Interview for Young Writers Project by Charlotte Dodds, YWP Intern
Tanya Lee Stone is a Vermont author and professor at Champlain College, with an extensive background as a book publisher. In early January, I had the privilege of attending the first meeting of one of her classes, centered on teaching students about the world of publishing. For each class, Stone invites a different guest speaker who is involved in publishing to speak on their experience and perspective. This being the first class, Stone was acting as that day’s speaker. And here is what she had to say.
Stone has always followed her own path, beginning in high school when she was able to attend a school geared specifically towards the performing arts. She acknowledged that regular high schools can be tough for some people, and that she is grateful to have had the ability to choose how she learned. From there, she attended Oberlin College, known for its eclectic, creative, and artistic student body.
After graduating from Oberlin, Stone went on to work for Macmillan Publishers in New York City. She chose this “educational publishing” job over the “glamorous” Condé Nast, because of a gut feeling that the former would prove to be a more rewarding job. And it proved to be just that: having a “fabulous boss” and ethical workplace showed Stone what a good job looks and feels like, straight out of college.
From there, she worked in the encyclopedia and textbook publishing businesses and continued “following [her] nose,” a common theme in Stone’s life. She noted that “it doesn’t necessarily matter” what order you do things in life – things will figure themselves out if you are doing the right things for you at each step.
After working at Macmillan, Stone became the first non-family member at Black Birch Press, a small, family-owned publishing house in Connecticut. Stone says that what she learned while running the packaging division at Black Birch Press was “exponential” and that she “use[s] those skills every day as an author.”
Stone then made the move to Vermont when her husband took a job at the University of Vermont, and she continued working for Black Birch Press, but remotely. She also pursued and attained a Masters in Science, doing her master’s thesis on pinniped diversity (think sea lions, seals, walruses, etc.) at this time – seemingly a far cry from the world of publishing, but she later used this knowledge to write animal-centered children's books. Stone wrote about 50-60 children’s books for Black Birch Press, which were published specifically for the “library-market, a branch of publishing that focuses on schools and libraries.”
Eventually, Stone felt the need for a new adventure, and following her gut, diverged from library market books and began writing about other topics she was interested in, typically “little-known stories” about different people around the world. Her first book of this category was Elizabeth Leads the Way, about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who fought for women’s suffrage and equal rights. She then went on to write books such as Almost Astronauts and Courage Has No Color. Stone also has some experience dealing with censorship, as her novel, A Bad Boy Can be Good for a Girl, is the 44th book on the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the decade list. Stone said that entering this new sector of book-writing, so different from the library-market, taught her that her voice needs to be included in her writing for her books to feel authentic.
“Basically, everything I do now echoes back to then, and it’s all organic,” Stone noted to her class. She urged her students to “say ‘yes’ ” when presented with something new, and not to just immediately say ‘no’ because you haven’t done it before (unless, of course, it doesn’t feel interesting at all; do what interests you). What matters is doing what you are passionate about. She tells her students to constantly ask themselves: Am I satisfied with what I am doing? With what I am writing?
Stone left her guest-speaker pedestal with one last piece of advice for her students: “You can teach yourself how to do anything.”
Tanya Lee Stone is a Vermont author and professor at Champlain College, with an extensive background as a book publisher. In early January, I had the privilege of attending the first meeting of one of her classes, centered on teaching students about the world of publishing. For each class, Stone invites a different guest speaker who is involved in publishing to speak on their experience and perspective. This being the first class, Stone was acting as that day’s speaker. And here is what she had to say.
Stone has always followed her own path, beginning in high school when she was able to attend a school geared specifically towards the performing arts. She acknowledged that regular high schools can be tough for some people, and that she is grateful to have had the ability to choose how she learned. From there, she attended Oberlin College, known for its eclectic, creative, and artistic student body.
After graduating from Oberlin, Stone went on to work for Macmillan Publishers in New York City. She chose this “educational publishing” job over the “glamorous” Condé Nast, because of a gut feeling that the former would prove to be a more rewarding job. And it proved to be just that: having a “fabulous boss” and ethical workplace showed Stone what a good job looks and feels like, straight out of college.
From there, she worked in the encyclopedia and textbook publishing businesses and continued “following [her] nose,” a common theme in Stone’s life. She noted that “it doesn’t necessarily matter” what order you do things in life – things will figure themselves out if you are doing the right things for you at each step.
After working at Macmillan, Stone became the first non-family member at Black Birch Press, a small, family-owned publishing house in Connecticut. Stone says that what she learned while running the packaging division at Black Birch Press was “exponential” and that she “use[s] those skills every day as an author.”
Stone then made the move to Vermont when her husband took a job at the University of Vermont, and she continued working for Black Birch Press, but remotely. She also pursued and attained a Masters in Science, doing her master’s thesis on pinniped diversity (think sea lions, seals, walruses, etc.) at this time – seemingly a far cry from the world of publishing, but she later used this knowledge to write animal-centered children's books. Stone wrote about 50-60 children’s books for Black Birch Press, which were published specifically for the “library-market, a branch of publishing that focuses on schools and libraries.”
Eventually, Stone felt the need for a new adventure, and following her gut, diverged from library market books and began writing about other topics she was interested in, typically “little-known stories” about different people around the world. Her first book of this category was Elizabeth Leads the Way, about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who fought for women’s suffrage and equal rights. She then went on to write books such as Almost Astronauts and Courage Has No Color. Stone also has some experience dealing with censorship, as her novel, A Bad Boy Can be Good for a Girl, is the 44th book on the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the decade list. Stone said that entering this new sector of book-writing, so different from the library-market, taught her that her voice needs to be included in her writing for her books to feel authentic.
“Basically, everything I do now echoes back to then, and it’s all organic,” Stone noted to her class. She urged her students to “say ‘yes’ ” when presented with something new, and not to just immediately say ‘no’ because you haven’t done it before (unless, of course, it doesn’t feel interesting at all; do what interests you). What matters is doing what you are passionate about. She tells her students to constantly ask themselves: Am I satisfied with what I am doing? With what I am writing?
Stone left her guest-speaker pedestal with one last piece of advice for her students: “You can teach yourself how to do anything.”
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