Tomorrow at 8 a.m. EDT, KidLitGN’s 6th annual pitch event opens for GN creators to load their pitches. We’re surprised we’ve made it to this many years, but we’re also excited for the future and what our new partnership might have to offer. A few of us recently had the honor of sitting down with Barney Smith at StoryComic for an interview to discuss our upcoming plans.
We discussed KidLitGN’s new partnership with editor Robyn Chapman and the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). Bringing together an industry pro, creators, and students–the readers of the work we’re creating–is a powerful team, which we hope will open new opportunities for creators and the industry at large. Learning from the students opens us all up to insights from our readers that we haven’t had in an accessible platform before. There’s a lot of insights these students have to offer creators and industry pros that we hope will help grow the industry. One exciting outcome that will land on our website just after the pitch event closes, is a “Kids Pitch Picks” of sorts–our student interns will also be going through the pitches and selecting their top three picks and sharing those results in an article on our website. Subscribe to our website to be among the first to get that.
KidLitGN’s platform houses more than just a pitch event, and we hope it will inspire you to find creative ways around the current challenges in publishing. One of those ways is building community and outreach among ourselves. Illustrators, you have the opportunity to look through the pitches and connect with writers whose projects might inspire you. Take advantage of this pitch event to make those connections. Writers, you can also scan the illustrations and reach out to illustrators whose style might be a good fit for you, but for both writers and illustrators, please don’t reply to the pitches on our website to ask, leave those just for agents and editors. Contact them through the contact info provided in their pitches. 
And remember, this year we’re archiving the pitches at the end of the pitch event behind password protected pages, which will allow agents and editors to access and request pitches throughout the year. You can request to have your pitch removed at any time. We recommend that you subscribe to our website so you can stay up to date with all the news and information we’ll be sharing this year.
Thanks to you all for your support and good luck to all who are entering their pitches in this year’s event.
You can also find our interview in an audio version, along with other informative interviews. A huge thank you to Barney for hosting us on his platform.
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