Apply for The Verge
Industry Engagement Day
When you sign up for Industry Engagement Day, you get your YES or NO, plus pitch feedback, from three industry pros all at once.
Live pitch panels are available for picture books, novels, and long-form nonfiction.
Your ticket also includes:
- the Write Match Method Bundle, a 3-step training to get your pitch submission-ready (a $99 value)
- post-event submission opportunities with all agents and editors on faculty.
Online event - OCTOBER
Live Pitches. Real-time Feedback. Join us Saturday, October 24th.
cost
$185 for CTC MEMBERS
$270 General PUBLIC
Faculty Roster
Picture Book Palooza II Faculty
Novels & Longform
Faculty
Market Insights Faculty
Critique-Only Faculty
OCTOBER IED HOMEPAGE
Picture Book Palooza I
Faculty
Please note that faculty is subject to change. TWB makes every attempt to keep changes to a minimum, but faculty are contractor humans and sometimes the unexpected happens. Thanks for your understanding.
OCTOBER IED FAQS
Anjanette Barr
Literary Agent, Dunham LITERARY
🔎 INTERESTED IN PB/MG/YA
Miranda Paul
Author & Agent, Aevitas Creative
🔎 INTERESTED IN PB/MG/YA
Katherine Easter
Senior Acquisitions EDItor, ZOnderkidz & DaySPRING KIDS
🔎 INTERESTED IN PB/MG
Picture Book Palooza I Faculty
Anjanette Barr
Literary Agent, Dunham Literary, INC
Literary Agent Anjanette Barr joined Dunham Literary in April of 2022. She brings twenty years of writing, editing, and educating to her client relationships and has found that agenting is the perfect way to synthesize her interests and talents.
Anjanette lives with her family of six in Juneau Alaska, and holds a certificate in Literary Representation from UCLA Extension and a B.A. in Japanese Studies from William Jewell College. She represents authors and illustrators in all genres and age categories. Member of AALA.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
👉 Anjanette's Manuscript Wishlist
Miranda Paul
Author & Agent, Aevitas Creative Agency
Miranda Paul joined Erin Murphy Literary Agency in 2019, and Aevitas Creative Management in 2025. Miranda represents a range of projects in fiction and nonfiction, with a heavy focus on writing and illustration for childrens and teens, and gravitates towards books that include science, nature, or global themes. In addition to agenting, Miranda is the award-winning author of more than two dozen books for children including One Plastic Bag (illus. Elizabeth Zunon), Speak Up (ill. Ebony Glenn), and Water is Water (illus. Jason Chin).
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Open to all genres, categories, and ages (including works for adult and illustrators). Especially looking for author-illustrators, works that use humor, voice, unique formats, or incredible storytelling to tell a true story or impart information to a reader. For children's books, books that would be selected and beloved by a child (and also the grown-up who gave it to them). Love books that feel like they're "more than a book" and could change the world for the better as well as a great story that makes your belly laugh and your heart sing.
Katherine Easter
Senior Acquisitions Editor, Zonderkidz and DaySpring Kids
Katherine Easter has worked in children’s publishing for 13 years, acquiring and editing award-winning picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction and nonfiction. She joined HarperCollins Christian Publishing in 2018, acquiring and editing books such as the New York
Times-bestselling picture book Did Your Mother Ever Tell You? and The Roach King of Raleigh, which was named one of Amazon's Best Teen & Young Adult Books of 2026 So Far. Katherine also serves as the editorial lead on multiple bestselling brands including Hey-O! Stories of the Bible, The Berenstain Bears Living Lights, and The Beginner’s Bible. She has her B.S. in English Literature from Central Michigan University and is a graduate of the University of Denver Publishing Institute.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I acquire Christian children's books, all formats, for ages 0-18. I also acquire a smaller number of general market picture books and middle grade novels.
Syrone Harvey
junior literary agent, belcastro agency
As a Junior Literary Agent with the Belcastro Agency, Syrone is an impassioned literary professional and is dedicated to supporting authors at every step of their writing journey.
Her committment is personal. As a published children’s book author, she knows the sheer joy of crafting a story that touches the soul.
With her sharp editorial eye and a keen sense for market trends, Syrone is the ultimate guide for authors navigating the ever-changing landscape of publishing. She believes that every story is unique, one-of-a-kind and a voice to be heard.
She lives in Southern California with her husband, a chatty parrot and two ornery furbabies.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I’m eagerly seeking picture book, middle grade and young adult and adult fiction manuscripts. Currently I’m focused on finding stories with strong diverse and multi-cultural voices. I am drawn to picture books filled with humor, whimsy, make-me-giggle storytelling. In MG fiction, YA fiction, graphic novels, I’m looking for strong, distinct voices, multi-dimensional characters, compelling stories of friendships, coming-of-age, emotional angst, family saga. With Adult fiction I am seeking unique stories with strong characters that boldly refect and mirror this thing called life.
Emily Keyes
Agent / Keyes Agency LLC
Emily Keyes is the founder of Keyes Agency, LLC. She was previously a literary agent at Fuse Literary and L. Perkins Agency. Before that, she was a Contracts Administrator at Simon & Schuster for five years. In 2008, she graduated from New York University’s Center for Publishing. Emily lives in Brooklyn but she can usually be found spending too much time on the internet.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I mostly handle kidlit (PB through YA). I am particularly looking for genre YA and funny PBs at the moment. I also work on select adult genre projects (such as SFF and horror)
Catherine Laudone
Senior Editor, beach lane books
Catherine Laudone is a senior editor at Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. She currently serves as an editor faculty advisor for The Writing Barn’s Verge program and an advanced workshop leader for Inked Voices. Catherine has her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a published children’s book author. Her co-authored picture book debut She Kept Dancing: The True Story of a Professional Dancer with a Limb Difference is an NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book Award winner, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, a 2025 WLA Towner Award nominee, and a 2026-2027 Florida Orange Blossom Award nominee. Her debut middle grade novel, Goalball Dreamers, will be published in Fall 2027. Learn more at catherinelaudone.com.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I acquire picture books and middle grade featuring underrepresented voices with a special focus on stories with neurodivergent and disabled main characters. Across the board, I love stories about intergenerational relationships, family, friendship, community, identity, and the joy and wonder of being a child. Specifically for picture books, I am looking for “modern classics”—character-driven stories with lots of heart and a fresh spin on timeless themes. I love twist endings and characters that make you laugh or cry. For illustrations, I am drawn to cozy art with a commercial appeal. For nonfiction, I am looking for biographies featuring positive role models and untold real-life legends with a strong kid-accessible hook, and narrative nonfiction with environmental and STEM tie-ins. I am not the best fit for picture books with potty humor or for super meta picture book concepts. For middle grade, I am primarily looking for coming-of-age stories with distinct voices and a high concept premise. I will consider mysteries as well. I am open to middle grade nonfiction, if the topic has a unique STEM tie-in or a big hook in general. I am also open to realistic young middle grade graphic novels with themes and illustration styles ala Shannon Hale’s Real Friends series, Alexis Castellanos’ Isla to Island, and Maggie Edkins Willis’ Smaller Sister.
Jackie Garcia-Morales
literary Agent, Storm Literary
🔎 INTERESTED IN PB/MG/YA
Renée Jarvis
Agent, Triangle House LiterarY
🔎 PB/MG/YA
Alexandra Hightower
Senior EDItor, LBYR/HBG
🔎 INTERESTED IN MG/YA
Novels & Longform Faculty
Jackie Garcia-Morales
associate literary agent, storm literary Agency
Jackie Garcia-Morales is a Puerto Rican author, literary agent, and publishing professional. At Storm Literary Agency, she serves as an Associate Literary Agent and Foreign Rights Agent. She is the founder of the Catalyst Creators Scholarship for underrepresented student authors, and her debut novel exploring Boricua identity, PESKY ROOTS, publishes on Halloween 2026. A longtime advocate for greater representation in children’s literature, Jackie is a two-time member of the USBBY Outstanding International Books Committee, a USBBY New Jersey State Ambassador, and the founder of the forthcoming USBBY Latido Honor List, which celebrates Latino children’s and young adult literature. Her writing and commentary have appeared in Business Insider and Publishers Weekly. Learn more at jackiegarciamorales.com.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Right now, I’m especially hungry for hilarious, high-concept, high-stakes stories across picture books, illustrated projects, graphic novels, and middle grade. I love big personality, sharp comedic timing, absurdity, silliness, memorable character dynamics, and premises that are easy to pitch but impossible to forget. Across age categories, I’m drawn to stories with a strong voice, emotional depth, escalating stakes, and a compelling reason to keep turning the page, including mystery, psychological suspense, horror with heart, epic adventure, romance, and speculative elements. I also love working with multi-genre and multi-age authors who have the range to build a career across categories and forms. I’m especially excited by morally complicated characters, antiheroes, queer stories, women winning, unexpected soulmates, clever twists, STEM/STEAM, SEL, mindfulness and therapeutic tools, and lived experiences that have been historically underrepresented. Above all, I want stories with personality, heart, momentum, and a clear point of view, whether they make me laugh out loud, completely unnerve me, or leave me thinking about the characters long after I’ve finished.
Renée Jarvis
Agent, triangle house literary
Renée Jarvis is a literary agent and the contracts manager at Triangle House Literary. Born and raised in New York City, she graduated from Brooklyn College with a BFA in Creative Writing. Now an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, she previously worked as an assistant and agent at MacKenzie Wolf Literary, and spent two years as a writing teacher at the non-profit organization Legal Outreach.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Renée is seeking narrative nonfiction, adult speculative, upmarket, and literary fiction, and children’s books. She is looking for works that center POC and LGBTQIA+ voices and is particularly drawn to the work of Black writers across the African diaspora. In fiction, she loves robust plots, bold characters with a sense of humor, unique formats, stories that explore friendship and family, and lyrical prose. In children's books, she loves enlightenment, fun, and raw emotional exploration in a real and embodied manner that kids can learn from. In nonfiction, she is interested in pop culture analysis, cultural histories, linguistics, food writing, international stories, and explorations of music, fashion, and art.
Alexandra Hightower
Senior Editor, Little, brown books for young readers, hatchette book Group
An Atlanta native, Alexandra took a circuitous route to publishing. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in neuroscience, and then, realizing her passion lay closer to books, she pursued a Master’s degree in Publishing, Print and Digital Media from New York University. Currently, she is a Senior Editor at Little Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group) and is actively acquiring middle grade, young adult, and new adult titles. Highlights from her list include the Newbery Award winner Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson, Locus Award and Lambda Award finalist So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole, and the CSK Award winning picture book The Me I Choose to Be by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and Kahran and Regis Bethencourt. She is a PW Star Watch 2021 Honoree and a cofounder and committee head of Inkluded, a non profit championing diversity in the publishing industry.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Within young adult and crossover, I’m on the hunt for high concept, swoony romance/romcom that flips tropes and is packed with angst; trippy or subversive horror and speculative that sheds light on larger truths; and rule breaking fantasies with unconventional magic systems.
For middle grade, I enjoy both realistic stories with intergenerational family ties and complex friendships, as well as commercial adventures and fantasies with grand worlds, twisty plots, and slightly snarky, imperfect protagonists. I will also consider emotionally resonant and/or empowering stories on the cusp of literary and commercial with fresh and inclusive takes on family structures, sibling relationships, or inheritance and ancestry.
Lynnette Novak
Literary Agent, ThE SEymoUr Agency
🔎 INTERESTED IN PB/MG/YA
Ruqayyah Daud
Senior editor. lbyr/requited
🔎 INTERESTED IN MG/YA
Market Insights Faculty
Lynnette Novak
Literary Agent, The seymour Agency
Lynnette Novak has been a literary agent with The Seymour Agency for the past 9 years. Before that, she was a freelance editor for 17 years and a teacher. Lynnette loves helping writers figure out what's really happening in their writing and what to do about it.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I'd love to see:
PB: fiction only, non-rhyming
MG: horror, fantasy, contemporary, mystery
YA: horror, thriller, contemporary, fantasy
Ruqayyah Daud
senior editor, little, brown books for young Readers / Requited
Ruqayyah Daud is a senior editor LBYR/Requited. She works on all age categories particularly focusing on middle grade, young adult, and new adult. Her titles include the Newbery Honor Book, The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman, the New York Times bestselling Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, and the New York Times bestelling Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I am looking for humurous and heart felt middle grade with a macabre tone, similar to The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, Tim Burton, and Wednesday. In YA I am especially eager for thrillers! And in New Adult, I'd love more contemporary romance.
I remain excited about romantasy but am not prioritizing it at this time!
Amy Stern
Literary Agent Sheldon Fogelman Agency
Amy Stern majored in English and creative writing at Bryn Mawr College before getting master's degrees in children's literature and library and information sciences at Simmons. After completing grad school, she worked at bookstores and interned at a literary agency before coming to the Sheldon Fogelman Agency, where she has worked a variety of job titles for the past sixteen years. In that time, she has also served as a writing mentor and an adjunct children's lit professor, spoken at conferences, attended several comic conventions in a professional capacity, and watched an alarming amount of reality television.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
I'm interested in work that takes both its characters and its child readers seriously as people whose problems and emotions are valid. I think that can come in many forms: humorous or dramatic; fiction or nonfiction; graphic, poetry, or prose; the youngest picturebook to the oldest YA (please nothing new adult or older!). I'm not the best match for high fantasy, romance, or historical fiction, but if you can draw me into your world without too much visible world-building, I'm always happy to be convinced.
Angelica Busanet
Associate editor, abrams books
Angie Busanet (she/her) is an Associate Editor, working on a diverse array of board books, picture books, and graphic novels. Since joining Abrams in 2021, Angie has worked on projects such as the Mighty Marvel Team-Up early graphic novel series, the My Mighty Marvel First Book board book series, and the When Monsters Wake graphic novels. She adores children’s books across all age groups and formats, but she is passionate about graphic novels with a focus on YA and middle-grade contemporary, romance, horror, and IP/licensing. A native Nuyorican, Angie interned at First Second and studied at the City College of New York’s Publishing Program. In her free time, Angie can be found illustrating and crafting, starting up another Spotify playlist, or watching wrestling.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
YA contemporary GNs — slice-of-life, teen-issue driven, or emotional like Laura Dean or History of Everything. Also looking for funny and light-hearted, like Pumpkinheads.
YA low-fantasy GNs — leaning away from horror and supernatural to whimsical, magical settings.
YA or MG Horror GNs
YA historical fiction GNs
YA or middle-grade sports GNs—Wrestling, table tennis, swimming—anything competitive! I've been a sports manga /anime girlie for a very long while, and with the rise of Heated Rivalry, I'm looking forward to the rise of sports GNs!
Early reader GNs in general, but I would love to see an adventure story! A lot of early reader GNs are heavily humor-based, and while this can have humor, I would love a more adrenaline-pumping story for a young audience while still teaching a valuable lesson.
Hunter Strickland
junior Agent, focused artists
Hunter joined Focused Artists as a junior agent in 2024 after completing an apprenticeship with Co-founder Kristina Sutton. She previously held assistant roles at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame at the Gaylord Pickens Museum for publishing and editing. During her time there she developed a background working with historical non-fiction.
Hunter’s list of interests are just as extensive as her background. While she has previous experience in the sports world and historical nonfiction, she is also drawn to fantasy worlds with unique elements.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Fiction:
-Cozy
-romantasy
-dystopian
-magical realism
-historic
I am particularly drawn to anything mythology or folklore based or inspired.
Andrew Karre
senior executive editor, dutton books for young readers
Andrew Karre is Senior Executive Editor at Dutton Books for Young Readers. Over the course of his twenty years in children’s publishing, he’s had the privilege of editing works by award-winning and bestselling authors, including Candice Iloh, A.S. King, Malinda Lo, Ashley Hope Pérez, Joy McCullough, and Ibi Zoboi. Titles he has published have won the National Book Award, the Michael L. Printz Medal, the William C. Morris Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Honor, the APALA Award, and the Schneider Family Book Award, among others. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
👉 Andrew Karre's MSWL
Carina Licon
associate editor, macmillan
Carina Licon is an Associate Editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (Macmillan Children’s). She is actively seeking compelling middle-grade and young adult fiction across genres with complex characters who sit at the heart of a story and leap off the page. She lives in Austin, TX with her 8-pound guard dog Dempsey.
MANUSCRIPT WISHLIST ✨
Carina is interested in compelling, commercial middle-grade and young adult fiction with complex characters who sit at the heart of a story and leap off the page. She is looking for contemporary YA and MG; thrillers that make you bite your nails in anticipation; spooky, atmospheric MG; gothic YA horror or fantasy; stories about mental health; intergenerational BIPOC stories; stories of everyday life in a BIPOC household (especially Latinx); romance with lots! of! angst!; grounded stories with light sci-fi or spec-fic elements; and grounded YA fantasy. She is not looking for sci-fi or in-verse novels.
If your book has big feelings, chances are she’ll love it!
