Velveteen Mafia Edit Meaning

1.

A subspecies of the entertainment industry's velvet mafia, the Velveteen mafia is comprised of the many gay men (and the occasional lesbian) who work in the field of children's book publishing.

Though not formally organized, these editors, authors, illustrators, art directors, publishers, etc. do tend to huddle together at industry events (making quite the splash) and are known for their wit, style, and general panache around the office...and around town. They are highly influential.

An obvious (and brilliant) mash-up of author Stephen Gaines' term "the velvet mafia" (which he used to describe the in-crowd of Studio 54's heyday) and the title of Margery Williams' classic 1922 children's book, "The Velveteen Rabbit."

Do any straight men work in kids books or are they really all part of the Velveteen mafia?

The Velveteen mafia does not bat for my team, damn it!

See gay, glbt, homosexual