Featured Publishing Professional: Elizabeth Agyemang
As sent to Jasmine Miranda
Why did you decide to work in publishing?
Like most people who come to publishing, I wanted to work in the industry because I love books. When my family first emigrated from Ghana to America, my parents would take my siblings and I to the library the moment school ended and we would stay together, just my older siblings and I, until the moment the library closed and our parents picked us up. Instead of doing homework like we were supposed to, we ended up reading for hours and finishing our homework thirty minutes before our parents came (at least I would). I devoured as many books as I could get my hands one, from volumes of manga, fantasy series, historical fiction and nonfiction, to contemporary stories that gave me insight to the new place my family and I would be living. In college, I majored in fine arts as a printmaker, but I desperately wanted to work with writing in some way so I double majored in professional writing because I wanted to be a film critic or some type of journalist. But during that time, visiting the library was still my favorite thing.
In freshman year of college, I did a screen print art exhibition focused on representation in children’s literature, where attendees could write their stories and reflections about representation of people of color in the books they grew up reading. I was also in tune with the conversation sparked by We Need Diverse books online, and later became a recipient of the Lee & Low travel stipend for the We Need Diverse Books, Do the Write Thing writing symposium. There, Jacqueline Woodson and Kwame Alexander led a master class on writing for children and young adults. I was in awe listening to these two iconic writers talk about their craft and storytelling. And though I attended that symposium as a writer, after listening to its faculty of publishing professionals (which ranged from Jason Low, founder of Lee & Low Books, Jennifer Brown, Publisher at Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Cassandra Pelham, a Senior Editor at Graphic) talk about children’s book industry, it was like a veil had lifted and I knew that I wanted to not just make books, but work with the creators that would inspire future generations. From there I worked vigorously to learn as much about the industry as I could. I applied and was accepted into the Representation Matters mentorship program (which is an excellent program that I highly recommend) and got my first publishing internship at Clarion Books, an imprint at HMH and then landed my first full time job at HMH’s Books for Young Readers imprint. It’s been such a wonderful journey meeting amazing people and working on wonderful books and I absolutely love what I do.
What sort of voices and stories are you looking for?
I wanted to work in publishing because I wanted to see more stories by BIPOC creators, so those are the voices and stories I’m looking for. I want stories of Black joy, the African diaspora, and also those that may deal with tougher themes. I want to see stories by BIPOC, QBIPOC, and disabled creators that are in fantasy worlds, contemporary ones, and historical fiction and nonfiction. I’m looking for middle grade, young adult and the occasional picture book. I also love graphic novels and manga and would love a slice of life story and fantasy in those mediums. I’m also especially looking for stories (whether that’s fantasy or contemporary) that has a romance between two Black leads.
What's an editorial trend that you're very excited about?
I love seeing the excitement around graphic novels. Manga was such a huge influence for me growing up so it’s nice to see how it’s inspired so many creators and how the graphic novel space is growing. If I could create trends though, I would bring urban fantasies back and also make historical fiction with swoony romances happen in the YA space.
In addition to your day job you are also a graphic novelist! How do you balance work with your creative projects?
Funnily enough, I think art school really helped me with what it means to balance projects or manage responsibilities. There, I learned how to weld, wood work, sculpt, code/program, printmake, sew, video edit, make music, and just an assortment of things from all different disciplines. With the good and the bad, I learned pretty quickly that I'm someone who's interested in a lot of different things, but the only way to excel at them is to spend as much time as you can with them. So to me it’s all about managing my time and responsibilities. In publishing, even before everyone was working from home, editors and agents have been reading submissions on their commutes or during their own time during the weekends. On my free time, I’m always drawing, whether it’s for fun or for a project I’m working on. What’s been really helpful for me is a voice app that reads text aloud. I used to use it to listen to manuscripts during my commute to work and now I use it when I’m drawing. What’s great about the app, is that the text is shown side by side so I’m often pausing to leave comments on the manuscript as I read. I also use planners and programs like Asana to keep track of work.
As a graphic novelist and writer, I have project planners and use Google task to keep track of projects. For my current project Fibbed for example, I have a calendar with tasks that are broken down page my page and by process (i.e. sketch page 1, ink page 1, color page 1) with due dates for each stage of the process. Breaking out big projects into smaller pieces like that has been really helpful to make everything feel manageable.
How do you think managers can be better advocates for retaining people of color?
I feel super lucky because I’ve consistently had absolutely amazing managers. Through all the ups and downs, I’ve been able to go to my managers, who just genuinely cared about my growth and my career. I think managers who are able to listen are so important because so much about hardships in the industry can stem from not being heard or feeling like your perspective or ideas aren’t valued. I also think that managers who are willing to problem solve together with their reports and try to find real solutions, however big or however small, however they can, truly make a difference. It’s also about acknowledging what you know and what you don’t know and working that out to advocate for those who report to you. When it comes to retaining people of color in the industry, something that needs to be acknowledged is that we often carry the weight of representing our communities and also are expected to speak for other communities due to the lack of diversity in the industry. Then there are also microaggressions and the many –isms that we face in the industry. I think retention ultimately is about actively working to be anti-racist and also providing opportunities of growth for BIPOC.
What are some of your favorite books you've read recently?
I absolutely loved From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks, which I found so heartwarming, and sweet and so meaningful. The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is an absolute favorite recent read of mine (I cried reading it). I also spent all of January reading more of the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole and the Brown sisters series by Talia Hibbert, both of which I loved. And a recent release that I assisted on and absolutely adore and think everyone should read is Some Other Now by Sarah Everett.
Elizabeth Agyemang is a co-chair of the Communications & Events Subcommittee and an Associate Editor at HMH Books for Young Readers, where she gets to work on an exciting range of picture books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels from brilliant creators. Elizabeth is also a writer and an illustrator and her middle grade graphic novel debut Fibbed will be published by Razorbill in Spring 2022. When she isn’t gushing over books or comics, she spends her time dissecting classic movies and playing Final Fantasy. Find her on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram @onceAddai.