[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] "Platform alone will not persuade an editor [to acquire your book]." --Alia Hanna Habib During pub week for Take It From Me: An Agent's Guide to Building a Nonfiction Career from Scratch, VP & Literary Agent, Alia Hanna Habib and Jenn discussed the plethora of information detailed for writers, particularly nonfiction writers, in her new book and in her Substack, Delivery & Acceptance. Consider this another great demystifying episode that explores the day-to-day realities, dispels assumptions about industry expectations, and provides guidance/help on how to approach the page, submissions, and publication with an open mind & heart.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here. A transcript of this episode will be available in the coming weeks.]

[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] "I think human nature is always enamoured by it's own reflection. But to what end?" --Irvin Weathersby Jr.  Irvin Weathersby Jr. is the author of In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space, which was longlisted for the PEN Award for Nonfiction. At the time of recording, Jenn and Irvin spoke to the relevance of monuments, the acknowledgement of memorials, and the importance of community awareness & voices as posed in Irvin's powerful prose and examinations of history meeting the present moment. Irvin also touches on how he's taking care of himself upon and leading up to publication ("a pre-publication plan" as Jenn says.) [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here. A transcript of this episode will be available in the coming weeks.]

[This episode was recorded by Westport Library on-site in Westport, Connecticut.] Last Fall, the MiP Podcast returned to Westport Library for their annual StoryFest! Jenn was joined by fellow debut authors / pub professionals Lauren Morrow (author of Little Movements) and Amber Oliver (author of When the Music Hits). They discussed the narrative parallels of these two novels with Black women protagonists making their mark in creative industries, navigating the other side of publishing as an author, and offer advice to novices seeking to begin a career in book publishing.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here. A transcript of this episode will be available in the coming weeks.]

[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] "Your sentences are your vehicle." --Denne Michele Norris Denne Michele Norris (When the Harvest Comes and Both/And) returns to the MiP podcast to discuss everything leading up to her debut novel, including breaking from a "quitting" mentality to one where she invested herself fully into the writing process. A process that has lead her to an amazing career as Editor-in-Chief of Electric Literature and editor of the upcoming anthology Both/And. Denne shares her fears of not reaching her dream up until the day she received an offer and how the pursuit of what you desire most can strengthen your focus.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here. A transcript of this episode will be available in the coming weeks.]  

The Power of Storytelling is a special collaboration episode between Minorities in Publishing and the Restorative Works! Podcast. Through the power of storytelling, we aim to engage powerful leaders and activists in conversations around keeping hope in dire times; giving back power to communities; radical empathy; arts as means to tell real life stories, and the effects of genuine engagement in community resilience. Listen to critical storytellers and educators including Jennifer Coreas, Reginald Dwayne Betts, and Tiffany Yu, who have been foundational in bringing awareness to societal issues and community movements through storytelling and literacy. Tune in to hear these influential voices speak on the power of transforming stories into actionable change in the worlds of criminal justice, disability awareness, and publishing.  Participant Bios Jennifer Baker is an author, editor, writing instructor, and creator of the Minorities in Publishing podcast. She's been a recipient of NYSCA/NYFA and Queens Council on the Arts grants, a 2024 Axinn Writing Award, and was named the Publishers Weekly Star Watch SuperStar in 2019. She edited the short story anthology Everyday People: The Color of Life (2018) and is the author of Forgive Me Not (2023) a 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, an NYPL 2023 Best Book for Teens, and 2023 Best of the Best by the BCALA.  Claire de Mézerville López is a licensed psychologist from UCR (Universidad de Costa Rica). She holds a Master in Education with an emphasis on cognitive development from ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México). She also has a Master of Science in Restorative Practices from the IIRP Graduate School. She is also an associate professor at Universidad de Costa Rica, and has experience as a therapist, researcher, and consultant. Claire has published papers on adolescence, restorative practices, resilience and educational psychology. Claire has worked with the IIRP since 2011. Currently, among other duties, serves as a liaison to Spanish-speaking communities and organizations in Latin America and elsewhere Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, he is the Executive Director of Freedom Reads, a not-for-profit organization that is radically transforming the access to literature in prisons through the installation of Freedom Libraries in prisons across this country. Betts has authored several books including the poetry collections Bastards of the Reagan Era and Felon. Jennifer Coreas is the coordinator and cofounder of the program Literacy for Reconciliation for ConTextos in El Salvador and Chicago. Her work extends from curriculum development and teaching to advocacy, training, and facilitation of dialogue. She has led the work and the vision for ConTextos's work in prisons and communities, accompanied authors in their journeys of self-discovery, and brought their stories to hundreds of teachers, psychologists, and social workers in professional development spaces. She has been recognized with numerous fellowships and scholarships including the Rocky Gooch Memorial Scholarship and the Esperanza Fellowship. She holds degrees from El Salvador in English as a second language and applied linguistics, and she received a master's degree in English from Middlebury College in 2018. Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride, the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Her TED Talk, How to Help Employees with Disabilities Thrive, has over one million views.  She serves on the NIH National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research and was a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.

[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] "Writing has extracted from me this idea of exorcising demons, but also exercising a self that felt so erased." -Cherry Lou Sy In the first MiP episode of 2025, Jenn speaks with debut author Cherry Lou Sy (Love Can't Feed You) about adjusting to prose writing as a playwright, the line between fiction and autofiction, and how the stories we need to create most come from a necessity to be seen.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here. A transcript of this episode is available.] This month's episode & newsletter were sponsored by Writeability, a nonprofit writers guild, in defense of the imagination. Intro/Outro music is by Moutaineer and licensed through Premuim Beat.

[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] Jenn spoke with the most avid of readers and the most bountiful of hosts, Traci Thomas (The Stacks podcast), about The Stacks origins and Traci's deep love of books in her approach to interviews, plus we go in-depth about the reader experience! Discussing book events and the possibilities, Traci suggests The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker to discuss overall energy and setup as well as the range of how the tour experience can go. Good stuff!  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here.] This month's episode & newsletter were sponsored by Writeability, a nonprofit writers guild, in defense of the imagination. Intro/Outro music is by Moutaineer and licensed through Premuim Beat.

This is a live recording of the Minorities in Publishing podcast hosted at The Westport Library on September 21st as part of the 2024 StoryFest line up. Audio was provided by Travis Bell (The Westport Library).  StoryFest 2024 welcomed Jenn and fellow 2023 debut authors Don P. Hooper (True True) and Shannon C.F. Rogers (I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom and Eighteen Roses) about their respective year as debut authors in the young adult space. The group discusses expectations, surprises, and the ways they found community to help one another through a somewhat emotional, uplifting, and unpredictable time in their creative and professional lives.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here.] This month's newsletter was sponsored by Writeability, a nonprofit writers guild, in defense of the imagination.

  [This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] Newly anointed MacArthur Fellow and best-selling, award-winning author Jason Reynolds returns to the MiP podcast for the 10th anniversary year! His new book, Twenty-Four Seconds From Now, joins the compendium of many of Jason's love stories for and featuring young people. Jason speaks to the transparency of larger conversations around intimacy--what it means, feels like, and actually looks like outside of "mainstream" representation--the multidudes of love in relationships and storytelling, as well as a very necessary need for more discourse around the emotions that come with Black male's sexual experiences. Particularly the need for more tenderness. [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here.] This month's episode & newsletter were sponsored by Writeability, a nonprofit writers guild, in defense of the imagination. Intro/Outro music is by Moutaineer and licensed through Premuim Beat.

[This interview was conducted online and there may be some audio variation.] Continuing the podcast's 10th anniversary year, Jenn speaks with book influencer--bookstagrammer and booktoker elite--Lupita Aquino! Lupita keeps it real about the influencer life, setting boundaries, reading for the joy of it, and the ways the book influencer space has changed over the years. In this very illuminating and fun convo, Lupita also gets honest about the juggle of advocating for books while also holding down other responsibilities and interests.  [You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, transcripts, and new eps on the MiP website here.] This month's episode & newsletter were sponsored by Writeability, a nonprofit writers guild, in defense of the imagination. Intro/Outro music is by Moutaineer and licensed through Premuim Beat.