Contributed by Erin Siu, Editorial Assistant at Square Fish, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
I started out writing book reviews. My first online review was for The Lying Game by Sara Shepard in 2010. I was 14 years old and obsessed with young adult contemporary fiction. I devoured books by Janette Rallison, Lauren Barnholdt, and Sarah Mlynowski; contemporary fiction was my thing, and you couldn’t convince me to read Percy Jackson even if you tried. Eventually, my tastes evolved and I began reading other genres as well: fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, thriller, historical. All of the above. My mom would take me to our local Barnes & Noble after school where I’d read for hours and hours in the café. This was when I began to really think about my identity and what it meant, as a reader, writer, Taiwanese/Cantonese-American, musician. I read books by Amy Tan, Cynthia Kadohata, and Tahereh Mafi, authors who showed me that words are not just stories, but ways to connect with myself and with others.
Naturally in college, I thought I wanted to major in English Literature, but quickly realized I didn’t want to spend four years analyzing Hawthorne and Hemingway (sorry American lit nerds!) I ended up majoring in Comparative Literature and Music, studying writers like Du Bois and Murakami who taught me that music and literature are interdisciplinary in nature and can complement one another when used to inform our social history, identity, and culture. The takeaway here is that I wanted to read books, study books, and even incorporate books into other types of art!
Sophomore year, I was hunting for internships and stumbled across a site called Bookreporter.com. They needed an intern who could help build author pages, create content, and write book reviews. I thought to myself, what better first job to try out than one that requires reviewing books? It was unpaid and I commuted to midtown twice a week, but I took home a lot of free books and was introduced to these things called “publishing houses.” I began to wonder—how do books get made? (Turns out, there’s a whole industry where you can read for work and companies make money turning what you read into books! Who knew!) Once I discovered that I could make a living doing what I love most, I applied for internships at various publishing houses. I landed my first publishing internship at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. After that, I interned at Simon & Schuster in marketing. Eventually, I made my way back to MCPG where I accepted a job as an editorial assistant post-graduation.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to intern at multiple houses in college. The reality is that publishing is tough and competitive. Nobody works in this industry for the pay and it’s incredibly difficult to break into. Getting a job in publishing takes networking, research, trial and error, and most importantly, passion for books and what they bring to the world. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t spent the majority of my childhood immersed in fictional worlds. It’s passion that’s kept me in publishing, and a drive to discover new voices that will bring the same kind of magic to young readers that I found in books when I was a kid.
Erin Siu is an Editorial Assistant at Square Fish, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, where she assists in overseeing the editorial and production processes for MCPG paperbacks. She has a soft spot for stories about multicultural experiences, family relationships, and first love, and she’s worked on several MG and YA titles including, You Are Enough by Jen Petro-Roy and Finding Mr. Better-Than-You by Shani Petroff. Before joining MCPG, she studied Comparative Literature and Music at NYU. She grew up in California surrounded by redwood trees and constantly wonders why she doesn’t still live there!
📚 The Kiss of Deception | Book Review 📚
The Kiss of Deception is the perfect mix between a good fantasy story and romance vibes from the early 2010s.
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Title: The Kiss of DeceptionAuthor: Mary E. PearsonSeries: The Remnant Chronicles #1Genre: Fantasy | RomancePublisher: Square Fish
She flees on her wedding day. She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret collection. She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father. She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped…
Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump – Martha Brockenbrough
Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump – Martha Brockenbrough
Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump – Martha Brockenbrough, Feiwel and Friends, 2018, Square Fish, 2020
Format: Paperback
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4.5
What did you like about the book? As a librarian it did not escape my notice that no children’s books were written about Donald Trump. There is always a slew of new entries for a new president and first lady;…
Backfield Boys: A Football Mystery in Black and White by John Feinstein
Backfield Boys: A Football Mystery in Black and White by John Feinstein
In Backfield Boys, renowned sports journalist and New York Times–bestselling author John Feinstein tells a thrilling story of friendship, football, and a fight for justice.
Freshman footballers Jason Roddin and Tom Jefferson are a perfect pair: Jason is a blazing-fast wide-receiver, while his best friend Tom has all the skills a standout quarterback needs. After summer football camp at an elite…
