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Oh, my friends!


I have been waiting for this day for soooo long. Words can't even express how truly happy I am to be sharing the COVER for my debut picture book, THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED, words by me, illustrations by Steph Lew.


And now that we have a cover, we also have some VERY exciting preorder campaigns going on, with even more to be added later. So make sure to read to the very end of this post, because you are not going to want to miss these things!


And now, because I cannot wait even one more second...


The COVER


of


THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED


credit for which goes 100% to Steph Lew


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THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED book cover. And girl sits on a bed with a monster peeking out from below, looking scared. The words THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED appear on the blanket on the bed.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!


Isn't it gorgeous??!


Steph did such an amazing job and I am absolutely gobsmacked every single time I look at it. And do I pull it up multiple times a week just to see it again? Yes, yes I do. I am completely in love with Blossom, my loveable and terrified little main character who Steph brought to life so well. I am crossing all of my fingers and toes that we can get some merch going on because don't you just need a Blossom stuffie?! I know I do!



Please show Steph a ton of love today because she knocked this one out of the park. I feel so grateful because she is seriously making my dreams come true! It's been so fun to collaborate with her on this project.


Now... I am thrilled to announce a preorder campaign for THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED. I have been so blessed along this path and part of what I love to do is give back some of the things I've learned along the way. From the Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest to the PB Rising Stars Mentorship program, I love bringing the kidlit community together. So when thinking about what I wanted to give as a "thank you" for preorders, it just made sense to me to offer some FREE webinars in return for these early orders.


And I'm so excited about the things I've been working on!



Free Webinar With Preorder or Library Request List: June 20th 8 PM Eastern Time Playing The Long Game:  A Deep Dive Into the Business Side of Publishing and Creating the Career of Your Dreams, August 15 8 PM EST: Crafting an Eye Catching Query:  How to Stand Out In The Trenches (New and Revamped) October 10th 8 PM EST: Using Dramatic Irony in Picture Books November 9 1 PM EST: How Picture Books Are Made: From Idea to Final Copy  (Best For Schools), November 13 1 PM EST: What If *I* Am The Monster?!: Overcoming Perceptions and Judgements  (Best For Schools)

There will be THREE webinars created specifically for picture book creators and TWO that are more suited for school visits or for your kiddos at home.


You can choose when to preorder based on which webinar you would like to attend. And I mean... if you want to attend more than one, I'm not stopping you from ordering multiple books... they do make great gifts ;)

(OR, see below for how to pay to attend and I'll donate a book to a classroom in need).


Order any time before June 19th to attend

June 20th

8:00 PM Eastern Time


In this webinar, I will be discussing how to decide what kind of career you want in publishing, how to find an agent that best fits that vision, how to convince yourself to stay out of the query trenches until you are truly ready, how to know when you are ready, and MORE. We'll talk about everything from craft to queries to the author-agent relationship to submission and beyond. I'll answer your business questions and you'll leave feeling like you can be the author you want to be with the tools to get there.


Order any time between June 20th and August 14th to attend

Crafting an Eye Catching Query: How To Stand Out In The Trenches

August 15th

8:00 PM Eastern Time

(Registration Opens June 21st)


If you attended my webinar last year, you will still want to catch this new, improved, and revamped version. We'll be talking about how to go beyond the formulas to really help your book shine. We'll be talking about catching an agent's attention for all the right reasons, pitches that sell, and what makes a query exciting. I'll be sharing what worked for me as an author and what stood out to me on the mentor side during PB Rising Stars.


Order any time between August 15th and October 9th to attend

Using Dramatic Irony in Picture Books

October 10th

8:00 PM Eastern Time

(Registration Opens August 16th)


Kids love knowing something that the characters don't yet know. I'll be talking about my focus on dramatic irony in THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED, analyzing how it works is books like This is Not My Hat, Life on Mars, The Wall In The Middle of the Book and MORE. We'll talk about how dramatic irony can add humor, tension, or both! I'll walk you through some exercises on writing for kids with dramatic irony and help you develop some of your own ideas for using the device.


Order any time between now and November 8th to attend your choice of an author School Visit**


How Books are Made: From Idea to Final Copy

November 9th

1 PM Eastern Time


In this school author visit, I'll share with students my experience from first idea through publication on THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED. We'll focus heavily on the importance of persistence in the face of rejection, revision even when you think things are good enough, and how to become a published author. I'll read THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED and take questions from the students.


What If I Am The Monster?!: Overcoming Perceptions and Judgements

November 13th

1 PM Eastern Time


In this school author visit, I will talk about my purpose behind writing THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED. I'll read the book and discuss the importance of not judging or othering people, seeing past differences, and rejecting prejudices. We'll talk about who the monster was in my story, why judgements might have been made, and how Blossom found the truth.


**NOTE: You can gift the school visits to your child's teacher/classroom! So you don't have to be a teacher yourself if you'd like your child to have one of these opportunities.


Whoooo. I'm already *slightly* tired just looking at this, but in the MOST excited way possible! I truly cannot wait to meet with you and hopefully give back in a meaningful and useful way. I can't thank my kidlit community enough for all of the support I've had.



Now, I know that not everyone is in a place to preorder, so I also want to include and thank all of you who make a library request for THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED. By making a library request, you can choose to attend ANY one of the above webinars!! Woo Hoo! You can do that by filling out THIS FORM HERE to submit proof of your library request.


Can you preorder one book to attend one of the webinars and do a library request to attend another? YES!


What if you don't want to preorder or make a library request, but you still want to attend a webinar?

You can purchase a "ticket" to the webinar, and I will then use the money to buy a book for a classroom in need. AND that classroom will get to come to one of my virtual school visits! That's a win-win-win. Purchase webinar tickets (and by so doing, make a donation to a teacher), in my shop. (Cost is $30 to cover the book, tax, and shipping).



I just want to note that if you already preordered THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED during the B&N preorder sale last week (or any other time), you are already eligible to attend the Playing The Long Game webinar, OR one of the school visits, so don't miss your chance to register!


Alright, that was a lot of information to take it. If you're still with me, THANK YOU!


For getting this far, I do want to offer you a


GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!


One lucky reader will receive a FREE TICKET (no preorder or library request required) to ANY of the above webinars of their choosing (the winner can choose a webinar for themselves, or donate to a classroom).


To Enter:

  1. Like and Retweet THIS TWEET -OR- share THIS INSTAGRAM POST (or both!)

  2. Follow Me on Twitter OR Instagram (or both!)

That's it!

Bonus Entries for

  1. Commenting Below

  2. Tagging a friend in THIS TWEET (one bonus per tag)

  3. Subscribing to my newsletter HERE (it's okay if you were already subscribed, no need to resubscribe)



Thank you so much, my friends, for being a part of this journey. I honestly cannot wait to share this book with you and for each of you to meet Blossom!



Until Next Time, Be Kind Humans, Kailei



About Kailei Pew

Author Kailei Pew wearing a blue dress in front of a grey background

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's upcoming books include THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED, illustrated by Steph Lew, KID-VENTORS, illustrated by Shannon Wright, and I SEE COLOR, co-authored with Valerie Bolling and illustrated by Laylie Frazier. Kailei cannot wait to get her books into your hands!



Hello, friends!


Well... it's time! The amazing kid judges have selected their favorites and we are ready to announce the winners!


Thank you to ALL who entered the contest. This would not be possible without you. You should feel proud for putting yourselves out there and getting your writing in front of real kids! That is a BIG deal!


Huge congrats to all of our finalists and honorable mentions.


A note to the winners: I will be emailing each of you soon with a link to choose your prize. Thank you for your patience with me as this is a huge endeavor and it has a lot of moving pieces. Once the person before you chooses their prize, you will receive the link to choose yours. It is also a little tricky because there are 3-1st place winners (one in each category), so thank you for understanding that there are some limitations.


And now... the moment you've all been waiting for! The winners of the 2023 Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest:




YA Winners:


1st Place: STALE AIR by Caz Scales

2nd Place: TRAPPED by Melissa J Miles

3rd Place: ARTIFICIAL INCOME by Kate DeMaio

4th Place: VANISHED by Sarah Meade

5th Place: DAYS OF DESTINY by Karlein Kwong

6th Place: DON’T JUDGE A REAPER BY HIS SYTHE by Bethany Walke

7th Place: THE LIES WE SELL by Kari Ann Gonzalez

8th Place: THE TIMELESS GIFT by Sabrina Shah



MG Winners

1st Place: THE MIRROR TO A THOUSAND MINDS by Melanie Rowsell-Docherty

2nd Place: EARTH SCHOOLS ARE EASY by Rowena Zahnrei

3rd Place: THE GLITCH by Sara Kruger

4th Place: ONE OF US by Emily Keifer

5th Place: This House NOT For Sale by Scott Wolf

6th Place: THE PERKS OF BEING A FIFTH GRADER by Rita D. Russell

7th Place: THE MAILBOX – Stepping Out of the Shadows by Chris Garcia-Halenar

8th Place: STAINE by Courtney Moore

9th Place: MAYBE IT’S MAGIC by Laurie Smith Murphy

10th Place: THE NOTE by Yessi Robles Holm





PB Winners

1st Place: COUCHBOY by Hollie Wolverton

2nd place: A PERFECT PLAN FOR GETTING A DOG by Lynne Marie

3rd place: A DOG'S GUIDE: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR HUMAN By Maura Lance

4th place: ALIEN'S PERFECT PET by Bri Lawyer

5th place: A BAD GUY FIGHTING A ZOMBIE by Ellen Meeks

6th Place: NOT MY ORDER by Melissa Hope

7th Place: THE NOT FRIENDS PLAYDATE by Jennifer Cowan

8th Place: FARTS MAKE YOU SMART by Tunisia Williams

9th Place: BEING YOU AND ME by Heather Kinser

10th Place: GROUND HOG DAY OFF by Trenise Ferreira

11th Place: I DON'T KNOW by Kevin Treaccar

12th Place: BIRDS IN SPACE by Christine Alemshah




CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope you can all celebrate and enjoy the fact that kids loved your work!


And truly, to everyone who entered, please feel so very proud of yourselves and know that SO many of your pieces received at least one vote from a kid judge. YOUR work was someone's favorite. And that means that some day, your BOOK will be a favorite, well loved, story. And that is magical.


Thank you all for enjoying this process with me! I hope you'll stick around and follow my own writing journey. I did just get approval on my Goodreads Author Profile, and I'm offering a GIVEAWAY to celebrate, so I hope you will all check that out. And mark my books "Want to Read" on Goodreads. I really do appreciate the support!!


Thanks for being a part of this fun community! We'll definitely be doing the Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest again, so keep your eye out by subscribing to my blog!


xoxo,

Kailei


About Kailei Pew


Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing

Emily Forney of Bookends Literary.

She loves to write books that help kids see they can

do anything they set their minds to.

​

Upcoming books include:

THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED (Clarion/Harper, Fall 2023)

I SEE COLOR (With Valerie Bolling, HarperKids, Winter 2024)

KID-VENTORS (F& F/Macmillan, Spring 2024)



Hello, friends!!


I hope you are doing well. Perhaps it feels like this moment took forever. Perhaps you wondered if we would ever get to this point. But let me tell you, from the other side of things, this month and a half FLEW by so quickly!




The kid and teen judges this year have been absolutely AMAZING. And let me tell you, they took their job very seriously. They have been through two rounds of judging already and just received this final set!!!


Right now, I am in the process of preparing thank you gifts for each judge. I'm going to be able to send books thanks to a very helpful teacher and the Scholastic Book Clubs. I need just a tiny bit more money to make it all possible, especially with the cost of shipping. If you are able and want to help give these awesome kiddos a huge THANK YOU, I would very much appreciate if you could consider giving a donation. No amount is too small! You can donate $5-$25 through my shop, or you can venmo me @Kailei-Pew. Thank you for considering.


Before we reveal the finalists, I just want to remind everyone of what my friend Ebony Lynn Mudd always says... YOUR ART IS THE PRIZE. I hope you are so proud of yourself for putting yourself out there! You got your work in front of real kids and that alone is amazing. I am proud of each and every one of you. No matter what happens, allow yourself to feel those feelings, and then keep going. The world needs your stories!!!


I do also want to mention that there are known limitations to this contest. With so many entrants, it is impossible to have all of the kid judges read every single entry. We had two different rounds this year prior to the finals to ensure that everyone had their best shot. That said, you never know what a kid is going to like (and let's be real--their preferences can change from day to day even). You don't know if your book had been in front of a different group if things would have been different. I divide up the entries randomly and assign each group of kid judges randomly, but again, each group seems to enjoy different things. Some entries that seemed extremely promising in round 1 (and received a good number of votes) didn't receive a single vote in round 2 up against a different group of kids. It just is what it is. So like everything in this business (are you sick of hearing this yet), it really IS subjective. And truly, I KNOW that can be so hard to hear and we get to a point where we never want to hear the word "subjective" again. But it is TRUE.

So honestly, no matter what, remember the subjectivity, remember that your art is the prize, and keep on writing.



And now... the moment we have all been waiting for! Announcing the 2023 #KidsChoiceKidLitWritingContest Finalists and Honorable Mentions!! If you are a Finalist or receive an Honorable Mention, there are graphics at the bottom of this post that you can download and use on social media, your website, etc.


Now... In no particular order....


YA FINALISTS


TRAPPED by Melissa J Miles


STALE AIR by Caz Scales


DAYS OF DESTINY by Karlein Kwong


ARTIFICIAL INCOME by Kate DeMaio


THE TIMELESS GIFT by Sabrina Shah


DON’T JUDGE A REAPER BY HIS SYTHE by Bethany Walker


THE LIES WE SELL by Kari Ann Gonzalez


VANISHED by Sarah Meade



MG FINALISTS


THE PERKS OF BEING A FIFTH GRADER by Rita D. Russell


THE GLITCH by Sara Kruger


THE NOTE by Yessi Robles Holm


THE MIRROR TO A THOUSAND MINDS by Melanie Rowsell-Docherty


ONE OF US by Emily Keifer


STAINE by Courtney Moore


MAYBE IT’S MAGIC by Laurie Smith Murphy


This House NOT For Sale by Scott Wolf


THE MAILBOX – Stepping Out of the Shadows by Chris Garcia-Halenar


EARTH SCHOOLS ARE EASY by Rowena Zahnrei




PB FINALISTS


THE NOT FRIENDS PLAYDATE by Jennifer Cowan


A PERFECT PLAN FOR GETTING A DOG by Lynne Marie


ALIEN'S PERFECT PET by Bri Lawyer


NOT MY ORDER by Melissa Hope


A BAD GUY FIGHTING A ZOMBIE by Ellen Meeks


COUCHBOY by Hollie Wolverton


A DOG'S GUIDE: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR HUMAN By Maura Lance


I DON'T KNOW by Kevin Treaccar


FARTS MAKE YOU SMART by Tunisia Williams


BEING YOU AND ME by Heather Kinser


BIRDS IN SPACE by Christine Alemshah


GROUND HOG DAY OFF by Trenise Ferreira






All of the finalist are now in the last round of judging. Our kid and teen judges will read and vote on this next set over the next 2 weeks and the winners will be announced around March 17th. Winners will then take turns choosing from our list of prizes!



And now, our Honorable Mention list! These are books that multiple kid judges specifically mentioned but that didn't quite receive enough votes to make it on to the finals.


YA HONORABLE MENTIONS


MURDER IN THE SWAMP by S.E. Reed


FIRST KISS by Lori Keating


WRITTEN INHERITANCE by Kathryn Faye


REACHING by Cody Hoskisson


THE TROUBLE WITH CHLOE AND OLIVIA By Carrie Karnes-Fannin


CHASING A GHOST by Dedra Davis


YEAR 2050 by Eric Herrington


THE PAINTER by Stephen Daly





MG HONORABLE MENTIONS


NEWTON’S NOVELTIES by Jamie Krakover


BOY PATRIOT by Tanya Pfeiffer


THEY CAME FROM THE SEA by Alyssa Alessi


MY LISTENING STONE by Charles Fischer


GONE by Deborah Ishii


THE WISHES by Jason Peterson


BLADDERWORT by Sondra Eby


NIKKI VERMA AND THE EVIL EYE by Rush Dighe


POODLES WITH A PURPOSE by Janice Kay Alexander


PAYBACKS by Danielle Terkhanian


THE UNWANTED PRINCE by Hallie Christensen


ACCIDENTAL BULLY by Ida George


KENDRA RIBOSI AND THE CURSE OF THE MOON by Tim Kreher





PB HONORABLE MENTIONS


I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER by Sheila Colón-Bagley


COPS AND ROBBERS: A BATTLE FOR THE END by Abigail Mumford


PETE’S MONSTER PROBLEM by Jennifer Taylor


ANT BAND by Sandra Martin


RONIN'S MISSION: THE TRUE STORY OF A HERORAT by Hannah Roy LaGrone


NO CAN BE A GOOD THING by Adriana Gutierrez


SUPER SALE by Daniella Kaufman


THE THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE BIG BAD STENCH by Elizabeth Muster


BOOGIE by Emily Holewczynski


SILLY SWITCH by Jennie Heydt


THE TALE OF TWO CHIPS by Cheryl Simon


READY FOR RECESS by Brian N Burak


ASPARAGHOSTS by Phaea Crede


HOW FAR IS ALMOST THERE by Mary Helen Berg


A DOG NAMED CHEW by Robin Currie







To all of our Finalists and Honorable Mention Recipients, a HUGE congrats! I hope you shout this out on social media. Please tag me (@KaileiPew on Twitter and @KaileiPewBooks on IG so that I can celebrate you a well).


To everyone. please know that LOTS of entries got votes from at least one or two judges, but didn't make either of these lists. There were so many entries that it's just impossible to call out every single book that at least one kid chose as their favorite. But how cool is that to know that YOUR BOOK will be someone's favorite some day! Keep plugging friends.


Finally, thank you SO much to every single person who entered. I am so grateful to you and I hope this contest will become a favorite over the years. Make sure to subscribe to my blog so you don't miss out on future Kids' Choice Contests!




Click the image to Download a Finalist Badge:

Click the image to Download an Honorable Mention Badge:



About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. She is the founder of the Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest and the co-founder (with Ebony Lynn Mudd) of the PB Rising Stars picture book mentorship.

Upcoming books include:


THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED (Clarion/Harper, Fall 2023)


I SEE COLOR (With Valerie Bolling, HarperKids, Winter 2024)


KID-VENTORS (Feiwel & Friends /Macmillan, Spring 2024)


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