Aaron Chan

Got some amazing news last night! Not sure I can share it just yet, but I'm super excited for next year 😊

Thanks!

A few other forms found in my hermit crab essay collection HOUSE OF MIRRORS:

📰newspaper
🚶‍♂️self-guided walks
✈️travel blog
📖folktale
↗️Choose Your Own Adventure
📝rental agreements
📱dating & hookup profiles

Right???

I gotta say, all these pitch contests are really testing what little graphic design skills I have, especially #posterpit 😅

A faux movie poster for Babel on Callisto showing two astronauts in white space suits floating above the surface of a purple, cratered moon. A large, faint image of a creature’s face with round eyes and an open mouth is visible in the background, blending into the dark starry space. Text at the top reads, “From the producers of Annihilation and Brokeback Mountain.” Below is the tagline, “In isolation, affection blooms. Beneath the surface, something ancient stirs.” The title “Babel on Callisto” is displayed in large white letters, with the subtitle “A queer cosmic horromance” underneath.

COMING SOON 👀

One lunar prison. Two condemned men.
Jack is a criminal with a blood-soaked past. Elias is an entomologist caught in a web of lies.
In isolation, affection blooms.
Beneath the surface, something ancient stirs.

#PosterPit #SF #H #R #LGBT #WIP

You had me at Brokeback Mountain in space 😆

Cool poster and concept!

A faux movie poster for The Pirate, the Princess, and John featuring a silhouetted ship sailing on a layered blue ocean toward a distant castle under a pale moon, with three character names at the top: “Amir (the pirate),” “Mira (the princess),” and “John (for now).” Below the ship is the quote: “A ship in harbor is safe, but that isn’t what ships are built for.” The title appears in large white serif letters, and at the bottom is the tagline: “YA fantasy, 82k, multi-POV; anti-colonial, non-Western, political intrigue; besties to lovers, found family, platonic ‘touch her and die’; strong girls, big feelings, sharp prose; diverse, queer, magical.” The author’s X handle @SARADURANAUTHOR and Bluesky handle SARADURAN.BSKY.SOCIAL appear in the lower right corner.

THE PIRATE, THE PRINCESS, AND JOHN is now in query inboxes near you ✨

#PosterPit #YA #F #LGBT #Q #amquerying

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind
#PosterPit #YA #H #AG

This sounds so interesting! 😀

A mockup poster for House of Mirrors, a hermit crab essay collection by Aaron Chan, featuring a background photo of a house of mirrors. Text on the poster reads: "A hermit crab essay collection by Aaron Chan. A teen magazine quiz. A workout guide. An interstellar captain's log. What else will you find?. The gay POC experience. Unique and emotional. Lyrical. The Asian disaporic experience."

Enter HOUSE OF MIRRORS, a collection of hermit crab essays--stories in the forms of preexisting types of writing like a teen mag quiz or newspaper--about the modern gay Asian experience 🪞

genre-bending🤯
LGBT+🌈
POC💛
immigrant family dynamics👪
search for love & belonging🏠

#posterpit #q #w #a #c #nf

Author Josh Emmons says, "Aaron Chan's HOUSE OF MIRRORS is extraordinary, full of moving...episodes... Chan calls to mind Ocean Vuong and Ben Lerner, poets moonlighting as prose writers to beautiful effect... I applaud the publisher lucky enough to bring out this book.”

😊😊😊

#queerpit #a #lf #cnf

- Background photo of several mirrors on a wall with text in front that says House of Mirrors, a collection of hermit crab essays by Aaron Chan

- A synopsis of House of Mirrors

- Four comps: High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez (the gay POC experience); In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (unique and emotional), All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt (lyrical); and Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (the Asian diasporic experience)

The first two opening paragraphs of House of Mirrors, a multiple-choice quiz

Hey #queerpit! Enter HOUSE OF MIRRORS, a collection of hermit crab essays--stories in the forms of preexisting types of writing like a teen mag quiz or newspaper--about the gay Asian experience.

It’s about growing up in an immigrant family and the search for love & belonging 💜

#a #lf #cnf

As to genre, the fact that HOUSE OF MIRRORS breaks traditional prose by its use of various forms blurs the boundaries of fiction and nonfiction. My aim with this book is to take the reader on unexpected emotional experiences through surprising forms.

Simply put, I am telling stories. ✨

Princess Mira (Black, braided hair, wearing a sky blue gown with pearl beads and silver tiara) and Princess Dorothea (white, wavy red hair, wearing a dark green gown with a gold tiara) gazing at each other on a ship’s deck at sunset, with a quote from THE PIRATE, THE PRINCESS, AND JOHN: “It didn’t matter that the very idea was treasonous. For Dorothea, Mira would break any rule.”

to break the curse binding her to the ghost of a vengeful pirate, princess mira must fall in love with her best friend, john

there’s just one problem:

mira’s heart already belongs to princess dorothea

🩷🧡🤍

#queerpit #YA #F #LGBT #amquerying

- Background photo of several mirrors on a wall with text in front that says House of Mirrors, a collection of hermit crab essays by Aaron Chan

- A synopsis of House of Mirrors

- Four comps: High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez (the gay POC experience); In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (unique and emotional), All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt (lyrical); and Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (the Asian diasporic experience)

The first two opening paragraphs of House of Mirrors, a multiple-choice quiz

Hey #queerpit! Enter HOUSE OF MIRRORS, a collection of hermit crab essays--stories in the forms of preexisting types of writing like a teen mag quiz or newspaper--about the gay Asian experience.

It’s about growing up in an immigrant family and the search for love & belonging 💜

#a #lf #cnf

When I told the dental hygienist that I'm a writer, she asked, "Have you thought about doing something else since writing is financially unstable?" and the more I think about it, the more bothered i get

If I ever post "onwards and upwards," it means I received a rejection today and I'm trying to give myself a pep talk because I'm disappointed.

Onwards and upwards.

There is nothing.
Literally nothing.
PREVENTING THEM.
From writing, or drawing.
FOR REAL.

I promise you, it's how WE ALL STARTED.

#questpit was my first ever pitch event btw! It was fun making these graphics and seeing all these other amazing pitches. Will definitely do this again sometime 😊

A refreshed introduction to WHISPERS OF THE SEA, a YA Fantasy that will embark soon on its query journey. Featuring: Native Hawaiian Rep Cultural Identity Setting as a Character

The second slide showcases the pitch: WHISPERS OF THE SEA follows the story of a teenage girl who embarks on a journey to rescue her uncle after he was mysteriously captured by a group of uniformed men sailing under the royal flags of a faraway kingdom. Keahi must voyage across the seas to this distant isle where she’ll team up with a boy to track her uncle’s whereabouts. But in order to understand the dangers that lurk ahead, she’ll be forced to uncover a lifetime worth of secrets—and she must do so before it’s too late.

The third slide indicates that WHISPERS OF THE SEA might appeal to fans of: Disney’s Moana, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle. The book includes the following tropes/themes: found family, self-discovery within cultural identity, Hawaiian-inspired mythology, and adventure.

The final slide includes a snippet from the book that reads: “Keahi’s legs were immobilized as her body tried to make the decision her mind could not. The feeling was strange for she had dreamt countless of times about leaving the island, only to seize the opportunity and awaken to find that she had been sold a nightmare instead.”

MOANA x SHADOW AND BONE

A refreshed introduction to WHISPERS OF THE SEA, a YA Fantasy that will embark soon on its query journey.

Featuring:
🌊 Native Hawaiian Rep
🌊 Cultural Identity
🌊 Setting as a Character

#QuestPit #YA #F #W #OwnVoices #AgentsGuide

A nice thing one of my former professors had to say about my hermit crab essay collection, HOUSE OF MIRRORS:

#questpit #q #w #nf #lf #ownvoices #own #lgbtq #agentsguide #bipoc

Background photo of several mirrors on a wall with text in front that says House of Mirrors, a collection of hermit crab essays by Aaron Chan

A synopsis of House of Mirrors

Four comps: High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt, and Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

The first two opening paragraphs of House of Mirrors, a multiple-choice quiz

Hey #questpit! Enter HOUSE OF MIRRORS, a collection of hermit crab essays--stories in the forms of preexisting types of writing like a teen mag quiz or newspaper--about the gay Asian experience.

It is about growing up in an immigrant family and the search for love & belonging.

#q #w #nf #lf

Every time I come up with something to post, I remember I'm also a children's book author and then I stop and close this app

This no-kill animal shelter is in desperate need of kitten food, kitten milk replacement, and other supplies. If you post a screenshot in my replies showing that you donated at least $10 (even as a Chewy gift card), I'll answer a style-related question for you. Donation info in their thread.

It's been two days since I watched All of Us Strangers and I am still not ok

"That's a fucking bike lane, dumbass," the jaywalking construction worker yelled at the passing cyclist on his e-bike. 🙄

But so good!

Honoured to have met you all those years ago ❤️