Making the Grade with Middle Grade: Editing Books for 8-to-12-Year-Olds

Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2020, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Location: via Zoom (details below)

Since its inception, Annick Press has been a pillar of children’s literature in Canada and an innovator in publishing books for middle-grade readers. On Tuesday, May 26 at 7:00 pm via Zoom, editors Kaela Cadieux, Claire Caldwell, and Mary Ann Blair will discuss the story behind two recent titles: The Ghost Collector, a novel by Allison Mills, and Running Wild: Awesome Animals in Motion, by Galadriel Watson, with illustrations by Samantha Dixon. This presentation will highlight the many stages of creating successful books for middle-grade readers, from acquisition to copy edit.

More about our speakers

Kaela Cadieux is the managing editor at Annick Press, where she oversees titles from acquisition to publication and schedules the press’s full publishing program. Kaela has also held editorial positions at Penguin Random House Canada and at House of Anansi Press.

Claire Caldwell is a children’s book editor at Annick Press, where she focuses on acquisition and development. Before joining Annick in 2017, Claire spent five years editing romance and action-adventure novels at Harlequin. She is also the author of two poetry collections, Gold Rush (Invisible Publishing, 2020) and Invasive Species (Wolsak and Wynn, 2014).

Mary Ann Blair has been an editor since graduating from the University of Waterloo with an English degree. While she was working as a managing editor at Penguin Random House Canada, YA titles were high on her list of favourite books. Mary Ann edited her first middle-grade novel, Boy from Berlin, while at Iguana Books, and hasn’t looked back. It doesn’t hurt that she has her own personal middle-grade reader at home for inspiration. She currently works for multiple Canadian and international publishers, as well as with any self-published authors who come her way.

Want to join us?

Email [email protected] to register and get the Zoom link and the password to join the meeting.

Participants are eligible to win a copy of the books being discussed: The Ghost Collector and Running Wild: Awesome Animals in Motion, courtesy of Annick Press.

We look forward to seeing you!