Thank you to every writer and author/illustrator who put themselves out there and entered PBParty. The judges and I loved reading your entries. You made us laugh, cry, think, and learn all kinds of new things. We can’t wait for your books to be out in the world!

Huge thanks to the Dream Team of Judges who made this all possible with their hard work and dedication.

Sylvia Chen * Gabriele Davis * Aixa Perez-Prado * Marietta Apollonio * Brittany Pomales * Layton Scarbrough * Jenna Waldman 

Thanks to Melissa Escobar for the amazing PBParty contest graphics!

I’m grateful for Molly Ippolito updating my website. She was patient, professional and helpful! If you’re looking for a new or revamped website, contact Molly! Pssst…she has other services for authors, like teaching guides, classroom visit resources, launch party prep, plus blog, social media and author branding.

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The 2024 PBParty contest will start earlier next year to make sure agents and editors have plenty of time to browse and request before Bologna starts. It’s never too early to prepare! If you’re seeking a new critique group, Callie B. Dean offered to coordinate them again. I’m still hearing raves about the Ranking Parties and Advanced Finalist Critique Groups. Thanks, Callie!

Any PB creative can request a group–whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, agented or multi-published. Fill out this form by April 27 and we’ll do our best to place you in a great group that submits every two weeks, monthly, quarterly, or as needed.

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I’ll share some PBParty stats at the bottom. It’s been an incredible year! The showcase will be up a little while longer if you’d like to take a look. It’s a masterclass in fantastic queries, stunning story samples, and incredible illustrations. It also shows how important the author’s connection is…it brought a whole new level to many of the entries!

The judges and I absolutely LOVE helping make dreams come true through the PBParty contest…but it’s not the only way to get published. Not having your title here doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Or great. Your YES might be a query or two away! Or possibly after working on craft and adding more polished, ready-to-submit manuscripts, you’ll hit the jackpot in PBParty 2025. Keep writing, revising, illustrating, working on craft…and I KNOW your yes will come.

Take a deep breath, because it’s finally time to celebrate the 2024 PBParty Honorable Mentions! Those of you on the list…look for an e-mail from me in the next day or so. It will include badges and a link to a form to fill out if you applied for the PB Rising Stars mentorship, so they’ll know you won a PBParty honorable mention. 🙂

Honorable Mentions with at least 3 yeses that made it to the duke-it-out Zoom!

*These are all in random order*

The Good Cry
Viking Pancakes Go Bonkers
Who’s There?
Take Me Out to the Compost
When You’re a Sock
Snowman and Harry: No Ordinary Friendship
Free From Hunger – Yuan Longping and His Incredible Rice
The Phobia Club
Space Ninja: How Peggy Whitson Worked Her Way Into Orbit
Saving Fluffy: The True Story of a Great White Shark
A Perfect Present For Nani Ma
Flint The Flying Fly

Entries that made it to the duke-it-out Zoom for the Illustration Showcase

Brother of Mine
The Queen of Cakes: Sylvia Weinstock’s Rise To Fame
Watch Out, Noah!
Unstoppable Little Joe
Alphabears: A Collection of Alphabet Haiku’s
Little Will
Finley and Fox
Lou Flies Low
Ben’s Star
Carmel Corn (Subtitle: Against the Grain)
Dumb Dung Beetle

Here are the rest of the Honorable Mentions for the Final Showcase

Chapatis Are Globe Trotters
Moina’s Garden
Colin’s Faabulous Fleece
Little Star
Napoleon Hates Me
Fushi, the Foodie
A Heart Beats Home: A Songbird’s Journey
Abby & the 22 Flavors
So It Goes
Red Rocks, Rhythm, and Rock & Roll: A History of the Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre

Betsy Beaver the Baker
Failure Party
Shark Ate the Dentist
Two By Two: A World War II Friendship Story
The Future Library
A Heart For Eli
Long Live the Fluffernutter
Dodge
Together Tea
The Library Club

Daddy’s Little Sport
Crayfish versus Hellbender: Duel in the Food Chain
Kill Them with Kindness
Peter and the Whisk
The Chicken Coop Scoop
My Wishing Stone
A Scarecrow For All Seasons
Planting Coral: Saving Titouan Bernicot’s Lagoon
Rise of an Underdog
It is MY New Year’s Day!

That Library Smell
Saving Lives With Beehives: How Scientists Save Elephants With a Little Buzz
Pants
In Case of Emergency, Plant this Book
Lady Liberty
Let’s Sail the Open Seas!
Didi’s Smile.
Sweetness On A Snowy Day
Go Away Drip Drop Day
Inessa’s Beginning

Strong, Fast, and Hungry!
A Vampire Cannot Be a Pirate
Just Like the Rain
The Pirate Poetry Club
Fritz and Moose, On the Loose!
The Boy and His Motorbike – The Story of Moin Khan, a Biker from Pakistan
The Birthday Problem
Bette Makes the World Better: Bette Midler’s Mission to Clean and Green New York
Growing Memories With Grandma
Silence

Gabi And The Garden Of Hope
Good Luck, Puck!
The Rise and Fall of the Great Balloon Race
Making Strides: Julia Chase-Brand, Women’s Distance-Running Trailblazer
Railroadin’ Harry
The Unicorn Stands Guard: How a Medieval Building Grew on a New York City Hilltop
Are You My Tree?
My Desert Climbing Adventure
Little Sax, the Ghost: The (Almost) True Story of the Inventor of the Saxophone
A Toe-Tapping Tale of A Dancing Highland Cow

Akiko’s Piano: Playing for Peace
What the World Kneads
You Must Agree This Isn’t…Fun!
The Faraway School
The Garden Keeps Giving
Two New Pets
What Earl Knows
Monsieur Flambé
The Teether and the Toddler: A Frightful, Biteful Night
A Maybe One Day Home

Umami Mama
The Day The House Moved
Pushing Back the Sea
Trick or Treat? The Not-So-Honest Animals
My Sis and I
Smooth Moves: Birds That Dance For Love
When You Hold a Grudge
Please Check!
Chispa of Hope: How Students Led the Fight for Fair School Funding
Newton’s Spectacular Flight

Finding Quiet Through City Noise
Red Shouldered Hawk
Do You Have A Special Space?
Lava Cricket Isn’t Worried
The Plastic Bag
How to be President
Marigold
Grandma’s Morning Dance
Dilly Like A Lily
Wanda’s Waggle

Oranges To Apples
The Little Girl Who Took Her Time Everywhere
Rusty And Purrl: The Pot Pie Cat-tastrophe
Halmoni’s Treasures
The Prairie-Chicken Shimmy
No Locomotives Allowed! Building the Tom Thumb, the First American-made Locomotive
Centurion
Searching For Home
A Panda For Bear
Too Many Grands

Amelia And Gigi Go For Gold
The Great Hanukkah Adventure
Mr. Henry and the Unexpected Guest
There’s a Bear Somewhere
Hero’s Here to Work
Enough To Share
Leela Lights The Way
Because of Love
A Gift for the Hoopoe
Drink Gentle Friends

Mission for Sugar
Sasha’s Big Red Gloves
Bea’s Blue Heart
Honk, Honk, Cherito.
Lena Maria’s Birthday Tortilla

Author/Illustrator Honorable Mentions for both text and illustration

Trashie
My New Pet Friend
Maa Maa’s Garden Carnival
Space Dragon
Square-By-Square In Our Saturday Chair
Lutie’s Time-Outside
THE GIRL WHO SOLD THE WORLD
Slow Down, Hummingbird
My Friend Lion: A Cautionary Tale
Diya Finds Her Glow
Firefly & Cricket

Author/Illustrator Honorable Mentions for the Illustration Showcase

Mimic
Grandad’s Shimmer
All of My Love
Rock Band
Bear Turn’s: A Midwinter’s Tale
Morning Walk
I Am Just a Mail Truck
Shine, Little Moon
Esme, Herself
A Night at the Amphibian Amphitheater

Pass The Pajamas
Without the Pupfish
Scaredy Finn
Frog and the Paper Boat
That’s What I Said, Red!
Bertie
All the Babies in Boston
The Bundle Of Happiness
Blip in the Deep, Dark Sea

Author/Illustrator Honorable Mentions for the sample and query

The South Pole Travel Agency
The Neighbor Train
Cinderella Caterpillar: A Monarch Tale
Baby Beaver’s Moon
River in the Sky: Journey of an Atmospheric River
Mia’s Secret Dragon

Wahoooooooooo! Huge congrats. 🎉

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I’m happy dancing with those who are celebrating, and sending hugs and cyber chocolate to those who need it. (((Hugs))) I know how you feel. I’ve been there. This business is such a roller coaster. I’m hoping all the PBParty prep helped take your manuscripts and queries to the next level–and that your magical YES will come soon.

Maybe your next picture book will be the one that dazzles agents and editors! For some incentive, you can join the PBParty New Draft Challenge & Critique Train that started on Thursday and ends Saturday night at midnight. Write a new draft, hop on the Critique Train doc to add your name and receive a critique from the passenger above you and give one to the person below you. You can send the new manuscript…or a different picture book you’d like fresh eyes on.

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PBParty Stats!

I’m so grateful to every agent and editor who took time out of their busy schedules to browse the finalists and Illustration Showcase. There were 55 finalists and 25 in the Illustration Showcase out of almost 1100 entries.

We had 396 requests from agents, editors and art directors. Wahoooo!

So far, I know 4 finalists who signed with PBParty agents. Offers, Zoom chats, R&Rs, and requests for additional manuscripts/dummies are flying, so I KNOW there will be tons more to celebrate soon. I can’t wait to cheer for all the magical matches that happen.

If you want to know more about the genre stats for entries and finalists, let me know and I’ll pull them together when I can.

One thing that stood out to me is the number of finalists who said they didn’t make it into PBParty for a year or more. They studied past finalists, worked on craft, found new critique groups or critique partners. Some wrote their PBParty entries within the past few months. They really thought about the types of stories they were meant to write… and magic happened!

A round of applause for ALL of you for putting yourself out there. I truly believe it helps get you at least one step closer to your goal. Here’s hoping for lots of future yeses for all of us. And TONS of celebrations. I can’t wait to do this again next year!