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JENNA JANKOWSKI
Associate Editor, Sourcebooks, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Poisoned Pen Press
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR...
Nonfiction: Engaging narrative nonfiction across categories that features revealing explorations of history, science, and social science. Personal stories with a great hook and broad commercial appeal. As a reader and an editor, I love nonfiction that uses a niche topic to reflect on big, accessible questions. I also have a soft spot for medical history, true crime, and travel.
Fiction: Cozies, psychological suspense, crime fiction, literary thrillers featuring fresh voices, and horror with feminist elements. Dark stories in immersive, isolated settings with Gothic touches. Rich and immersive historical novels that illuminate stories from marginalized communities, feminist retellings, mainstream contemporary fiction with a literary edge, upmarket women’s fiction, and speculative fiction, all with an emphasis on diverse voices.
RIGHT NOW, PLEASE DON'T SEND ME...
YA, children’s, poetry, screenplays, or romance.
HOW I GOT INTO BOOKS...
I was always a bookworm as a kid (I couldn’t get enough of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques). I followed that obsession to its natural conclusion: an English degree and a job at Sourcebooks.
SOME FAVORITE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I DIDN'T PUBLISH...
Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, anything by Tana French, Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris, and Chasing the Thrill by Daniel Barbarisi
ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS AN EDITOR DOES FOR AN AUTHOR IS...
Be an author’s biggest advocate!
I LOVE MY JOB BECAUSE...
I believe in the power of storytelling, and I get to help authors share their stories every day.
I KEEP MY READING PILE...
On my phone (thank you, Overdrive!), Kindle, bookshelves, beside my bed, in the backseat of my car… You see where I’m going with this?
BOOKSTORES YOU SHOULD VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE...
I can (and have) spent entire afternoons in Myopic, an incredible used bookstore in Chicago. Beware: you may get lost in there!
WHEN I'M NOT READING, I'LL BE...
Walking in the woods, baking sourdough, making stained glass pieces, or watching horror movies.
