Bindery has taken the publishing world by storm and are coming on to talk about the acquisitions side of the journey and how to market a cozy fantasy. Our Host, Shira Schindel, has 15 years of industry knowledge.
A special welcome to our panelists!
Shira Schindel, Acquisitions Director, Bindery
Shira began her career in literary agenting and subsequently worked in the startup and audiobook arenas across her 15-year career in publishing. She led print and audio acquisitions at Blackstone Publishing, managed licensing and distribution partnerships for Audible, and was a founding hire at multiple early-stage publishing startups, including Litographs and Radish Fiction. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia University and an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Jaysen Headley is a Content Creator on Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube known as Ezeekat. He big believer in celebrating diverse voices in books, games and other media. He loves to encourage readers, young and not-so-young, on their reading journeys. He lives with his husband and two cats, who you will for sure see on his page from time to time. As a tastemaker on bindery, Jaysen selected and published his first book this year, House of Frank, by Kay Sinclaire.
Kay Synclaire is the youngest of five children and the proud aunt of twelve. Kay attended Philadelphia University before working in caretaking roles as a nurse assistant and preschool teacher. Kay currently lives in Philadelphia, with her sister, who is the coauthor of her 2022 collection of short stories, The Strange Accounts of Germantown and Other Peculiar Phenomena. House of Frank is her debut novel.
Meg Hood is a Content Creator on Tiktok and Instagram known as Meg’s Tea Room, where she loves to share a cup of tea and discuss cozy fantasy stories that warm the heart. Her bindery community fosters kindness and the love of fantasy literature. She joined Bindery as a tastemaker, and has just begun the journey of publishing a Cozy Fantasy written by Deston.
Deston “D.J” Munden is a fantasy and science fiction author with a Bachelor’s in Game Art and Design. Deston loves video games (Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege, and League of Legends), anime, comic books, and fantasy/scifi novels. He lives in the woods of North Carolina near the Outer Banks with his brother and biggest fan (only an hour away from his mom and his dad).