Updated: Jul 25, 2022
I was blown away by the response to #FirstDraftFriday in 2021, and I'm so excited to keep it going for 2022. It's been wonderful to see it help many of you write new picture book drafts and learn from published pros along the way via their interviews and, for a lucky few of you, critiques!
I'm beyond grateful to all the people who've said yes to being guest authors for #FirstDraftFriday! Including the amazing authors who will be joining us for 2022! (More on them below!)

So mark your calendar to check out my blog the first Friday of each month for that day's guest author interview! Get inspired and then get drafting. Things "officially" start at 8 am ET with the blog post. Join us on the Twitter hashtag for encouragement and accountability!
If you finish before 8 pm ET, comment on that blog post to be entered into a drawing for a critique giveaway from the day's featured guest. Easy-peasy! (PSA: You can adjust the 12-hour writing window to suit your time zone, but you must comment by 8 pm ET if you want in on the giveaway drawing.)
The #FirstDraftFriday guest authors for 2022 are:
January 7 - Jocelyn Rish
February 4 - June Smalls
March 4 - Harshita Jerath
April 1 - Chelsea Lin Wallace
May 6 - Debbie Zapata
June 3 - Stephen Briseño
July 1 - Rebecca Gardyn Levington August 5 - Shirin Shamsi
September 2 - CK Malone
October 7 - Matt Forrest Esenwine
November 4 - Stephanie Wildman
December 2 - Jocelyn Watkinson
Again, to win a critique, you must write your draft on the designated #FirstDraftFriday, comment on the day's blog post by 8 pm ET, and follow both me and the day's guest author on Twitter.
To make that last step easier, why not just go ahead and follow us all now? We're at:
Hope to see you on #FirstDraftFriday!