Interview with Kiara Valdez

Welcome Back, Booklovers! So I'm back with another interview! And this one is a continuation in my series where I give you a look at the people behind the books. Kiara is currently an editor at First Second Books, a graphic novel publisher. 

What drew you to a publishing career?  And what was your journey getting started like?

I've been wanting to go into publishing since I was about 16 years old. I have loved writing in any form (doing it myself, critiquing it, reading various genres) my whole life and at that age I had realized I wanted to be the support for people who were telling these stories I loved so much. That led me to working in various summer internships during college to get experience in the industry. For a long while I specifically wanted to be a manga editor, but a year before applying for the editorial assistant position at First Second I had an informational meeting with Calista Brill who gave me a copy of In Real Life (Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang) and broadened my whole trajectory from 'just manga' to 'comics' in general. And now I couldn't think of a more perfect job or industry for me than where I am right now. 

What’s a common misconception people have about writing graphic novels or comics? And what advice would you give an author who wants to write graphic novels or comics?

I think people see writing graphic novels as easy when it’s not. Writing a good graphic novel takes just as much writing skill as any other piece of literature, but it also takes much more patience (because of the extensive development and production schedule) and an immense amount of visual literacy. I have a lot of advice I'd give to authors who want to write comics but it all boils down to not underestimating the medium—read extensively and also stay incredibly humble because it’s the artist that does at least 2/3rds of the work and ego will always sour relationships. 

Are there any favorite books or series you worked on?

I wouldn’t say favorite because I don’t want to pick favorites between my children, but the book that has personally meant the most to me is Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra. I’ve always wanted a graphic novel about a young Dominican girl who stops straightening her hair and learns to love her curls because it took me way too long to do so. I want kids out there who are taught that straightening their hair is the “proper way” to see that there are other options. So I reached out to Claribel and Rose hoping they could tell a story that fulfilled that need. And through Claribel’s heartfelt and deeply genuine writing, and Rose’s gorgeous and emotive art, Frizzy became exactly that—a lush story about hair, family, generational healing, and self-love. It follows our precious, smart, and inquisitive Marlene as she, with the help of her best friend and fantastic tia Ruby, learns to embrace her natural hair, stands up to bullies at school, and becomes the catalyst for her mother starting her own self-love journey.

What types of stories do you normally gravitate towards?

I’m often pulled in all sorts of directions as both an editor and a reader depending on the genre, but overall I love a character driven story that is grounded in our world (regardless if there is a bit of magic, creepiness, mystery, or etc involved). As an editor I am of course always looking for holes in my list and the industry—especially topics not explored enough by POC creators. And overall, I adore a happy ending. Even if there is struggle and angst and a lot to get through on a journey, I want to leave a story feeling like there is hope for a better tomorrow.

Is your approach to your own writing similar or different from your approach as an editor?

I would say they inform each other. I was very strategic about picking what I would like to debut with, and what I’d like to be my second graphic novel, etc because as an editor I know exactly what is working (and lacking) in this industry. Of course I am writing things I love because if I didn’t I couldn’t make it through the countless rounds of revisions and the next couple years until the book may be published. But I can prioritize some of my ideas over the others because I can step back, put on my editor hat, and objectively decide what the best move for my career would be. 

Though, it is often hard to decide if a certain book idea is something I want to tackle as a writer, or something I want to look to acquire as an editor. But I’ve been able to manage sorting what is what because the scope of what I want to write is ridiculously small. But as I always say: I am an editor first, and a writer second.

Are there any upcoming writing projects you would like to plug here? Or books you’ve already written?

Most of what I’ve written so far is IP for Scholastic and so I don't have any personal projects to plug yet…but I hope to be able to announce something soon. Please be on the lookout!👀

Besides increasing diversity and pay, what is one thing you would love to change about publishing?

We need better digital and administrative systems. I swear to god publishing practically functions like we are in the late 80’s. The only silver lining about the pandemic is that it forced publishing to come to the 21st century for some aspects and make them digital, so at least we’ve had some improvement. But there are still parts of integral systems that are not efficient and I’d just like those systems reassessed and made better. Fixing these systems would cause a domino effect that helps with staff burnout and all sorts of things related to author care.

How do you establish boundaries between work life and home life, especially now with working from home?

It’s been an uphill struggle, especially since it has become even easier to work longer hours since my work laptop is right next to my bed. Unfortunately, I somewhat hit a breaking point in my burnout where I sat myself down and said if I didn’t change my codependent relationship with work I was going to get to a point where I resented absolutely every part of it. 

So I have made it so I refuse, in any way or form, to think about work when I am not in “work hours”. During my off-hours the second a work thought comes into my brain I push it out and say “Monday Kiara will handle that” or “that’s a problem for future Kiara” with not one ounce of guilt. I’ve also learned to stop trying to get validation from work—I’ve been in this industry for more than 6 years now and every second I’ve been here I’ve done way too much work for one human being. I could leave tomorrow (I won’t) and I would be satisfied with how much I’ve proven myself. Every new year I give this industry is a gift they should be grateful for! I know it sounds quite conceited but I promise you, especially as a woman of color, this industry will take every chance to stab a knife in your side and make you feel worthless, and the only way to fight that is with revolutionary self-confidence and shamelessness. 

What are your favorite anime?

It’s truly so hard to pick because I’ve seen so many, but here are ten of my all-time favorites:

Haikyuu!! 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Prince of Tennis (...hasn’t aged well, haha)

Classmates 

Given

xxxHolic (the best of Clamp’s work, yes, I’d fight you over this)

Wottakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku

Kids on the Slope

Lovely Complex

Natsume’s Book of Friends

 

When did your affinity to lilac begin?

The seed was implanted in my brain when I decided to get a lilac dress for my senior prom in high school! And then I decided to get a purple ombre in college...which then just became lilac hair from my scalp to my ends. And then purple clothing, etc. I swear in like 20 years I will be a “purple lady”. 

What are some of your hobbies outside of reading and writing?

Haha, wow you just disqualified my top two hobbies. Hmm, I wanted to get into learning the electric guitar that I got during this pandemic, but I haven’t touched it in a year. BUT I will get to it eventually, so that will be a new hobby. Aside from that I watch a ton of media including anime, fantasy shows, teen shows, and home decor videos on YouTube.