Intrigue in children's publishing

We've come a long way from the stereotype of a children's author as a solitary woman scribbling away in a garret, like Louisa May Alcott working on Little Women or H.K. Rowling sitting in a coffee shop with a pen and paper handwriting the first Harry Potter book. Still it's a surprise to read in the N.Y. Times that several publishers on Madison Avenue are looking at a new young adult sci-fi series of books by an anonymous author rumored to be James Frey of A Million Little Pieces fame. Has the celebrity author decided his fame might influence publishers against his books for youth? Surely the teenagers themselves would be pleased to know that an author made famous by appearing on Oprah is writing for them. And with movie rights also on offer, the books are not likely to remain unknown. This is just one more example of how publishing for children has grown into a mainstream media industry. Whether this is good or bad for developing talented authors who have something important to say to young people is a question we'll long be arguing about.