Publishing a book can seem like a daunting process, and it can be. But it doesn't have to be so shrouded in mystery!

Come hear from a diverse group of 2018 debut novelists about our paths to—and through—publishing our first novels! With books out this summer and fall from Riverhead, Ballantine, FSG/MCD, Doubleday, Henry Holt, and William Morrow, we'll first hold a roundtable about our various journeys, then we'll have a Q&A for all your questions.

The roundtable will feature local novelists Vanessa Hua, Lydia Kiesling, R.O. Kwon, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras, as well as visiting writers Crystal Hana Kim and Lillian Li.

Their debut novels will be available for purchase, and the authors will be available to autograph them!

About Vanessa Hua

Vanessa Hua is an award-winning author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities, received an Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature, was a finalist for a California Book Award, and O, The Oprah Magazine called it a "searing debut." Her novel, A River of Stars, is forthcoming (Ballantine, August 2018). vanessahua.com

About Lydia Kiesling

Lydia Kiesling is the editor of The Millions. Her writing has appeared at a variety of outlets including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Slate, and was recognized in Best American Essays 2016. Her first novel, The Golden State, is forthcoming from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux's MCD imprint. lydiakiesling.com

About R.O. Kwon

R. O. Kwon’s first novel, The Incendiaries, is out from Riverhead in July of 2018. She is a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Vice, BuzzFeed, Noon, Time, Electric Literature, Playboy, San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. She has received awards and fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, Omi International, and the Norman Mailer Writers' Colony. ro-kwon.com

About Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Ingrid Rojas Contreras is the author of Fruit of the Drunken Tree, a Barnes & Noble Summer 2018 Discover Great New Writers selection. She was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, Guernica, and Huffington Post. She is the book columnist for KQED. ingridrojascontreras.com

About Crystal Hana Kim

Crystal Hana Kim’s debut novel, If You Leave Me, is out from William Morrow in August. She was a 2017 PEN America Dau Short Story Prize winner and has received scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Hedgebrook, Jentel, among others. Her work has been published in or is forthcoming from The Washington Post, Elle Magazine, Nylon, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. She is a contributing editor at Apogee Journal and is the Director of Writing Instruction at Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband. crystalhanakim.com

About Lillian Li

Lillian Li received her MFA from the University of Michigan. Her work has been featured in Guernica, Granta, Glimmer Train, Bon Appetit and Jezebel.She is from the D.C. metro area and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Number One Chinese Restaurant is her first novel. lillianliauthor.com

Roads To and Through Publication: A Roundtable Discussion with the Authors of 2018's Anticipated Debut Novels