Namrata Tripathi is Founder and Publisher of Kokila, and was one of the participants in the Editors & Agents Panel: The Current Market For Children's Publishing, moderated by Emma D. Dryden. The other panelists were Elena Giovinazzo (VP & Senior Agent, Pippin Properties), Tiff Liao (Executive Editor, Zando), and James Mustelier (Agent, The Bent Agency). ASL interpreters: Jennye Kamin, Keturah.
Previously, Namrata held editorial positions at HarperCollins, Disney-Hyperion, and Simon and Schuster. She is the editor New York Times bestsellers Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison and Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi and Ashley Lukashevsky; the Newbery Honor-winning middle grade novel The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani; and the National Book Award Finalists Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, and The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor. Namrata grew up in Afghanistan, India, Canada, Pakistan, Germany, and Poland, and has happily called New York City home for the last twenty-five years. You can follow her on Twitter at @Tweetpathi.
Namrata says the last few years have taught the industry to be more flexible and shown how artificial borders have been in place in terms how and where people could work.
She says that this means she can hire from anywhere around the world, not just someone who has to come into the office in person. Namrata points out that this helps open up the industry to those who may not be able to afford to live in New York (or wherever the publisher is physically located).
Marginalized industry people may appreciate the safety and ease of working for home; they don't have to feel like they need to put on armor when going into the in-person workplace.
Namrata advises book creators to be as informed as possible in the broader ecosystem in terms of how a book gets to market so that if something happens to you, you know it's not just you. She tries giving the author a heads-up about what to expect and what might happen, like shifting publication dates because of shipping issues, gas prices changing, limited printer availability, limited domestic printing availability, limited availability of paper stock, etc. She has had books whose pub dates have changed four times(!).
"We want your stories as much as you want to be published by us," says Namrata. She encourages emotional honesty and finding the right fit re: editor.
On the topic of COVID-related books, Namrata said that early in the pandemic, she received submissions about the pandemic, but she felt it was too early to have enough distance to write about it. She says there IS a place for books about how the pandemic has transformed us and the world without being explicit about it. "Don't make the pandemic a gimmick."
Namrata says that Kokila is open to unagented submissions but says that at the moment, she says she is coordinating with a new program at Penguin Young Readers so isn't able to give specific submission info yet. She encourages attendees to check the
Kokila - Penguin Books website for info about the whole team, the mission. When submissions open again, that info will be posted.
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