Only write for children if you HAVE to

After describing the impossibly busy life of an editor at a publishing house that receives more than 20,000 submissions a year, Kathy Landwehr, editor at Peachtree Publishers, urged writers to approach writing as a professional, even though the financial rewards are small. “If you are not doing it because you have to — not just because you want to — don’t.” Though just about every one of Peachtree’s titles for young people can be used to advance curriculum objectives in schools, the goal of educating is secondary. “A book is to be enjoyed, first and foremost. If there’s a message there, it should be like a Trojan horse. What we really do love is story.”

A title she’s very excited about right now is 14 Cows for America by written by award-winning author Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by newcomer Thomas Gonzalez. It was released in August and has started with strong sales.

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Here are photographs of some of the other speakers:

Steven Chudney

The Chudney Agency
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Calista Brill, editor, First Second Books, Hester Bass, author, and Stephanie Moody, author

First Second Books

Hester Bass

Lisa Lowe Stauffer, WIK coordinator, and Carla Killough McClafferty, author

Lisa Lowe Stauffer

Carla Killough McClafferty

Question for the distinguished panel