Literary Agents Discuss the Diversity Gap in Publishing

I’d love to see more diversity in children’s literature. I was interested to see what some of my favorite agents had to say about the topic. For an insightful commentary by an author, see Elizabeth Dulemba’s post.

the open book

Literary agents make up a big part of the publishing machine. Most publishers no longer consider unsolicited submissions, so an agent is a must if you even want to get your foot in the door. Each year, agents review many promising manuscripts and portfolios so it is safe to say they have a good sense of who makes up the talent pool of children’s book publishing. So what kind of diversity are agents seeing? Being that the number of diverse books has not increased in the last eighteen years, in order to understand why this problem persists we decided to ask the gatekeepers.

Adriana Domínguez is an agent at Full Circle Literary, a boutique literary agency based in San Diego and New York City, offering a unique full circle approach to literary representation. The agency’s experience in book publishing includes editorial, marketing, publicity, legal, and rights, and is…

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Graduation or Coronation?

After another intense 6-week summer session, I have now completed the Hollins University Graduate Certificate Program in Picture Book Illustration.

We graduated with pomp and circumstance as you can tell from the photo. No caps and gowns for us. In keeping with the spirit of Hollins creativity, our professors crowned us with beribboned fairy wreaths (with jeweled holders for a pen and brush) and gave us pens tied with ribbons for autographing our future books.

Even our diplomas were printed and handpainted by Ashley Wolff.

Ruth Sanderson

 
 
We were lucky enough to be taught by Ruth Sanderson and Ashley Wolff, seen here at our famous Hollins’ sign. Can you tell that the campus is filled with lovers of children’s literature?

Ashley Wolff

Our other profs were Lauren Mills and Elizabeth Dulemba. Add in workshops with Chris Soentpiet, Paul Zelinsky, Charles Vess, Eric Rohmann, and Dennis Nolan, plus talks and/or critiques by authors David Almond, Nancy Willard, Candace Ransom, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Kathryn Erskine, Fran Cannon Slayton, and many other luminaries in the children’s literature field, including Cheryl Klein and Mallory Loehr. It’s been an awesome two years.

Only 79 More Shopping Days Till Christmas…

It’s always exciting when a fellow author has a new book out. This week we’re celebrating Elizabeth Dulemba’s latest book, The Twelve Days of Christmas in Georgia. It may seem a bit early to celebrate the season, but there are only about 79 shopping days left, so here’s a great gift for all the kiddies on your list.

You might also want to check out Elizabeth’s other books. And her site has lots of kid-friendly activities. Also, her book, Lulu’s Brew, available as an app, has had more than 9,000 downloads! Very cool!! After all Halloween’s just around the corner.