Behind the Book with Stephanie Lim: On a Mission to Bring More Asian-American Stories into the World
On episode 56 of the Reed, Write, & Create podcast, we’re going Behind the Book with Stephanie Lim. Stephanie is the co-founder and CEO of Third State Books, a new publishing house that amplifies the voices, stories, and issues of Asian America and the Pacific Islands. They publish fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children.
Who Is Stephanie Lim?
Stephanie Lim is the co-founder and CEO of Third State Books. Hear her story on the Reed, Write, & Create Podcast. (Photo supplied by Stephanie Lim.)
Stephanie Lim is a publisher and marketing executive who brings an abiding love of literary classics, guilty-pleasure genre fiction, fanfic, and children’s books to her work at Third State Books. She spent over 15 years in digital marketing and operations, first as a strategist for advertising clients at Google, then leading e-commerce teams and managing multi-million-dollar advertising budgets for retail brands such as ModCloth, Bebe, and Serena Williams’s eponymous fashion label. She co-founded Third State Books in 2023.
During this enlightening conversation with Stephanie we discuss:
Why she left a career in e-commerce and fashion to run a publishing company.
What are the unique challenges Asian-American authors face in the mainstream publishing industry.
What new titles Third State Books is putting out next and why.
Why Stephanie wants to see more Asian Americans getting to play the main character in books and in life.
Why she wants to dispel the myth that Asian Americans only read and write literary fiction.
About Third State Books
This is the Mission Statement of Third State Books from their Website:
“Third State Books brings Asian American and Pacific Islander voices, stories, and issues to audiences that cherish them. A cornerstone of our ethos is narrative change and owning our own stories. Our name, “Third State,” refers to our unique experience as immigrants and the children of immigrants, being a bridge between cultures. We proudly occupy a distinctive space and identity all our own. Through fiction and nonfiction, for adults and children, Third State Books publishes stories that fully represent authentic Asian American experiences to universal audiences.”
To Find out more about Third State Books, visit ThirdStateBooks.com
Follow Third State Books on Instagram
Check out these recent and upcoming titles from Third State Books