Dear friends, as the #50PreciousWords judges wade happily through hundreds of fabulous stories, I wanted to share with you ANOTHER FABULOUS KID-LIT OPPORTUNITY!

ME: Welcome to Ebony Lynn Mudd, one of the movers and shakers of the PB RISING STARS MENTORSHIP PROGRAM.

EBONY: Thanks so much for hosting us on your blog today, Vivian! We are truly grateful to be here.

And to you, readers, thanks for taking the time to read more about the PB Rising Stars Mentorship program! We first want to congratulate each and every one of you who participated in the 50 Precious Words challenge! What an accomplishment to create such amazing stories in such a concise way. We’ve loved reading some of the entries and are blown away by your words!

Because we know you’re all investing time into your craft, we wanted to take a moment to tell you about our picture book mentorship program, PB Rising Stars! We figured you were the perfect group to encourage to apply, as you are all working hard to craft stories for young readers and put your work out into the world.

At PB Rising Stars, we pair up-and-coming picture book authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators with experienced picture book creators to help navigate the turbulent world of publishing. With 32 mentors this year, we are ready to welcome 32 mentees into the PB Rising Stars Family!

And truly, we are SUCH a family!

Mentees that are selected will receive a four-month mentorship that includes working one-on-one with a Mentor, access to exclusive craft workshops from industry professionals, community building, and much more!

So many picture book creators are ready and waiting to invest in themselves and their career…

If that sounds like you, we hope you’ll take a moment to consider applying to be a 2024 PB Rising Stars Mentee!

So, how do you apply? 

• First, read the eligibility requirements and FAQs to make sure this program is a good fit for you!
• Then, check out each mentor’s profile and wish list on our website to see who would be a good fit for you. Check out their strengths, what they are looking for, and then compare it to what you would like to work on. We have some incredible mentors this year, and we don’t limit the number you can apply to! You can head on over to our website and click through the full profiles of each mentor to get a sense of what they’re looking for.
• Next, choose which manuscript, art, or dummy to submit that best represents your strengths AND weaknesses. Make sure it’s a project that you want to work on during the mentorship and work that best represents the type of career you want! Polish your work before submitting it! But don’t worry about PERFECTION! This is a mentorship program – the mentors want to see how they can help you grow!
• This is optional, but you can prepare a sample application ahead of time. *Find sample application links at the bottom of each mentor’s profile.
• Set a calendar reminder to apply between March 18-April 4! Applications close on April 4th at 11:59pm EASTERN TIME. You can apply to each mentor directly through their page. You will need to fill out a different application for each mentor you want to apply to. You will click on their profile from our main mentor page, then stroll down to the application button on their individual page. That will take you to a google form with all the application questions! Remember that Google limits your word count (though they unfortunately don’t publicize what that limit is). So flex those picture book skills and be thorough yet concise with your answers!

Now remember, when looking at each mentor’s wish list, just like with agents and editors, your work will most likely not check off every single box. For example, if a mentor lists that they are a good fit for humor with heart, lyrical, nonfiction, cultural, and rhyme, but you only do lyrical and rhyme, that’s okay! They would still be a good fit for you! As long as your work lines up with their ability to help, it’s okay (and most likely!) that you don’t tick every single one of their boxes. It’s a wish list, not an exhaustive list!
And if you are still having a hard time deciding to apply to? Or if you are just wanting to get to know the mentors even better? Well, you are in luck! We hosted an hour and a half long “Meet the Mentors” event where each mentor goes more in depth into what exactly they are hoping to find in a mentee. You can watch the recording HERE.

ME: WOW! What an incredible opportunity! Thank you for sharing this with us, Ebony!

On the home front, the Women’s History Month celebration and book launch for PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER at G.Willikers Books and Toys in Portsmouth, NH was a huge success. So many dear kid-lit folks came to support me – please check out my Facebook page for a cool video: