Hachette Book Group Sponsors Asian American Journalists Association’s 2025 National Convention, Featuring Sally Kim, Curtis Chin, and Katherine Reynolds Lewis
Hachette Book Group Supports Two Emerging Student Journalists and Participates in Key Programming at the National Event in Seattle, WA
(L-R, clockwise: Panelists Vicky Nguyen, Sally Kim, and Curtis Chin; Nguyen, Chin, Kim, and HBG Chief Communications Officer Gabrielle Gambrell with Seattle University journalism students; Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Howard Yoon, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Sally Kim, Parul Kapur)
NEW YORK (August 4, 2025) — Hachette Book Group (HBG) proudly sponsored the Asian American Journalists Association’s (AAJA) 2025 National Convention in Seattle, WA, July 30–August 3, 2025, where top AAPI journalists joined publishing industry leaders and voices to celebrate the organization’s rich history and this year’s “Forging Our Legacies, Navigating the Future” theme. AAJA is a membership nonprofit whose mission is to increase AAPI perspectives and representation in newsrooms, media, and storytelling as well as ensure fair and accurate coverage of communities of color.
President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company Sally Kim participated in two convention panels on Friday, August 1, including one moderated by NBC News senior correspondent Vicky Nguyen and featuring Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant (Back Bay Books) author Curtis Chin; as well as another panel moderated by The Good News About Bad Behavior (PublicAffairs) author Katherine Reynolds Lewis with novelist and journalist Parul Kapur, literary agent and WME partner Howard Yoon, and author and journalist Sara Kehaulani Goo. Additionally, HBG sponsored two Seattle University students to attend the multi-day event.
The first panel was a ‘fireside’ conversation and Q&A, “Publishing Power: Sally Kim and Curtis Chin on Leading, Storytelling, and Opening Doors,” with Kim, Chin, and Nguyen who each shared a candid look at their journeys and impact on opposite sides of the publishing process. Kim offered insights from her rise through the publishing ranks—from attending UCLA as an English major (Asian American Studies minor) with a scholarship from AAJA to becoming the first Asian American to lead a major U.S. publishing imprint. Chin spoke about his path from Detroit’s Chinatown to the national literary stage as a bestselling author, award-winning filmmaker, and co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Together, they reflected on navigating legacy institutions, taking creative risks, and using storytelling to elevate underrepresented voices.
Later that day, Kim joined the “Bylines to Book Covers: AAPI Journalists on the Path to Publishing” panel where she, Lewis, Kapur, Yoon, and Goo explored their transition from journalism to book publishing, the importance of centering AAPI writers’ experiences, and the challenges and opportunities presented by longform storytelling. Panelists also discussed the daunting shift from newsroom deadlines to writing books; how reporting skills translate into memoir, nonfiction, and fiction writing; and how AAPI perspectives are shaping the future of both media and literature.
In addition to its programming, Hachette Book Group sponsored two undergraduate journalism students from Seattle University to attend the convention: Hadia Ahmed, a Journalism and Strategic Communications major, and Diego Dumlao, a Journalism major —both of whom are on Seattle University’s student newspaper, The Spectator. Through HBG’s support, the students engaged with the nation’s top AAPI journalists and gained valuable insight and connections via a wide range of panels, networking opportunities, and the conference’s job fair.
About Little, Brown:
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Founded in 1837, Little, Brown has long been recognized as a publisher dedicated to delivering fiction of the highest quality and nonfiction of lasting significance. Our backlist proudly includes an abundance of New York Times bestsellers and winners of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award. Our storied list includes classics such as Little Women, Mythology, Brideshead Revisited, and The Catcher in the Rye, as well as modern classics such as Infinite Jest, The Tipping Point, The Historian, Room, Circe, and The Goldfinch. We are also the longstanding home to bestselling franchise authors such as James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Elin Hilderbrand, David Sedaris, and many others. Our wide-ranging and varied imprints include Mulholland Books; Little, Brown Spark; Voracious; and Algonquin Books.
About Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading US general-interest book publisher made up of dozens of esteemed imprints within the publishing groups Basic Books Group; Grand Central Publishing Group; Hachette Audio; Little, Brown and Company; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Orbit; Workman Publishing; and Running Press Group. We also provide custom distribution, fulfillment, and sales services to other publishing companies.
Our books and authors have received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Booker Prize, Nobel Peace Prize and other major honors.
We are committed to diversity in our company and our publishing programs, and to fostering a culture of inclusion for all our employees and authors. We are proud to be part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest trade and educational publisher.
Visit hachettebookgroup.com to learn more about HBG imprints. For updated news follow HBG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X.com, Pinterest, and YouTube.
* * *
Press Contact: Gabrielle.Gambrell@hbgusa.com