EBMA Webinar: Approaches to Evaluating and Marketing Diverse and Inclusive Books

As the publishing industry and librarians have realized the need for more inclusive lists and collections, the role of the reviewer has also evolved. Learn how one industry leader, Kirkus Reviews, has changed its approach to reviewing young people's literature, both with and without the diverse content, and discover ways publishers and distributors can further evolve to produce and effectively market relevant titles in a rapidly changing landscape.

Presented by

Laura Simeon has been the Young Adult Editor at Kirkus Reviews since 2018; previously she was the Librarian and Diversity Coordinator at a K-8 independent school. Laura was a judge for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative's 2019 Translated YA Award, will serve on the 2019-2021 Virginia Hamilton Award jury, has done research on diversity in contemporary Swedish picture books through a grant from the Swedish Institute, is co-chair of the U.S. Selection Committee for the UWC international secondary schools, and performs and teaches Bollywood dance.

Vicky Smith is children's editor of Kirkus Reviews, a position she's held for 11 years. Prior to that, she served as children's librarian and then director of an independent public library in Maine. She has served on the Newbery, Caldecott, and Sibert committees, and she is an adjunct member of the faculty of the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons University in Boston. She is also a former holder of a Guinness World Record for a team read-aloud marathon (which proves only that anyone who can read can break a world record).

Important: Please register with the 'register' button to the left. Once you have registered on the EBMA website you will receive an email with call-in/login instructions for the Zoom platform. Please contact info@edupaperback.org if you do not receive this email.