"I wrote things to get them out of feeling them, and onto paper. So writing in a way saved me, kept me company." R.I.P. Carrie Fisher: actor and writer

Above: my sketchbook journal entry yesterday. So sorry to hear about the passing of Carrie Fisher. My sister and I saw the original Star Wars (A New Hope) in the theatre together, and I remember being so inspired by the character of Princess Leia -- a princess who was a strong and independent thinker, sassy and courageous, who didn't count on a prince to find her happiness.

Most people recognize Carrie Fisher for her Princess Leia role in Star Wars role, but did you know she was also a writer?

Allen & Unwin opens Friday Pitch to kidlit/YA writers

Publisher Allen & Unwin recently opened up their Friday Pitch to children's/YA writers. Before making your pitch, make sure you read through all the guidelines carefully. They're not accepting pitches for picture book texts, for example, or poetry or short stories.

Kidlit/YA News Quickie Round-Up

Follow @inkyelbows on Twitter for more kidlit/YA industry news & info

Nancy Miller Named Editor-In-Chief at Bloomsbury USA (Publishers Weekly)

Bloomsbury children's market "robust and [continuing] to grow (The Bookseller)

Authors and Illustrators Team to Create Picture Book Month (Children's Book Council)

Algonquin Books to start publishing MG & YA by end of 2012 (Kathy Temean)

Jennifer Mattson joins Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Marie Lamb joinsJennifer DeChiara Literary Agency (Kathy Temean)

Wisconsin children’s book author Florence Parry Heide dies at 92; wrote more than 100 books (Washington Post)

For sources of kidlit/YA industry info, see my link list in the lower right-hand navigation sidebar.

Kidlit News Quickie Round-up

The Mighty Mom BloggersDo-it-yourself writers gain clout with publishers (Publishers Weekly)

-- Simon & Schuster celebrates mom bloggers, the new word-of-mouth publishing powerhouses

A Picture Book Proclamation (PhoenixNewTimes.com)

London, Ont., author files copyright lawsuit against Scholastic (Metronews)

-- Accusations like this could reflect badly on the authors unless they are very VERY sure.

Mysterious children's book gets new stories from a star-studded cast of authors (CSM)

-- Authors were asked to come up with text to go with some of Chris Van Allsburg's illustrations.

Web-based Kindle format good for comics, kids' books (CNET)

Amazon details new KF8 - HTML5, CSS3 e-book format (Afterdawn.com)

For sources of kidlit/YA industry info, see my link list in the lower right-hand navigation sidebar.

Kidlit News Quickie Round-up

NPR launches The Back-Seat Book Club for kids ages 9 to 14. (NPR)

Children's/YA Market Growth "Stunted" in 2012 by Borders Group Closure (Market Watch)

PLUS: if you want a fun glimpse inside the headquarters of Scholastic:

Video -- Cubes: An Inside Look at Scholastic’s Global HQ (Mediabistro)

Compiling a list of kidlit/YA news sources:

I'm also starting to collect a list of sources of children's/YA industry news.

If you have any suggestions, please do post them in the comments section. Please note that the URL must point to a site or page that focuses on kidlit/YA NEWS, not general publishing industry news and not just general kidlit/YA info with occasional news (e.g. "so-and-so sometimes posts great kidlit news" ). However, if the person tags their news items so that someone could click on that tag and see just news items, I'd be happy to add that URL to the list.

I'm also only interested in public sources that don't charge a fee for access.

Thanks so much for any suggestions! I'll post the list I've compiled every time I do a kidlit news round-up.

Here's what I have so far...

Publisher's Weekly: Children's section

Quill & Quire - Canadian focus

School Library Journal

Who's Moving Where: news & staff changes at children's book publishers, by Harold Underdown

Kidlit News Quickie Round-up

Making Sense of Digital Books for Kids Part 1 - Part 2 - Wired

Pop Star Taylor Swift Donates 6,000 Kids Books to PA Reading Public Library - School Library Journal

'Shine' Withdrawn as NBA Young People’s Literature Nominee - Publishers Weekly