Picture Book Summit Yields Big Rewards for We Need Diverse Books
New York, NY – The first annual Picture Book Summit, an international online conference for children’s picture book authors, raised more than $7000 for the nonprofit group We Need Diverse Books. The announcement was made at New York Media Works, the headquarters of Kidlit.TV – a sponsor of Picture Book Summit.
Picture Book Summit 2015 took place on October 3rd, and featured keynotes from bestselling authors Mac Barnett, Peter Brown and Andrea Davis Pinkney, as well as workshops led by the co-founders and panel discussions with editors and agents. Hundreds of working and aspiring children’s book writers attended the event, logging in from six continents.
“We’re thrilled to be making this contribution,” said children’s book author and Picture Book Summit co-founder Emma Walton Hamilton. “We’d hoped to raise a significant amount, but attendance at the Summit exceeded our expectations – so our contribution was even greater than we’d hoped.
“We selected We Need Diverse Books as this year’s recipient because of the great work they’re doing bringing awareness to this important cause,” added author/illustrator and Picture Book Summit cofounder, Katie Davis.
The five founders of Picture Book Summit – including author Julie Hedlund, and Jon Bard and Laura Backes of Children’s Book Insider – are longtime colleagues and friends who joined forces to create a unique event to help working and aspiring picture book authors improve their craft and chances of publication.
In addition to Kidlit.TV, sponsors for Picture Book Summit 2015 included the Institute of Children’s Literature, the 12 X 12 Picture Book Challenge, Just Write Children’s Books, and Children’s Book Insider.
We Need Diverse Books is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. The organization recognizes all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. According to WNDB president, Ellen Oh, the Picture Book Summit contribution will be used to support the WNDB in the Classroom program – an initiative that brings diverse authors and their books into Title One schools.
The 2016 Picture Book Summit is scheduled for October 1st, 2016. For more information, visit http://picturebooksummit.com.
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CONTACT: Emma Walton Hamilton
picturebooksubmissions[@]gmail.com
