From The Mixed Up Files

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The Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) has revised its Canon of Ethics, with changes set to take place September 1, 2026.   Significant Changes to Note   While agents still may not charge a client for editorial work done to prepare a manuscript for submission, other avenues of generating revenue have opened up. As reported by medium.com, agents can now “offer clients paid services, such as marketing, publicity, web design, and, in some circumstances, editorial services, as long as representation is not contingent on purchasing those services.”   A significant change to the Canon, while not encouraging agents to...

As a kid, my summers were spent hanging out at the library reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I loved a good mystery, and not much has changed in that department. With summer reading in full swing, I’ve picked six of my favorite middle grade mysteries to share. They...

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You’ve probably resolved a ‘hangry’ afternoon with a snack vending machine…but have you ever heard of a book vending machine? Hunni Hound Books vending machines deliver stories on demand to ravenous readers at cafes and wine bars in North Carolina, and Mixed Up Files contributor, Megan Hunnicutt is behind the...

As a kid, my summers were spent hanging out at the library reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I loved a good mystery, and not much has changed in that department. With summer reading in full swing, I’ve picked six of my favorite middle grade mysteries to share. They...

Last summer, Tiffany D. Jackson published her middle-grade debut Blood in the Water, which became an instant New York Times bestseller, debuting at #4 and has spent a total of 10 weeks on the list. The novel’s success continued this spring when Tiffany received the 2026 Edgar Award for Best...

A question I hear often from kid readers is “How can you write for us when you’re an adult?” There’s a lot of reasons why this question pops up, but one of the biggest is the fact that adults simply aren’t kids. In their minds, we don’t look like them,...