Adriana Dominguez: How I Got into Publishing

Guest post by a literary agent, professional translator, online book reviewer, and Latino children's book expert

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Adriana Dominguez

English is not my first language, though this statement doesn’t ring quite as true now that I have spent most of my life living in the United States, speaking and working in English. But the fact is, when I arrived in the US at age 12, I did not speak a single word of it. I quickly learned to say the phrase “I don’t speak English” so fluidly, that folks often seemed to question the legitimacy of my assertion. Learning a language anytime after the age of twelve is difficult—as difficult as it is to be twelve in the first place! And so I believe that my fascination with reading and language emanates first from the fact that my mother read to me constantly from a very early age, and secondly, that I mostly developed my English language skills by reading lots and lots of books, often with a dictionary on hand to prevent me from getting “stuck” when I came across a term or phrase I did not understand.

Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference

Las Comadres is a nationally known Latina organization empowering women to be actively engaged in the growing Latino/Hispanic communities through online and face-to-face networks. Its mission is to connect and empower Latinas everywhere through community building/networking, culture, learning, and technology.

Las Comadres, in collaboration with Medgar Evers College, CUNY: National Black Writers Conference, the Center for Black Literature, the Foreign Language Department and the Latino American Association present the Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference, which will provide Latino writers with access to published Latino authors as well as agents and editors who have a proven track record of publishing Latino writers.