INDUSTRY PANEL: The Outlook for Children's Publishing in 2025
With Francesco Sedita
Publisher of Penguin Workshop for16 years where they publish around 350 books a year.
Also, most importantly, he has a cat—he is orange and his name is Alfredo and he’s adorable <3
Q: What are some of the trends that are coming in 2025? Any changes?
Q: What is a mark of a good agent? And the relationship you develop with them?
Q: In one word, what would you want your legacy to be?
Francesco: He is more concerned in finding the right creator for every book. Finding the person who can only write tHAT book. Authentic stories. Have something in you that propels you to sit stare at a screen and feel like a terrible person LOL who is the right creator? Not necessary a shift it has gained in importance for him. Find someone who is willing to tell their story and work with them to make it as good as possible.
Q: What is a mark of a good agent? And the relationship you develop with them?
Francesco: Pardon the language but make sure “they’re not an a**shole!” You want an agent to see what you want and who is willing to support you in your journey. You can’t hold back! You have to be your full self.
Q: Are there things we can do to be proactive in building connection with agents?
Francesco: Be a great person and be very open to what your agent has to say.
Francesco: At Penguin, there are a lot of books, and a BIG team. It takes so many people to make a book. His imprint just received their first Caldecott honor, and when Francesco was getting ready to send a congratulatory email, he realized there were so many people from so many departments that got the book to the finish line. And they truly were in hand in hand in the race.
Q: What would you like to see creators do when they are marketing their books?
Francesco: Nothing—on your own. We have an incredible team to help. Just write your book. He doesn’t care about “how many followers you have.” If you have three million, great—if you have 3, that’s fine as well. Have a presence but you have enough to worry about, let the publishers figure it out. Celebrities hav a lot of followers but sometimes, it doesn’t reflect the buyers. If your marketing plan really expands the universe that you’re creating, let him know but the nitty gritty? You don’t need to worry about that.
Q: What would your social media look like if you’d market books?
Francesco:My cat, and a cocktail.
Q: Talk about your mentors.
Francesco: The most important in his journey was Craig Walker, passed away 15 years ago. He worked at Scholastic and as a young person, Francesco met him at a meeting and he was the sweetest, kindest, funniest person. Francesco was writing his first book, and Craig read the manuscript and line by line, helped him bring his book to fruition.
Francesco: Fun.
Francesco Sedita
About
Francesco Sedita is the publisher of Penguin Workshop, where he works with an incredible team of people. Together, they make lots of things. Things like books of all shapes and sizes, from the sweetest of board books and pictures books like Jessica Hische’s Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave to Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. And series like Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth’s Klawde, about an evil alien warlord cat who really is just looking for a friend on planet Earth. And beautiful middle-grade land YA like Clementine by the incomparable Ann Hood. Francesco and the Workshop team also make the bestselling Who HQ series—and he even made the Emmy Award winning and The Who Was? Show on Netflix.francescosedita.com
Moderated by TeMika Grooms
Manager Of Design And Illustration
About
TeMika Grooms is a Georgia-based writer and illustrator creating stories with a belief that all children should be able to see themselves as the hero within the pages of a book. In 2021, she was selected as an Illustration Mentee in the We Need Diverse Books Program and was a member of the first cohort for the Highlights Foundation and The Brown Bookshelf Amplify Black Stories program. She is the illustrator of several children's books, including Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready! by Senator Raphael G. Warnock, Getting Us to Grandma's by Nadia L. Hohn, and A Century for Caroline by Kaija Langley. For SCBWI related communication, please email me at temikagrooms@scbwi.orgwww.temikatheartist.com
Francesco Sedita
About
Francesco Sedita is the publisher of Penguin Workshop, where he works with an incredible team of people. Together, they make lots of things. Things like books of all shapes and sizes, from the sweetest of board books and pictures books like Jessica Hische’s Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave to Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. And series like Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth’s Klawde, about an evil alien warlord cat who really is just looking for a friend on planet Earth. And beautiful middle-grade land YA like Clementine by the incomparable Ann Hood. Francesco and the Workshop team also make the bestselling Who HQ series—and he even made the Emmy Award winning and The Who Was? Show on Netflix.francescosedita.com
Moderated by TeMika Grooms
Manager Of Design And Illustration
About
TeMika Grooms is a Georgia-based writer and illustrator creating stories with a belief that all children should be able to see themselves as the hero within the pages of a book. In 2021, she was selected as an Illustration Mentee in the We Need Diverse Books Program and was a member of the first cohort for the Highlights Foundation and The Brown Bookshelf Amplify Black Stories program. She is the illustrator of several children's books, including Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready! by Senator Raphael G. Warnock, Getting Us to Grandma's by Nadia L. Hohn, and A Century for Caroline by Kaija Langley. For SCBWI related communication, please email me at temikagrooms@scbwi.orgwww.temikatheartist.com
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