Member Spotlight: J Albert Mann

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? My subjects are important—eugenics, gender, women’s health, the labor movement—and I want young adults to have accessible literature in which to learn about them.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Research. Reading the brilliant work of others always gets me going.

What is your favorite time to write? I make sure there is no special rituals around my writing life because I’d use them as excuses. I write like it is my job…because it is.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? A writing friend of mine once told me, “It’s just a book.” As much as your heart gets attached to your art, it really is just a book.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? Publishing is changing, and I think it has to. Writers need to take hold of this moment and mold this industry more to our liking. #writersunion

J. Albert Mann’s Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States is out now with HarperCollins.