Shelby Newsome is a writer and bookseller living in Maryland. Her flash fiction has appeared in Rejection Letters and Tart magazine’s newsletter. She was a finalist in NYC Midnight’s 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2022. Currently, she writes the newsletter The Kernel with her writing friends about, well, writing.

Additionally, she is a certified bookseller through the Professional Booksellers School and has been working at her local independent bookstore for five years. In 2022, she became a lead bookseller focusing on community outreach and business-to-business sales. Shelby also writes event pitches for the bookstore and has successfully acquired the following authors for events: Nicole Chung, Elizabeth Acevedo, Ruth Ware, Lisa See, Brad Meltzer, Dan Santat, Sara Shepard, Christine Grillo, and Alex Finlay, among many others. Finally, she hosts a monthly virtual book club for the bookstore; the group reads and discusses new titles in literary fiction (though they’ve sometimes dipped their toes into other genres like horror and sci-fi/fantasy).

Previously, Shelby worked at her local community college as a tutor at the writing center. She helped students with their research papers and essays, whether they were at the ideation phase or they had a draft for review.

Shelby’s passion for storytelling permeates all aspects of her life, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.