SF North & East Bay: Breaking Up with your Agent

Natasha Yim is the author of 13 picture books and 2 board books, including her new releases Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2025), a follow up to Luna’s Yum Yum Dim Sum (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2020) in the Storytelling Math series, and her first board book, No School for Me! (Change is Hard), part of the Chicken Soup for the Babies’ Soul series. Her most popular book Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2014), was a Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selection. Natasha has also released three books with Disney and Disney/Pixar, and enjoys delving into facts, research, and cultural diversity for nonfiction projects such as the picture book Lunar New Year (Words & Pictures, Quarto Books, 2023), and children's magazines, "Highlights for Children", "Appleseeds", "Faces", and "Muse". Natasha’s upcoming book Luna Picks a Lucky Dumpling (Charlesbridge Publishing) will be out in May 2026. She discovered her first two agents by unconventional means. She parted ways with her first agent amicably after 8 years together, and found her 2nd agent after a year and a half of querying. When the latter decided to step away from agenting, she was back in the querying trenches. Natasha has recently signed with a new agent. She’ll share the ups and downs of querying, overcoming writer’s angst, and her tips for staying the course.

Nadia Salomon is the award-winning author of the acclaimed title, A VOICE OF HOPE: THE MYRLIE EVERS WILLIAMS STORY. It is the first picture book biography ever written about the iconic civil rights activist. It has garnered a SCBWI Crystal Kite Honor Award, the 2025 BCALA, SLJ Children and Youth Literary Award, a 2025 Notable Social Studies Trade Book Award, a 2025 Bank Street Best Book Award, and two starred reviews from SLJ and the Horn Book. Her bedtime picture book, GOODNIGHT GANESHA, is also an award-winning title. It is a Bank Street Best Book, ALSC DIA Selection, and #NCTEWow Poetry Honor book. Her picture book, A RAKHI FOR RAKESH, is a heart-warming sibling story set against the summer holiday, Raksha Bandhan. She writes on themes of South Asian and Caribbean culture, STEM, nonfiction, and humor. Nadia holds a journalism degree from Emerson College. She’s a “Pit-mad” Success story. After a year of querying agents without success, she took a chance at twitter pitching and landed a super-agent. Seven years and three successful books later, they parted ways. Nadia is currently back in the trenches searching for a second agent. She will share her experience and offer guidance on how to leap back into the querying arena without fear.

Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is the award-winning author of eleven novels. Her writing has been optioned for television and received international praise for its cinematic imagery and suspenseful plots. Her thrillers have been translated into five languages. She’s an English Literature alum from UC Berkeley, a SCBWI volunteer, and a writing coach. It took Jennifer four manuscripts to land an agent and publish her first novel. Seven books later, they parted ways. Back in the query trenches, it took two manuscripts to land her second agent. They have a stellar partnership and have published three books together, with two more in the wings. Jennifer will share her experiences and insights about this process. Jennifer lives in Tennessee with her husband and a cat with a misspelled name.