Pick a Peck ‘o Picture Book Critiques!

Donated by: Liz Garton Scanlon, Tamara Ellis Smith, Laurie Thompson, Deborah Underwood and Audrey Vernick

Item Description:   Five clients of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency, one of the top-selling U.S. literary agencies representing children’s books, will each provide a critique of your work. Each month, over the course of five months, one of each of these EMLA authors (Liz Garton Scanlon, Tamara Ellis Smith, Laurie Thompson, Deborah Underwood and Audrey Vernick) will critique a Picture Book manuscript of up to 1000 words. How you divvy up those critiques is up to you! For example, you could submit the same picture book as it progresses through revisions, or submit five different manuscripts. The authors' collective work has garnered many awards and covers a wide variety of topics.The winning bidder may schedule their first critique between December 2011 and April 2012, and then will proceed with the remaining critiques monthly from that time on.

And here are their amazing author bios:
 
Liz Garton Scanlon the author of the highly-acclaimed, Caldecott-honored picture book All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee, as well as Noodle & Lou, illustrated by Arthur Howard, and A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Forthcoming books include Think Big, illustrated by Vanessa Newton; Happy Birthday, Baby, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin; and others. Ms. Scanlon is assistant professor of creative writing at Austin Community College and a frequent & popular presenter at schools, libraries and conferences. To learn more, visit her web site at www.LizGartonScanlon.com

Tamara Ellis Smith has written a middle grade novel and several picture books, all pre-published. Her middle grade novel won an honorable mention in the 2008 PEN New England Discovery Awards and was a runner up for the 2008 SCBWI Works-In-Progress grant. Tamara is represented by Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. She makes her home in Richmond, Vermont. You can learn more about her at www.tamaraellissmith.com and visit her blog about writing and landscape at www.smithwright.blogspot.com.

Laurie Thompson writes fiction and nonfiction for children of all ages. Her book manuscripts have been nominated for the Sue Alexander Award at the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference in 2008 and received the “Outstanding Work-in-Progress Award” at SCBWI Western Washington’s Writing and Illustrating for Children Conference in 2009 and 2010. Her articles have appeared in Faces, Odyssey, Know, and more. She has been a co-regional advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Western Washington region since the beginning of 2009. For more information, please visit http://lauriethompson.com

Deborah Underwood's picture books include The Quiet Book and The Loud Book, both illustrated by Renata Liwska; A Balloon for Isabel, illustrated by Laura Rankin; and Granny Gomez & Jigsaw, illustrated by Scott Magoon. The Christmas Quiet Book will be published in 2012, and Part-Time Princess in 2013. Deborah co-writes the Sugar Plum Ballerina chapter book series with Whoopi Goldberg, and she is the author of the easy reader Pirate Mom. She has also written more than 25 nonfiction books for kids. For more information please visit: http://www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com/

Audrey Vernick is the author of Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? (an IRA/CBC Children's Choice Book) and Teach Your Buffalo to Play Drums, both illustrated by Daniel Jennewein; and She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story (one of Bank Street College's Best Children's Books of the Year), illustrated by Don Tate. She also wrote the middle-grade novel Water Balloon. Her website is www.audreyvernick.com; she blogs at http://literaryfriendships.wordpress.com.

Market Value:    $200
Starting Bid:  $10