More About Seina Wedlick (She/Her)
Languages: English
Seina Wedlick is a Nigerian American author and lives in California. She enjoys writing picture books centered around her culture, tradition, and lived experiences. She loves to write books with underrepresented kids as the main characters. Seina believes sharing traditions, cultures, and one's own experience helps build empathy and foster community. And she also believes that shelf-care is self-care and the books we choose to read impact our outlook in life.
Seina enjoys eating snacks while she reads, loves the feeling of sand between her toes, and enjoys listening to the sound of crashing waves. She especially loves chocolate chip cookies, reading fantasy, listening to The Backstreet Boys and watching action movies. Seina is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.
You can find Seina online at:
Seina’s strengths are…
Crafting pitches
Knowing where to cut works to look room for the art
Finding the heart of the story
Analyzing sentence structure
Line edits
What Seina is looking for…
Seina is looking for a mentee who is serious about a career in traditional children's publishing and actively working on their craft. She wants to work with someone who has written multiple manuscripts and needs a push to get their work over the finish line. She is especially looking work on manuscripts that have a lot of heart and an emotional pull. Seina is looking for someone who will put in the time to revise and improve their craft over the course of the mentorship. She also hopes to connect with someone who wants to prepare for next steps on the business side of publishing.
Seina’s critique style is thoughtful and actionable. She will help you find the true heart of your story and help guide you through a thorough revision process. She wants to work with someone who is willing to rewrite their story if a different POV works best.
Seina loves to make connections and build relationships with people. She wants to get to know her future mentee beyond just the writing world. She wants to connect with a mentee who will connect frequently about the craft of writing, revisions, and the business of publishing. Seina is happy to share what she can about the querying process, going on submission, getting a contract, author visits, etc. She wants to work with someone who wants to work hard and have fun!
Seina is looking for someone who has put in the time to learn the craft and is ready foster a relationship. She wants to work with a mentee who is passionate about writing, and who is patient and kind.
Seina especially encourages historically marginalized creators to apply but is open to all creators.
A Note from Seina:
“Thank you so much for considering applying to me for the 2024 PBRisingStars mentorship. Finishing a manuscript is no easy feat, so congratulations on coming this far! I would love to get a sense of your personality in your application, so please give me a sense of who you are and why you think we would work well together. My advice is to read a lot. Read books that have stood the test of time and read more recently published books. There is so much to learn from the books that are already on the shelves.”
Seina’s Picture Books
NAMING CEREMONY, written by Seina Wedlick and illustrated by Jenin Mohammed
Seina’s Upcoming Picture Books
THE NIGHT MARKET, written by Seina Wedlick and illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu
If Seina 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.
HOW WE SAY I LOVE YOU, written by Nicole Chen and illustrated by Lenny Wen
THANK YOU, OMU! written and illustrated by Oge Mora
SHHH! THE BABY’S ASLEEP, written by JaNay Brown-Wood and illustrated by Elissambura
THE HEART NEVER FORGETS, written by Ana Ot and illustrated by Hayden Goodman
NIGEL AND THE MOON, written Antwan Eady and illustrated by Gracey Zhang
FREEDOM SOUP, written by Tami Charles and illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara
SOUL FOOD SUNDAY, written by Winsome Bingham and illustrated C.G. Esperanza
IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE, written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond
THE SNOWY DAY, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
DRAGON LOVE TACOS, written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
OH NO, THE AUNTS ARE HERE by Adam Rex and Lian Cho
THE BOSS BABY by Marla Frazee
NO, DAVID! by David Shannon
YELLOW DOG BLUES, written by Alice Faye Duncan and illustrated by Chris Raschka
Seina is a good fit for…
Diverse voices
Multi-generational stories
Community-based stories
Animal protagonists
Human protagonists
Fresh, fun characters and plots
Stories that feel classic and timeless
Stories that play with structure and bend and break rules
Seina is not a good fit for…
Rhyme
Non-fiction
Potty humor
Horror
Creators who become despondent or defensive in response to critiques
Who can apply to Seina? Unagented authors may apply.
Stressed about applications? Below are four songs handpicked by Seina for applicants who want to take a break and vibe out! Enjoy the music and Seina’s personal ‘ROCK OUT CORNER’ below!
Omah Lay - soso
Backstreet Boys - Everyone
Nsync - Bye Bye Bye
Skelewu - Davido
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