PICTUREBOOK TRACK
Lisa McCourt's books have sold over four million copies. She likes saying that, especially on blurry Monday mornings at her keyboard when she's convinced she'll never have another creative thought in her life. Soon Granny's Dragon (Dutton, August 2008) and Yummiest Love (Orchard, January 2009) will join her thirty-four books, which include I Love You, Stinky Face and its four sequels, The Most Thankful Thing, and the Chicken Soup for Little Souls series.

Linda Shute is illustrator or author-illustrator of 13 books. Her Clever Tom and the Leprechaun has been widely used in schools and libraries for over 20 years. She organized illustration seminars with other artists from the Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C., and has taught Children's Book Illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. Linda grew up in Miami and now lives on the Gulf coast in Nokomis, Florida.

Nicole Kasprzak is an Associate Editor at G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin. Since joining Putnam (after beginning her career in publicity) she has had the opportunity to work with such award-winning authors as Gennifer Choldenko, K. L. Going, and Keiko Kasza, and is currently working on projects with a number of talented first-timers. She is currently seeking literary and commercial middle-grade and YA fiction and young, humorous picture books. At all levels, she looks for strong, unconventional characters, fresh points of view, and writing that knocks her socks off.

MIDDLE GRADE TRACK
Edgar-nominated author Bruce Hale has written or illustrated more than 20 books for children, including the popular Chet Gecko Mysteries series and the graphic novel series Underwhere. An actor and Fulbright Scholar (in Storytelling), Bruce is in demand as a speaker, having presented at conferences, universities, and schools across the country–from the Maui Writers Conference to the Surrey International Writers Conference in British Columbia. His acting resume includes regional commercials, theater, and an independent film, The Ride. Bruce also sings with the VocalPoint jazz group of Santa Barbara.

Andrea Tompa is lucky enough to be an associate editor at Candlewick Press, where she works with authors such as Annette LeBlanc Cate (The Magic Rabbit), Clara Gillow Clark (Hill Hawk Hattie), Joan Carris (Welcome to the Bed & Biscuit), and Megan McDonald (The Sisters Club). She acquires books in all areas, including picture books, fiction, and nonfiction, but is particularly enthusiastic about expanding her middle-grade fiction and young YA list. When she's not editing, she can be found hiking, snowshoeing, swing dancing or—most often—reading.

YOUNG ADULT TRACK
Ellen Hopkins is a poet, freelance writer and award-winning author. After publishing twenty middle grade nonfiction books, Ellen moved into the realm of YA fiction. Her four young adult novels-in-verse are all NY Times bestsellers. Her fifth novel publishes in August 2008, and she is hard at work on her sixth.

Krista Marino began in publishing in San Diego at Harcourt Children's Books. After transferring to the New York offices she decided that fiction was her passion and took a position at Random House Children's Books at Delacorte Press, where she is now an Editor. She works on Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction solely and is always looking for new voices, innovative concepts, and great stories for her list. Recent books she has edited include King Dork by Frank Portman, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott, and Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore.

HUMOR TRACK
Debra Garfinkle, www.dlgarfinkle.com, has published humorous young adult and middle grade novels such as Storky (Putnam, 2005, published in four languages) and Stuck in the 70s (Putnam, 2007, TV option being negotiated). The first two books in her humorous chapter book series Supernatural Rubber Chicken will be published in June 2008 by Mirrorstone. She also has written an award-winning humorous newspaper column (circ. 30,000) for the past three years. She has given workshops at the SCBWI National Conference and published how-to articles in Writers Digest Magazine and the SCBWI Bulletin. 

Nina Hess is the senior editor of Mirrorstone Books, an imprint of children's fantasy fiction distributed by Random House, which she launched for Wizards of the Coast in 2004. Before joining Wizards, she edited children's books at Harcourt Children's Books and Wright Group/McGraw-Hill. Nina is also the author of the New York Times best-selling A Practical Guide to Monsters, as well as several early readers for the trade and educational market.

MYSTERY TRACK
Nancy Springer is new to Florida—much to her own surprise, she lives in a hangar at a rural airport in the panhandle—but she is an old pro of a writer, having published just about fifty novels for adults, young adults and children, in genres including mythic fantasy, contemporary fiction, magical realism, suspense and mystery, most recently the Enola Holmes mystery series for young readers. Among other honors, Springer has won two Edgar Allan Poe awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Nancy Siscoe is Associate Publishing Director & Executive Editor at Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers. Nancy acquires both picture books and novels from toddlers to teens. Some recent books on her list include Who Will Sing a Lullaby? by Dee Lillegard and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann, Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin, Runemarks by Joanne Harris, Taken by Edward Bloor, The Daring Adventures of Penhaligon Brush by S. Jones Rogan, Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen, and Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan.

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