Joanne Rodrigues is an experienced data scientist and enterprise manager with a master’s degree in Mathematics, Demography, and Political Science, and a bachelor’s degree in International Political Economy from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. While in Washington D.C., she was a research assistant at the Center for Population and Health and the White House Counsel of Economic Advisors. She pioneered new techniques at Sony PlayStation, led all of MeYou Health’s data science efforts, and founded a company ClinicPriceCheck.com, featured on TechCrunch Battlefield SF 2020. She has experience authoring technical books. Her latest book, Product Analytics: Applied Data Science Techniques for Actionable Consumer Insights, was part of Addison-Wesley’s Data and Analytics Series. She’s recently joined as the Membership & Tech Manager for the Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter.
Let’s start by talking a bit about your writing process. What inspires you as a reader and a writer?
(JR): What inspires me most is exploring the world through a new perspective (while also acknowledging it’s probably not fresh, given the approx.12 billion people who have lived throughout human history).
Additionally, I enjoy uncovering connections that defy wisdom, challenging prevalent narratives and tropes that lack truth. As someone who identifies as neurodivergent and has a profound curiosity about people and society, particularly about social order and how society functions, writing and reading is a perfect medium to explore humanity.
What do you tend to read in your free time, and can you share a recent book or piece that impacted you?
(JR): I have a passion for thrillers and technical books. At the moment, I’m engrossed in “When Justice Sleeps” by Stacey Abrams. What captivates me most is Abrams’ skillful integration of real-world political elements concerning the Supreme Court and judiciary within the fictional narrative.
Could you tell me a little more about your latest book, Product Analytics: Applied Data Science Techniques for Actionable Consumer Insights? What encouraged you to write it, and how do you think it could help readers hoping to understand and grow their customer base?
(JR): The reason that I wanted to write this book is simple: when I started working as a data scientist on a web product, there were very few books available on how to work with consumer data. My managers were demanding insights on how to improve the business, to increase revenue and lower costs, but my training in algorithms and machine learning really didn’t provide the tools needed to do the job. I met lots of people like me ranging from marketers to executives that really didn’t know what to do with all this newfound data. Many made million dollars plus mistakes because they misunderstood why customers were doing what they were doing. The goal of the book is to fill that gap — provide the appropriate steps and application examples of how to apply statistical inference in drawing insights from consumer behavior. While not focused solely on growing a user base, the book explores how to generate actionable business insights related to consumer behavior from applied statistics and machine learning techniques.
You have an extensive academic and professional background in data science, mathematics, demography, and political science. When did you first realize that you’d like to work with data at a deeper level?
(JR): I’ve always been fascinated by society and human behavior. Data is a way to learn about human behavior in the aggregate. In the early 2010s, during the explosion of clickstream data representing vast amounts of aggregated human behavior, I found myself drawn into data science. This flood of information was exciting, offering opportunities to explore the nuances of social behavior through millions of online interactions and decisions.
Do you have any tips for new writers, non-fiction or otherwise?
(JR): Living with dyslexia and an auditory processing disorder has presented formidable challenges in reading and writing. Precise auditory processing plays a pivotal role in comprehending both written and spoken communication. However, due to my poor processing, I miss the subtle nuances in speech, such as transitions in conversations. For this reason, I struggled for years to add those transitions to my speech and writing.
As you can imagine, I had to develop coping mechanisms for my hearing, reading, and writing deficiencies. It taught me life is all about developing coping mechanisms for your weaknesses and forging forward on your strengths. To this day, I am a slow reader, but that has never stopped me from writing prolifically and learning how to mimic other writers’ use of transitions.
Books are a beautiful medium of human expression – and one that lasts the tests of time – unlike social media. Don’t give up on books.
The universe is constantly changing and you have no idea where it will be next, so get a day job and then follow your dreams!
Finally, I hear that you’re currently working on a few other writing projects, a thriller and a memoir. Is there anything that you can share about these upcoming books?
(JR): Nope, I want to keep those under wraps until I finish them.
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Emily Thiroux Threatt is the author of Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief: A Comprehensive Guide to Reclaiming and Cultivating Joy and Carrying on in the Face of Loss, winner of the Bookauthority Best New Grief Book and the Silver Medal for the Living Now Book Awards.
Through his books and keynote presentations, 
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Sheila Smith-McCoy is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker. Her full-length poetry collection, The Bones Beneath is a haunting new work from Black Lawrence Press. In addition to her poetry and fiction, Smith McKoy has authored and edited numerous scholarly works. Her books include the seminal text in understanding white race riots, When Whites Riot: Writing Race and Violence in American and South African Cultures. She is co-editor of Recovering the African Feminine Divine in Literature, the Arts, and Performing Arts: Yemonja Awakening (2020), and editor of The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Writing Self, Writing Nation (2016) and The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Artistry, Culture and Commerce (2017). Smith McKoy has also written, produced, directed or served as executive producer for four documentary films.
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Laurie McLean spent 20 years as the CEO of a publicity and marketing agency and 8 years as an agent and senior agent at Larsen Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco. Following a stint as the CEO of a successful Silicon Valley public relations agency bearing her name, Laurie switched gears to immerse herself in writing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the State University of New York and a master’s degree at Syracuse University’s prestigious Newhouse School of Journalism.
Andy Ross opened his literary agency in January 2008. Before that, he was the owner for 30 years of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley. The agency represents books in a wide range of subjects including narrative non-fiction, science, journalism, history, religion, children’s books, young adult, middle grade, literary and commercial fiction, and cooking. However, he is eager to represent projects in most genres as long as the subject or its treatment is smart, original, and will appeal to a wide readership. In non-fiction, he looks for writing with a strong voice and robust narrative arc by authors with the authority to write about their subject. For literary, commercial, and children’s fiction, he has only one requirement– simple, but ineffable–that the writing reveals the terrain of that vast and unexplored country, the human heart. 
Born in Port-au-Prince, M.J. Fievre, B.S. Ed, is a longtime educator whose publishingcareer began as a teenager in her native Haiti. At nineteen years old, she signed her first book contract with Hachette-Deschamps for the publication of a YA book titled La Statuette Maléfique. Since then, M.J. has released nine YA books in French that are widely read in Europe and the French Antilles, and she is the author of the award-winning Badass Black Girl book series for tweens and teens (in English). As the ReadCaribbean program coordinator for the prestigious Miami Book Fair, M.J. directs and produces the children’s cultural show Taptap Krik? Krak! In addition, M.J. serves as the managing editor of DragonFruit, which publishes high-quality children’s books, which connect with readers by paving the way to lifelong learning.
Leland Cheuk is a MacDowell and Hawthornden Castle Fellow and award-winning author of three books of fiction, most recently the novel NO GOOD VERY BAD ASIAN (2019). Cheuk’s work has been covered in Buzzfeed, The Paris Review, VICE, San Francisco Chronicle, and has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as NPR, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, among other outlets.
Georgia Hughes is the editorial director at 
Mary E Knippel is an intuitive writing mentor, international speaker, best-selling author, and journalist for over 35 years. She helps women bring their transformational stories to life in the international bestselling Amazon collaboration book series “Written In Her Own Words-Wise Woman Wisdom”. Mary guides her clients through every aspect of the writing journey, from identifying their story to crafting and editing it into their chapter to bringing their stories to the world. She believes everyone has a unique story to tell and encourages daily journaling.
Lindsey Smith (Speilburg Literary Agency) represents non-fiction projects. In addition to being a literary agent, she owns a bookstore in her hometown, runs her own publishing press, and is the author of several books and gift products. Having worked in every facet of the publishing industry—from author to publisher, to PR strategist to publicist, she knows the book industry inside and out.
Kat Georges is a poet, playwright, editor, publisher, and graphic designer. She is co-director and an acquisitions editor for Three Rooms Press, an independent publisher inspired by diversity, dada, punk, and passion. Her most recent book is the poetry collection Awe and Other Words Like Wow, and she is co-editor of MAINTENANT, the annual journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art. She lives in New York City. Kat is currently looking for LGBTQ+ fiction and young adult fiction that deal directly with current anti-queer attitudes, mysteries that center on bold and daring diverse main characters, and riveting women of history who need to have more attention given to them. Kat welcomes voices that have something different to say, that inspire readers, and that shows the power of innovative, compelling writing. To see the latest Three Rooms Press releases, visit 
Natalie Obando is a graduate from California State University, Long Beach with a BA in journalism emphasizing public relations and a minor concentration in creative writing. For nearly two decades, she’s worked in the world of books as a book publicist. Natalie is the founder of Do Good Public Relations Group and the grassroots organization, Women of Color Writers Podcast and Programming. She is the current national president of the 105-year-old non-profit, the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA), overseeing all eleven chapters across the nation. As the first Latina president of the national organization, her goal has been promoting diversity in publishing via strategic grassroots efforts. Her dedication to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the book world led her to found and chair Authentic Voices—a four-month long program that immerses people from marginalized communities in a master class of writing, editing, marketing, and publishing.
Peter Carlaftes is a publisher, poet, playwright, author, and actor. The most recent of his seven published books is the poetry collection, Life in the Past Lane. He is co-director and acquisitions editor for Three Rooms Press, with a strong interest in memoirs, literary fiction, mystery, and fantasy by diverse authors.
Michael Larsen co-founded Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in 1972. For over four decades, the agency sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers and imprints. The agency has stopped accepting new writers, but Mike loves helping all writers. He gives talks about writing and publishing and does author coaching.