The Politics of Publishing

From the outside, publishing can look like a relatively straightforward journey: an idea becomes a manuscript, a manuscript becomes a book, a book arrives on a shelf. But behind that journey is an ecosystem of editors, publishers, marketers, distributors, booksellers, institutions, economics, relationships, taste, timing, and power. Which ideas are considered urgent? Whose voices are amplified? Who decides what gets published, and how and to whom a book is marketed? These are the politics of publishing.

Join us at Clio’s for a conversation about these politics with Tim McKee, Publisher of North Atlantic Books; Michelle Phan, Marketing Manager at University of California Press; author and advocate Kelechi Ubozoh; and cultural anthropologist and Clio’s founding member Cari Borja.

Their discussion will center itself around Kelechi Ubozoh’s We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health. Bringing together accounuts that challenge conventional understandings of mental health and healing, the anthology asks what happens when lived experience itself becomes a form of knowledge, and what it takes for voices outside dominant systems to make their way into print and public discourse.

Tim McKee, Publisher, North Atlantic Books, came to NAB in 2013 and is honored to serve as publisher. Born in New York City, McKee grew up in Los Angeles and received a BA from Princeton University and an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri. He has worked in the nonprofit sector for his entire career, including serving as the long-time managing editor of The Sun magazine, the grants director for a social-justice foundation in San Francisco, and as a writer for several community-based organizations in California. He has also taught college-level writing and journalism. His book No More Strangers Now: Young Voices from a New South Africa (Dorling Kindersley) was an Honor Book for the Jane Addams Book Award and a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

Michelle Phan, Marketing Manager, UC Press, launched her publishing career at North Atlantic Books as a publicist before transitioning to marketing at UC Press. With 7+ years of experience in book promotion, she is passionate about uplifting authors and books that share the knowledge necessary for our times. As Vice President of Bay Area Women in Publishing and Co-Chair of the Robin Seaman Award Committee, she also cares deeply about fostering meaningful relationships and building inclusive community within the industry.

Kelechi Ubozoh, author and advocate, has worked for more than a decade in the California mental health system in the areas of research and advocacy, community engagement, stigma reduction, youth development and peer support. Kelechi has spoken publicly about her experiences on multiple platforms, including CBS This Morning with Gayle King, O The Oprah Magazine, and The S Word documentary. Kelechi began her career as an investigative reporter in New York City, and was the first student-reporter ever published in The New York Times. In 2019, Kelechi published an anthology with L.D. Green, We’ve Been Too Patient. Most recently, she co-authored with with Yolo Akili Robinson What I Wish My People Had Known: The Psychiatric Green Book: A Guide for Black Folks , a strategic guide for Black communities seeking to protect themsselves from racialized violence and institutional harm.