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This year, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers celebrates 100 Years of Publishing. LBYR hosted a party to commemorate the special anniversary. HBG CEO David Shelley attended with LBYR President Megan Tingley offering remarks. The cake was amazing!

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Congratulations to @blackholly on the QUEEN OF NOTHING Collector’s Edition hitting the USA TODAY bestseller list! And please excuse my sun-bleached copy of THE CRUEL PRINCE 😭. These books are so beautiful, I had to show them off.

Shout out to @karinamakesbooks for the incredible design!

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Full episode available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Grace and Alvina discuss some book publishing terms and define them. Do you know what a BLAD is and what it stands for? What is a book blurb, and are they valuable? Do you know what “bleed” means in relation to art? Learn what verso and recto refer to! And find out the two meanings of the word “colophon” and when we started including certain colophon info in our picture books and why. We define over 40 terms, including ONIX, metadata, POD, OP, endpapers, gutter, proof, IP, NYP, WFH, TK, frontlist and backlist, and more!

For the Fortune Cookie segment, they discuss the recent internet debate about whether it’s appropriate to bring an iced coffee into an interview! They talk about the importance of first impressions and why things that shouldn’t matter, do matter. Then Alvina tells Grace about the book A BOOK FOR EVERYONE by Hayley and John Rocco, and they end as always with what they’re grateful for.

#bookfriendsforever

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Congratulations to Kate McKinnon and her incredible New York Times bestselling Millicent Quibb series! The third book, THE JUNGLE OF CARABANANA is an instant NYT and USA Today bestseller!! 🎉🎉🎉

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Full episode available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Grace and Alvina discuss a recent Hidden Brain+ podcast episode that discussed some of the potential negatives of goal setting. Linear goal setting may cause people to skip the exploration stage, and it might be more beneficial to use “tiny experiments” to learn what actually works. They talk about how in the scientific world, you ask a question, and the only goal is to learn. Two recent Happiness Lab episodes reinforced this, talking about how small changes can be the most effective.

For the Fortune Cookie segment, they talk about Generative AI, and the new guidelines that SCBWI recently released, banning AI use for any part of the creative process.

Then, Alvina tells Grace about a backlist title SHARK VS TRAIN by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld, which was recently featured in the New York Times. And, then end as always with what they’re grateful for.

#bookfriendsforever

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Happy Book Birthday, Piper! We hope you enjoy A BOOK FOR EVERYONE. And if you’re able, we’d love for you to join us on tour. Today we kick it off with @beaconhillbooksandcafe at 4 pm! 💛📚🐿️🦝

@alvinalingbooks
@littlebrownyoungreaders

#abookforeveryone #allthebooks

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Happiest of book birthdays 🎂 to the hilarious and wonderful final book of the Millicent Quibb trilogy by the astounding, brilliant Kate McKinnon. In the JUNGLE OF CARABANANA, the Porch sisters are going on a trip, to the beautiful city of ParisToo. But, the evil KRA are also there to do dastardly deeds. Can Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee and their dear mentor Millicent Quibb stop them?! Read this book to find out!

Oh, and the audiobooks for this series (narrated by Kate and her sister) are also exceptional, as are the beautiful illustrations throughout by Alfredo Cáceres.

Thanks to my cat Sweetpea for her help with the photos! There may not be a giant cat in this book, but there are plenty of wacky and somewhat terrifying creatures in the Jungle of Carabanana! (And it’s also fun to say!)

#millicentquibb

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Full episode available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Grace and Alvina discuss a bunch of book publishing news, including the Anthropic Settlement, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature long list, a study about how library eBook lending hurts sales, how Libro.FM is planning to expand into the eBook market, and they talk about some of the new words that have recently been added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, including words such as looksmaxxing, yacht rock, shishito, chili crisp, and glow-up.

For the Fortune Cookie segment, they talk about eight different “play personalities” and which ones they are—Grace is a creator, and Alvina is an explorer. And, they both have dreamer energy. And they end as always with what they’re grateful for.

#bookfriendsforever

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A BOOK FOR EVERYONE launches on Tuesday so I thought I’d share a little “behind the book” video we created with our talented team @alvinalingbooks. I hope you enjoy!

@littlebrownyoungreaders

#AlltheBooks #abookforeveryone

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REGISTRATION is ALMOST open!!!! Last chance to sign up for early access.
INK & AGAVE WRITING RETREAT for Picture Books, chapter book, GN, MG, and YA Novelists
WHEN: APRIL 9–11, 2027 🌵Read on for faculty list!! (one new name added! 🤓)
Registration opening soon. Early access people will be begin registering September 21 general public will begin registering September 24 if space remains.

COMMENT “RETREAT” for EARLY ACCESS details

Last year, the retreat SOLD OUT in just ONE WEEK, so don’t miss your chance to grab one of the 2027 spots!

We’re heading back to the desert for three inspiring days of craft, community, connection for picture book through young adult Kidlit Writers, — you’ll get incredible access to publishing giants - top editors and literary agents who are passionate about books for young readers.

MEET THE 2027 FACULTY

Sylvie Frank — Senior Executive Editor, Flamingo Books / Penguin

Melissa Manlove — Senior Executive Editor, Sourcebooks

Alvina Ling — VP & Publisher, Alvina Ling Books / Little, Brown & Co.

Catherine Laudone — Senior Editor, Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster

Daniela Villegas Valle — Assistant Editor, Atheneum / Margaret K. McElderry / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Jackie Kruzie — Literary Agent, Focused Artists

Kaitlyn Sanchez — Literary Agent, Bradford Literary Agency

Jennifer March Soloway — Founder and Senior Literary Agent, Starling Literary

Rachel Orr — Literary Agent, Prospect Agency

Kim Tomsic — that’s me! Author & Educator

Whether you’re polishing a picture book, chapter book, graphic novel, or working on a middle grade or YA novel, or looking for the insight and connections that can help move your children’s book writing career forward, Ink & Agave is designed to give you the time, access, and community to do exactly that.

First access - my students and last year’s participants; Second access - comment “Retreat” and I’ll give you a link to add your name to the email list

April 9–11, 2027
Scottsdale, Arizona
Editors + agents + authors + craft + community

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Piper Waterstone is very pleased with these glowing reviews from @sljournal and @kirkus_reviews for A BOOK FOR EVERYONE starring herself (of course) and her best friend Gregory. (We appreciate the kind words, too!) Thank you! On sale 9.29.26–next week! 📚💛🐿️🦝🌈

@alvinalingbooks
@littlebrownyoungreaders

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Full episode available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Grace and Alvina take on two topics. They talk about sabbaticals, and a recent Happiness Lab podcast episode about how life changing sabbaticals are. Grace talks about the challenges of taking a sabbatical as a freelancer, and Alvina shares how life-changing her sabbatical was, even though it was just four weeks. They talk about the different types of sabbaticals you could take: as an achiever, an explorer, or a healer. And, how to plan a sabbatical. They also touch on the different ways to be retired as discussed on a recent Gretchen Rubin podcast: a relaxer, a reinventor, or a reinvigorator.

For the second topic, Grace talks about how she was asked to contribute a life lesson to her alma mater for a publication. She is supposed to reflect on one true thing she has learned from life. They talk about the different things they’ve learned over the years, including that you need to be your authentic self, that everything will turn out okay in the end, and more. They end, as always, with what they’re grateful for—old friends who feel like family!

#bookfriendsforever

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