More About Justin Colón (He/Him)
Languages: English
Justin is the owner and director of The Kidlit Hive, a new program helping children's book creators hone their craft while navigating the business side of the industry via affordable and inclusive webinars, workshops, and multi-week classes. Justin is also the proud sponsor of the podcast, You May Contribute a Verse.
Before he founded The Kidlit Hive, Justin was the brains behind PBChat, a free community and annual mentorship program for picture book creators. During its four year run, Justin paired nearly 100 emerging writers and illustrators with mentors. He also hosted numerous workshops and office hours sessions, as well as the annual mentee showcase for agents and editors, which resulted in dozens of mentees securing agent representation and book deals.
Justin is represented by Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. While his debut picture books are humorous in nature, Justin writes across genres and has written lyrical stories featuring magical realism; darker tales; and nonfiction biographies.
In his other life, Justin is a professional, formally trained voice and on-camera actor and has co-starred on hit shows such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Gotham, and Sneaky Pete. Justin lives in Long Island, New York where he enjoys books, board games, beekeeping, and other non-alliterative things.
Justin’s upcoming books include:
Impossible Possums, illustrated by James Ray Sanchez (Disney-Hyperion, 2024)
The Quacken, illustrated by Pablo Pino (Simon & Schuster, 2024)
Untitled Impossible Possums sequel, illustrated by James Rey Sanchez (Disney-Hyperion, 2025)
Unannounced companion book to The Quacken (Simon & Schuster, 2025).
You can find him online at:
Testimonials
"Justin is endlessly creative, collaborative, and upbeat. I am constantly impressed by his skill at finding the heart of a story and telling it with the most succinct and energetic language. He is a storyteller who excels at imagining the visual narrative and supporting it with the just the right words. Justin is well attuned to his inner child, enabling him to tell stories that kids will be eager to read again and again. At every turn, Justin seeks to make his books the best they can be, trusting the illustrator to build off of his vision to create a real masterpiece. He is thoughtful, clever, and kind—a dream!"
-Sylvie Frank, Executive Editor, Disney-Hyperion
"Justin writes like a writer but thinks like an illustrator. He sees the visual, he feels the sight gag, he generously leaves space for the illustrator to add to the story rather than having to spell everything out. He gets the rhythm of the story, the pacing of the page turns. In short, he writes stories that illustrators want to work on. As an illustrator, you want to know the character when you read a story the first time, not be told who they are. Justin does that."
-Jenn Harney, Author-Illustrator
"I met Justin Colón a few years ago when he invited me to serve as a mentor in the #PBChat Mentorship Program he had created. The experience was incredible, due in large part to Justin’s attention to detail, astonishing level of communication, and willingness to go the extra mile by reading ALL the manuscripts before he passed them along to me. I’ve looked forward to the event every year since and I’m always impressed with Justin’s ability to engage the participation of top level editors and agents. Plus, his organizational skills are top-notch and all materials needed were always sent on time and in good order."
-Vivian Kirkfield, Author
"Justin is just the person you need on your writing journey. His feedback and advice about absolutely everything publishing-related is invaluable. He’s one of those people who gives genuine advice and roots for you every step of the way. PBChat was the first step in my journey—Justin went above and beyond through his informative webinars with industry professionals and mentee showcase. It was through the showcase that I connected with my wonderful agent. Last but not least, Justin is awesome when it comes to connecting authors with critique partners. I am still grateful to Justin for connecting me with one of my favorite authors in the world.”
-Nadine Presley, 2024 Debut Author
Justin's strengths are…
Crafting and sharpening humor, plotting, streamlining text, strengthening a story’s pacing, playing with structure, paginating, revising at the big picture and line level, breaking “rules”, thinking like an illustrator, identifying strong concepts and hooks, writing across genres, crafting pitches, finding and creating comp title mashups, polishing query letters, creating submission lists (of agents and editors), preparing for “the call,” navigating the author-agent relationship, building a social media presence, brainstorming, and market knowledge.
What Justin is looking for…
A writer of humor who crafts rollicking read-alouds that will have children (and adults) wanting to read again and again. He especially loves humor that is over the top and outlandish with high energy and a strong voice. And if it's high-concept, well that's icing on the cake. He would love to work with someone who plays and experiments with the picture book format.
Justin's critique style is best described as thorough, honest, and actionable with an emphasis on big picture elements. As someone who puts his own manuscripts through an intensive revision process, he is seeking a mentee excited to do the same, even if that means deconstructing and rebuilding their stories. He would love to work with someone who isn't just unafraid to go back to the drawing board but actively embraces and enjoys it. Most importantly, he seeks a mentee who is passionate, professional, communicative, and kind—someone who is active in the kidlit community (or intends to be) and will give back when and how they can.
Justin wants to help set his mentee up for success and positive experiences. For that reason, he is seeking a career-minded mentee who is thoughtful about the stories they create and the career they want to develop, even if that means additional patience on their journey to connecting with the agents and editors that might prove the best fit.
How Justin envisions this mentorship…
Zoom check-ins once or twice a week.
Occasional phone conversations.
Email.
Critiques via Google Docs.
*Potential addition: A weekly or bi-weekly Zoom chat where we read and analyze a picture book or two (possibly with a few other creators joining us).
Together, you and Justin will…
Identify and prioritize your strongest ideas and manuscripts.
Revise your manuscripts and experiment with different ways of telling your stories.
Polish your query package and potential submission lists.
Develop your craft.
Expand your knowledge of the business.
Nail down the specifics of the career you envision and establish an actionable plan to manifest that career.
Justin will provide you…
Accountability
Encouragement
Inspiration
Motivation
Guidance
Support
Justin’s Upcoming Picture Books
If Justin 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.
Humor like:
Darker tales and spooky vibes like:
Gentle stories that break and warm your heart:
Classic and timeless tales with a dash of mystery and magic like:
Edge-of-your-seat adventure like:
Twists like:
Justin is a good fit for…
Humor
High concept stories
Spookiness
Dark tales
Magic and whimsy
Mischief, mayhem, and misunderstandings
A good twist (or two)
Animal and human protagonists
Fresh, fun characters and plots
Stories that feel classic and timeless
Stories that play with structure and bend and break “rules”
Strong voice
Exciting page turns
Stories that will have kids on the edge of their seats
Stories that feel cinematic
Creators who play with and challenge the format (e.g. graphic novel picture books)
Creators who write across genres within the picture book format
Authors and author-illustrators
Justin is not a good fit for…
Rhyme and verse (he enjoys it, but feels he is not yet qualified to help someone in this realm)
Concept books
Meta
Slice-of-life stories
Super sparse text (e.g. a 50-word manuscript)
Stories where he's aware that the writer is trying to teach him.
Stories that speak down to kids rather than to them
Excessive potty humor, puns, and alliteration (moderation is key)
Forced alliteration, especially in names e.g. Petunia Pigeon
Stories that are described as “cute”.
Stories with a lot of dialogue tags
Princes and princesses, knights, dragons, the toothfairy
Stories about grief, food, or hair (children need these stories, they’re just not a fit for him)
Fiction and non-fiction stories with marginalized protagonists written by non-marginalized creators
Creators who become despondent or defensive in response to critiques
A Note from Justin:
Craft tips:
“I am less concerned about word count and more focused on pacing and structure. I encourage you to paginate your manuscript before submission to see where you might adjust transitions and page turns, cut language, add language, etc. (whether you keep the pagination in or remove it before applying is your call). I appreciate and encourage art notes so long as they're used used effectively.”
General advice:
“I encourage you to view any passes from this and future experiences as redirections rather than rejections. Publishing is subjective, and selecting a mentee is no different. As someone who previously ran a mentorship program and pre-screened hundreds of applications and manuscripts, I often passed on stories I loved because there were other factors I had to take into consideration beyond the manuscript—connecting with your concepts, stories, and writing, and a clear vision of how I can best help you on your path to publication. It’s possible that I simply might not be the right person for the job.
It’s for these reasons that your responses should be specific and thorough and highlight your personality. I want to get to know YOU, the creator behind the stories.
I look forward to reading your submission and thank you for the opportunity to do so!”
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