Marie Dutton Brown started her career in publishing more than 50 years ago, but is still one of the few Black women agents in the industry. For OprahDaily and Hearst's LiftEveryVoice, she reflects on her experience. ProjectTellMe
I graduated from Penn State and taught junior high school. Loretta Barrett, an executive editor at Doubleday, came to one of our training sessions to talk about the new books they were publishing. She had taught with my mom in Philadelphia. She invited me, whenever I was in New York, to have lunch.So I went off to New York in 1967 and called Loretta for lunch. It was a very publishing-type experience: fancy French restaurant, something I had never experienced in life.
The job was comparable to being an intern now. Editorial was really where I wanted to be. I became an editorial assistant.Then, after two years, I left. I got married, moved to California. I worked in a bookstore and on a magazine,I came back to the East Coast in the early 1970s. Doubleday said,. Eventually, I became a senior editor at Doubleday. It was sort of challenging to be considered the authority on everything Black. I experienced blatant racism as well as subliminal racism.
I tried to find a job in book publishing, and it was nearly impossible. When I went on interviews, it was as if I couldn’t read. People were saying, you should be an agent. It took me a long time to really adjust to being on the other side of the fence, so to speak.I have learned to be focused. Now, mind you, I’ve had a good time, and I’m not just sitting up all the time, 24/7, reading manuscripts. I have been introduced to the best of our culture through the work that I’ve done.
I learned, sometimes the hard way, how to function in that corporate world. But I’ve never chosen that majority world over my community and my culture because that has strengthened me. You say, Oh, my God, how am I going to get up and do this another day, but it’s the beauty of Black life. It’s being able to see what strengths you gain from all of what we’ve been through.The Miami Student
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