Sometimes our success stories seem unplanned. Entrepreneur, bestselling author, speaker, and consultant Dr. Sidjae Price can attest to this as it happened with her company Priceless Publishing. It all started when she gained the desire to write a book, which prompted her to take a course on how to publish it.
“Part of the course was an assignment to get a beta tester—to publish their book,” the Chasing Rainbows author … Read the rest
Author, writer, professor, and overall wordsmith Jane Harrington doesn’t get writer’s block, and when you hear why, it makes sense. “I guess I view writing as a broader thing, so I’m never gonna call it writer’s block,” she tells So Booking Cool. “Because I’m not just gonna sit in front of my computer and not produce something. I’m going to do something else to kind of ease the logs … Read the rest
We discuss some of the latest news in publishing including the late publishing legend Sonny Mehta (Knopf and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group); we also recognize Kobe Bryant and Langston Hughes; we discuss the backlash Barnes and Noble Fifth Avenue and Penguin Random House received for their Diverse Edition initiative; Jessica Simpson’s new, trending memoir; some of our current and anticipated reads, as well as other bookish tidbits. Check it out! … Read the rest
Daniel José Older penned his first novel in 2009,a manuscript that would be rejected forty times and eventually put on hold as he gained inspiration for creating other stories. This story is Shadowshaper, the YA bestselling series praised by New York Times (“magnificent”); Kirkus Reviews, “a must”; and Publishers Weekly, “exceptional.” And yes, there will be another installment of the thrilling sci-fi fantasy.
Of course So Booking … Read the rest
As a children’s publishing professional and author, among Andrea Davis Pinkney‘s creative processes is directly conversing with that audience–children– about books. “They tell me they like stories with heart,” she says. Heart, in fact, is definitely Pinkney’s approach to her craft. The Vice President, Executive Editor of Trade Books at Scholastic has worked in publishing for more than 30 years. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” Pinkney cheerfully remarks.
She … Read the rest
Award-winning author Shannon Hitchcock recently returned to So Booking Cool to discuss her new novel, One True Way. Based in 1977, the story centers on two middle-school female students, Allie and Sam, who experience the pressures of falling for each other from their southern community, the political climate, and their families. Hitchcock says the novel is inspired by a real-life friendship she had, in which their mutual friends describe… Read the rest
Joy Peskin is the editorial director at Farrar Straus Giroux (FSG) Books for Young Readers, an imprint at the Macmillan Children’s Group, where she manages a department of editors and edits her own titles–a career Peskin describes as “the best of both worlds.” The esteemed editor has worked at Penguin Random House (her first publishing job was at Puffin) and Scholastic prior to joining Macmillan in 2012.… Read the rest
We had the pleasure of talking with Kendra Levin, the executive editor at Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of the Penguin Young Readers Group, about her multifaceted career and views on the industry. In addition to editing all ages in the children’s market, which means everything from picture books to young adult novels, Levin is also an author, teacher, and life coach to writers around the world. “Everybody has to … Read the rest
Today we had the pleasure of candidly conversing with Shannon Hitchcock, author of The Ballad of Jessie Pearl (2013) and the Golden Sower Award nominee Ruby Lee and Me (2016.) A historical fiction novelist, Hitchcock discusses her writing process, her start as a children’s literary magazine writer, working with seasoned publishing professional Andrea Davis Pinkney (Vice President, Executive Editor, Scholastic) and about their next book, One True Way… Read the rest
Publishing professionals of various ages gathered at New York City’s Solas Bar Thursday night for an evening with longstanding book editor, Chris Jackson. Latinx in Publishing and POC & Natives in Publishing teamed up and hosted the forum, kicking off each group’s first event of the New Year.
Jackson is known for successfully producing both non-fiction and fiction and working with everyone from Bryan Stevenson and Russell Simmons to Jay … Read the rest
