Why did you decide to work in book publishing?

Like most people who go into publishing, I’ve always been a huge bookworm, even from a very young age. I was absolutely that kid who just wanted to stay in and read or scribble out weird short stories in my notebook while all the other kids were playing outside. So I’ve always known I wanted to work in a job that involves a lot of reading and writing.

As an adult, I’ve come to realize that while this was partly just my personality, it also had to do with the environment I grew up in: we always had a lot of books at home, and both of my parents are big readers. Not all kids have that, for all sorts of different reasons. So I’ve grown really passionate about working with people who are invested in nurturing future generations of readers and fostering a love of reading early on. Kidlit publishing seemed like a good place to do that.

Alexandra Aceves is a Latine writer and editor originally from Mexico City and currently based in Brooklyn. She works as an associate editor at Holiday House Publishing, where she oversees the expansion of the Holiday House Spanish language publishing program while also acquiring YA and middle grade fiction for Holiday House's English language list. She was the 2015 Honor winner of Lee & Low's New Visions Award for previously unpublished YA fiction writers whose work centers characters from marginalized communities; her debut novel is forthcoming from Lee & Low's Tu Books imprint.

Why book publishing?

It seems inevitable. I've always loved reading. It was something that was encouraged by my mom and my teachers. I've also always loved writing, which led me to getting my MFA in creative writing. Being in the literary world, interacting with the publishing industry, and learning more about the various roles that it takes to make a book just made me even more curious. And here I am.

Quressa Robinson joined the Nelson Literary Agency in 2017 after working at a previous agency and as an editor for five years. She is originally from San Francisco but has been living in New York City for over a decade. As a New York based agent, she is eager to build her MG, YA, and Adult lists. Quressa is also a member of the 2017-2020 WNDB Walter Grant Committee and holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from Columbia University. In 2020, she was named a Publisher's Weekly Star Watch finalist. In 2021 she was named an influential gatekeeper in Book and Film Globe’s inaugural Publishing Power 30 list alongside phenoms like Reece Witherspoon, Celeste Ng, and Lisa Lucas.
https://nelsonagency.com/quressa-robinson/

What made you decide to pursue publishing, specifically children’s editorial?

I’ve always loved storytelling, and I knew that I wanted to tell, or help tell, stories for a living. When I moved to New York for college, I knew that I wanted to major in English, but I still wasn’t sure of what career path I wanted to follow. I remember a friend of mine was working at Scholastic at the time, and she loved it. This piqued my interest, so I decided I’d try to get an internship in publishing. Eventually, I started interning at Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. I loved it (I was reading all day!), and I never left publishing.

Polo Orozco is an editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. He’s also a translator and an audiobook enthusiast. He often rides his bike around NYC. He seldom tweets at @Polo_Orozco_