Mentor Corner: Maggie Lehrman
Vice President and Associate Publisher, Abrams Children’s Books
What was your first job in publishing?
My first job was a marketing assistant at an adult publishing imprint. It was very high-stress! Luckily, I met someone there who knew a senior editor at Abrams who was hiring an editorial assistant, and after a year at the adult imprint, I moved over to Abrams.
What was your career path like getting to your current role?
I’ve been at Abrams for 21 years, which is an unusually long time in publishing! I started as an editorial assistant with only 4 people in the editorial department. Over the years, I was able to take on more responsibility as the imprint expanded. We’re a team of 16 now! It was a really lucky time and place to start. I had bosses from the beginning who gave me projects to handle independently, and I was always looking for ways to contribute to the list.
What advice would you give to those who are either just starting out or are in their first few years in publishing?
A lot of the work in the early days isn’t the most glamorous, but I’d try to look for those areas that you really like working on, and raise your hand when opportunities come. If you have a genuine interest and passion in one type of book, that’s really helpful both for your own mental investment into your job, and also as an editor—being able to define your tastes and areas of expertise will set you up for success.
What are your current favorite reads?
I just finished The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Marie Thorne.
How has the publishing industry changed since you started your career?
A lot of the technology has completely changed. I used to answer my boss’s phone. I had a physical rolodex of phone numbers and business cards. We faxed. I filed contracts in a cabinet. I mailed out physical checks. I edited on paper and mailed those edits! But the core responsibilities are very much the same: reading, analyzing, negotiating, writing emails, and communicating to the rest of the company why a book is really exciting.
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