Meet the faculty of the 2019 Austin SCBWI Writers & Illustrators Working Conference. We’ve asked all our faculty members to answer 4 quick questions so we can get to know them better.
Mekisha Telfer, Associate Editor at Roaring Brook Press (Macmillian)
Mekisha Telfer is an associate editor at Roaring Brook Press (Macmillian), where she is building a list of picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels. She got her start in publishing in 2014 as an editorial assistant with Simon & Schuster BFYR/Salaam reads, and has also worked briefly at Glasstown Entertainment. Some titles she’s had the privilege of working on including the New York Times best-selling series To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi, I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest, and Stuart Gibb’s Moon Base Alpha series. Mekisha is committed to supporting unrepresented voices and is always on the hunt for character-driven stories with a mix of humor and heart.
Mekisha Telfer
What attracted you to children’s books?
Though my taste as a reader is always changing and expanding, I have never forgotten the way my favorite books made me feel as a child. Working in children’s books is an opportunity for me to pay it forward while also making stories for the young, underrepresented reader I once was.
What’s the best part of your job?
Collaborating with authors and the hunt for that One Special Project.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Taming my inbox.
What’s the best piece of advice you were given that helped drive your career?
You belong and deserve to be here as much as anyone else, so don’t give up your seat at the table.
Come see Mekisha Telfer at the 2019 Austin SCBWI conference, May 18-19, 2019