Jennifer Gandin Le, Writer + Editor

05/31/2023

I answered some great questions from VoyageAustin about the work I do, and I'm excited to share the result with you!

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Gandin Le. Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story. I’ve been editing for over 20 years, but even longer than that, I’ve loved words, stories, and the magic of bringing people together to create som...

01/02/2023

Dressed up or down, I send warm and sweet New Year wishes from my part of the world to yours. May 2023 be the year we all step boldly into making our creative dreams reality.

11/19/2022

Don’t let my long absences from social media fool you—I’m a sporadic Instagrammer but a dependable and deep-diving editor, book coach, and creative guide. Come find me when you have that project that’s thrumming inside of you, longing to emerge with careful and loving support.

07/17/2021

Sunlight hit the phố as I was spooning it into a bowl for my kiddo, and suddenly the moment felt a thousand years old: broth in a bowl for a child, brushed with sunbeams.
(This is my father-in-law’s phố; no way can I make it this clear yet!)

07/06/2021

Afternoon light through my Australian canna lily, and its blooms a few weeks later.
Where are your words catching the sun, lately? Where are the blossoms holding tight, not yet ready? Where are the petals unfurling?

02/13/2021

Chúc mừng năm mới ! Happy Lunar New Year! I wish I could offer you all a cup of tea and this plate of homemade coconut candy I made for the first time this year. It was good, but nowhere near as excellent as the way my mother-in-law makes it. Next year, may we all celebrate together! I hope the metal Buffalo treats us all well this year. 🧧 🧨 🐂

02/08/2021

I got lost for a minute there. 2020, you know how it was. Then I found my IG log-in again, so I’m back with a glimpse of late winter in the garden.
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Two clients shared thrilling news with me recently. One sold his book to a major publisher. During the shopping process, the editors were so thrilled with the proposal we worked on together that they had no feedback other than “Please choose us!”
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Another client won first place in a competition for her novel. When she hired me, she’d been working on her book for 20 years and just wanted it to be finished. With my help, she completed it, self-published it, and is now getting exciting attention for her work.
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I love what I do.
I’m so grateful to do it.
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06/17/2020

Which books are you buying? If you’ve got younger readers in your life, I especially recommend “I Can Write the World” by , “Young, Gifted, and Black” and “Big Ideas for Young Thinkers” by .
(h/t to for the list of Black bookstores to support!)
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To demonstrate our power and clout in the publishing industry, Saturday June 13 – Saturday June 20, we encourage you to purchase any two books by Black writers. Our goal is to Blackout bestseller lists with Black voices. ✊🏾✊🏿✊🏽

06/05/2020

Call. Write. Make noise. In honor of Breonna’s birthday today. In honor of every birthday that has been stolen by white terrorism.


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Today would have turned 27 years old. She would have been celebrating with friends and loved ones and just being carefree and joyful like every black person has the right to be. Instead, on March 13th, she was shot EIGHT times and killed in her home in the wee hours of the morning all because of an illegal “no knock” search warrant. Anything remotely resembling justice has yet to be served. We cannot and should not forget her. So, in honor of Breonna’s birthday, please join me by calling the numbers in this infographic and demand that Officers John Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove be charged with murder. Administrative leave is not enough. Them being fired would not be enough. Elected officials placating us that the evidence will be reviewed will never be enough. It is June. We cannot wait any longer for the adults to do their jobs.
Click the link in the profile if you want to donate to Breonna’s GoFundMe.
Graphic: .niyah

05/10/2020

Flowers are a traditional Mother’s Day gift, but today I’m thinking about how flowers and blossoms are really the outgrowth of the less showy work of mothering.
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The flowers get the glory - whether a child, a creative project, a business, an organization - and of course we’re immensely proud of them.
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But they wouldn’t exist without the lush foliage and invisible root systems of mothering. Through photosynthesis, we transform sunlight and wind and water into food for our families and communities. We hold fast to this earth with little fanfare so our blossoms can unfurl and thrive.
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I celebrate you everyday, and especially today, in all those moments and choices that go without applause, without audience. I see you as you lean toward sunlight to nourish your own life and the lives around you.
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Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who mother — everyone who nurtures young life in its many forms, including that which is delicate and new within you.
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05/01/2020

In which an offhand joke by Taika Waititi and Mark Ruffalo prompts catharsis for my former 23-year-old self. Maybe this perspective can be helpful for you, too.

As my cousin says, Hold Fast, y'all. Sending my love to you in the middle of everything.

"It was crystal clear to me that what I’d just dedicated eight years of my life to had been rendered instantly useless... While I was lucky to be physically safe, my inner vision of my place in the world vanished, drained away, leaving me bereft."

http://www.jennifergandin.com/journal/2020/4/19/where-you-fit-in.html

03/26/2020

There are as many ways to digest this global pandemic, and the death of The Way Things Were, as there are people.
If words are pouring out of you, and your shelter-in-place time is offering room for creativity, enjoy it, follow it, savor it.
If you’ve lost your job, are still working in essential services, are caring for others in your family, or any other of a million scenarios, this might not feel like a time of creative output. You can let yourself off the hook. Just metabolizing the immense changes occurring every day is enough. Just surviving is okay.
’mgonnascream