Publisher Talk x Jee Leong Koh
Calling all authors and translators! There are many paths to publication, so why choose independent publishing? What is the value and benefit of publishing with an independent press? Why do writers at all stages of their careers continue to entrust their work to these publishers? And how will your work be cared for?
For National Poetry Month, we’re inviting Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Gaudy Boy, Jee Leong Koh, to speak about the ins-and-outs of publishing with an indie press.
After Jee’s talk, you will understand:
The differences between indie and mainstream publishers
How to query an indie press
The terms of a fair contract
The process of editing, proofreading, and designing a book
Ways to promote your book
About the Speaker
Jee Leong Koh is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Gaudy Boy, a NYC-based literary press publishing Asian voices from across the world. He is also the founder and organizer of Singapore Unbound, a NYC-based transnational literary organization that envisions and works for a creative and fulfilling life for everyone through the arts and activism. He is the author of Steep Tea (Carcanet), named a Best Book of the Year by UK's Financial Times and a Finalist by Lambda Literary in the USA. His hybrid work of fiction, Snow at 5 PM: Translations of an insignificant Japanese poet, won the Singapore Literature Prize in English fiction. He is the poetry editor of the Evergreen Review.
About Gaudy Boy
Established in 2018, NYC-based literary press Gaudy Boy has quickly garnered recognition for the excellence of its poetry and fiction titles by Asian authors from across the world. Jhani Randhawa’s Time Regime won the Gold Medal in Poetry at the California Book Awards. Rahad Abir’s novel Bengal Hound won the Georgia Author of the Year award. In 2025, Interrogation Records, by Jeddie Sophronius won the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Poetry.
In addition to single-author titles, Gaudy Boy publishes country anthologies of writings in English and translation. Ulirat is a ground-breaking volume of stories translated from seven different languages from the Philippines. Amanat is the first-ever translated anthology of women writers from Kazakhstan. Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring collects witness poems and essays from Myanmar.