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This illustration by Denise Clemmensen seemed to be a good fit with my advice on Editor Etiquette. Denise was featured on Illustrator Saturday. Click here to view.

Thought I would bring up the subject of editor etiquette, since many of you are new to the Children’s Publishing Industry and may not be familiar with the standards of contacting an editor. I bring this up, because an editor who was nice enough to donate her time to critiquing the first pages contacted me to let me know that she was receiving a lot of phone calls to ask if they could send in a manuscript, even thought they were attending the NJSCBWI June Conference.

Editors are extremely busy and calling them on the phone to ask if they would be interested in reading your manuscript is not advised. I am sure they understand how important your manuscript is to you, but their job and time is important to them. As a writer, we need to respect the editors time.

First impressions are important, so we want to put our best foot forward and not be remembered for someone who interrupted and important project. That is why attending events that allow you to interact with an editor are a good thing to do. The better thing to do would be spending your time getting an agent who editors expect to hear from.

I am not talking about never calling an editor who you have built a relationship with, but always remember they are at work and any call to anyone is a disturbance when someone is working, so in most cases email is a better choice.

CONGRATULATIONS:

Anita Nolan just signed a contract with agent Erzsi Deak at Hen & Ink for representation.

Carol McAllister won Honorable Mention! for Floating Piñatas, another story in her collection for young readers that has placed in the International Writers and Editors competition. This makes four of the six stories winners, thus far. They all center on trickster monkeys here in Puerto Rico.

Ann Rinaldi’s novel “A Break With Charity” was selected by “First Book Manhattan” as a recommended book for Childrens’ Book Week 2014.

Shannon Wiersbitzky‘s WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER is now available in paperback. Published by namelos.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

What a cover!! Goodness, I have to say, as one who firmly stands by the "don't judge a book by its cover" rule (though we all do just that), I would have picked this up and ran home with it, even if it wasn't a Cybils nominated title. The cover is just gorgeous! Oh...and did I mention it's written by a one Ann Rinaldi? Queen of Historical Fiction Ann Rinaldi? Well it is. Great cover, great author, pretty good book.

Rinaldi steps out of her typical American history comfort zone to tackle the life of Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII and eventual Queen in The Redheaded Princess. At the time in the book, Elizabeth is in her teen years; simply a princess and not a very honored one at that. Her father, the King, only loves her when he wants to and will only allow her in the actual court of his kingdom on occasion, leading Elizabeth to believe that the royal life is not a very pleasant one. She watches her father's wives come and go, often by the way of a beheading, something Elizabeth is threatened with many times. She must remain strong and positive during times when her siblings are on the throne and she does not agree with their decisions, as well as show her will and perserverence to the people of the kingdom, neither an easy task for Elizabeth.

I am not typically the first one to pick up a historical novel, especially if it is not one of American history, however I did enjoy The Redheaded Princess. I will complain that, at times, Elizabeth sounded as if she were much older than she actual was, especially when she was professing love at age 8, but I did learn a lot about the time period and the difficult lives royalty actually led.

If someone was coming to Rinaldi's work for the first time, I probably wouldn't recommend The Redheaded Princess as a starting point, but it's definitely worth reading if you've read the author's work previously. It's filled with historical elements and relationships, a combination which many enjoy.

If you're interested in learning more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.

It took me about forty pages to warm to this historical novel about a teenage Elizabeth Tudor, mainly because author Ann Rinaldi did such a poor job of establishing the narrator's voice. Elizabeth is old beyond her years, and not just because children were forced to grow up faster. At eight years of age she is expressing love for an admired member of her father's court, and it is as if Rinaldi has lost track of her narrator's age. Dialogue between Elizabeth and her younger brother Edward sounds as if it is exchanged between grown-ups, rather than tweenies (which they are at the start of the story--forsooth!) The book vacilates between juvenile and young adult suitability. But once it becomes clear that this is a YA book, both in content and style (again, it took about 40 pages, so be patient,) this is an engrossing story of political machinations, love affairs, and family dysfunction. Despite the fact that we know Elizabeth will go on to become one of England's most influential monarchs, it is fascinating watching her walk the tightrope between familial sentiment and survival.

Elizabeth is portrayed as a wise and wily young woman, mindful of her place while out of favor, but never forgetful that she could very well be queen one day. She watches her rivals get their turn at the throne, and then fall through one means or another (some natural, others, as in the case of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, unnatural.) Supporting characters in the book, of which there are many, are well-rounded. Rinaldi manages to avoid caricature when portraying larger than life figures like Henry VIII. In the end, The Redheaded Princess is worth the effort and will reward readers with a fresh look at one of the most fascinating political dynasties in history.

Just wanted to let any folks in the tween/kid space know that a post Mashup site has popped up with the intent of keeping the conversation about coming together as an industry to talk about COPPA, implementation etc. The "user generated" lunch... Read the rest of this post

I'm still recovering from the Ypulse Tween Mashup last week in New York. I learned from our feedback forms that one attendee thought because we call Ypulse conferences Mashups, she thought the event would focus on music. I call them Mashups because... Read the rest of this post

I'm still recovering from the Ypulse Tween Mashup last week in New York. I learned from our feedback forms that one attendee thought because we call Ypulse conferences Mashups, she thought the event would focus on music. I call them Mashups because... Read the rest of this post

Just a quick to let you know the Ypulse Mixer sponsored by MyYearbook and Fleishman Hillard's Next Great Thing this Friday at Bongo after the Ypulse Tween Mashup is now full. We're reserving some spaces for Tween Mashup attendees who decide to come... Read the rest of this post

I've been pulling together some fun music to play at The Ypulse Tween Mashup Friday in between speakers and thought I'd share my playlist with you. I tried to throw in a few "old school" tween hits that we might remember as well. If there's a song... Read the rest of this post

The "early adopter" rate may have passed, but there are still good reasons to register for the Ypulse Tween Mashup. We just added two more sponsored case studies to the agenda. The first is from KiKi magazine, a start up magazine geared towards... Read the rest of this post

I'm rushing to catch my flight back from Chicago, but wanted to remind readers thinking of attending the Ypulse Tween Mashup in NYC, that the "early adopter" discount ends tomorrow. So register today!

I'm excited to announce that Tina So, the Interactive Marketing Leader for P&G North America's Health and Well-Being business (which includes Beinggirl.com) will be joining the Old School to New School panel at the Ypulse Tween Mashup. (Full... Read the rest of this post

It's funny to think about Pokemon being an "old school" brand, but the game has been around for over 10 years! Since its early days on the Game Boy, Pokemon has become a full blown media franchise with anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books,... Read the rest of this post

Tween girls love avatars. It's paper dolls gone virtual, and in the past year or so this space has exploded. While many of these sites cater to 13 and up (Meez, Zwinktopia, IMVU, Gaia), there are a handful that are kid-friendly and COPPA compliant,... Read the rest of this post

I'm really excited to announce that our afternoon keynote interview at the Ypulse Tween Mashup will be with Edith Bellinghausen, Vice President of New Media at Kidz Bop. In many ways, Kidz Bop is the little compilation CD that could...and could and... Read the rest of this post

There has been so much buzz about how kids are getting their first cell phones younger and younger inspiring the need for "parental controls." In fact AT&T just announced it is launching "Smart Limits," with options like limiting talk time, text... Read the rest of this post

The post-Tween Mashup cocktail party is ON. MyYearbook is sponsoring drinks and light "finger foods" after the Ypulse Tween Mashup on Friday, September 28th in NYC. We may have additional sponsors to announce soon. Bongo is funky and intimate, so... Read the rest of this post

The post-Tween Mashup cocktail party is ON. MyYearbook and Fleishman Hillard's Next Great Thing (NGT) are sponsoring drinks and light "finger foods" after the Ypulse Tween Mashup on Friday, September 28th in NYC. Bongo is funky and intimate, so... Read the rest of this post

Just a quick post to remind Ypulse readers to register now for the Ypulse Tween Mashup happening on September 28th in NYC. We just confirmed Evan Bailyn, the CEO of Cartoon Doll Emporium (a tween site that boasts 4 million unique visitors, 90... Read the rest of this post

The Ypulse Tween Mashup lineup just keeps getting better and better. Late last week we confirmed two more speakers for the Old School To New School panel. Mark William Hansen is a director at the LEGO group who has been leading the development of... Read the rest of this post

The Ypulse Tween Mashup lineup just keeps getting better and better. Late last week we confirmed two more speakers for the Old School To New School panel. Mark William Hansen is a director at the LEGO group who has been leading the development of... Read the rest of this post

The Ypulse Tween Mashup program is really beginning to come together. I'm really excited to announce that we just confirmed Kyra E. Reppen from Nick/Neopets as our morning keynote. We're still working on filling out our panels and confirming our... Read the rest of this post

The Ypulse Tween Mashup program is really beginning to come together. I'm really excited to announce that we just confirmed Kyra E. Reppen from Nick/Neopets as our morning keynote. We're still working on filling out our panels and confirming our... Read the rest of this post

We've been hard at work building our program for the next Ypulse Tween Mashup. I wanted to thank everyone who has been suggesting speakers and just clarify how we're defining tweens since the age range is a bit of a moving target in the media. Since... Read the rest of this post

I've been busy confirming speakers for the Tween Mashup in New York and wanted to start sharing a few with you. For the The New School panel, we have confirmed Dr. Jim Bower from Whyville. I met Jim at the San Francisco Mashup in person and was... Read the rest of this post

Following up on our first successful flagship conference, Ypulse and Modern Media are producing a second, smaller Tween Mashup in NYC on September 28th in conjunction with Digital Life. The website is live (www.tweenmashup.com) featuring our... Read the rest of this post