February 2021
The Communications and Events Subcommittee
Jasmine Miranda is a co-chair of the Communications & Events Subcommittee and the assistant marketing manager for the school and library Marketing at Bloomsbury Children’s Books, where she gets to marry the two biggest loves in life: children’s books and travel. Previously she worked as a marketing coordinator at Scholastic and a marketing assistant at Macmillan Learning. She completed her BA in English and Linguistics at Lehman College. She loves graphic novels and quirky romances with great humor and a lot of heart.
Elizabeth Agyemang is a co-chair of the Communications & Events Subcommittee and an Editorial Associate 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. She joined POC in Pub in 2018 after being inspired by the group’s advocacy work and the supportive community it has fostered. 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.
Jess Harold is an associate editor at Scholastic where she edits picture books, graphic novels, and middle grade novels. She loves books with gorgeous art and prose that celebrate the world we live in. These days she is perfecting her baking skills in her apartment and her farming skills in Stardew Valley.
Leila Siddiqui joined the People of Color in Publishing Communications & Events sub-committee in Spring 2019. She is currently on the Simon & Schuster marketing team after initially beginning her publishing career at Simon & Schuster as an intern for Atria and having previously worked for Dutton, Penguin Random House. She works on a range of titles in historical fiction and contemporary fiction, and nonfiction such as memoirs and biographies and has worked on titles by such New York Times bestselling authors as Lisa Gardner, Daniel Leviitn, Halsey, and Sean Carroll. Leila is also a writer whose debut House of Glass Hearts publishes in July.
Selihah White is a book publicist at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press. When she's not reading books, you can find her waxing poetic about female rappers in the group chat. She lives in New Jersey with her boyfriend and their 3 and a half-year-old Labrador mix Bellatrix Lestrange.
Amanda Orozco is a literary agent at Transatlantic Agency based out of Los Angeles. She joined the C&E committee because she's passionate about cultivating community virtually and in-person for all BIPOC in publishing. One of her favorite pastimes is looking for the best places for tacos and ramen near her.
Gianna Lakenauth is an editorial assistant at Knopf Books for Young Readers. She hails from the Caribbean and currently resides in Queens, New York. She loves books that explore different worlds and cultures and writing that takes your breath away. When not reading, you can find her exploring new restaurants or wineries. Though, realistically, at this time she is mostly home watching Netflix, hanging out with her cat, and drinking tea.
As sent to Sydnee Monday
How did you get into book publishing?
I hear so many stories of people who just “happen to” get into publishing or “fall into it.” I’ve wanted to be in publishing since I was in the 7th grade. That was around the time that I actually started to like reading; prior to that, you couldn’t get me to read a book. I was that reluctant reader we’re always talking about and trying to convert.
There were a couple of things that finally got me into it: one of my friends was really into the first book in the Twilight series (and I thought she was so much cooler than me so I had to read the first book too), and then this same friend and I would write stories together in notebooks and pass them to each other in class and the hallway.
Like so many people who want to get into publishing but don’t know much about it, I wanted to be an editor. This is what I based my major and minor around in college (English and Business) and this was my goal for those 4 years. My senior year came fast and I still wanted to be in publishing but had no idea how I was going to get to NY and get started in publishing.
By some stroke of luck, the English department sent out an email about the NYU publishing course, and suddenly, I had a path that I could take to get to NY. Long story short and 4 years later, I work as both the Marketing department’s assistant, and recently I’ve started helping out with the School & Library marketing team at PYR.
Do you think going to one of the publishing courses is necessary?
Absolutely not. Like I said, a lot of people fall into publishing. The publishing course was just my path and what I did enjoy about it was that it really expanded my view of the different types of jobs in publishing you can have outside of being an editor and that’s where I realized that I want to be more on the marketing side. I also met the people I would find my first apartment with, and it was a good way to meet other people who were interested in publishing. Networking blah blah blah. But I think all of this could have been accomplished without the program. It just would have taken a little more effort and research to get from VA to NY. But, who knows! We’re all working from home now so maybe in the future the “getting to NY” part won’t even really factor in.
What are the differences in School & Library marketing vs. trade/consumer marketing?
I just recently started working with our S&L team so I only have a little insight. I think that S&L marketing is one of the departments on this side of publishing that’s truly publishing and book focused. You can do marketing and publicity anywhere and for anything. What I like about S&L, because I really want to stick with publishing, is that you really have to look at the book and the subject matter to market it to teachers and librarians. It’s not just another product. The story matters, because of its use in the classroom as a tool the right fit of the recommendation depends on the story, and teachers and librarians are really pushing for more diversity in the stories and creators. I just really love reading and I love talking to people about books. So far I’m loving my time with the team.
Advice to POC assistants just starting out?
Search out the other POCs and meet them for coffee. And I don’t just mean POCs at a higher level; they’re good for mentorships, of course, but find other POC assistants (this is where you’d find most of the POCs in publishing anyway right now). If you can, try to talk to people from different departments too. Don’t feel awkward about asking to meet with them just because they’re another POC and try to have as candid a conversation as you can with them. This is the place you’re going to be spending most of your time so it’s important to know what the culture is like. Also, ask questions. Stupid questions, smart questions. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t know something, ask about it.
Most challenging part about your position and hacks you’ve found to be helpful?
Before I started working at PYR, I was working in the Marketing Operations department at SMP, and what I did there and what I do here is keep track of a lot of different processes for the whole department, schedule meetings, and all that nitty-gritty prep work that no one likes nor thinks about unless they have to do it.
It forces you to be the most organized you’ve ever been. I have folders inside of folders, sticky notes everywhere, tons of notebooks, and checklists. Write everything down. Every. Little. Thing. Always. Nothing is too small to write down. Even if you think you’ll remember something later, you won’t. If someone tells you how to do a thing, even if it’s something even if it's a one-off task that you’ll probably never have to do again, write the steps down because someone else might need it for something.
I just really like learning and having a wealth of knowledge about a lot of different things and I’ve been lucky that my positions have given me the opportunity to learn and be that point person who gets to learn a little bit about everything. I have notebooks going back for the last four years and I can tell you every little task or thought I had on any given day from 2016 to today.
Anything good you’re reading right now?
I’m usually reading a lot of sci-fi and fantasy or graphic novels and I’ve tried to make sure everyone at work knows that these are the types of books I like. I don’t know about everyone else but reading for work or just reading another book for fun has been so hard this year! I’ve returned to my nerd roots and I’ve been consuming a lot of fanfiction (most of which are novel lengths so I don’t really know what it’s so hard for me to sit down and read a book). I won’t get into exactly what I’ve been reading but if anyone’s interested please contact me so we can talk about something spicy :)
Publishing Professionals Making Moves in the Industry
Kait Feldmann, has joined HMH Books for Young Readers as a Senior Editor.
Jenn Baker has joined Amistad as a Senior Editor.
Nadxieli Nieto has been promoted to Executive Editor at Flatiron Books.
Léonicka Valcius has been promoted to Literary Agent at Transatlantic Agency.
Amy Bishop has been promoted to Agent and Digital Coordinator at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
Congratulations to all!
Project LIT
Project LIT is a grassroots literacy movement empowering readers and leaders in 1,700+ schools and communities around the world. The community was founded in 2016 by Dr. Jarred Amato and the students of Maplewood HS in Nashville, Tennessee. The mission of Project LIT is to eliminate book deserts in the United States and abroad. The group aims to get young people excited about reading by highlighting diverse, high-interest, culturally relevant books. You can follow @projectLITcomm on Instagram and Twitter for more info!
Educators interested in signing up to become a Project LIT leader can apply at bitly.com/projectlitcomm
MahoganyBooks is an independent bookstore located in Washington DC. Founded in 2007, MahoganyBooks was created to meet the literary needs of readers nationwide in search of books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora. Here are a few books the owners Derrick and Ramunda have recommended in the past: Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson, A Taste of Power by Elaine Brown, and Conversations in Black by Ed Gordon.
Location: 1231 Good Hope Rd., SE Washington DC 20020
Learn more: www.mahoganybooks.com
UNC Press is seeking to hire an Associate Digital Marketing Manager.
Greenhouse Literary Agency is seeking to hire a new Literary Agent.
University Nebraska Press is seeking to hire a Publicist.
Ten Speed Press & Clarkson Potter is seeking to hire a Marketing Manager.