I am sure if you are writing picture books, you can sometimes feel like you are fighting an uphill battle. With the additional illustration costs plopped on top of publishing a high quality picture book, many publishers have cut back on the amount of picture books they are bringing to market. During this time, publishers have looked for ways to reduce costs in order to keep producing picture books and have turned to asking for author/illustrator picture books. This has been a win-fall for our illustrators, but could make a picture book “author only” feel like they have been left out in the cold trying to find a friendly door to knock on.
My own anecdotal view is that things are getting better for the picture book market. I am seeing more contracts being signed and more picture books coming to market. This means more agents are starting to represent picture book authors.
Plus, everyone is looking for new ways to present picture books. Traci Williams-NG is coming in for our June conference and for only $45 will meet for a personal one-on-one consultation with individual picture book writers to discusss how interactive Storybooks might be another avenue for you.
Here are some agencies accepting “author only” picture books:
Andrea Brown Literary Agency – Jennifer Mattson
Bookstop Literary – Kendra Marcus
Curtis Brown, Ltd – Ginger Clarke
Hen & Ink Literary Studio – Erzsi Deak
Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency – Stephen Fraser
Marsal Lyon Literary Agency – Kathleen Rushall
Erin Murphy Literary Agency – Ammi-Joan Paquette
Rodeen Literary Management – Paul Rodeen
Scott Treimel Literary Agency – Scott Treimel and John Cusick
Sheldon Fogelman Agency – Sean McCarthy
Stimola Literary Studio – Rosemary Stimola
The Unter Agency – Jennifer Unter
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Writing and Illustrating 
At first it sounds like the door is closing on authors for picture books, but then I see the list of agencies is quite a hefty one with some really great agents involved 🙂
P.S. I really hope your pain killers are not just making you sleep, but giving you restful sleep 🙂
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By: :Donna Marie on February 23, 2012
at 12:42 am
Donna,
There you are. I am sorry that I have been so out of touch. Can’t seem to adjust the pain medicines. I am either in pain or totally out of it. PT came today and she pushed on my knee so much that the pain meds did not help at all. It’s been four hours and my knee is just starting to calm down. You can call me if you need anything. Thanks for taking care of the e-mails.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 7:12 pm
Wonderful list – thank you Kathy!
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By: Cathy Ballou Mealey on February 23, 2012
at 11:23 am
Cathy,
Hope it helps open a door for you.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 7:08 pm
Wow, Kathy, you are making this a lot easier. Thanks so much for sharing your information.
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By: Kirsten Larson on February 23, 2012
at 11:53 am
Kristen,
You’re Welcome. I was over at your website today and was about to leave you a comment, when the Physicial Therapist showed up. She left me in so much pain, I am just trying to get back to doing things. Do you homeschool? I agree parents with a little thought, parents can make a trip to the grocery store and outing. Sounds like you had a fun learning experience at the country florist.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 7:07 pm
Kathy, I’m a wannabe homeschooler. I homeschool after school with field trips, museum visits, science experiments and the like. I wish I had the fortitude to homeschool and many of my friends do. But then I wouldn’t have time to write.
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By: Kirsten Larson on February 23, 2012
at 7:33 pm
Great list Kathy. Know many of the agencies, but not all.
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By: Patricia Tilton on February 23, 2012
at 11:57 am
Patricia,
Thanks, it is easy to forget that a year ago the list was much shorter.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 7:00 pm
Thank you for publishing this list!
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By: Darshana on February 23, 2012
at 1:08 pm
Darshana,
My pleasure! Hope it helps in some small way.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 6:44 pm
Your list of picture book agents makes this picture book author feel so much better. Thanks, Kathy!
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By: Alayne Kay Christian on February 23, 2012
at 2:03 pm
Alayne,
It should. The market is in flux, but I think it is providing more opportunities, not less.
Good luck,
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 6:43 pm
Thanks for sharing the info! I wish there were more Canadian agents accepting picture book authors or just more Canadian agents in general…I don’t know if American ones accept Canadian authors, I guess I can look into that. Anybody know?
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By: jackie on February 23, 2012
at 3:51 pm
Jackie,
I not an expert on the Canadian Market, but my impression is the US market is open to all writers, but the Canadian Market is mostly closed to anyone outside Canada. I know lots of Canadian writers who are represented by US agents. So that is a good thing for you.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 6:41 pm
Another great post!
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By: Christine Brower-Cohen on February 23, 2012
at 8:03 pm
Christine,
It has taken me so long to reply, you probably will not remember that you even left a comment.
Just want to say “Thanks.”
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:43 pm
Great list for author only writers! Thanks!
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By: tinamcho on February 23, 2012
at 11:09 pm
Tina,
Glad you like it. Make sure you let other picture book writers know.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 23, 2012
at 11:36 pm
Just received yet another rejection letter. Thank you for the boost in my writing moral. I will take my manuscript out of my virtual pouting garbage and get back on it today!
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By: Jennifer Edwards on February 24, 2012
at 9:18 am
Jennifer,
It’s nice to know the post gave you a boost. I once through a three page rejection letter across my kitchen and it laid there for over month, until someone reminded me that it had to have some merit if the publisher wrote me a three page letter about the story. The only times rejection is not hard is when you are not submitting and if you don’t submit you can never get anywhere.
Thanks,
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:48 pm
Wow, Kathy, a THREE-page rejection? That really IS quite a compliment!
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By: :Donna Marie on March 13, 2012
at 9:39 am
Thank you for sharing this information. This should be of great assistance to the authors writing these books!
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By: New York Printer on February 24, 2012
at 10:30 am
NY Printer,
Thanks for leaving a comment. Do you get time to write?
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 9:22 pm
Always check out agents at Writer Beware before submitting. You can find “Writer Beware” connect on my blogroll. Good luck to us all. Thank you Kathy. I quit my physicial therapy after surgery on my broken arm for it was doing more damage than good.
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By: Mary Nida Smith on February 24, 2012
at 12:41 pm
Mary,
I tell you, I feel like doing the same thing. After she got done with me, it hurt worse than the first day after surgery. I ended up taking two pain pills (that is what they say I can take, but I hate how they make me feel) to try an get some relief. Unfortunately, it has left me unable to get my head off my pillow today. When I try I get up, I get vertigo and throw up. The therapist is returning today, but I am not letting her touch me.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 24, 2012
at 1:03 pm
Kathy, I stayed away from pain pills – I took nothing, for my son warned me for he had awful side-effects from them. I can’t wait until you shout you are painless
and healing. I am still healing and more each day. I broke it May 10, 2011. I am thankful.
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By: Mary Nida Smith on February 24, 2012
at 2:12 pm
Mary,
Well, the doctor’s office called and yelled at me that I am supposed to be in pain after they work on you. That I am supposed to dose up before they come and I should expect a day of rolling around pain afterwards. I’m supposed to be worse after they finish and you are supposed to be crying from the pain. They are calling in nausea medicine for me. I find it hard to believe that you should go back to day one, each time you have therapy.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on February 24, 2012
at 2:49 pm
I know you must expect SOME measure of pain with something like this, but this doesn’t sound quite right to me. It’s a “pill” I’m finding hard to swallow. What kind of therapy? What is she making you do? What is she doing to you?
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By: :Donna Marie on February 24, 2012
at 7:59 pm
Kathy, they told me the same thing. I thought I know my body better than them, so I did what I thought was best. I feel much better.
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By: Mary Nida Smith on February 25, 2012
at 3:33 pm
Great post Kathy. I’m putting the link on my blog post. Hope you are feeling better soon! Jeannine
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By: Jeannine Norris on February 28, 2012
at 8:50 am
Jeannine,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I haven’t been my old perky self. I think the medicine is slowing me down. I guess you saw that I made the changes to your website, before I went in the hospital. Any chance you will be able to come to the June conference? It would be nice to see you again.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:41 pm
Thank you! I hope that your instinct is correct.
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By: Sandi Hershenson on March 4, 2012
at 1:11 am
Sandi,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I hope so, because I really do think the picture book market is on the rise.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:30 pm
Wonderful post and generous list! Thank you! Can’t believe you conjured it whilst dealing with your pain!
And good grief, I agree with the others. Listen to your gut about what’s right for your body. Get a second opinion about the best plan for you, and remember: you’re just one of many patients for each of these people who suggest you basically suck it up and do what they’re telling you to do, you only have one body to work with. Your ‘investment’ in this course of action — and the consequences of it — are far greater for you than they are for them. It makes sense that you’d be second-guessing their advice. Sending good vibes to you that you find the right support and that healing comes quickly!
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By: Jennifer DuBose on March 5, 2012
at 8:00 am
Jennifer,
Thanks for sending me a comment. I was too messed up to answer right away. Actually, I remember laying here in bed with my laptop, thinking I would answer some of the comments and it took me four hours to write one sentence. I kept falling asleep and then when I would look at couple of words I wrote, they were spelled all wrong. I finally gave up.
Talk soon,
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:52 pm
Thank you! I am bookmarking this post!
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By: Lauren F. Boyd on March 9, 2012
at 7:08 pm
Lauren,
Thank you for stopping by.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:31 pm
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for this post. Sorry to hear about your recovery problems. I’ve been thinking about you. Hope things are getting much better.
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By: liz korba on March 12, 2012
at 7:22 pm
Liz,
How have you been doing? Haven’t heard from you for a while. I am going to therapy three times a week and they are trying not to hurt me. I was doing better last week and tried to walk down the stairs using both my legs and fell. That set me back. Still in pain from that lapse in judgement. They say I am doing good with what I can do so far.
Hope to see you in the near future,
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on March 12, 2012
at 8:36 pm
Hi Kathy,
Sorry to hear about your fall. Be careful! You don’t live so far away, so if there is anything I can do to help, let me know. I’m still writing as much as I can. Actually have something I like a little and am hoping there will be an intensive in the future to get the bugs out of the manuscript. Can’t believe you are finding the time to answer your post comments. I’m amazed. Hang in there. And let me know if you need anything. Don’t mind doing food shopping, etc. Take care,
Liz
ps Send a note to my email if you need anything…
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By: liz korba on March 14, 2012
at 9:34 am
I am so ready for an agent and often discouraged at the difficulty of finding one as an author of picture books…even as a published author! So when I just googled “agents of picture books” and your post came up, I was thrilled. Thanks for this valuable list.
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By: Carol Gordon Ekster on July 6, 2012
at 7:32 pm
Carol,
I know it can be discouraging, so I am glad you found this helpful.
Kathy
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By: kathytemean on July 8, 2012
at 1:43 pm
Great post. Extremely helpful!
Many thanks.
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By: Linda Carpenter on May 10, 2016
at 1:10 pm
Thanks, Good Luck!
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By: Kathy Temean on May 10, 2016
at 2:52 pm