We are so happy to welcome Carina Licón to the podcast! She’s one of the rare publishing experts who joined her house (Macmillan, in this case) during the pandemic—and can share with us her unique perspective in making it work from afar. (Do we hope to take her out to lunch on her first NYC visit? Yes!)

We loved hearing about her pitching works to Acquisitions, how she’s managed to build a robust network for herself—and what she’s looking for in her inbox.

Carina Licón is an Editorial Assistant at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. She is interested in middle-grade and YA with a focus on books featuring underrepresented stories and voices. She’s especially reeled in by character-driven stories with whipsmart protagonists; spooky and atmospheric middle-grade speculative fiction; contemporary YA thrillers in the vein of JANE ANONYMOUS or SADIE; friendship breakup stories; romance with lots! of! angst!; and stories rich with diverse cultural traditions and storytelling. Born and raised in El Paso, TX, Carina enjoys discovering local restaurants, movie podcasts, and spending time with her very intimidating 8-pound guard dog.