Apply for The Verge
Industry Engagement Day
Publishing industry professionals will respond in real-time to pitches for picture books, novels, and long-form nonfiction, giving writers valuable insight into what's working and how they can sharpen their pitch.
Online event - July
Writers submit a book pitch and get live feedback from top literary agents and editors.
cost
💡 faculty may be subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.
$250 for Non-Members with a Pitch
$185 for CTC Members with a Pitch
$175 Without a Pitch
Picture Book Palooza II
Shulokhana Khan
Assistant Editor, Scholastic Inc.
Shulokhana Khan is on the 0-8 team at Scholastic with a primary focus on picture books and board books. She is particularly interested in books with strong voices that are funny, empowering, dark, or touching, with special interest in the variety of BIPOC experiences.
Manuscript Wishlist ✨
Laugh-out-loud books with strong series potential
Picture books with BIPOC characters that aren't solely about the experience of being ''other''.
Books that riff off familiar stories but with a twist.
More independent kid MCs that drive the plot and fewer well-meaning adults doling out lessons, please!
Quirky and funny author-illustrated picture books that unveil new depths on each reread
Interested in:
PB
Analia Cabello
Assoc. Literary Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
AnalÃa 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.
Manuscript Wishlist ✨
Check it out here
Interested in: PB/MG/YA
Kelly Thomas
Literary Agent, Serendipity Literary Agency
Kelly is a literary agent at the Serendipity Literary Agency, a published poet, and a certified copy editor with a bachelor’s degree in English from Pace University. She is a member of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWFT), Women in Film (WIF), the Editorial Freelance Association (EFA), and the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), where she sits on the Copyright Committee. Kelly is also a ghostwriter and developmental editor, as well as a screenwriter with a feature-length film in development. Prior to joining Serendipity Literary Agency, Kelly provided manuscript analysis for the D4EO Literary Agency. She has served as an editor for the literary arts magazine Pen & Brush and as a writing coach for the academic consulting company Brattlestreet.
Manuscript Wishlist ✨
In picture books, Kelly is looking for authentic stories with heart and humor. It’s important
that the story explores a meaningful theme or takeaway without becoming didactic or preachy. She has a soft spot for picture books centered around animals.
In MG and YA, Kelly is looking for contemporary fiction and nonfiction with realistic
settings and dynamic characters. She is open to magical realism with clearly defined magic, but
dense world-building, overly intricate lore, high fantasy, and overly complex magic systems are not the right fit for Kelly.
She is on the lookout for chilling, edgy YA horror, particularly stories involving serial killers, vigilantes, or twisted moral dilemmas. Kelly would also love a manuscript
centered around fierce female archetypes.
Interested in:
PB/MG/YA
