Viengsamai Fetters
Associate Editor
Erewhon Books

At Erewhon Books, Viengsamai Fetters is doing the work they’ve wanted to do since childhood. Before joining Erewhon in February 2022, Fetters studied English literature at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and—in a tight post-pandemic job market—became a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. “There are six stores in Columbus, Ohio, and I helped order books for the cluster,” Fetters says. At B&N, Fetters enjoyed talking to customers as well as following industry trends. “Bookselling is about making connections and understanding what book lovers are looking for, and editing is that from the other side of the desk.”

When an entry-level position opened at Erewhon, a Kensington imprint publishing literary SFF, Fetters was already following the company’s social media. “Speculative fiction is my first love,” they say. “This was the kind of job I’d wanted since I was a kid.”

At Erewhon, they initially assisted then-publisher Sarah Guan. “I think I was employee number six at Erewhon,” Fetters says, “and I got to learn about all different sides of the industry.” They recall completing a contract memo for Tlotlo Tsamaase’s 2024 Afrofuturist novel Womb City and their excitement at this proximity to “genre-blending, boundary-pushing” fiction.

After Erewhon was acquired by Kensington Books in October 2022, Fetters began acquiring manuscripts; they’ve lined up seven titles for 2026 and half a dozen so far for 2027. Among these is their first-ever acquisition, Kayln Josephson’s adult-fiction debut, The Library of Amorlin (Mar. 2026), to be published as a special-edition hardcover.

“Besides myself, Viengsamai is the only other primary acquisition editor for Erewhon’s list,” says Erewhon editorial director Diana Pho. “We do not shy away from fostering books that embrace marginalized communities, and Viengsamai makes sure authors feel empowered to express their visions.” Pho worked with Fetters on Lee Mandelo’s May 2025 anthology Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, noting how Fetters “advocated strongly to make this a trade paperback original with an accessible price point for readers.”

Fetters revels in the opportunity to cultivate revolutionary narratives. “Speculative and genre fiction call to me because they invite readers to be curious and think about alternative pathways to the future,” Fetters says. “They’re saying, ‘Take my hand, come with me, what could we do instead?’ I think we need more of that right now.”