Why I Quit My Job at Penguin

I loved being an editor in traditional book publishing.

Being an editor at big publishing houses — like Simon & Schuster and Penguin, where I worked — requires a lot of different skills. You have to be willing to socialize constantly — to build relationships with literary agents, to curry favor with authors but also your colleagues — designers and marketers and publicists and the entire production department.

At the same time, you must be willing to hidey hole somewhere for days in order to read and edit manuscripts. Editors also have to be excellent at spotting opportunities and talent.

A large part of an editor’s job is acquisitions — offering authors book deals.

While I was at Penguin, agents sent me proposals by multiple future New York Times bestsellers — including authors like transgender activist Janet Mock and Scary Mommy Jill Smokler. But I wasn’t allowed by my bosses and higher-ups to make offers on those projects. For whatever reason, the people I worked for didn’t see the same potential that I saw in these authors and their books.

I remember one project in particular. My friend Meg, an accomplished literary agent, sent me a project by author Kelle Hampton. Kelle had written a gorgeous memoir about the first year in the life of her daughter Nelle who has Down Syndrome. The writing…