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Behind the Book with Publisher Stephanie Lim: On a Mission to Bring More Asian American Stories into the World

podcast June 23, 2025

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On episode 56 of the podcast, we’re going Behind the Book with Stephanie Lim. Stephanie is the co-founder of Third State Books, a new publishing house that amplifies the voices, stories, and issues of Asian America and the Pacific Islands. They publish fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children.

Stephanie Lim is a publisher and marketing executive who brings an abiding love of literary classics, guilty-pleasure genre fiction, fanfic, and children’s books to her work at Third State Books. She spent over 15 years in digital marketing and operations, first as a strategist for advertising clients at Google, then leading e-commerce teams and managing multi-million-dollar advertising budgets for retail brands such as ModCloth, Bebe, and Serena Williams’s eponymous fashion label. She co-founded Third State Books in 2023.

 

During this enlightening conversation with Stephanie we discuss:

  • Why she left a career in e-commerce and fashion to run a publishing company.
  • What are the unique challenges Asian-American authors face in the mainstream publishing industry.
  • What new titles Third State Books is putting out next and why.
  • Why she wants to see more Asian Americans getting to play the main character in books and in life.
  • Why she wants to dispel the myth that Asian Americans only read and write literary fiction. 

To Find out more about Third State Books, visit ThirdStateBooks.com

Follow Third State Books on Instagram.

Check out these recent and upcoming titles from Third State Books

 

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If you’re looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, check out the Reed, Write, & Create website at ReedWriteandCreate.com. 

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