I’m so excited about the 2023 PBParty contest! Check out the details here.
See the participating agents & editors here. Wahooooooo!

Last year, past PBParty participants offered lots of critiques & Zooms to help those of you getting ready for PBParty make your strongest manuscript dazzle even brighter. I’m collecting donations now, and we already have 20 amazing prizes! I can’t wait to share the Rafflecopter giveaway with you soon. If you’re an agented or traditionally published writer or author/illustrator and would like to donate a prize, here’s a Google form you can use. I’ll give extra entries on Rafflecopter for following each generous donor on Twitter. 🙂 And yes…you can donate a prize if you’re published (or under contract) but not agented…and plan to enter the 2023 PBParty contest.

Finalists from last year said the critique giveaways were a huge help! I wish I could give one to everyone…but there is one other thing that worked fantastic last year that I can offer ALL of you…ranking parties!!!! I always see participants wonder which manuscript they should submit. This can help you choose! Plus, the PB Ranking Party could also help you figure out which manuscript to send if you win a critique.

In 2022, I used a Google form to create the ranking parties. This year, we have the fabulous PBParty Participant Facebook group…so I’ve started threads for various types of groups on there. Judge/Ninja Superstar Sylvia and I will be there to help guide you. 4 – 5 members in each group tends to work well–and it’s great to be with others who know your categories well.

Here are direct links to the groups…choose the one that’s best for you!

Fiction PBs * Humorous and Lyrical PBs * Humorous PBs * SEL PBs * Fiction & Nonfiction writers * Nonfiction, Informational Fiction & STEM PBs * Nonfiction PBs * Rhyming PBs * Author/Illustrators

Groups can start as soon as they’re formed…sign up for one by Friday, February 10 at 11:59 pm. If you’re not on Facebook and would like me to put you in touch with a group, please leave your info in the comments–including the genres of your strongest PBs.

Each group is welcome to tweak the rules, but here are some suggested guidelines…

• Try to return the rankings within a week. Please let people know if you need longer than that.
• It helps to send the entire picture book…but mark where the 70 word PBParty entry will end. Some manuscripts seem strong, but don’t have a beginning that grabs attention as much as others. But…there may be a way to streamline and give the opening extra oomph (which is why it’s better to examine the full manuscript vs. the sample)
• Rank each manuscript from 1 (this is AWESOME) to 5 (this isn’t ready for the contest…yet). Sharing some brief notes on each would be wonderful. It’s up to each group if they’d like to include more than that.
• If possible, it would be wonderful to give a full critique on the manuscript you believe is the strongest from each person you swap with. A person might receive critiques on several different manuscripts if group members don’t all select the same one. Here’s a PB Critique Group Checklist that can help strengthen your critique.
• It would be good to send the query blurb as well (or the entire query). It’s up to each group to decide. But it’s just as important to get your query critiqued as it is to get feedback on a manuscript. All queries in the final round will be professional and ready to dazzle agents, editors…and the PBParty judges, too!
• New this year on the entry form is: What inspired you to write this story…and what do you have in common with the story or main character? (We’re going to share this in the final entries–some people forget to show an emotional connection to a manuscript in a query and we want to make sure your connection shines). This can be up to 100 words. It would be great to include this as well during the ranking party, since editors and agents will see this for all finalists.
• When ranking, it’s good to keep in mind not only the strength of a manuscript, but how marketable it is. Which ones will truly stand out in the crowded PB market? If you want, you can give two ranks–one according to the strength of the story itself, and another for marketability. (We have to pass over so many wonderful entries each year because they don’t stand out enough from the others.)

Ranking parties will also be helpful if you make it into the final round and receive requests for additional manuscripts from agents and editors.

If anyone who participated in the ranking parties last year would like to share tips…we’d love to see them in the comments and in the Facebook group! I love that some of you continue to swap feedback…and hope that magic happens again this year, too.

I hope the upcoming giveaways and PB Ranking Party will help your manuscripts and entries dazzle! We can’t wait to read them.