Lynne Polvino: Writing and Publishing Picture Books in a Challenging Market

Reported by Kerri Kokias

Lynne Polvino, editor at Clarion Books—an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt—spoke about the additional responsibilities and challenges involved with writing and publishing picture books in a challenging market.

She gave tips on how authors and illustrators can best position themselves for success and stressed the importance of being knowledgeable about the market by providing relevant resources. She also talked about the importance of creating an online presence through author websites, blogs, and social networks such as MySpace or Facebook.

Lynne Polvino of Clarion #scbwiwwa

She's an editor who acquires everything from young picture books to older PBs (such as the Jimi Hendrix book Edward Necarsulmer mentioned and another one about John Coltrane), chapter books, and some nonfiction titles. She also does middle grade and YA.

She likes Clarion because it's a small, very selective imprint. She believes you can find books that challenge readers, have high literary quality, and broad commercial appeal.