Writing Picture Books

If you’re interested in becoming a children’s book author, here are some places to begin your research:

SCBWI is the perfect place to start with local chapter meetings, guidance, critique groups, classes, conferences, and many learning opportunities, including a manual upon membership

PBRS Collective as a PB Rising Stars Mentee Alum, I speak from ground level experience to how valuable the program was for me. As of 2026, the volunteer-based mentorship ended; however, one of the founders, Ebony Lynn Mudd, created an all encompassing version of PBRS (plus so much more!) it's everything you need in one place. Webinars, community, support, 1:1, basically, a one-stop for leveling up your writing. Highly recommend!

Get your hands and eyes on as many newish (three years or newer) books in your genre…you not only see what is selling, you will begin to understand what *you* think makes a great book, study these mentor texts, and, when your manuscript is polished as much as possible you’ll have plenty of comps to choose from for your query letter (if you decide on traditional publishing)

Many author friends find each other on social media, previously Twitter was the largest writing community and now it’s shifted to Instagram where you can connected with other authors and grow a little stronger and tougher together through pitch events and contests -let's follow each other!

QueryTracker – by far the best $25/year I spent while querying

Sure, you can keep your own spreadsheet, but the amount of time it saves researching who to send to, entering your submissions, seeing agent response time, agent request rate, and detailed insight from the reports once you have a “full” out is next level worth it

Author pages with great advice: Josh Funk  Pat Zietlow Miller Debbie Ridpath Ohi Tara Lazar Judy Blume

Support other authors along the way by sharing events and contests, requesting their books from the library, purchasing titles, leaving reviews, reposting, recommending to others—every little bit of positive energy makes a difference!

There’s a reason you will hear this advice many times: read