Blog Hiatus: GONE EDITIN'!

Hey, sweet friends!!

I wanted to give a quick, "official" message that I will be on a blogging hiatus for a while.

My first editorial letter for "Damsel Distressed" (have you added it to your GR TBR shelf? *puppy eyes*) has arrived, and mama has LOTS AND LOTS of work to do.

What this means is that when I've got time to write... it won't be here... it will be in my book.

I'll still be active on:

Twitter

Tumblr

My Vlog

(Which means, for most of you, you will see NO interuption to your regularly scheduled Kelsey service.)

This is going to be a BIG, BUSY year+! I can't wait to share more exciting goodies with you as soon as I can!

Love,
Kelsey

How I got here - part 2

Sweet darlings! Yesterday, I told you the first half of the story of how DAMSEL DISTRESSED found its way into the hands of the right people at the right time. Now, for the dramatic conclusion! Part 2!
If you missed part 1, read it here, and for information about the new book, click here! :D

Part 2

Just three days after Danielle received my book, she wanted to talk to me on the phone. Of course, I was freaking out a little bit because, well, honestly, I didn’t know what to think. I'd never spoken to Danielle. We didn't even follow each other on TWITTER. (Which means, we were basically dead by omission in each other's lives, amirite?) I mean, I hadn’t submitted to her press. I hadn’t asked to be considered for publication, but at the same time, I believe that everything happens as it should, so if she read it and had thoughts about it, I planned to listen.

When we got on the phone and she told me that she’d love to publish my book, my heart stopped. It actually stopped because I felt like I was being torn in two.

Here’s the thing…

Danielle loved my book.

I hope that every writer who sells a book gets to hear an editor say what Danielle said that day. Danielle said things during that phone call that I will remember for as long as I live. And I know now, and I knew then, that having an editor with a passion for your project—with this level of excitement—is not something to be tossed aside.

I knew that my buddies with mega-book-deals love their editors, but that sometimes the “let-me-discuss-this-with-the-committee” part of having a deal at a huge publisher made some of that initial fire seem diminished.

I knew that, somehow, working with Danielle seemed right… It felt like she was the person who was “meant” to usher my book into the world.

But at the same time… I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted an agent. I wanted that partnership. It was a non-negotiable part of the journey for ME.

Even more, I knew that my agent was out there, waiting for me… and I knew that I was close. I could just feel it.

I was overwhelmed with fear as I told Danielle that I would like to have just a bit more time. Just a little bit more time to see if I could turn up the heat and obtain representation before her offer expired. She was gracious and generous, and told me to take my time and to do what would make me happy.

She told me—she actually told me—that the most important thing to her was that my story be told… no matter what that meant for her, or their press, or time, or whatever.

I was floored. And I knew that I would have to get extremely lucky in how all of this played out, or I might just lose it all.

Back to my agent spreadsheet I went. It was all covered in red, but I took a breath and pulled out the big guns.

I’d kept a special list of favorites—a special list of people that I wanted to work with… agents that I considered “dream” agents or “rockstar” agents or whatever you want to call them.

Almost every line was already red, except one. One dream agent that I’d been too frightened to query… until now. I’d literally been too afraid to send her my query because I was too afraid that she’d say no. I’d admired her from afar for a long time, and I just couldn’t stomach the thought of highlighting her name in red.

I sent a dry query to Jessica Sinsheimer, and I mentioned that there was an offer on the table from Danielle, but that I was very sure that I wanted to obtain representation prior to selling my manuscript ANYWHERE. I had no way to know if my little note would even make it out of the slush pile. She didn’t know me. She hadn’t requested from me before. Oh, and it was 2 weeks before Christmas.

And then, as I sat and waited and died a little bit each minute, she responded. And she wanted to read it.

I sent it right away, and just three days later… the same number of days that it took Danielle to read it, by the way (I love numerical coincidences like that)… Jessica wanted to speak with me.

If Jessica had wanted to sign me and put me in her pocket for the next several years, I would have let her. I would have been satisfied to have someone with her experience and reputation in my corner, even just to guide me through the motions with Spencer Hill.

But after just one conversation with Jessica, I knew I’d hit the agent jackpot. Jessica was not content to take my book--or the offer I already had--at face value. Almost immediately, she began brainstorming and thinking faaaaaaar outside the box. She didn’t just want my book to be a book. She wanted my book to be something more—because she believed that it could be. She picked up on the little pieces of musicality and theatricality in my manuscript, and eventually, she got me to spill my guts and tell her all about my former life as a teenaged recording artist, and my present day moonlighting as half of the indie pop band Wedding Day Rain.

As a creative person, sharing ideas with another creative person is an tremendously bonding experience. 

And in those moments, Jessica became so much more than just my “representation”… she became a collaborator. And she had an idea that would make DAMSEL DISTRESSED something completely new, musical, and magical. 

I didn’t have to tell my story in one way. And DAMSEL DISTRESSED didn’t have to stay on its pretty white pages. It would also be strummed and sung and heard. We would find a way to make my story come alive as a book and as an album. And we’d do it together.

Once the creativity was flowing, and the discussions were hatching, there were several magical, serendipitous, special little things that happened, and soon enough, we all knew that Spencer Hill Contemporary was the perfect home for my story. The home I had believed it could be all along.

Somehow, I found myself with an agent who believes in me, and supports me, and collaborates with me, and inspires me to make, do, and be MORE.

And I also found myself with an editor who understands my story completely—from the inside out. I have an editor who not only knows my character, but loves and breathes her almost as much as I do. I have an editor who cherishes and nurtures my book with as much care as she would give her own.

These two people break my heart with joy. It’s not their fault, really, but my heart simply wasn’t made to hold this much happiness at one time. This much appreciation. This much gratitude. 

So, there you have it. The story about how my book managed to find representation and publication.

This book wouldn’t exist at all if it weren’t for my number one partner in crime, my husband Daron. We joke that he wrote 50% of my book, but really, his support and inspiration are 100% responsible for anything awesome that I happen to stumble upon.

And my friends, critique partners, and every single reader… I will never be able to thank you for the time and attention you gave to my words. That investment is one that is so difficult to repay, and as such, I imagine I will remain indebted to you for a very long time indeed.

This book means so very much to me. And I hope that it comes to mean something special to you as well. 

How I got here - part 1

Hi, sweet, sweet readers! 
Thank you so much for all your support on my big announcement day yesterday! If you missed it, or if you want more information about my book or the album, check out yesterday's post! What's that? You want to add it to your goodreads TBR shelf? You're an angel. :)

Part 1

So, I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a long time. Multiple months, in fact.

If you watched my vlog announcement yesterday, or saw it on Publishers Marketplace or twitter or facebook, or if you received the note tied to Hedwig’s leg, you know that my YA debut, DAMSEL DISTRESSED has been sold to Spencer Hill Contemporary (October 2014).

(!!!)

Let us pause for a mini gif party.

So, my book is going to be a book. 

But how did this happen? 

No, really. How did this ACTUALLY happen?

How did my little book get here? 

Stories about how people find their agents and/or how their books find homes with editors/presses are still among my favorite posts in the world of writer blogs.

And this is my contribution.

Let me tell you a little story.

The story of how DAMSEL DISTRESSED found her home.

In December, I posted about signing with Jessica Sinsheimer. It was one of the most exciting moments of my literary life! I thank my lucky stars every day that Jessica is the agent by my side through this process--that I don't just have AN agent. I have an AMAZING agent. 

But at the time of that posting, there was much that I couldn’t say, because my finding Jessica was actually just a single piece of a very complicated puzzle.

In late spring of 2012, my manuscript was fresh out of a smashing contest, The Writers Voice. My little query/page garnered 7 full requests and my brain was already turning to mush inside my skull.

Soon after, I went to my first conference, entered more contests, queried, and I was sending out requested pages left and right. 

I was getting requests. This was SPECIFICALLY because my query had been polished to a nice shine by my incredible #teamcupidsLC, and Cupid herself.

What I didn’t know at the time was that my manuscript wasn’t there yet.

The query and first third… maybe even first half of my manuscript was doing its job, but the story wasn’t going where it needed to go.

During this time, I had several personal responses from respected, successful agents, and two specific R&Rs that had some incredible insights.

With a fire in my eyes, I spent the summer revising my manuscript.

And by revising, I mean, rewriting, restructuring, killing darlings, changing the ending (like WHOA), adding/subtracting/combining  characters, and basically revamping the story in some major, fundamental ways.

By the fall, I was ready. I felt ready. I was ready to send my manuscript back to some of the agents who said they’d give another look, and I was ready to query some other agents from scratch.

I was convinced that this version of my story was the right one. The one that would make a connection… some special connection and get me to the next step—whatever that might be.

Just before the holidays, responses started coming in. A few key passes from agents who I thought would love it. A few passes from agents that were just not feeling it at all. And a couple OMG-I-LOVE-THIS-BUT-I-CAN’T-TAKE-IT type replies. I was encouraged… sort of… but they were still passes. Still “No’s”. I knew I was close. I knew I was so close, but I STILL wasn’t sure if lightning would strike.

Around that time, another MEGA CONTEST—PitchWars, was announced, and after my success with The Writers Voice six months prior, I was torn. I knew that my MS wasn’t exactly contest fresh at this point. I’d gotten plenty of attention from a couple of contests’ final rounds, and I’d submitted pages to a handful of crit forums as well.

I knew in my gut that saturating the contest “market” with my pages wasn’t a great idea, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure how I was going to catch the attention of Agent!Right if I didn’t exhaust every possibility.

The other problem with entering PitchWars was that almost all of the mentors (mostly agented writers, pre-pubbed authors, and industry interns) were already my friends and a LARGE number of them had already read the early version of my manuscript. 

In other words, most of the mentors had already had a go at my manuscript, and probably wouldn't be picking it for this contest. 

Reluctantly, I sent a contest submission to one of my mentor-friends who hadn’t read it, beautiful, talented, kind--Andrea Hannah, and basically told her this:

“Errrrr. I’m not sure if something is WRONG with this or not. My readers—both friends and strangers—all tell me that they love my story. That it made them laugh and it made them cry… but I haven’t found the right agent yet, and so, I’m not sure if that means I just haven’t found them, or if there’s a problem. So, I guess I’d like to be considered for the contest… kinda? Okay. Bye.”

I attached my pages and went on with my life.

A couple of days later, I got a message from Andrea that said another one of the PitchWars mentors had read my submission/query/first pages from the contest slush email and was interested in reading the manuscript. This meant I might be selected for the contest, and I guessed that that was a good thing.

So, I sent her the manuscript.

And then I realized that she wasn’t just “any” mentor.

She was Danielle Ellison. She was an editor at Spencer Hill, and their new contemporary imprint, 

Spencer Hill Contemporary. 

And she was reading my book.

...to be continued.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for part two, and learn how my book went from editor to agent to editor again to DEAL! ((Here's the link for part 2!))