This week, we’re hosting #SalaSundays on our blog. Read below to get to know all about Senior Acquisitions Editor, Toni Kirkpatrick, with Crooked Lane Books!
Latinx in Publishing (LxP): What do you do?
Toni Kirkpatrick (TK): I am a Senior Acquisitions Editor at Crooked Lane Books, where I acquire all subgenres of crime fiction, from traditional mysteries to thrillers. I'm also acquiring book club fiction (think commercial women's fiction) for our new-ish imprint Alcove Press! We accept unagented submissions. Go to the Contact page on our website to find the submission email address, and be sure to address your email to me!
LxP: How did you get started?
TK: I attended the Denver Publishing Institute the summer after my college graduation, then got my Masters in Creative Writing at USC, and then finally took the plunge and moved to New York City. After three months of job hunting and a disastrous 2-day stint as a temp, I was fortunate to land a job as an Editorial Assistant at Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press assisting Ruth Cavin, an elderly, very sweet “firecracker” who published mostly mysteries. I built my own list and eventually became an Editor.
LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?
TK: I could say the low pay, the high cost of living in NYC, the time commitment, all the aspects that have nothing to do with reading or editing, the very low number of POC working in the industry...but the truth is I sort of knew about these beforehand and pursued this career regardless. I’m very practical that way! And getting free books evens it all out. But seriously, there’s nothing that really compares to finding a manuscript you love, being the one to present it to your colleagues, and helping to make it into a real live book. I’ve now been working in the industry in one form or another for… 17 years!
LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?
TK: I am reading Eat the Mouth That Feeds You by Carribean Fragoza, which is very special to me because I know Carribean. She is from South El Monte, my hometown. It’s a working-class, largely Mexican-American suburb of Los Angeles. Carribean is also the co-editor of East of East and the Editor in Chief of Vicious Ladies, an online journal of cultural criticism. She has long been doing important cultural and community work, and I am thrilled that we now have her beautiful story collection out in the world.
Toni Kirkpatrick began her career at St. Martin's Press, where she worked for nearly 11 years acquiring literary and commercial fiction. She now acquires fiction for Crooked Lane Books, a small, NYC-based publisher distributed by Penguin Random House. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Toni is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and white father. Under the name Toni Margarita Plummer, she is the author of the story collection The Bolero of Andi Rowe and a contributor to the anthologies East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte and Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity. In 2020 she was a finalist for the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. Toni lives with her literary agent husband and their son in the Hudson Valley.
