It wasn't an obvious choice for me. I had a love for literature and writing since elementary school, but I knew teaching wasn't for me so I didn't think I could make a career out of it. When I was in college I was taking Speech Pathology courses in an attempt to pursue a "practical" career. Even though I knew logically that books don't just spring into existence from authors' heads, I didn't realize that publishing was a career I could pursue! After a great internship at McGraw-Hill Education, I knew that I was on the right track. My first job in publishing was working in digital marketing for an academic publisher, and eventually ended up working in school and library marketing.
Would you talk about your day-to-day as an assistant marketing manager?
School and Library Marketing focuses on making sure teachers and librarians know about our books and want to adopt them into their collections and curriculums. We do this by attending several conferences, such as the American Library Association's Annual Conference, where we interact with them. We pitch authors for speaking opportunities such as panels and keynote addresses, and sometimes we host our own events. Now that Covid-19 has caused conferences to migrate online, we've done our best to adapt. I send out weekly newsletter e-blasts, help organize our presence at virtual conferences, arrange webinars, and take part in virtual book buzzes.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
There's no such thing as a dream job. Even a job you truly enjoy comes with highs and lows. Younger me believed that if I found the right job I'd never find myself complaining about work. As it turns out you can't eat ideals, and there are difficult personalities and frustrations that come with all work (not to mention the systemic racism).
What challenges have you faced in your career and how have you overcome them?
When I was almost three years into my career, I seriously considered leaving publishing. This is a common problem in the publishing industry, and there needs to be a greater focus on retaining employees of color. At the time I felt like I was working so hard and had very little to show for it. I have very blunt family members who saw how hard I worked and how little I got paid and called me foolish. I guess I'm still a fool because I'm still here! I wouldn't say I overcame this challenge so much as I'm still fighting to overcome it. I always keep a folder in my inbox called "Kudos" to remember all the happy moments that come from my job. And luckily there are plenty.
What have been your favorite books of 2020 so far?
I've read so many great books this year. Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies is such a beautiful book. It deserves all the awards and praise that it has gotten. Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air is so poignant and enraging. I remember reading Walter Dean Myers's Monster when I was a teenager, and this brought back all those same feelings of frustration and reluctant hope. And lastly, Samantha Mabry's Tigers Not Daughters. I happened to have two advanced readers copies of the book, and after reading I gave both of them to friends and proceeded to hound them, "Did you read it yet? How about now? Now?" It's beautiful, sad, spooky, and so interestingly written.
Jasmine Miranda is the assistant marketing manager for the School and Library Marketing team at Bloomsbury, 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. 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.
Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse is a comic book store and coffee shop hybrid located in the Kensington section of North Philadelphia. The idea for Amalgam was born in 2003 when the owner, Ariell Johnson, was still an accounting student at Temple University. 13 years in the making, Amalgam opened its doors on December 14, 2015. Since its opening Amalgam has garnered national media attention because of its commitment to representation and inclusion. Amalgam is the only Black-woman owned shop of its kind, and the first black-woman owned comic book store on the East Coast.
Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse is a celebration of geek culture. A place for comic book fans, hardcore gamers, movie addicts, television connoisseurs, and zombie apocalypse survivalists to meet, and with their powers combined, change the world a little bit. We specialize in comics, toys & figurines, games, comic related magazines, apparel, coffee & espresso related beverages, and baked goods. A safe haven for all of geekdom!To learn more about their story, watch this video and follow them on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook!
Location: 2578 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA, USA 19125
Join the Los Angeles Times, in partnership with USC, in celebrating 25 years of the Festival of Books, Stories & Ideas with 25 individual virtual events. Due to the coronavirus, The Times has reimagined the festival as a communitywide virtual gathering. Beginning on Sunday, October 18, and continuing over the course of four weeks, The Times will celebrate storytelling with author panels, readings, and other events. Please reserve your virtual front-row seat now for this free celebration of books! The programming schedule will be announced on September 24. For details, go to latimes.com/FestivalofBooks and follow the festival on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (#bookfest).
The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) is an annual event, sponsored by Cushcity.com, one of the largest online sources for African-American literature. The event attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide.
The Well-Read Black Girl Book Club is a national book club started by Glory Edim that meets physically within Indie Bookstores. We read books that center on Black women and non-binary folk's stories and all are welcome to attend. The club reads a variety of genres, classics, new literature and nonfiction, and YA that covers the breadth of experience from the diaspora. Loyalty's club often reads along with the national club recs and sometimes reads local area authors from Chocolate City. We often feature selections from the Well-Read Black Girl Anthology as well.
You asked and we answered. We are thrilled to begin our Antiracist Book Club reading program. We'll discuss anti-racist and foundational literature. This is a safe, focused space in which to discuss the systematic structures of racism and the work we can do individually and community wide to dismantle them using the information from our texts and the lessons learned each session. Come as often or as rarely as you like, but whether or not you make this first session we recommend reading How to Be Anti-Racist as a starting place for discussion! This event is free but please RSVP via the ticket link to get the link for the online conversation with owner Hannah Oliver Depp.
Help We Need Diverse Books to give away more diverse books! WNDB is participating in A Community Thrives to raise funds for the expansion of WNDB in the Classroom, a program that has given away over 19,000 diverse books across the country.
During challenging times and the rise of virtual learning, WNDB continues to provide print books to educators so that they may offer them to their students. To learn more and to donate, click here.
