The YPG Rockin’ Chair

By Katherine Tiernan

Every year the YPG’s birthday party wine and cheese is my favorite event, and not only because wine and cheese are two of my favorite things. It’s a relaxed event in a gorgeous setting where young publishers can come together to meet colleagues and peers. Sometimes between the rush to get in and out of Brown Bag Lunches within an hour and a half, receiving free books, or trying to have a conversation in a noisy bar, it’s easy to forgot why we do this and why we attend events.

The people I was able to talk to and the excellent response to our January Roundtable lunch gave me a chance to remember why the YPG was created – to foster community and build relationships with our peers in the publishing industry. Your planning task force works hard all year long in order to give you the opportunity to connect with someone from a different house, be inspired by a speaker or a topic, or take some time to figure out what role you truly want to fill at your house. A journey no one understands better than me.

In the past 2 ½ years I have worked in managing editorial, as an editorial assistant and now as a marketing assistant at HarperMedia. Each of these positions has introduced me to intelligent, passionate people and exposed me to different facets of publishing. In preparing for each transition I have found that the friends I’ve made through the YPG and publishing have been the most amazing cheerleaders, support group, source of information, and empathetic listeners.

I encourage all of you to utilize the YPG for what it was intending…networking and community. I hope we continue to be a welcoming group where people never fear attending an event alone.

As always, please feel free to email me with questions, concerns, suggestions or any desire to become more involved. My email is Katherine.Tiernan@harpercollins.com.

I look forward to meeting more of you and continuing to build the YPG.