Jennifer Johnson-Blalock, Founder
Jennifer founded HYPHEN in 2017. She was previously a literary agent at Liza Dawson Associates, where she sold works of women's fiction, young adult fiction, and narrative nonfiction to major publishers. Jennifer has also worked as an agent's assistant at Trident Media Group.
Jennifer graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English and earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before working in publishing, she practiced entertainment law and taught high school English and debate.
Jennifer started HYPHEN because she believes that in a rapidly changing publishing industry, the smartest thing authors can do is to put forth the best possible version of their work. With her experience in New York publishing and knowledge of effective teaching practices, Jennifer can help writers do just that.
Dante Medema, Editor and Writing Coach
Dante is the author of The Truth Project and Message Not Found (HarperCollins / Quill Tree Books). The Truth Project was an Indies Introduce Title as well as an Indie Next Pick and was nominated for the YALSA Quick Pick for reluctant readers in 2021. She’s been working as a freelance editor since 2019.
A former board member for the Alaska Writers Guild, Dante remains active in her writing community. She’s presented on numerous subjects at The Alaska Writers Conference, sat as the Writer in Residence at Alaska Pacific University, and has participated in several mentorship programs. Passionate about helping other authors reach their goals, she shares her journey across her social media platforms.
Dante lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband, four daughters, two pups, and a room full of alien memorabilia—and books, of course. When she’s not writing, she dabbles in baking, cake decorating, and reading up on enneagram personality types.