Picture Books, with editor Kelly Barrales-Saylor, Winter 2026
January 29th, 2026 - March 20th, 2026
with Kelly Barrales-Saylor
At the group start, writers will submit three pitches. Kelly will give written feedback on your pitches. No peer critiques in this round.
Then, writers will submit one picture book for feedback from Kelly and their peers. For writers who have taken our workshops in the past, it's the same as what you are used to seeing––the group critiques each other's work during the same timeframe Kelly is writing her notes for you. We conclude this feedback session with a debrief call. The call is longer in this group in case you'd like to discuss pitches, too.
<p>You may register for one picture book workshop in winter season. If there is extra space 1 month ahead of the workshop start (6 weeks for multi-round groups), you may register for another.</p>
Notes
Who this workshop is for: <p>This workshop is an advanced group. You must be an Inked Voices member, and you must meet one of the following for this advanced group: 1) picture book traditionally published or under contract; 2) agented (or previously agented in the past 3 years); or 3) querying and getting requests for additional PB manuscripts. (limited spots available for this category)</p>
Focus: Children's - Picture Books - Fiction - Children's - Picture…
Group size: 8 writers
Submissions: <p>Submit one fiction picture book under 900 words; nonfiction or informational fiction should be under 1550 words including backmatter. If your backmatter runs longer, please submit the headers for sections that are not included and omit your bibliography. </p>
Fee
Members: $210; Non-members: $260
About Kelly Barrales-Saylor
new children’s imprint. For the previous 8 years, she served as the
editorial director of Sourcebooks eXplore, a children's nonfiction
division of Sourcebooks. She has acquired and published hundreds of
books throughout her career, including series such as Baby University by
Chris Ferrie as well as numerous New York Times bestsellers like P Is
for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, and Maria Beddia, and
hilarious nonfiction titles like Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle. Kelly's
goal is to publish books that affect people’s lives in a positive way by
making them laugh, helping them learn something new, or just creating
shared moments at bedtime. When she’s not working, Kelly can be found
cooking, gardening, reading celebrity memoirs, or watching the Chicago
Sky or da Bears.
Schedule:
- Thurs, Jan 29 - Submissions due (submit 3 pitches)
- Fri, Feb 6 - Pitch feedback due (only Kelly)
- Tues, Feb 17 - Submissions due (1 full PB manuscript)
- Tues, Mar 10 - Critiques due
- Tues, Mar 17, 12pm-2:45pm ET - Debrief call (18 min per writer)
- Fri, Mar 20 - Group closes