More About Jenna Elyse Johnson (She/Her)

Growing up, Jenna’s favorite part of the school day was storytime, so she decided to make a career out of it! She now works as a bookseller, teacher, and her most fun job, children’s book author! As a disabled author, her passion is to highlight disability joy through her writing. She also tries to sneak a dog into every story she writes! Jenna lives in Northern California with her two labradors who love storytime just as much as she does. Jenna is the author of EVERY BODY MOVE (Barefoot Books, illustrated by Ananya Rao-Middleton), I SPARK LIKE LIGHTNING (Free Spirit, illustrated by Sue Teodoro), The MAE AND MALIBU Chapter Book Series (Little Bee Books, illustrated by Anuki Lopez), and PENNY’S PAGES (Sleeping Bear Press, illustrated by Janna Mattia).

You can find Jenna online at:

www.jennaelysejohnson.com

Instagram I Bluesky

Jenna’s strengths are…

• Line edits

• Pacing and paginating

• Thinking like an illustrator

• Identifying strong concepts and hooks

• Writing across genres

• Crafting eye-catching pitches

• Brainstorming sessions

• Big picture changes

• Finding the heart of your story

• Preparing for “the call” with an agent

• Navigating the agent-author relationship

• Picturing where your book will settle in the bookstore and market (professional bookseller here!)

• Being encouraging and supportive, and keeping her mentee motivated

• As a teacher and bookseller, Jenna also thinks beyond the book and about story time. How will your book work with specific age groups? Can you create a craft or activity with your book?

What Jenna is looking for…

Jenna is looking for a mentee who is serious about their kidlit career. She is hoping to form a lasting relationship with her mentee that extends beyond the timeframe of their mentorship.

Her ideal mentee has several manuscripts that they want to get into submission shape and wants to talk about both the craft and business side of kidlit.

They are comfortable receiving feedback and with saying “I don’t know” if they don’t have the answer, because really, who has ALL the answers? This business is built on community, and community is what Jenna is looking to foster.

Jenna is looking for a mentee with a positive attitude and who is ready to have FUN this summer. She has a very flexible work schedule, so she can work with her mentee’s schedule, and she hopes they come hungry to write and revise!

Jenna encourages marginalized and disabled creators to apply.

A Note from Jenna:

“Make sure that you are enjoying the work. Having FUN! Because if you stop having fun, so will your readers! And, I get it. The rejection is TOUGH. It is never-ending, by the way. So, my advice is to find another creative outlet that is just-for-fun! Something that your income won’t rely on. So if one day a particular rejection stings and you need a break from writing, you can turn to your other creative outlet for a reset and refresh! Maybe it’s drawing? Maybe music? Maybe it’s writing in a different format? Perhaps try learning a new language? Just find something that sounds fun and intriguing for you!”

Jenna’s Picture Books:

Jenna writes in other markets, so to check out her full catalog please visit her website.

If Jenna created a Visual Wish List, it would be made up of…

*Unless otherwise stated, the below serves as a wish list only. Each mentor is excited about the opportunity to find a manuscript they can’t stop thinking about. Please apply if you think you’d be a good fit.

The strong narrative and authentic disability rep like:

The humor and heart and perfect pacing of:

An original folktale or a fresh take on a folktale/fairytale like:

A book that leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy like:

Jenna is a good fit for:

• Slice of life stories

• Character driven stories

• Kid-appeal/kid-centered stories

• Great read-alouds

• Lyrical language

• Humor and heart

• Disability rep…especially when the story is not ABOUT disability (authentic rep only)

• Dogs

• SEL that focuses on reaching kids not teaching kids.

• Fiction

• Manuscripts that surprise readers in any way

• Unique structures

• Holiday

• Traditions - especially something niche to your family or culture

• Folktale/fairytale with a twist

• Strong voice

• Stories that feel like a hug or make me laugh-out-loud.

Jenna is not a good fit for:

• Rhyme

• Potty humor

• Dialogue only

• PB Bios

• Didactic text

• Punny overkill

• 🚫Please don’t send stories that include loss, death, or grief books (very important books, but please don’t send!)

Who can apply to Jenna?
Unagented Text-only authors only.

⚠️All authors are invited to apply, but Jenna especially encourages members of the disabled community to apply.

Click to view all 2026 Mentors