Talia Benamy is an editor at Philomel Books, where she edits everything from picture books through YA. She has worked on books by Chelsea Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, Kamala Harris, Temple Grandin, Olivia Seltzer, Abigail “Astronaut Abby” Harrison, Jane Yolen, and Julie Hedlund. She sees books as having the amazing power to shape the way kids see the world around them and their ability to impact it, and as part of Philomel’s mission to publish books by creators with platforms and inspiring, empowering messages for young readers, and she looks for manuscripts that have the potential to do just that.
Emmanuelle Morgen represents children’s books for all ages, from picture book to YA, as well as adult commercial fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, she particularly enjoys science fiction and fantasy, women’s fiction and romance, historical fiction, and novels that give voice to the experiences of marginalized voices. She has a soft spot for journey stories and well-developed villains. Emmanuelle has worked in book publishing her entire career, beginning at Fodor’s, the travel division of Random House in 1999. In 2006, she joined Wendy Sherman Associates as an agent, and in 2011 she moved to Stonesong. Prior to starting a career in book publishing, she worked briefly as a teacher, baker, server, and library shelver at various times during high school, college, and a gap year after college. As bi-cultural American, she is particularly interested in outsider stories and perspectives.
Elizabeth Law is an editor at Holiday House who specializes in mining their backlist and acquiring middle grade fiction. She has worked in children’s and young adult publishing for thirty years, including most recently as publisher of Egmont USA and as a freelance book doctor and editor at ElawReads. Elizabeth was previously associate publisher at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and Viking Children’s Books. She has edited and published every genre from picture book through nonfiction and YA and new adult.
Gary Schmidt is the author of more than a dozen books for children and young adults. He received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and a Newbery Honor for The Wednesday Wars. He is a Children’s Choice winner, and a National Book Award finalist. He teaches writing and children’s literature at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.