Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I’m interviewing Calee Lee, the founder and CEO of Xist Publishing, the largest independent digital-first children’s publisher. She is also the author of more than 15 books for children. Dedicated to helping kids develop a lifetime love of reading, she founded Xist Publishing in 2011 to provide beautiful books for the touchscreen generation. Today she’ll share insights about alternative paths to publishing.
Before founding Xist Publishing, she had a broad range of professional experiences, from writing for a content mill while living outside Dublin, to writing medical copy from a village in Cyprus, and even to running a production company specializing in industry education videos. Calee has a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in English from California State University, Fullerton. She currently lives with her husband and two children in Orange County, California.
In this episode Calee Lee and I talk about:
- Small presses and what they add to the publishing marketplace.
- The process of digital-only publishing, and how it differs from print publishing.
- The children’s publishing market in the digital realm.
- The advantages of a small press for authors.
- And what submissions Xist is looking for right now.
Plus Calee’s #1 tip for writers.
Resources:
For more information about Xist Publishing, visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
If you’re interested in submitting your work for consideration at Xist publishing, please send them an email (submissions at xistpublishing dot com) with your first three chapters, or check out their submissions page for more details.
Link to Episode 51
(Right-click to download.)
If you liked this episode…
Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!
Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.
