KSIP alumna Nona Leon (USC ’15) is the Book Publicist at Rare Bird and the 2014 Audio/Hachette Books at Hachette Book Group. Nona dropped by our KSIP meeting two weeks ago to share her insights and experience in the publishing industry beyond Kaya!

How did you first get involved with Kaya Press, and how did this lead you to work in publishing now?

I first got involved with Kaya over the summer after my sophomore year while I was in L.A. I started off by managing social media accounts, compiling and maintaining Kaya’s donor databases, and reading Fox Drum Bebop and American Canyon when they were still in manuscript form. As I became more fascinated by how and why we choose the books we read, I began to hone my skills in marketing and publicity.

What are the most challenging aspects of your work?

Unfortunately, there’s an increasing lack of traditional book coverage in newspapers and the like, so you have to be really creative when it comes to promotion. Rather than just counting on reviews, you have to develop interesting and relevant angles or challenge current news, trends, and perspectives. With so many books coming out each year, it’s difficult and competitive.

What is the best part about your job?

It’s always rewarding when that type of creativity pays off—when you discover the perfect audience, when you form a completely new audience, and when a book manages to transform how we think about certain genres, narrative forms, and, most importantly, culture as a whole.

Do you have any advice for other young people looking to enter the publishing industry?

Internships are great, but if those aren’t available, getting involved with your campus newspaper or literary magazine, working at a bookstore, or even starting your own book blog can help you gain experience. I think it’s also important to stay informed about the industry and develop not just skills, but your own opinions about what even makes a book a book.

What do you think is the current situation of the publishing industry, in terms of technology, accessibility, and diversity?

It’s definitely changing! There’s so much work to do when it comes to diversity in publishing (with both those who work in it and those who are being published), but campaigns like We Need Diverse Books and Kaya’s own #LitInColor are helping to bring awareness and start a new dialogue about the need for new, unheard voices. I also believe that social media is helping jumpstart the conversation since news is becoming so much more accessible so much more quickly, and because of platforms like Twitter, a lot more people are able to chime in.

Who is your favorite writer of color?

So hard to choose one!  Louise Erdrich, Junot Diaz, and Sesshu Foster are a few favorites…