Brian Gehrlein's Blog, page 2
July 6, 2023
THE POWER OF REVISION & THE STORY OF MY SECOND BOOK SALE
Happy Friday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
It's kidlitzombieweek and I'm so pumped to partner with "6 Ladies and a MANuscript" and share my thoughts on revision and more about my second picture book!
To get things started, if you haven't heard...check this out: Jenn Harney! I get to share a book with JENN HARNEY and it's going to be published by Little, Brown! BAH!
Keeping the theme of having ,zombie books published, my second picture book certainly fits that same ghoulish mold. Th...
June 2, 2023
Agent Spotlight: Jen Newens
Happy Friday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
The brats, dogs, and burgs are on the grill...the birds are singing louder...and Rodgers and Hammerstein songs are playing in your mind. June IS bustin' out all over.
If you're like me and find yourself in the northern hemisphere of the globe, drink it up. Drink June up, kidlit fam. And may your tea be iced, sweet, and just a bit minty.
Today's Agent Spotlight is with Jen Newens of Martin Literary Management. As fate would have it, Jen IS do...
May 23, 2023
Author Spotlight: Suzy Levinson
This intro has rules. You must follow all the rules. If you break the rules...probably nothing will happen. Because it's imaginary. And just for fun.
Today is Tuesday and this is Picture Book Spotlight--the literary blog about picture books for serious people who make serious books. If you aren't serious about picture books...get out. Just stop reading. This blog is not for you. You here to laugh or something? You here to smile and learn something about picture books or crafting lyrical deligh...
May 9, 2023
Agent Spotlight: Anjanette Barr
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
Today's Agent Spotlight features Anjanette Barr of Dunham Literary.
I'm jazzed to share this interview because I still remember what it felt like to slog through the slushy swamp of the query trenches. It wasn't long ago that I was knee-deep in the mucky muck, racking up 600 rejections. Yes. 600 rejections. Don't have that many? Good. I hope you don't. Ever. Because it sucked.
Looking back, there were times querying felt like grabbing a ...
March 1, 2023
Author & Illustrator Spotlight: Anne Wynter & Daniel Miyares
Happy Wednesday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
I'm pumped about this double interview! It's not very often that I get the opportunity to spotlight an author and illustrator team but today I DO! I had so much fun hearing from this powerhouse collaboration (hashtag dream team) and I'm confident you're going to love it as well. From the first read, Nell Plants a Tree had my curiosity buzzing. It's one of those books that makes you hungry to stop whatever you're doing and go write somethin...
February 6, 2023
Agent Spotlight: Adria Goetz
Happy Monday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
Today's episode: Characters with agency, humor, and querying Adria Goetz!
I'm happy to share the first of many Agent Spotlights of 2023. In addition to spotlighting great picture books and their creators, I like to illuminate agents who represent picture book creators. Agent Spotlights can provide insight into what agents are thinking and give updates and quotes to use as connection points for those actively slogging through the query trench...
January 31, 2023
Author-Illustrator Spotlight: Chris Haughton with Well Done, Mommy Penguin
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
Today's episode: penguins and moms and comedy, oh my!
If you tuned in to my first interview with Chris Haughton you probably know I'm a bit of a fan...
I love his deep, saturation and color palates, the fact that you can flip any page or see the cover and go...oh, that's Chris Haughton. Beyond his artistic skill, he has something unique as a storyteller. Through highly accessible stories, endearing characters up to all kinds of mischief,...
January 23, 2023
2022 Picture Book Spotlight Award Winners
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight!
In this episode of PB Spotlight, we share the results of the top ten most frequently nominated picture books published in 2022--voted by YOU! There were hundreds of votes and some AMAZING books being thrown around. Thank you so much to all who played along and actually narrowed all the great books of 2022 to a top five--what a headache that was!
To celebrate those who participated in the Picture Book Spotlight Awards this year, this post w...
January 2, 2023
2022 Picture Book Spotlight Awards
If you are reading this...you made it. You made it through 2022. Congratulations, planet Earth. You revolved around the sun again. You completed another orbit around your star. You are super.
And you know what that means...we must now collectively pretend that all things are new. We must adhere to this arbitrary marker of time and commit to accidentally writing the wrong date for a surprising amount of months until we get it right. We must do this.
And while we do this, we must also look bac...
December 23, 2022
Author Spotlight: Alastair Heim with Hello, Tree
Happy snowy Friday and welcome to Picture Book Spotlight! How's the weather where you are? Enjoying this arctic blast with subzero temps and epic negative windchills?! Yeah, nope. Me neither. Well, I hope your space heaters and furnaces are functioning at full blast and that you're (like my wife, Katherine) safely hunkered down under an electric blanket for a significant portion of the day. You know what else can warm your heart? Picture books, family, and holiday magic! Also vats of hot chocol...
