A thread on the importance of critique groups & the power of persistence. 7.5 yrs ago, I joined a group of aspiring PB writers. Only one of us was published, none agented. We wrote & learned together. Now, almost all of us are agented & traditionally published. #kidlit

It took awhile though! We each had years of ups and downs & our debuts came out long after we began. Having a support system to lift each other up (& to vent) was key. We've grown as writers & branched out, writing MG & more, and are active in the #kidlit community. Take a look:

Science/history buff @TeresaRobeson has two amazing picture books, the ALA-award winning QUEEN OF PHYSICS (illus Rebecca Huang) ( @SterlingBooks 2019) & TWO BICYCLES IN BEIJING (illus Junyi Wu) ( @AlbertWhitman 2020) She's RA for @SCBWIIndiana & more good things to come...

Former elementary school teacher @elaine_kearns11 wrote the hilarious NOAH NOASAURUS (illus Jack Colin) ( @AlbertWhitman 2019), runs @KIDLIT411, and is revising an amazing MG.

Poet & teacher @ReneeMLaTulippe is renown for her courses (Lyrical Language Lab, Peek n' Critique: http://bit.ly/2C7uQAp ). Her poems are in many anthologies (pics below are just a sampling). Watch for her collection LIMELIGHT: THEATER POEMS TO PERFORM ( @charlesbridge) & more!

Talented author & illustrator @yvonnecmes has 3 books out: LITTLE BILBY'S AUSSIE EASTER EGG HUNT (illus Jody Pratt @HCBoz), MEET SIDNEY NOLAN (illus Sandra Eterovic, RH Australia), OLIVER'S GRUMBLES (illus Giuseppe Poli @yb_books) and more to come! She coordinates @WriteLinks.

The talented @VictoriaWarneck writes brilliant picture books and poems, and one day the world will get to appreciate them as much as we do. Her editorial eye and critiques are legendary in our critique group.

(illo by @yvonnecmes; we are the Penguin Posse).

Thrilled to be a #PitchWars MG mentor! My books: MANATEE'S BEST FRIEND ( @Scholastic 21); HANA HSU & THE GHOST CRAB NATION ( @Razorbill 22); A MORNING WITH GRANDPA (illus @ChrstinaForshay @LEEandLOW) & a poem in THANKU: POEMS OF GRATITUDE (ed @Miranda_Paul illus @ThisIsMarlena).

Not just CPs, but our #kidlit communities have been so important. @JulieFHedlund's #12x12 brought us together, @SCBWI gave us conferences to meet in person, and @KIDLIT411 connects us w/our #writingcommunity.

tl;dr Find your peeps, writing doesn't have to be lonely.

P.S. For those of you looking for critique partners, @KIDLIT411 we run a FB group where writers can find people to swap critiques with. It's on a ms-by-ms basis, but many people have found longer-term CPs from it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KIDLIT411MSswap/