New York Times bestselling Young Adult author Alexandra Bracken held a Reddit AMA yesterday, talking about everything from her early days working in publishing to her bestselling books. Alex is the author of The Darkest Minds series, a Star Wars retelling titled A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, and most recently, Passenger.

Alex gave advice to publishing hopefuls, stating that her best advice is to

“…get some kind of office work-related experience. It doesn’t have to be directly connected to the industry, but HR managers look for candidates who have some kind of professional experience when it comes to internships.”

So if you think you want to work in publishing, it’s time to brush up that resume!

Would you have ever guessed that her homesickness was the inspiration for The Darkest Minds series? That’s exactly what inspire Alex to write it!

“I was really homesick and overwhelmed living in NYC right out of college and wanted to work on a project full of my favorite things–something that would make me happy when I came home exhausted after work! So super powers + classic rock + road trips + found families of friends :)”

She also shared her playlist for Passenger if you want to check it out while reading it.

passenger-cover
Order your copy of Passenger on Amazon today!

To read her entire AMA, click here.

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