Phoebe Yeh is the vice president and co-publisher at Crown Books for Young Readers and Random House. From Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen’s Magic School Bus series to Printz Award recipient Walter Dean Myers’ Monster, she has played instrumental roles in the development of countless culturally impactful works throughout her career.
To someone who sees a staggering number of manuscripts pass through her hands each year, a good first impression is paramount. For a writer, that equates to expressing a unique voice and injecting one’s stories with memorable characters, because it is in those first, precious pages that most readers will decide either to continue or pass. The works that are truly special, the masterpieces that warrant widespread praise and attention, those are the stories a publisher will want to reread immediately after completion. Admittedly though, luck is just as integral a factor as anything else.
During her talk, Phoebe Yeh spoke at length about the ins and outs of the publishing industry, offering attendees valuable insights pertaining not only to the young adult market, but also fiction at every age level. “You don’t teach nuclear disarmament to first-graders,” Yeh playfully remarked, stressing the sheer importance of knowing one’s audience. “Those kids are very tough about what they will and won’t read.”
To sell a story, she advises aspirant writers to, above all else, perform their research. If an author wants to write middle-grade literature, then it is crucial they possess intimate knowledge of works that came prior. “If you want to write YA, you need to read YA,” she stated during the question-and-answer session. “How you think about a friend at age nine versus how you think about a friend at age fourteen… it’s night and day.” Even during her beginnings with Scholastic, Yeh would read every picture book humanly possible if it meant acquiring a greater
understanding of the stories she was reviewing. According to her, the best way one can learn is simply by doing.
While some artists harbor apprehension toward publishers, assuming they are out to tarnish their pristine vision, the truth is that they are merely seeking fiction that best suits their company. Publishers strive to reach harmony via a compromise between what the writer is attempting to express and what will realistically sell. They channel creative forces, amplify what succeeds, push against what falls flat, and for those reasons, fans of stories owe a good deal to people like Yeh who have made it their lives’ goal to transpose dreams to reality.
Written by: Jack Hawkins
Image Courtesy of American University