Lorena Jones

Chronicle Books

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Lorena's work combines: Writing, Business, and Being Creative

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Publishing Director

I develop, edit and publish nonfiction books people love to use and keep.

High School
Bachelor's Degree
English Language and Literature, General
University of California-Berkeley

Bachelor's Degree: Writing, General

My path in life has been direct

1.
Realizing I could write well in a rhetoric class at Cal.
2.
Did a summer internship at my hometown newspaper, but the work was too impermanent for me.
3.
Realized I loved my work study job in the library because I loved being around books ALL the time.
4.
Wrote a young editor at Chronicle Books (who became a bestselling author), to ask for an internship.
5.
Discovered I loved the creativity and many skills that go into making visual books.
6.
Used my internship to get my first salaried editorial asst job in (of all places) Texas.
7.
Got a mid-level editorial job at a Bay Area indie publisher, where I worked my way up to publisher.
8.
Returned to Chronicle as a Publishing Director 18 yrs after I started there as a college intern.

THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You should go into political science or law because you have drive and are a compelling communicator. If you're an English major you can be a teacher, but you'll never make any money.
How I responded:
I decided I didn't care about making money as long as I could support myself. And that if I did what I was passionate about, work I could do every day and never ever get tired of doing, I would be successful.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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I needed to put myself through college. I maxed out my work study eligibility and worked 20-28 hours a week while carrying a full course load and graduating in 4 years. I graduated without debt, which gave me freedom to pursue my interests.

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