Jennifer Baker

Jennifer Baker was named the 2019 Publishers Weekly Star Watch “SuperStar” because her “varied work championing diversity in publishing has made her an indispensable fixture in the book business.” She is the editor of Everyday People: The Color of Life—A Short Story Anthology. Her YA novel Forgive Me Not will publish in Fall 2023.

With 20 years’ experience in publishing in a range of roles, Jennifer currently works as a managing editor, is a contributing editor to Electric Literature, and is the creator and host of the podcast Minorities in Publishing. Jennifer has been a panel organizer and social media manager for We Need Diverse Books, and was the social media director and a writing instructor for Sackett Street Writers' Workshop. In December 2013, her young adult manuscript, The Facility, won the SCBWI On-the-Verge Emerging Voices Award for underrepresented voices in children’s literature. She was also the recipient of a 2017 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship and a 2017 Queens Council on the Arts New Work Grant in Nonfiction Literature for her essay collection. Her story “The Pursuit of Happiness” was nominated for a 2017 Pushcart Prize, and her essay, “What We Aren’t” was listed as a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2018.  Most recently, she's had an essay featured on Longreads, and has been featured on The Other Stories podcast.

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