We recently connected with Emily Barth Isler and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

The hardest part of being an author, in my opinion, is asking loved ones (and, okay, every person you’ve ever met even once) to buy your book! I try to offer deals and remind them of discount opportunities, but the bottom line is this: preorders are CRUCIAL for authors, and most people don’t realize that, so we have to ask!

One thing I find really helpful is that I can give my friends and families (and random acquaintances!) an alternative: I tell them that if they can’t afford to buy a copy of my book at the moment– totally understandable– that it’s just as helpful for them to write to their local library and request a copy there! For free! Same thing is accomplished, really. It’s a message to the publishing industry that there’s interest in the book and that people want to read it!

Another option is an e-book, which is always less expensive than a hardcover copy, but equally as helpful to the author!

Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m the author of two books for young people and their families. In 2021, I published AFTERMATH, an award-winning middle grade novel about grief, resilience, friendship, math, and mime. Comedian and activist Amy Schumer called AFTERMATH “A gift to the culture,” and author Judith Viorst pronounced it “pretty close to perfect.” My next book, THE COLOR OF SOUND, features a character who, like me, has synesthesia, and it will be published March 5, 2024. It has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

In 2026, my first picture book, Always Enough Love, will be published by Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin RandomHouse.

I am also a freelance journalist– I write regularly about sustainability, organic/eco-friendly skincare, and healthy beauty products for Oprah Daily, Allure, Organic Spa, etc. My 2023 feature for Oprah Quarterly Magazine, What “Clean Beauty” Means Now, investigates the science and ethics of sustainability, consumption and beauty.

A passionate advocate for gun control in America, I have written extensively on the topic for publications like Publisher’s Weekly, Today.com and Kveller.com, as well as donating a portion of proceeds from AFTERMATH to gun violence prevention organizations such as Everytown, Moms Demand, Teachers Unify, Survivors Empowered, and March for our Lives.

I have a BA in Film Studies from Wesleyan University and live in Los Angeles with my husband and our two children.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Authors do not make a lot of money! Okay, let me rephrase that: MOST authors don’t make a lot of money! Naturally the big names, franchises, and celebs are exceptions, but we’re talking about real, working authors here.
I always assumed, before I got into this business, that if you sold a book to a publisher, bam, you had made it! You’d make enough money to write full-time, and the publishing house would want to keep buying every book you could think up! Nope, it doesn’t work like that!

There are many great things about selling a book, and many incredible benefits to being a working author, but I think outsiders don’t understand the ongoing hustle that continues to be necessary, even after it looks like you’ve “made it.”

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started out with my book-writing life thinking I was going to write for Young Adult audiences, ie primarily high school aged readers, But the story that kept coming to me, begging to be told, was the one that eventually became my first book, AfterMath, which has a 12-year-old protagonist. I tried to make her older, or to make the story work in a different context, but I kept coming back to the original premise that Lucy is 12 and the story has to take place in her seventh grade class.

This meant a big pivot for me, understanding the Middle Grade market– books for ages 9-12, approximately, depending on who you ask– and while it didn’t mean I had to drastically change my writing style, it did mean a pivot for marketing and references and context.

Soon I realized that those middle school years were so important to my own life story, to my own psyche and mentality, and that writing about that time in life was meaningful to me in a way that I hadn’t imagined. New stories took shape and I understood that writing about middle school aged characters was not only cathartic but also something I was primed to do! It’s been rewarding and wonderful ever since I made that pivot.

I still want to write for YA audiences, and I have also sold two picture books, coming out in 2026!, so it doesn’t mean that I ONLY write MG, but I do know that’s where my heart really is, where I excel, and where I still have stories to tell!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emilybarthisler.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilybarthisler/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-barth-isler-9657665/
• Twitter: @emilybarthisler

Image Credits
Photo: Shirin Tinati The Color of Sound Book cover: copyright ©Carolrhoda Books, Jacket illustration by Jieting Chen, and Jacket design by Danielle Carnito.