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Hello and welcome to the very first edition of “This Little Publisher”: the story behind the story. Stories are powerful. Do you think so too? I’ve spent nearly my whole life telling them, writing them, and encouraging others to share theirs. I also believe that everyone has a spark of creativity inside of them. What does your creative spark feel like? In what ways do you nurture that spark? Maybe subscribing to this newsletter is one way… “This Little Publisher” will be the story of one little publishing industry veteran starting her own little publishing house, by following sparks of inspiration along the way.
If you’re here right now, you might know a bit about me already. I’m Alli, and I’ve spent my nearly 20-year publishing career as an editor, agent, and writer of children’s books. Before that, I was a childhood bookworm, a bad poet and then eventually an OK poet, a writing student, a writing teacher, an MFA candidate and then an MFA recipient. And then, I was a children’s book intern in NYC. That’s where my publishing career started. Since then, I’ve had a great run working in-house at several traditional publishers (big, medium, and small) and one literary agency. I’ve moved from New York to London. Most recently, I’ve been a freelance children’s book consultant, and I’ve helped countless authors on their journeys to becoming published. Which means I’ve dedicated my life to books. And I ain’t mad about it one bit. Stories bind us to humanity and to each other. Hear a person’s story and you will receive their universe. So this newsletter is Brydon Books’ story. As I mentioned in my welcome email, every other week, I will bring you behind-the-scenes of how I am starting up an indie publisher. And also—since creating requires, well, creativity—every other-other week, I will also send you fun, quick pieces of creative inspiration called “The Spark.” I value your time, so I’ll keep these newsletters short and jam-packed as a PBJ. With a couple decades of experience under my belt, I want to share what I know—in case you’re interested and also just in case you ever want to do it yourself! I aim to lift the veil from the publishing process and divulge as much info as I possibly can. Now, listen. I just want to put this out there: walking into this, I come from a position of privilege. So many incredible mentors (you know who you are – thank you!), who I can lean on for guidance and expert info; friends, acquaintances, and connections within the publishing sphere who want to help; a nice network of contacts on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn who are interested in Brydon Books already; a teensy bit of money to get something off the ground; and a working knowledge of how the whole thing works, including how to make a book. But this is exactly why I want to share the process with you. And even so, I’ll probably make a ton of mistakes along the way and use too many exclamation marks! But let me make the mistakes (and overuse punctuation) so you don’t have to. I want to include you all in my journey, because what’s the point in excluding anyone from anything? Can’t wait to tell you more about Brydon Books and bring you along for the ride. Love + books, |
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