Now Available: RTA Episode 2
What writers should know about book editors
(top, left to right: Pilar Garcia-Brown, Randy Winston, Jenny Xu)
Chapter 2 Guests: Pilar Garcia-Brown & Jenny Xu
Pilar Garcia-Brown is a Senior Editor at Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Previously, she worked at Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She concentrates on fiction in multiple categories, as well as the occasional narrative nonfiction. Recent and forthcoming titles include: Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, which will be produced for TV by Constance Wu; the National Book Award-nominated collection Holler, Child by LaToya Watkins; the New York Times Editors’ Choice Old Enough by Haley Jakobson; Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, a dual-period queer Gothic vampire novel set in Argentina; and Mateo Askaripour’s sophomore novel, This Great Hemisphere, a mind-bending speculative epic set 500 years in the future. Pilar has taught at NYU’s Center for Publishing and is co-chair of the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Fête Committee. She lives in Brooklyn.
Jenny Xu is a Senior Editor at Atria Books and Washington Square Press. She began her career at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and was most recently at Harper and Ecco. Jenny acquires a broad range of literary and commercial nonfiction and the occasional poetry collection, with a particular focus on illuminating more overlooked aspects of history and culture, and work that balances the personal with broader narratives. Prior to Atria, she worked with bestselling and award-winning authors including Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Franny Choi, Nicole Sealey, Hala Alyan, Edgar Kunz, and Deborah Taffa. Her current authors include Tiana Clark, Lenika Cruz, Elissa Washuta, Amber Husain, Saeed Jones, and Cathy Linh Che.
About the host
Randy Winston is the Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List, and former Director of Writing Programs at The Center for Fiction, where he managed, curated, and directed the production of all writing courses, the illustrious First Novel Prize, the famed Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship, and the highly-sought Writers Studio membership. Prior to his work at The Center, Winston served as Fiction Editor of Slice Literary Magazine for 6 years and has over 10 years of executive admin experience in higher education. Before his MFA, Randy served as editor-in-chief of, formerly Southern Polytechnic State University, now Kennesaw State University’s, online and print student publication in Marietta, Georgia. He is a 2016 graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing (Fiction) at The New School and sits on the board for Orion Magazine and WriteOn NYC.
About the series
A pillar of our Fiction educational resources, Read The Acknowledgements is a live visual podcast designed for book and writing professionals to share their industry experiences and help give writers a clear picture of the ecosystem that is publishing.
This podcast series exists, in part, to fundraise for writers and literary nonprofits in need. Attendance is free, and we encourage viewers and listeners to make donations to writer support funds such as the Authors League Fund, Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, and Lampblack's Direct Aid Fund.
Read the Acknowledgments is a subsidiary of The Black List, LLC.