Get Published! Writing Picture Books and Fiction for Young Readers

What does it take to get a children’s book published? What are children’s book publishers looking for? Let our panel of experts show you what you need to do to get your manuscript published!

Panelists include industry professionals Karen Li, publisher of Groundwood Books; Ruth Ohi, author/illustrator; and Joel A. Sutherland, author.

“I attended this seminar and it was a great chance to be surrounded by professionals in the industry and get real answers and insights. The Book Centre is an excellent connector, and the opportunity to get exposure with publishers, editors, and other writers is inspiring.” —Lucy Leiderman, author of the Seven Wanderers Trilogy

WHEN:

Saturday, March 25, 2023

12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EDT

WHERE:

ZOOM

COST:

$75.00

Each participant will receive a digital copy of the CCBC’s best-selling guide, Get Published! The Writing for Children Kit.

PANELIST BIOS

Karen Li is the publisher of Groundwood Books, home to countless groundbreaking books and award-winning authors and illustrators, such as Deborah Ellis, Marie-Louise Gay, Isabelle Arsenault, Sydney Smith, Jillian Tamaki, and Mariko Tamaki, among many others. Before coming to this position, Karen was the editorial director at Owlkids Books, where she helped debut exciting new voices in children’s literature, including Thao Lam, Naseem Hrab, Sophie Gilmore, James Gladstone, Monica Arnaldo, and more. Karen lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario.

Ruth Ohi is the author/illustrator of 23 books. Her latest are Blanket (Groundwood Books, 2022) and Choose Kindness (Scholastic Canada, 2021). Her books have been published in Korea, China, Belgium, Turkey, Holland, Australia, and translated into Spanish and Hebrew. Ruth's books have been shortlisted for awards such as the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Blue Spruce Award. They have been selected for Quill & Quire Books of the Year, CBC Best Canadian Books for Kids & Young Adults, the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids & Teens, Toronto Public Library's "First & Best", NYC READ365, Pennsylvania Centre for the Book's "Baker's Dozen", Kirkus Reviews Best Book and the Ontario Library Association's "Best Bets". www.RuthOhi.com ~ Instagram: @RuthOhi ~ Twitter: @Ruth_Ohi ~ Facebook: @RuthOhi

Joel A. Sutherland is the Silver Birch Award-winning author of Screamers (Scholastic Canada), numerous volumes of Haunted Canada (a series that now has more than 500,000 copies in print and is celebrating its 20th anniversary), and Summer's End (a Red Maple Award Honour Book currently in development for television by Scholastic Entertainment). His series, Haunted, including The House Next Door, has been praised by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine. In 2023, Tundra Books (Penguin Random House Canada) will release his debut young adult novel, House of Ash and Bone. He has a Masters of Information and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University in Wales and lives in southeastern Ontario with his family.