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writers + readers + realness

Friends: on Sunday, we’ll gather at @wordbookstores Brooklyn for our tenth Hustle, featuring Bridgett M. Davis (author of Into The Go Slow), Amani Al-Khatahtbeh (author of Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age) and Nicole Dennis Benn (author of Here Comes The Sun). Join us for good company, good books and good conversation.

xo,

c + j + a

July 10th! The Hustle returns with an incredible line up:

David Tomas Martinez (author of HUSTLE)

Sassafras Lowrey (author of the Lambda Finalist LOST BOI, ROVING PACK, KICKED OUT and others)

Kendra Eash

Sunday, July 10th at 2PM at @wordbookstores

Plus: donuts + mimosas! // Free!

xo,

c + j + a

#writers #readers #work #hustle #indie bookstores #donuts #mimosas #summerjam

A Little Bit Robin Hood And A Little Bit Revenge Fantasy: an interview with Camille Perri, author of The Assistants

The Hustle co-curator Jennilie Brewster talks with writer Camille Perri about the light bulb moment that inspired her debut novel The Assistants, released by Penguin Random House this month; the difficult balance of creating a socially conscious book that’s above all else entertaining; recognizing her privilege and protecting her writing time. Their conversation took place, at Concord Hill, in Williamsburg, on April, 15th, 2016.

Brewster: First, I totally enjoyed your book.

Perri: Great.

Brewster: It was cool having worked for a magazine, and having friends who work in TV, to see how you got it—like the Robert character, I envision him as a Rupert Murdoch slash Roger Ailes.

Perri: You nailed it.

Brewster: But Robert comes off as likable, whereas we often think of those guys as just bad people.

Perri: I thought it would be too easy to make him a straight up villain—too Rupert slash Roger Ailes. Because when you assist someone, you know them so well, and you have such an intimate connection with them that, inevitably, unless they’re terrible to you, you end up liking them.

I think the problem with a lot of these .01 percenters isn’t that they’re bad people, it’s that they’re out of touch with what life is like for someone living below them in the class hierarchy. So that was definitely a conscious choice: Tina likes Robert. That’s where a lot of her inner conflict comes from. She doesn’t want to let him down.

Brewster: Yes, their relationship is paternal. In general, I felt like you were playing with gender dynamics. Like, Tina is a bit of a tomboy, and her friend is the more classically sexy woman, but Tina ends up getting Kevin—the cute guy, who has money and has his heart in the right place.

I’m not quite sure what the question is … I guess, did you think of these relationships in a political way? Like, How do I work within these traditional forms and still be somewhat subversive?

Perri: For me, the most important thing was voice. I wanted Tina to have a very specific kind of voice … and, yes, that did have a subversive outline to it. But, the romantic stuff. I mostly just wanted something in there to be a bit lighter. You need that. The earlier versions of the book were more political, a little more wonky. So it was even more necessary to have some other thing going on that was just fun.

Brewster: Like a candy coating?

Perri: I mean, people like having romance in their books, and I wanted this book to be entertainment above all else. The political stuff and the gender stuff and the power dynamic stuff and the class stuff, I wanted that all in there, but that couldn’t really be in the forefront.

Brewster: Right. I never felt you were using the story or Tina’s character as a vehicle to deliver your ideas.

Perri: I hope not. That’s hard to do if your heart is in that place. If you’re a person who’s socially conscious and you want to write a socially conscious book, it’s easy to fall into those traps. I definitely did, and luckily I had wonderful readers and editors who said, Nope this whole section needs to go, this sounds like you’re talking at me.

I think it’s a delicate balance.

Brewster: You know, I thought the opening had a really powerful message—that there’s so much money, there’s enough money, it’s not a question of lack of, but, how do we spread it around?

Perri: Redistribution of wealth is definitely something that interests me on a personal level. I wanted The Assistants to be a little bit Robin Hood and a little bit revenge fantasy.

We live in a time that’s unprecedented for the United States in terms of income inequality. The way our wealth is distributed is unfathomable. I think this is our mark. Just look at this election. Years from now when people are reading the history books of our time, that’s what they’re going to see. Economic inequality and what we’ve done to the climate. The Earth. Those are the big two, I think.

Brewster: In the closing, Tina reconciles with Robert. Why was that important?

Perri: I always knew that would be the last scene. I think that’s the most important relationship in the book for Tina. It was also important for me, in writing the book, that we’d see resolution in her friendships with the other women, and Tina and Kevin would have their resolution. I wanted Robert to be last because that was sort of circling back to where it all began. I just felt in my bones that’s where it had to end.

Brewster: What your book is not showing is the lower class triumphs over, or at the expense of, the upper class.

Perri: You know, it’s not a personal thing. I don’t know very many .1 percenters, or even 1 percenters, to be honest with you.

Brewster: I think you probably do. I don’t think you need to make that much money to be in that group. Do you?

Perri: I think to be in the top 5 percent, it’s something remarkably low, like 200,000 a year. But that upper, upper—

Brewster: That’s where the crazy money is.

Perri: That’s where it goes from being a millionaire to a multi-billionaire. I mean this Rupert Murdoch level of wealth is insane. I’m not a economist, so I shouldn’t go off about these things but that’s my understanding. I think for the most part they’re not bad people. They’re just out of touch, you know?

Brewster: I heard a story on NPR about how as people get richer, their ability to empathize diminishes, and they become less likely to see how the system is rigged. The researchers used Monopoly as a study, where at the beginning of the game, some people were given valuable properties, maybe some extra cash, a Get Out of Jail Free card, and then they accumulated more wealth as they played. When you asked them later why they’d succeeded, they didn’t talk about what they were given at the start. They talked about how well they played the game.

Perri: Absolutely. I think that’s such an American thing. As a whole, our country does that. Definitely on an individual level. I think, it’s so difficult to recognize your own privilege, and we all have it in some ways. Regardless of where you are, if you’re just living in the United States you already have some privilege.

Forget, if your white and college educated, then you’re really already winning. So in a sense, when I wrote this book, I was very careful about being conscious of how the characters already had a fair amount of privilege. Even if you’re an assistant, and you’re bogged down with all this student loan debt, these are already luxury problems.

Brewster: That came across.

Perri: I hope so. Because that would be my first critique if I read a book where there wasn’t that kind of awareness.

Brewster: One detail I questioned was Tina’s salary. I think it’s like 40,000 dollars, maybe less. Now I’d say, Yes, a lot of assistants are making entry-level salaries. But at that top-top level, they’re making more.

Perri: That’s possible. I don’t know what Rupert Murdoch’s assistant in real life makes, but generally executive-level assistants in media, if you look on Glassdoor, the average is somewhere around 33,000 a year.

Brewster: Got you. So Tina’s salary is reflective of the industry.

Perri: Definitely.

Brewster: You wrote this book while you an assistant?

Perri: Yes, I was an assistant at Hearst, at Esquire.

Brewster: Did you write at your desk?

Perri: Not literally at my desk, but while I was there. On my weekends and whenever I took vacation time.

Brewster: Did it make the job feel like research?

Perri: It helps you get through the day.

Brewster: Were you at Esquire when you conceived the project?

Perri: Yes, I got the idea for the book one day when I was doing my bosses’ expenses, and I remembered that my student loan bill was due. I had both windows open on my computer, and it just hit me. I was like, Oh my god, if I weren’t an honest person … It just put it into perspective, how little my debt actually was in the larger scheme of things. It was so debilitating to me, this amount of debt, but if you took it out of context, in terms of corporate money, it was so little. I thought, Man that’s a great idea for a book because I would never actually steal.

I would never do that in real life.

Brewster: How long did the book take from conception to print?

Perri: I started the book in late 2009. But I did some ghostwriting for two years and I didn’t work on the book at all then. I just put it aside, then went back to it. I’d say probably a solid three years writing.

I actually sold it almost two years ago now. It’s a long process.

Brewster: Are you working on another project now?

Perri: I am. But I’m not ready to talk about it too much because it’s still early. But yeah, I’m very excited about it.

Brewster: How important was it for you to have something to sink into right away?

Perri: Very. I’m not happy if I’m not writing. I get grumpy if I’m not working on something. I need it.

Brewster: Is writing what you’re doing full-time now?

Perri: Yes. I left Cosmo [where I was the books editor] to work on the next book, which I wasn’t getting to do at all because I was working too much and had too much other stuff going on. I wasn’t getting my writing hours in. So for now, while I’m promoting The Assistants, I’m just writing, which is amazing.

It’s such a gift to have this time to be able to do it.

Brewster: Do you set up a daily schedule for yourself?

Perri: I write my first three hours awake. Everyday. It takes a lot for me to give that time up for anyone or anything. Unless there’s something else I absolutely have to be present for, I don’t check email. My phone is off in my bag.

I usually go to a coffee shop. I leave the house. Sometimes I’ll stay in, but it feels a little too isolating, and sometimes like depression if I’m in my pajamas until noon, you know?

Brewster: I hear you.

Perri: I get up. I get out. I usually go to Blue Stove. I’m there from around 9 to 12. Then, I’ll break at lunch, deal with emails, deal with whatever else is going on, dip into social media, just because that’s part of my job now. Then I’ll workout, get some exercise. Then usually do another shift of three more hours. I find three-hour shifts work perfect. Any more and the return on my investment goes down. Three hours is my sweet spot.

Sometimes I’ll write my first three hours awake and my last three awake, and everything in the middle is just my day.

Camille Perri has worked as a books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire magazine. She has also been a ghostwriter of young adult novels and a reference librarian. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from New York University and a master of library science degree from Queens College. Perri wrote the first draft of The Assistants while working as the assistant to the editor in chief of Esquire.

#writing #working 9 to 5 #dayjob #hustle #firstbook #debut #theassistants #camille perri

Today! We're celebrating #indiebookstoreday with a special edition of The Hustle at @wordbookstores! With special guests Vanessa Mártir, Mark de Silva, and Douglas Watson! Plus: mimosas and donuts. See you soon!

nationalbook

What got your writing career started?

Writing! And writing some more. And then, of course, writing even more. And more and more and more. And then at some point I started submitting poems, I suppose. And meeting other poets with whom I could talk. I took classes - not because I needed the degree, but rather I needed to be around people who took a stanza seriously - that sort of thing. I desperately needed a community because I needed to know there were others like me. Reading is the best way I find community, however. There are writers I have never met, but to whom I still feel very close - because I feel as if our work is in some kind of intimate conversation. That’s thrilling.

nationalbook

Was poetry something you had to learn to be good at or did it come naturally to you?

Well, I’m not good at it yet; I’m just beginning, too. But I do think that the little I’ve learned has come from reading, closely, poets whose work I admire. By “closely” I mean paying meticulous attention to a writer’s commas, their linebreaks, their word and title choices, the order in which they published their books, how they describe the sky. Slowing way-way-way down and watching where and why someone might place a period here and not there. How poets enter and leave a poem is also an intriguing way to learn about what a poem can be. And then the subject matter is the thing for me - and how the poet enters into it. Are they going to be real with me or is there going to be some kind of performance? And then, of course, hopefully you’re writing all along. Not taking myself or my work too seriously also helps. So that way I can throw out say a hundred drafts of something. If I’ve written a thousand drafts then you begin to get to the nitty-gritty. Sometimes - just sometimes - however, the first draft was the best. It’s rare, but it happens. I think the short answer to this is good writing doesn’t come naturally; it comes from hard work. Literally. Thank you for your question.

* Happy Birthday to the Hustle! *

Join us on March 6th for our one year anniversary, featuring the incredible Marie Helene Bertino, Melissa Febos and Leah Falk!

2PM on Sunday, March 6th at @wordbookstores Brooklyn.

Mimosas + donuts + a special anniversary surprise - free!

xo,

c + j + a

#writing #reading #the hustle #novelist #poet #essayist #donuts #mimosas #anniversary #books #whoruntheworld #writers #advice

We’re very excited to announce the guests for our next Hustle: D. Watkins (author of THE BEAST SIDE), Erika Anderson & Mensah Demary. Kick of your 2016 with us on January 10th at WORD Brooklyn! Donuts & mimosas will be served.

xo,

c + j + a

#writing #the hustle #donuts #mimosas #books

Take The Opportunities That Are There For You: An interview with Jennifer Baker

The Hustle co-curator Jennilie Brewster talks with writer, editor and podcaster Jennifer Baker about her day job, literary activism, questioning everything, creating a support system of trustworthy people, and paying attention to what helps a writer succeed and what gets in the way.

Their conversation took place on November 12th, 2015.

Brewster: Let’s start with where we are?

Baker: We’re at Teachers College Press. That’s my job. That’s the job that pays me.

Brewster: What happens at Teachers College Press?

Baker: We do professional graduate texts for all aspects of education: teaching, administration, social policy, activism in education, literacy, Common Core books. Some of them might be textbooks, but they’re not like your big-ass 2,000 page global story.

Brewster: What do you do for Teachers College Press?

Baker: I’m a production editor, so I typeset books. I get them copyedited, proofread, get the index, work with a cover designer. I guess I’m the author’s therapist before the book goes to print.

Brewster: That sounds like a pretty cool job.

Baker: It is pretty cool. I like typesetting. Typesetting is the fun part.

Brewster: Tell me about typesetting.

Baker: Typesetting is basically you take what we all work on as writers, that double-spaced clean Word file, you style it in Word, give it certain fonts, page breaks, a certain kind of layout, create chapter heads and those things. Then you plug it into InDesign. That’s when you make it pretty, add the pictures or graphics. That final product is a PDF file made in InDesign.

Brewster: I recently tried playing around with InDesign. And I feel like it’s a labyrinth. All those Adobe programs are so vast.

Baker: There’s a lot going on. It’s just really knowing how do to it, because it’d be like, “I just want to super-impose this on this. That’s all I want to do,” and it’s not hard. You’re like, “What are the buttons that do this?” Then you figure it out and it’s done in three steps, but if you don’t know what button does it, then you’re kind of screwed. You just sit there staring at it.

Brewster: I feel like there’s a metaphor there for writing.

Baker: Sure. You’re just staring at it.

Brewster: In addition to your job here, you got a few other things going on, other than writing.

Baker: Yeah, unpaid things.

Brewster: What is the center of your life?

Baker: Definitely writing. Even though it’s not what I spend the most time on, sadly, and this is where I’m going to be pulling back in 2016. But I do my podcast, the Minorities in Publishing Podcast ( @minoritiesinpublishing). Episodes are twice a month. I interview people from marginalized cultures and backgrounds, who are in the book publishing industry or correlate to the industry. I talk to them about their experiences, why there’s such a lack of diversity and try to get inspiration for people who want to work in book publishing, or aspiring artists.

Then I volunteer with We Need Diverse Books ( @weneeddiversebooks ) the non-profit that was that big hashtag in 2014 thanks to BookCon not having much if any diversity on their panels. So the organization started as an online campaign and is now a nonprofit. I’ve been with them for more than a year.

Brewster: What do you do for them?

Baker: I manage the social media team. I also share duties on the Twitter account. I’m on the executive board and I help organize panels.

Brewster: When do you write?

Baker: For @nanowrimo [National Novel Writing Month], I’ve been writing probably an hour a day. And I just came back from a trip, which was kind of a self-made residency. A friend let me house-sit her place in San Jose while she and her husband went to Cuba. For two and a half weeks, I got to not work and just write. Actually, that’s a lie. And this is where I need to cut back on my volunteer work because that kept seeping in. I managed my time well for the most part, but admittedly, I could have managed it better coming into the trip because I did have to do podcast editing while I was there and some recording too. That took up hours. But for the most part I got a lot done, not everything I wanted to but that’s also because I was blocked. Literally, like we were saying, staring at the screen, “I don’t know how to fix this, so I’m just going to work on something else.”

Brewster: Is that what you do—pivot when that happens?

Baker: Yes, I’ll work on another project. You know Ron Carlson? He’s written a few books. I saw him at a writers’ conference, and he said, “Stay in the room.” Actually, what he said was make your characters stay in the room. It’s easy to just say, “Okay, they’re in this tense moment,” and then, “Okay, I’m going to have them leave the room.” He’s like, “No, make your characters stay in the room.” I also took that for my own advice. I try not to say, “Well, screw it. I’m going to do spreadsheets and organize this panel now.” What I try to do is stay in the writing sphere.

With my collection, it’s a novel in stories, so to speak, so they’re different POVs. It’s easy to leave one POV and switch to another. Rather than, “Okay, I have to write Kayla’s story right now,” and I don’t know how, I’ll write her brother Calvin’s story, because I have more hold on his voice right now.

Brewster: That seems like a very important tool to have within your writing practice, different points of entry. If you hit a roadblock in one, you can shift. Which connects with what I know about the brain being able to only focus on one thing for a certain amount of time.

Baker: Right, and social media kind of sucks in that way too—and I like social media and I’m good at it—but it shortens that time span, where you’re thinking, “I just don’t want to do this. So I’m going to go on Facebook and see how many people respond to this post.” That kind of instant interactivity can be a way to distract yourself, or maybe it invigorates you. But I think it’s important to have multiple projects so you can change directions and still be writing.

Brewster: Have you always been a fiction writer?

Baker: Primarily. I’ve done and still do reviews, articles, blog posts, interviews. And now I’m doing more personal essays, which is a big, big deal, because that’s definitely harder, I think, because it’s easy to make yourself the victim. So in these stories, it’s looking at what I did that I could’ve done better. And what did someone else do in the situation, how that affects me, but not being, “Well, I went on this date, and the guy was a dick. Obviously I’m perfect, and he’s just got issues.” Because no, it’s not that simple. It’s not interesting. It’s not truthful. It’s not layered. It’s not nuanced.

Brewster: Do you think the reason you’re moving more into this territory in your writing now is that you’ve had enough life experience that you’re able to take that close look inside?

Baker: Sure. I always say about my collection, which is heavily influenced by my life, the 27-year-old me could not finish this book. The 34, maybe 35, 36-year-old me will be the one to finish it, but the 27-year-old me who was doing everything she thought she was supposed to in life: You get married, you go to school, you go to grad school you get apartments. She just did those things. Me now is a person who questions everything. I know, as I’ve been told, it can be off-putting, because it puts people on the defensive when I say, “Well, if we do this, what does X, Y and Z mean?” People are like, “Well, it feels like you’re questioning me.” I’m not questioning you. I’m asking a question. But I need to know information rather than taking everything blindly. And getting divorced, going through debt, going through other difficult things. There’s more life experience. I can speak from a place of knowledge and reflection.

As women, I feel like, we’re so, “I just want to be likable.” That’s why at @bindercon , Jenny Lumet and everyone’s saying, “Empower yourself. You have the right to do this. Don’t wait for permission.”

We hold so much fear of what are people going to think. Am I going to get fired? I’m not saying throw chairs if someone pisses you off. But you reserve yourself so much, especially as women.

Brewster: It’s funny how sometimes when the thing we’re afraid of the most happens, it’s a relief because then we don’t have to be afraid of it anymore.

Baker: Shonda Rhimes said the same thing in her book that just came out, Year of Yes. She said she kept saying no to things because they scared her. Then when she would do things, she said, “Oh, I didn’t die after making that speech in front of 10,000 people. I didn’t die after being a guest star on Mindy Kaling. I didn’t die ...” She really pathologically thought bad things were going to happen if she did these things. Then after she did them, she said, “Oh, okay. I’m fine. Maybe I can keep doing this.”

Brewster: Do you have a handful of people whose writing you support and who support you, people who you’re exchanging work with?

Baker: Yes. There’s Ennis from grad school. He and I keep in touch. That’s grad school pluck. Then my friend Kim, who I met at the Pan-African Literary Forum, a retreat in Africa. Pluck that. Chelsea I also met at the same place, but she’s in Baltimore now with two kids. She’s in my orbit but not as frequent because of those life differences. You got that. I did several writers’ conferences so I met people there and we keep in touch. You pluck people from that. From Binders there’s one or two people. And from residencies.

My work is precious to me. I only want to share it with people I know who are going to help me with it. Because I’ve met so many people who are like, “I’m so excited to meet you. I’m so excited about your work.” Don’t you know? I only hear from them when they need something, so I don’t go to them. Not because I wouldn’t want their help, just because I don’t trust them.

I say find the people where you are. Take the opportunities that are there for you. Maybe you’ll meet someone. Maybe they’ll be genuine. Because I went to those writers’ conferences and residencies for me. I didn’t go to make connections. I went because I was like, “I need feedback on this. I want to go here.” Or I liked the instructor and that’s why I went. Then if you find a connection, you’ll keep the connection, because they believe in you. You believe in them. You’re both serious about writing. You both have the same kind of work ethic.

Brewster: I think we’ll wrap up talking about goals. I always have short term and long term goals. Most of the time I just move closer to them. I know some people have a word count they try and hit each day. Or, even thinking about this year, you’ve got two projects, the collection you’re working on and the YA novel you’ve finished. Are you like, “I’m going to send this out to agents?”

Baker: I sent it out already. Then I took a break. Now I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to do it again, maybe next year.” I don’t set daily goals. I do monthly. Mostly it gets done, but then freelance stuff comes up and it’s like, “Well, there goes that. This pays me so I’m going to do it.” I live by my calendar. If I have an article due on the 15th, I have to get that done. Maybe I can squeeze in an hour of my own writing time. I also usually make a big year list that seems feasible to do in 12 months.

Brewster: We’re coming to the end of 2015. Do you know what your goals were?

Baker: I do and I know I didn’t do a lot of them, sadly. I did do some I was really shocked about.

Brewster: What did you do?

Baker: I got readings. I was like, “Do at least three readings.” I did six.

Brewster: Good for you!

Baker: Then it was like, “Finish this collection.” Mentally, though, I wasn’t ready. There’s more work to be done. There’s also a new YA I wanted to finish this year. And maybe I will, I have another month and a half. Get more publications, which did and didn’t happen. It happened more in an article freelance way than story publications in lit mags. But also I didn’t submit as much as I wanted to.

As I start to make a new list I’ll look at this year’s and be like, “Well, I didn’t do that so move it to 2016.” Then I’ll think about what kept me from doing it. Most of the time I just wasn’t mentally ready because when it comes to the work itself, I’m very methodical and very into it. Some things will take me two years. A story that is 10 pages can take me two years.

Brewster: I totally understand.

Baker: This collection is taking me seven years and the YA I finished took two years. This new YA may take two and a half. I want to finish it this year. But I need to make time to finish it. With the collection I sat there and I was working on it, but it just wasn’t there. With the new YA, I didn’t even look at it for nine months. Those are two very different reasons. In the case of this one where you didn’t even look at it, that’s on you. That’s why it didn’t get done.

Jennifer Baker is an editor, writer of fiction & nonfiction, creator of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and head of festivals and social media for the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. Her work has been in Poets & Writers Magazine, Eclectic Flash, Boston Literary Magazine, Newtown Literary Review, and has a story in The Female Complaint (2015) anthology from Shade Mountain Press. She’s at work on a linked anthology following an interracial family in Long Island, NY and a new YA novel about an incarcerated teen.

#jennifer baker #the hustle #writing #dayjob #binders #weneeddiversebooks #yearofyes #minorities in publishing #podcast

Hear more great advice from Oriana Leckert this Sunday at 2PM at WORD Brooklyn!

#writing #record keeping #advice #Oriana Leckert

Hear more fantastic advice from poet Jason Koo this Sunday at 2PM at WORD Brooklyn!

#writing #reading #hustle #Jason Koo

Hear more awesome advice from Melissa Petro this Sunday at 2PM at WORD Brooklyn!

#hustle #word bookstore #writing #advice #getting paid #freelance #donuts #mimosas

Coming up November 15th! Don’t miss our next Hustle event with Jason Koo, Melissa Petro and Oriana Leckert ( @bkspaces ) at @wordbookstores BK! There will be donuts and mimosas, too.

xo,

c + j + a

#writing #hustle #donuts #mimosas #books #poets #essays #Brooklyn #reading #word bookstore #advice

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for today's Editors/Writers edition of the Hustle! And special thanks to our incredible guests: Melissa Faliveno (Poets & Writers), Natalie Eilbert (TheAtlasReview), and Lincoln Michel (Electric Literature). You can grab copies of Natalie's poetry, The Atlas Review, and Lincoln's co-edited anthology Gigantic Worlds at wordbookstores Brooklyn. Stay tuned for details on our next Hustle on November 15th! xo, c + j + a

#word bookstore #books #hustling #writng #editors #submissions #working 9 to 5