves so much room for Jon Klassen’s illustrations to deepen the creepy vibe of the story with the interplay of light and dark.
When you’re working through your query submissions, what kinds of things make you sit up a little taller in your seat or get you excited?
Picture books are short and punchy, and picture book queries should be too! While I always look at the sample pages, a tight query that communicates the concept and character of your story in an efficient way shows me that you know your story inside-out and puts me in a receptive frame of mind as I turn to your manuscript. I also love to hear a little about what inspired you to write this story!
In addition, strong, carefully chosen comp titles can get me very excited about a query. When I’m reviewing a project I’m always asking myself how this story might fit into the current market, and mindful of the fact that we’ll need 2-3 solid comp titles published in the last 3 years (the last 18 months is even better) to include in our pitch to editors. When an author has done their homework and identified strong titles that their story can sit beside on a shelf, it helps me visualize the path forward for the project.
If we do submit to you, what are some essential questions we should ask ourselves beforehand?
First, ask yourself whether I’m a good fit for your story. This is a subjective business and different agents have different tastes, so to give yourself the best chance for success by targeting your queries to those agents who’ve expressed a preference for stories like yours. For me, that means taking a look at my current wishlist to get a better idea of what I’m looking for. At this moment in time, if you’ve written a lyrical story with big emotions, I’ll be so excited to read it! On the other hand, while it’s not impossible for me to fall for a rhyming picture book, it is unlikely, and I don’t want you to spend a lot of time crafting a query for me if I’m unlikely to be a good match.
Second, assess whether you’ve put in enough work studying the craft of picture books (I like WRITING PICTURE BOOKS by Ann Whitford Paul) and the industry so that you can put your best foot forward with your submission. The manuscripts that get me the most excited are the ones that are tightly crafted and in line with the current marketplace (or that fill a gap in the market!). And as I mentioned, make sure that you’ve scoured the current landscape enough to pull out the best comp titles for your story.
Third, make sure that you have at least a couple of critique partners who have reviewed your manuscript and that you’ve revised it accordingly. I know that it can be hard to determine when a manuscript is ready to submit, and I don’t want you to get lost in edits forever, but do try to get the manuscript to a point where it’s as strong as you think you can make it before you hit submit. I only have the time to review a query for any given picture book manuscript once (with the limited exception of manuscripts that have been totally overhauled by revisions after at least 6 months), so make sure that it’s ready before you pull the trigger.
Finally, determine whether you have a couple more strong manuscripts ready to go should I ask for them. Before I offer representation, I ask picture book authors to send me 2-3 additional manuscripts so that I can get a better feel for their body of work and whether I’m a good fit for it. I offer representation based on a client’s overall portfolio, and want the partnership to be successful for the length of my clients’ career.
Talk to us about the importance of theme. Why is a perceptible theme or message important to include in a picture book manuscript? And how can we avoid bludgeoning our readers with our theme?
A successful picture book will often have a strong theme underlying the text, something that can be blurbed to appeal to the gatekeepers who buy picture books for children: parents and grandparents, teachers and librarians. When I look back at my favorite picture books, including the ones listed above, they are often high-concept stories with important themes that spurred me to pick them up in the first place. And for me, the theme of a story or the lesson learned by its character often lends the book an emotional gravitas that keeps pulling me back to it for each rereading. This isn’t always true – I can think of many humorous or art-heavy picture books in particular that don’t have an obvious message (many books by David Wiesner, MR. S by Monica Arnaldo, etc.). But having a strong theme or message can certainly make a picture book more appealing!
As important as it is for a picture book to appeal to the grown-ups who buy books, however, it’s equally important for a story to avoid talking down to its young audience, and preaching a heavy-handed message that keeps children from connecting to the story. After all, if kids don’t enjoy the story they won’t absorb the message anyway, librarians will stop choosing it for story time, and parents won’t recommend it to other parents.
In order to prevent your story from becoming too didactic or heavy-handed, have the child (or childlike) protagonist learn the lesson themselves through an active plot. Invest the reader in the main character’s struggle, so that they can experience the triumph of success and learn the lesson right along with the character they’ve grown connected to. Avoid having a wiser/older character “teach” the lesson to the protagonist, especially through dialogue, which can feel like it short-circuits the protagonist’s arc by gifting them the answer instead of having them find it on their own. Avoid lengthy stretches of exposition from a third-person narrator summarizing or preaching the lesson directly to the reader. Instead, let the protagonist’s struggles, setbacks, and successes speak for themselves.
What advice or encouragement can you offer picture book creators who are just starting out or who are about to jump into the querying trenches for the first time?
My biggest piece of advice for new picture book creators is to read, read, read. Read every picture book you can get your hands on – linger in bookstores and check out the staff picks, visit your local library and spend some time perusing the new titles. Listen to YouTube or TikTok read-alouds. You might find that today’s picture books are different than those you remember reading as a child, often they’re tighter, more multicultural, the language more active and sometimes more poetic. Some people take up picture book writing because they think it will be easier than other formats, but nothing could be further from the truth, and the closer you look at the artistry of today’s titles the more you will learn about the craft and the current market.
If we could put on “Lisa Gouldy eyes” to look critically at our stories, what is ONE THING that you always look for that we can too?
I’m a stickler for tight focus in a picture book manuscript. To me, that means that I never lose sight of the overall arc of the story as I’m reading – that I can hold the theme of the story in my mind as I read each individual line. While I love it when stories can combine, say, an SEL theme with a cultural exploration, that must be done skillfully, without any pages feeling like a diversion/side journey from the greater story. That also means that there’s not a lot of room for preamble or backstory in a picture book, we want to get down to the story quickly, before the children we’re reading to lose interest. In my opinion, picture books are like poems; each word and line should bear a lot of weight, and must serve the whole. Before you hit submit, go through your story with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that it has a cohesive focus, and that each word is necessary.
Complete the following sentence: "Lisa is an agent who…"
loves helping her clients achieve their vision for their stories. I am an editorial agent who enjoys diving deep into each project (my editorial letters for picture books are invariably longer than the manuscripts themselves), and I love helping clients make their stories even stronger to give them the best chance for success.
Thank you so much for all of this, Lisa! There's so much here that I know will help give life and encouragement to those seeking representation and publication for their picture books. We appreciate it more than you know!
And thank YOU, kidlit fam, for stopping by and letting me make you smile and think about wolves...okay, no more wolves (I mostly promise). Lisa will be donating a picture book manuscript critique for one lucky winner. If you'd like to enter the raffle for this giveaway, check out the below info for details. Keep up the great writing, everyone! WOLVES!
TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:
✅ Subscribe to Picture Book Spotlight
AND
✅ Share this post on social media using the hashtag: #PBSpotlight
Follows and tags are appreciated so I don't miss your sharing!
***The deadline for this contest is Tuesday, August 27th at 9 AM CST
Winner will be contacted on Tuesday, August 27th & announced on Brian's social media channels***
About Lisa Gouldy
Lisa Gouldy is a passionate writer and reader of stories that stretch the imagination and reveal important truths about the world around us. Trained as an attorney, Lisa moved from the legal world into the literary one nearly a decade ago in search of stories less constrained by reality. The literary community in Seattle welcomed her in, and Lisa connected with writers everywhere from coffee shops to Hugo House, from PNWA to SCBWI, from conferences to critique groups. Assisting others with their writing journeys, it turned out, was as much fun as creating her own. As an apprentice with the Corvisiero Literary Agency, Lisa seeks to guide writers through the publishing process the way she once helped clients access the courts.
Lisa loves stories with lyrical writing, memorable characters, and fast-paced plots that keep her guessing. In adult fiction, she devours upmarket and literary titles with complex protagonists, and has a special hunger for stories with speculative elements. Her sweet spot is a novel with a world much like ours, but with fantasy, sci-fi, or dystopian additions that illuminate real-life issues in a unique way. In children’s literature, Lisa particularly enjoys middle grade fantasy and young adult novels with a speculative bent, as well as picture books that make her (and her daughter) laugh.
MSWL:
Picture Books
High-concept picture books that surprise me with a story or approach I haven’t seen before.
Lyrical or voicey writing.
Characters who deviate from the norm and have big personalities.
Stories with the potential for lush, beautiful illustrations, or for fun art that interacts with the text of the story in unexpected ways.
Stories that deliver big laughs or big emotions.
Stories incorporating the perspective of children from underrepresented or marginalized groups.
Or, ideally, all of the above!
Lisa is not currently seeking rhyming picture books.
This bio is all about wolves. Yes. Wolves. You thought Brian was done talking about wolves but the reality is he was just getting warmed up. To be clear, Brian is not himself a wolf. He just likes them. And thinks they improve a story. Or maybe he is afraid of them. Or maybe wolves are just cool. Who knows. One thing is for certain: they make great emojis. Confused? You must be new here. Toss a wolf emoji on your social media sharing of this post and you will earn five additional raffle entries for Lisa's giveaway. The hidden emoji code is back, baby. Proceed at your own risk. If you want to learn actual facts about Brian because this was a useless, pretend bio, visit here. If you'd like a discount on a critique, here's a secret 25% off promo code that will be good until September 1st: backtoschool25off. Add the code on your critique registration form now!
_edited.jpg)
_edited.jpg)
Comments