Eastern PA Webinar: Ask the Agent—What's the Deal With Series Potential? with literary agent Estelle Laure
Oct 01, 2026
Online event
Whether you're writing picture books, middle grade, or young adult fiction, creating a story with series potential requires a careful balance. The first book needs to feel complete and satisfying on its own, while also leaving room for readers, editors, and publishers to imagine what might come next. In this presentation, I'll take a practical look at today's publishing landscape. What do agents and editors mean when they say they're looking for "series potential"? How can writers position themselves to take advantage of opportunities without sacrificing the integrity of the story in front of them? And how do you avoid making the common mistake of spending all your energy setting up future books at the expense of the first one? Whether you're dreaming of a long-running series or just want to keep your options open, you'll leave with a deeper understanding of the publishing landscape and a bit of inspiration for developing stories, characters, and concepts that have room to grow while still delivering a compelling, marketable first book. A limited number of PB, MG, YA, GN, & NIV CRITIQUES available at an additional cost.
Quick Facts
HOST REGION: Eastern Pennsylvania
CONTACT: Kristen Strocchia [email protected]
COST:
- Premium Members: $15 USD
- Preview Users: $25 USD
CRITIQUES: available at an additional cost; scroll down for more information
RECORDING
The webinar will be recorded, and the recording will be available for one month following the event. Attendees will receive a link and a password by email about two days after the event.
REGISTRATION CONFIRMATIONS
Upon completion of payment, you will receive a payment confirmation by email. You will also find a registration confirmation on the website that will include event-specific details. Go to your Member Home and click on My Events under the black bar at the top of the page. All events you have registered will be displayed on this page. If there are additional meeting details (i.e. Zoom links for virtual events or materials required for the event), this information will be found under the green Meeting Info button.
REFUND POLICY
Registration fees for webinars and virtual events are nonrefundable because recordings are available for 30 days following the broadcast. For more information on our refund policy, click here. By registering for this event, you agree that you have read and understand the refund policy for this event.
Meet the Faculty
About Estelle
As a Literary Agent/Senior Content Development Editor at Folio Jr., Estelle edits picture books, middle grade, young adult, and new adult, and acquires and develops existing talent alongside Emily van Beek. Since 2012, Estelle has been working as an editorial consultant and developmental editor with established authors, many of whom are bestsellers and award winners; and while she is committed to supporting published authors, she has also developed a keen eye for new talent and a passion for working to bring a fresh perspective to their work and assist as they move toward publication confidently and with the highest level of artistic creativity. She welcomes your queries at [email protected]. For more information about her tastes, please go to https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/elaure/
PB (manuscript or dummy), MG, YA, GN or Novel in Verse Critiques Available: (at an additional cost)
ADDITIONAL COST:
- Premium Members: $60 USD
- Preview Users: $65 USD
For all submissions, format your work in 12 point font, with one-inch margins, and double spacing. (US Letter paper size-Include all materials in the same document; please don’t send two documents.)
- For Picture Book (PB): Please send entire manuscript or dummy and a 1- to 2-sentence pitch (in the same document). Translator submissions should include a brief note about the source work (also in the same document).
- For Middle Grade and Young Adult (MG/YA): Please send up to 10 pages of your manuscript and a one-page, single-spaced synopsis (in the same document).
- For Graphic Novels (GN): Please send up to 10 pages of your Graphic Novel sample and a one-page, single-spaced synopsis (in the same document).
- For Novels in Verse (NIV): Please send up to 2,500 words of your manuscript and a one-page, single-spaced synopsis (in the same document).
- For Translated works: Please follow the above guidelines specific to the category of your project and include a brief note about the source work (in the same document).
How to format your submission:
⇒For all submissions, format your manuscript in 12-point font, with one-inch margins, and double spacing (US Letter paper size). Include your synopsis in the same document (please don’t send two documents).
⇒The following formatting exceptions may be used for Novels in Verse (NIV) submissions only:
- You may format your NIV manuscript using either 1.15, 1.5, or double spacing. This spacing choice should be used standard throughout the manuscript sample.
- You may only vary from your standard spacing choice when needed for the visual presentation of a particular poem.
- You may only use a font size other than 12-point when needed for the visual presentation of a particular poem.
⇒Please SAVE YOUR FILE as Webinar Faculty Last Name_Your Last Name_TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT as a PDF or DOC or DOCx.
Example: Laure_Strocchia_THE POETRY OF PURPLE CARROTS
⇒Then send your file to Kristen at [email protected]. The subject should read: Webinar Faculty Last Name_Your Last Name_TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT (same as saved file name).
Submission deadline: Friday, October 2, 2026.
We anticipate critiques to be returned on or about Tuesday, November 3, 2026.