ANNIE BERGERSenior Editor, Sourcebooks Fire
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR
On the middle-grade side I really enjoy boy narratives with humor, I’m a big fantasy fan, I love treasure hunts or puzzles, mysteries, horror, and I am a sucker for contemporary, heartfelt realistic narratives. On the teen side, I am a big fan of thrillers/mysteries, I love magical realism, fantasy high and low, horror, romance with a strong hook, and gritty realistic stories. I also lean more towards speculative fiction in general and love to read diverse voices. RIGHT NOW DON'T SEND ME... Novels in verse, novels where the main character is suffering from a terminal illness, and books with a We Were Liars twist. I am open to most genres though! |
HOW I GOT INTO BOOKS... When I was in college I had a horrible phone interview for a summer job. One of the questions the interviewer asked was what I would do if I had an entire week to myself. I immediately said I would read all the books in my ‘to read’ pile. And the interviewer told me I should go into publishing. I thought that was a bold statement until I started thinking about it. After deciding that was indeed what I should be doing; I attended the Columbia Publishing Course, interned, and finally got an editorial assistant position at Simon & Schuster.
JUST A FEW OF THE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I'VE ACQUIRED AND EDITED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS... Shadow Weaver by MarcyKate Connolly, Furyborn and Kingsbane by Claire Legrand, Reverie by Ryan La Sala, Unicorn Day by Diana Murray and Luke Flowers, The Doughnut Fix by Jessie Janowitz, The Last 8 by Laura Pohl, Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Berube, The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson, Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, The Wolf of Cape Fen by Juliana Brandt, and Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco, among others!
JUST A FEW OF THE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I'VE ACQUIRED AND EDITED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS... Shadow Weaver by MarcyKate Connolly, Furyborn and Kingsbane by Claire Legrand, Reverie by Ryan La Sala, Unicorn Day by Diana Murray and Luke Flowers, The Doughnut Fix by Jessie Janowitz, The Last 8 by Laura Pohl, Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Berube, The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson, Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, The Wolf of Cape Fen by Juliana Brandt, and Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco, among others!
SOME FAVORITE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I DIDN'T PUBLISH... When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan; Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, and Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli…to name just a few!
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS AN EDITOR DOES FOR AN AUTHOR IS... Editors are the author’s champions in-house. They are the author’s liaison between all the different departments, and they are going to be the one always in the author’s corner.
I LOVE MY JOB BECAUSE... Well, I love books! But more than that I love working with an author on shaping their story so that it is the best version it can be. I also so enjoy seeing the transformation from word document to real-life book!
I KEEP MY READING PILE... Everywhere! There’s a stack of books on my nightstand and books I want to read mixed in my shelves. I read most of my submission on my iPad or Kindle though, and that is fairly organized.
I FOLLOW READING, WRITING AND PUBLISHING NEWS AT... PW Daily, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness, and Twitter.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS AN EDITOR DOES FOR AN AUTHOR IS... Editors are the author’s champions in-house. They are the author’s liaison between all the different departments, and they are going to be the one always in the author’s corner.
I LOVE MY JOB BECAUSE... Well, I love books! But more than that I love working with an author on shaping their story so that it is the best version it can be. I also so enjoy seeing the transformation from word document to real-life book!
I KEEP MY READING PILE... Everywhere! There’s a stack of books on my nightstand and books I want to read mixed in my shelves. I read most of my submission on my iPad or Kindle though, and that is fairly organized.
I FOLLOW READING, WRITING AND PUBLISHING NEWS AT... PW Daily, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness, and Twitter.
AGENTS CAN CONTACT ME AT annie.berger@sourcebooks.com, direct line 212-414-1701 ext 2221, Twitter @EditorALB