Reflecting on My First Conversation About Representation in Books

The Write Spxt is a weekly newsletter from a book marketer with a decade of experience at two Big Five publishers. It’s for writers seeking publishing tools, readers looking for great recs, and humans who love to journal, observe, and reflect.Originally published March 2018 via Minorities in Publishing | Original transcriptIn 2018, I was working at Atria Books, an imprint at Simon & Schuster. That year, I joined Jennifer Baker, host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, for what became my very first public conversation about representation, marketing and the realities of navigating publishing. Alongside me was Jalissa Corrie, who at the time was working in marketing and publicity at Lee & Low Books.Listening back now, I can hear so many things I didn’t yet have the words for: the excitement, the uncertainty and the deep desire to make a difference.Today, Jennifer Baker is the Editorial Director of Storehouse Voices at Penguin Random House, where she leads an imprint focused on commercial fiction and nonfiction for adult readers. She’s also the author of Forgive Me Not and continues to champion marginalized voices through her editorial work, teaching and public speaking.Jalissa Corrie is now the Senior Growth Marketing Manager at the Institute of Culinary Education and and a contributing writer to A Phoenix First Must Burn. Revisiting this moment reminds me how every step, even the uncertain ones, prepares you for where you’re going. I was 29 when this episode aired. Today, at (almost) 37, I can see how that conversation planted the seeds for The Write Spxt, a space built to keep these kinds of dialogues alive.Thanks for reading The Write Spxt! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Ways You Can Support My Work* Visit my Stan Store and buy one of the workbooks or other resources I have available.* Subscribe to my newsletter.* Share this newsletter with someone you think would enjoy reading it.* Send an email to [email protected] if you believe your work is aligned with The Write Spxt for a feature.You can find me here, too:Instagram | Facebook Get full access to The Write Spxt at thewritespxt.substack.com/subscribe