Jenny Han Remembers When She Got Her First Book Deal: ‘Was Making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese on an Illegal Hot Plate'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jenny Han in Nov. 2024.Photo:Phillip Faraone/Getty

Phillip Faraone/Getty

Jenny Hanstill remembers the moment she learned she got her first book deal — and what she was doing at the time.The author ofThe Summer I Turned Prettyauthor spoke withJenna Bush Hageron the host’sOpen Book with Jennapodcast on Jan. 9, and said she learned that she sold her first book when she was studying in New York.“I was making Kraft macaroni and cheese on an illegal hot plate in my dorm,” Han recalled. “I had an illegal hot plate because we didn’t have stoves. We just had a convection oven.”“So I was cooking it furtively, and then my agent called and told me, and then I was like, ‘Oh my God. My noodles are gonna, like, go soft,’” she said. “My mind was racing. It was such an exciting, thrilling moment.”

Jenny Han in Feb. 2020.Phillip Faraone/Getty

Han also reflected on her early career, in which she had to balance working at a library with her author aspirations.“I went to work a few days a week, and then the other days were for my writing,” Han said. “But on a work day, I wasn’t gonna sit there and come home and write. My mind was too tired. So I needed just that structure for myself because I was young. I’d never had a full-time job before.”

Her boss at the time, also named Jenna, was supportive of her writing.

“She was always like, ‘Your book writing comes first,” Han said. “In fact,TheSummer I Turned Prettycame out while I was working at that job.”

Amazon

Han served as co-showrunner on thePrime Video adaptationof the first novel in her YA trilogy, about a teenage girl caught in a love triangle between two brothers. The series’ third season is set to release in summer 2025. Han also executive produced two of three Netflix movies based on her book seriesTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

By contrast, the relationship between author and reader is more one-on-one.

“Like, we’re sitting here together for this story, and you feel like you know me because you do know me, because those are my words, and there’s something really special about that relationship of author and reader.”

Christopher Briney and Lola Tung in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’.Dana Hawley/Prime Video

And when she’s writing her novels, Han says that the person she initially wants to please most is herself.“I have to be so excited. I have to love it,” she said. “Otherwise, you can’t really keep going. You lose energy if you’re just thinking about other people.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“I think when you’re telling the story, you have to try as hard as you can to write with the door closed and keep it really sacred and private to you. And then, when it’s ready, the doors open, and then people can judge it how they’re gonna judge it,” she continued. “But you have to please yourself and be your first audience, in a way.”

source: people.com