Wicked Wednesday – Fiery women in publishing

Happy Wednesday! Cate here, and we’re in our “The heat is on” theme, AND we’re celebrating the release of Shock and Paw this week (yay!) One could argue that, since it’s a Christmas-themed book, it’s the farthest thing from hot–but the victim in the story, who is also a fiery woman, dies by electrocution, so there’s that.

My murder vic is a newspaper publisher and a force to be reckoned with, both in and out of publishing. So today, in her honor, I want to talk about females who have shattered glass ceilings in the publishing industry and challenged the status quo.

People like Ida B. Wells and Nellie Bly in journalism, classic authors like Agatha Christie, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Alice Walker, Virgina Woolf, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison. I also think of today’s badass women like Jodi Picoult, who isn’t afraid to write about the most controversial topics and stand up for causes like book bans and LGBTQ+ rights with her platform.

So many women in publishing to celebrate. Wickeds, who stands out for you?

Sherry: Congratulations on Shock and Paw, Liz! I love that title! There are so many women who do so much that it’s hard to pick a few. For me, it’s Sara Paretsky and her fellow women authors who started Sisters in Crime in 1987. It’s an organization that started to advocate for women authors and has expanded its advocacy since. And Kellye Garrett and Gigi Pandian who started Crime Writers of Color with Walter Mosley in 2018. It has become a thriving organization since then.

Julie: Congratulations Liz! Like Sherry, I love that title! And you’ve both listed great examples. I’ll add Juliet Grames from SoHo Press to this list. SoHo is an interesting house that publishes wonderful authors. She’s also an author, and a great member of the community.

Barb: I second Julie’s mention of Juliet Grames, who gave a barn-burner of a speech about artistic integrity at the Maine Crime Wave this year. I have watched in awe as Kellye Garrett and Gigi Pandian have grown Crime Writers of Color from a standing start to become a force in the industry. Let me add the late literary agent Janet Reid. She didn’t take me as a client but she was so kind to me and supportive of my first book. I’m not sure I would have gone on without her encouragement. And our own publicist at Kensington, Larissa Ackerman, who has been a supporter of all the Wickeds from the go. Congratulations on Shock and Paw, Liz!

Edith/Maddie: Yay for a new Cat Cafe book, Liz! I’m excited to read it and catch up on (the other) Maddie’s world. I agree about all those women already mentioned. I’m going to add our friend (and my really good pal) Ellen Byron. She’s an author like us, but she has lobbied hard for the inclusion of the cozy genre in Mystery Writers of America awards and at Bouchercon, the biggest crime fiction convention. Those worlds have not traditionally given a nod to cozies, but they’re starting to, due in part to Ellen’s efforts.

Jessie: I love all of your picks! I would add Mary Wollstonecraft with her classic Vindication of the Rights of Woman published in 1792. She was the mother of Mary Shelley, author of one of the first bestsellers, Frankenstein. I would also mention Sarah Josepha Hale the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, an extremely popular magazine first published in 1830.

Readers, tell us which women you admire in the publishing world!