By Margaret Lea Hi everyone! You don’t want to miss Susan Johnston Taylor at our next chapter meeting on March 2, 2026 . Her presentation is titled “Persevering Past Rejection: Tools and Tips to Save Your Sanity.” This topic should resonate with all of us, writers and illustrators alike. Here’s Susan’s first tip— Don’t jump into the “query trenches,” as so many people call it. Go on a “query quest” instead. Look on querying as an adventure, not a time of being shot at, bombed, and surrounded by death and destruction. Yep, query quest sounds like a much more fun place to hang out! It took Susan seven years and over 400 queries before she found her agent, Mara Cobb at Lighthouse Literary, even though Susan had already sold two picture books to a publisher. Her debut Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems about Earth’s Colorful Creatures came out in 2023 and has won numerous awards. Her ...
Interviews with those in the publishing industry and short writing tips