Favorite Parts Of Working In The Book Publishing Industry As A Consultant And Publisher
Valerie, a Consultant & Publisher at Valorena Publishing, finds the current publishing landscape "really exciting," particularly the rise of self-publishing and technology empowering diverse voices to share their stories; this allows for increased transparency and awareness of varied experiences, despite challenges like book banning. Valerie's work in health, children's literature, and cultural literacy sectors contributes to this exciting evolution, making it an "interesting ride" to observe the industry's trajectory.
Publishing, Children's Literature, Self-Publishing, Technology, Storytelling
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Valerie Williams-Sanchez
Consultant & Publisher
Valorena Publishing
University of California, Berkeley
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism - MS, St. John's University - PhD
Communications
Education
Creative
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. The dynamic nature of the industry and the uncertainty of where opportunities may lead.
2. The rise of self-publishing and technology allowing diverse voices to be heard.
3. The ability to contribute to increased transparency and awareness through storytelling, despite challenges like book banning
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
It's a really exciting time right now in my industry. I've got my foot in three different industries: health literacy, children's book publishing, and cultural literacy. It's exciting and interesting because I'm not quite sure where things will go next.
It's an interesting ride to keep my eyes on opportunity and see where things will go. When I say I love the industry and it's in an exciting place for me, I'm primarily thinking about children's books.
Self-publishing and the technology that enables different people and constituent groups to tell their own stories from their own perspective, in their own way and voice, is really exciting to me. This means the peril of one story is diminishing.
More and more people are able to tell their stories, and in turn, many more are able to learn and hear those stories. The transparency and the raise in awareness in terms of experience is at an all-time high.
The converse of that is that there's also a lot of banned books going on right now, which is a problem for my industry. I do think that self-publishing and other mediums offer opportunities to still have one's voice be heard.
In fact, I think self-publishing has hit its highest point since I've recorded it. That again is encouraging and something that really makes me happy.