In #OwnVoices–How to Write What You Know for a Commercial Audience, we will briefly discuss the changing landscape of creative media overall–Insecure, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Pitch, Queen Sugar, In the Country We Love, and Jane the Virgin on the TV side of things. But will specifically focus on trade publishing, which can often feel slow to adapt to developing demographics. A closer look at some select titles from ownvoices authors–The Sympathizer, Everything I Never Told You, The Mothers, Behold the Dreamers, Everything, Everything, The Hate You Give, American Street, Homegoing, The Wangs VS. The World, You Can’t Touch My Hair–will help us further evaluate what an ownvoices author needs to successfully reach a wide commercial audience and breakout of niche categories based on race or sexual orientation.
Some questions to consider:
- What do these stories have in common?
- What sets them apart?
- How has each author developed their platform?
- How did the publisher/agent/editor position the title for librarians, booksellers, and readers?
- Were all the titles successful? In what ways?
- How were they able to find their audience?
- What can you do to maintain the authenticity of your story and voice, while striving to reach a wide audience?
- How can you position yourself to agents/editors to overcome unconscious biases?
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About the Instructor
Quressa Robinson
Quressa Robinson joined Folio Literary Management in 2022 after working at previous agencies, including the Nelson Literary Agency, and as an editor for five years. She is originally from San Francisco, but has been living in New York City for over a decade. As a New York based agent, she is eager to build her MG, YA, and Adult lists. When not curled on her couch reading, she plays video games, enjoys too much, TV–-mostly Sailor Moon and Avatar: The Last Airbender (Fire Nation)–eats delicious things, drinks champagne, and adds another “dramatic” color to her lipstick collection. Quressa is also a member of the 2017-2019 WNDB Walter Grant Committee and holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from Columbia University. In 2020, she was named a Publisher’s Weekly Star Watch finalist. In 2021 she was named an influential gatekeeper in Book and Film Globe’s inaugural Publishing Power 30 list alongside phenoms like Reece Witherspoon, Celeste Ng, and Lisa Lucas.