In their weekly newsletter, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing featured a checklist I prepared for authors working with hybrid publishers.

In 2017, I set out to research and write about my Chinese and Eastern European Jewish ancestors who converged in California. In August 2023, my query letter and first pages of Sixteen Stories, which linked memoir and narrative nonfiction, featured on Books with Hooks. Taking on board the feedback and adding a couple more years of research, writing, and editing, I decided to focus on the Chinese American side of my family: the nine stories of Staring into the Sun. But how would I get my debut hybrid memoir narrative nonfiction short story collection published? You can guess from that mouthful of a description that agents wouldn’t go near it. I submitted it to independent, university, and hybrid publishers. In April 2025, Ten16 Press, an imprint of Orange Hat Publishing, made me an offer. I decided to publish my debut in May 2026 to align with Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. During this time, I made my own checklist which I have now adapted for general use. It’s intended for you, the author, to use once a hybrid publisher has made an offer.