Episode 126: Interview with Publicity & Outreach at Candlewick Books!

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

For the 10th anniversary year of Minorities in Pub, Jenn welcomes back best-selling & award-winning author Renée Watson for her fourth episode (in a year she has 4 books publishing)! We discussed Renée origins in storytelling as a poet and playwright when she started a performing arts company in high school, her new book of poetry BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS (illustrated by Ekua Holmes), the benefits & necessity of poetry--and poetry for young people--in her work as a teaching-artist, and how early rejections can lead to big successes.  

[Transcript of this episode can be found on Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

For the 10th anniversary year of Minorities in Pub, Jenn speaks with author Matt Mendez about his new young adult novel, The Broke Hearts, a companion to his debut YA Barely Missing Everything. Jenn and Matt discuss the unrealistic expectations of knowing your path at a young age, male representation for young readers, and parental influence on young people not only in life but in writing for younger readers. 

[Transcript of episodes can be found on Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

Intro/Outro music is by Moutaineer and licensed through Premuim Beat.

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with editor and graphic novelist/author Elizabeth Agyemang (Fibbed) about her debut middle grade, finding space for her professional and creative life, how she's learned that incremental progress is still progress in all aspects of our work, and the inherent struggles creators of color face when the expectations are not balanced (or unbiased). 

[Transcript of this episode can be found on Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with Candlewick publicity manager Jamie Tan (a 2020 PW StarWatch honoree and CBC Diversity Achievement Awardee) and former Candlewick outreach manager Ally Russell (whose debut middle grade It Comes From Trees pubs in 2024). They discuss working outside of NYC in the publishing industry and the reality of what hybrid work has looked like for their positions, what drew them to the industry and keeps them in publishing, in addition to the added emotional labor BIPOC take on in speaking up about issues in the workplace. 

[Transcript of this episode can be found on Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with debut novelist Namrata Poddar about her book Border Less (longlisted for the 2022 Center of Fiction First Novel Prize), pursuing publication with an small press versus a Big 5 publisher, the "classic" question of marketability versus craft that BIPOC writers especially face when publishing their work, and one's intentionality in not only their writing but what their expectations are when it comes to publication.  

(We also mention Book Coaching and the Unicorn Authors Club that you can learn more about at their website.)

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with TV writer and journalist Kashana Cauley author of the debut novel The Survivalists out now from Soft Skull Press. Kashana talks about the many drafts before this novel came to fruition, how juggling several career paths helped her stay on the path to writing, and how this novel's themes apply to what she's seen and observed about New York City (and people) at large. 

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted via Zoom with several participants, so there may be some audio variation.]

Ten days into the HarperCollins Union strike, four employees and union members--Doris, Genessee, Ahmunet, and Parrish--spoke to Jenn about the requests the union has made to HarperCollins, how to support those on strike, on why they believe in the work they do as both publishing professionals and in being vocal on pushing for a contract renewal, as well as what it's been like on (and off) the picket line. As of this episode posting, the strike is now on Day 26 with no response from HarperCollins management. Listeners can follow the HCP Union on Instagram and Twitter as well as go to their LinkTree for assets, to sign their solidarity letter, for information on how to donate and about their 12/16 Rally in the Financial District.  

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with associate production editor, Kaitlyn San Miguel, about her switch from editorial to production in children's lit, adapting to a white collar and white dominant work space, and why the production department spoke to her love of books. 

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with production editor, Carla Benton, about the specifics of the role of the production editor in trade publishing, how more remote positions may help with representation in the publishing landscape, and how some may look into freelancing by using social media to connect with other production editors in the industry. 

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]

[This interview was conducted online and is an overseas conversation so there may be some audio variation.]

Jenn speaks with illustrator/author, Kate Gavino about her latest graphic novel A Career in Books will publish on August 2nd. Kate discusses how life imitated art--and was fictionalized--for her latest book, the experiences that led her to leave the industry and pursue life as an artist, inequality in the workplace economically and the importance of AAPI representation in her book to reflect an honest experience of entry-level workers in publishing.

[Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]