Critique-a-Palooza 2026

Get professional feedback on your manuscript or illustration portfolio from an agent, editor, or art director who works in children's publishing!

We've lined up 6 editors, 5 agents, and 1 art director. You can choose from the following options:

LIVE GROUP CRITIQUE SESSIONS OVER ZOOM

$60 member price / $85 non-member price

Held every Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sat from June 2nd to 20th.

Writers: Bring a complete picture book up to 1,000 words, the first 1,000 words of your novel, or a 1,000-word query or pitch. Illustrators: Bring a complete picture book dummy (PDF format) or an illustration portfolio that includes up to 20 illustrations (in a single, multi-page PDF). Your work will be read aloud, and the faculty member will offer a verbal critique. Each participant will have 15 minutes, and each session will last just over 2 hours, featuring a total of 8 live critiques. Your manuscript would be due one week prior to your live session, in a Google folder sent to you by email.

*168 live critique spots available*

Limit TWO per attendee

ATTEND GROUP CRITIQUE SESSION AS A VIEWER ONLY

$10 member price / $20 non-member price

There will also be 6 non-participating viewer spots available per session. You can often learn just as much, if not more, from someone else's critique as you can learn from your own.

*6 seats available per session*

Limit TWO per attendee

WRITTEN CRITIQUES

$75 member price / $100 non-member price

Writers: submit a complete picture book manuscript, up to 10 pages of a middle-grade or young adult novel, one complete picture book dummy, or up to 10 pages of a graphic novel, following our Manuscript Formatting Guidelines. Illustrators: submit a PDF illustration portfolio consisting of up to 10 total pages and up to 20 individual illustrations, with a file size up to 10 MB. Files must be received via our Google form by June 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Our faculty members will provide written feedback using official SCBWI critique forms, which our volunteers will email back to you by July 1, 2026.

*60 written critiques available*

Limit ONE per attendee

SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITY

All 12 faculty members will remain open to queries from any and all Critique-a-Palooza participants through October 31, 2026. Limit: one submission per faculty member.

YES you may sign up for two live critique sessions AND two silent observer sessions AND one written critique, depending on availability.

NOTE: All registrations are final. If your manuscript is not received by the deadline, your registration fee may be forfeit.

AGENTS

Rob Broder, Literary Manager, Martin-Newens Literary Management

While selling chocolate in New England, Rob had the idea of starting a children’s picture book publishing company. Learning everything from the ground up, he founded Ripple Grove Press, which went on to publish award-winning and starred reviewed books. After reading hundreds of picture books and thousands of submissions, Rob began writing his own stories. His work has been published by Simon & Schuster, Sasquatch / Little Bigfoot, and Blue Star Press, and he has collaborated with Patagonia on their first two picture books as both author and developmental editor. Rob served on the Board of the Independent Book Publishers Association and has a Certificate of Public Librarianship from the Vermont Department of Libraries. He is a picture book consultant and has ghostwritten picture books that went onto publishing success. Rob has given lectures on publishing and has been on discussion panels with SCBWI. He facilitates a workshop titled “Naturally Distracted,” about ADHD and creative writing.

Analia Cabello, Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Analía is an Associate Agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She has been with ABLA since 2021, assisting Kelly Sonnack in championing a diverse list of authors and illustrators. Before that, she was an editorial assistant at Candlewick Press and interned at several literary agencies. Authors and illustrators were her childhood celebrities; now, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to cheer them on and support them in a professional capacity.

Carter Hasegawa, Agent, Tugeau 2 Art & Literary

Carter Hasegawa (he/him) has been in the children’s book world for over 20 years—as a book seller for various indies across the US, as an editor at Candlewick Press, and now, as a literary agent with Tugeau 2 Art and Literary Agency. “The thing I’ve always loved about children’s literature,” he says, “is that beyond the sheer range of incredible stories, it’s always served as a sort of testing ground for me: of new ideas, of new experiences, of new viewpoints, of emotional extremes.” Some of his favorite books include WATERCRESS, MY PAPI HAS A MOTORCYCLE, BIG, TAR BEACH, WEDNESDAY WARS, ENDER’S GAME, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD, and SO MANY others. Originally from Seattle, Carter now lives in Boston with his librarian wife and their two young sons.

Sally M. Kim, Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Sally M. Kim is an associate agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency based in San Francisco, CA. She represents a wide range of children’s book authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators of picture books through middle grade. Sally is drawn to stories with a distinct voice, unexpected wit, aggressive pacing, punchy and/or emotionally resonant endings. When it comes to illustration, she gravitates to traditional mediums and is always on the lookout for versatile artists with a unique take on color, texture, perspective, and thoughtful details. Sally is especially eager to see authentic explorations of underrepresented cultures, relationships, and identities.

Paula Weiman, Literary Agent, ASH Literary

Paula Weiman (they/them) joined the ASH Literary team in 2023 as an agent after a career in literary scouting and educational publishing. Based in New York and with a background in translation rights, they bring an international approach to selling their clients’ work. They represent authors and illustrators across a wide range of children’s categories, from picture book through young adult, as well as speculative fiction and illustration for adult audiences. Their goal is to help as many children as possible to see their experiences represented on the page for the first time. Paula is a member of the American Association of Literary Agents and a 2025 Literary Agents of Change mentee.

EDITORS

Bobbie Bensur, Editor-at-Large, Paw Prints Publishing & Dover Publications

Bobbie Bensur is a writer and book-publishing professional with nearly twenty years of experience across the children’s publishing landscape. She previously held roles at Penguin Random House, Barefoot Books, and Nicholas Brealey Publishing. She currently serves as Editor-at-Large for Paw Prints Publishing, which she co-founded in 2022, and consults for presses including Marble Press and Dover Books. A former Publishing Fellow and Teaching Artist at The Telling Room in Portland, Maine, she holds a BFA from Emerson College and an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. She has written and ghostwritten multiple children’s books and is currently developing a YA novel and a collection of literary short stories. She lives in Midcoast Maine with her family.

Adam Blackman, Editor, Cardinal Rule Press

Adam is the Acquisitions Editor for picture books for Cardinal Rule Press. A former bookstore manager and nonprofit director, Adam earned his MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has written for both adults and children. He also works with writers on a freelance basis to shape and shine their stories. An active member of Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and regular presenter at writing conferences, Adam lives in a hutch in Brooklyn, NY with his tween son and seriously adolescent bunny. www.adamdblackman.com.

Ainslie Campbell-Schwartz, Associate Editor, Candlewick Press

Ainslie Campbell-Schwartz is an Associate Editor at Candlewick Press, where over the past 7 years she has worked with authors and illustrators such as Jon Klassen, Mac Barnett, M. T. Anderson, Carson Ellis, Marcella Pixley, Ross Montgomery, and more. With previous experience at Da Capo Press, Hachette, and elsewhere, Ainslie is passionate about uplifting diverse voices in children's literature and creating books for kids that show them the magic in the world.

Allison Cohen, Senior Editor, Running Press / Hachette Book Group

Allison Cohen (she/her) is a Senior Editor at Running Press Kids based in the Philadelphia office. She acquires fiction and nonfiction in the picture book and young adult space, in addition to select MG nonfiction. Her acquisitions include Ellen Poe: The Forgotten Lore by Diana Petefreund; My Afro is a Rising Sun by Yaram Yahu; How to Spot a Fairy by Sarah Glenn Marsh; The Junior Plant Lover’s Handbook by Molly Williams; 13 Days of Summer by Stephanie Kate Strohm; and The Invisible Wild by Nikki Van De Car, to name a few. Prior to joining Running Press Kids, she was a literary agent and represented both adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction.

Emma Hintzen, Editor, Sourcebooks eXplore

Emma Hintzen is an editor for Sourcebooks eXplore, a children’s nonfiction imprint of Sourcebooks. She loves books that don’t underestimate their readers and are as entertaining as they are educational; she works on a wide range of topics, from birds to biographies to black holes and beyond. When she’s not editing or reading, Emma can be found cooking, watching British panel shows, and spending time outside in almost any weather. She lives in Michigan with her husband and their big red dog.

Sarah Rockett, Senior Editor, Sleeping Bear Press and Tilbury House Publishing

Sarah Rockett has been working in the children's publishing industry for more than fifteen years and truly believes that picture books have the power to change the world. She loves traveling, spending time outdoors, and making her way through her ever-growing TBR pile. She lives in Michigan with her husband, son, and lazy cocker spaniel.

ART DIRECTOR

Maeve Norton, Art Director, Scholastic

Maeve Norton considers herself a visual storyteller, in more ways than one. By day, she is an Art Director for middle grade and young adult novels at Scholastic where she spearheads the design of Goosebumps, Baby-Sitters Club and best-selling novels by authors Brian Selznick, Kelly Andrew, Ann Liang, Ryan La Sala and many more. When not bringing other people’s stories to life Maeve is illustrating, hand lettering, map making, designing and storytelling in a world of her own. Born in the greater Boston area, Maeve moved to New York to study illustration at Pratt Institute and has been captivated by the city ever since. Her work as an Art Director and illustrator is shaped by the transformative power of story in the foundation of childhood. She hopes to bring some levity, and empathy, to the world with each page turn.