How I Found My Publisher; August 12 2020

It’s been a busy few weeks, and some missed blog posts! I apologize to my legion of fans!*

*What are there, like, two of you who read my blog?

My glasses have been broken by a well-meaning but destructive two year old, my search for an apartment has led me to fill out an application for (potentially) November, and I’ve been trying to crack down on writing when I can. That just hasn’t been doable due to appointments and a lack of childcare, but I’ve still made some progress.

And right now, progress is more important than ever, because I have...

An announcement.

See, back in April, I participated in Twitter’s #DVPit event, and I heard back the very next day, with a request to see all of KANAE from an indie house known as Scarsdale Publishing.

And two days ago, August 10th, I signed a three-book contract with them for the REBIRTH OF QISTEDEI series!

I’m still overwhelmed, honoured, and excited beyond words. I thought I’d share with you all a bit about the books in question, and the journey I went through with KANAE!

KANAE went through several more drafts even after I started querying, in October 2017. I started off solely submitting to agents once I’d gone a few round with beta readers... But in my eagerness, I hadn’t realized that KANAE wasn’t ready, yet. There was more to the message that could be brought out, more action inside the events I was writing about, and – tragically – a superfluous character. My initial queries were met with no response or swift rejections, and I put querying on hold in March 2018 when I realized this was a sign that I just wasn’t ready.

While I took a break from querying, I worked on other things. Namely, I started focusing on short stories, and improving my ability to hit relevant story points in a well-paced manner. I was shortlisted for the Val Wood Prize for Creative Writing 2018, and took part in a short story marathon competition called The Writer’s Games. I competed three times, and went from never placing in the writing events to becoming the 2nd place winner overall in the latter half of 2019!

While Kanae’s queries were tentatively on hold, I was still participating in Twitter pitch parties in order to refine my pitches. I figured, what could I lose? This turned out to be an excellent decision, because one of my pitches caught the attention of an agent who became instrumental to Kanae’s growth.

After reading the full manuscript, she recommended I cut the character of Torin (sorry Torin!) and get to the meat of the story sooner. She agreed to read it again once I did some major revision, and while she still ultimately passed, it was due to the fact that Kanae now felt like an adult fantasy novel, instead of a YA, as I’d been marketing it before.

This changed everything. I redid my query letter and, in 2019, resumed querying. By this time, I’d also completed two other manuscripts! A novella, called NECROWEAVER, and a short horror novel called MR. WOLF. After some deliberation, I queried these at the same time, but made a critical error: I sent simultaneous submissions to the agents I was most interested in. Word to the wise – don’t do this! They want to see your best work first, one at a time! Once I figured out to stop doing this, I continued querying my projects separately, but was conscious of only sending one work to one agent per agency.

With an overhaul of my query letter and a new strategy in place, I hit the query trenches hard in 2019. This got me several full requests, but I frequently didn’t receive feedback on them, and I found that Kanae was being overshadowed during pitch parties by Necroweaver and Mr. Wolf. I started considering shelving Kanae (temporarily) but thought it’d be worth finding some more critique partners for the manuscript first. One CP in particular (shout out to you, Anna!) helped me bring out aspects of the story I hadn’t realized I wanted to shine.

In early 2020, Kanae felt ready again. Properly, this time. I still had new beta readers and they suggested the occasional tweak or refinement, but Kanae finally felt solid and marketable. I revamped my pitches, and participated in every one of them I knew about.

That brought me to 2020’s #DVPit, and connected me with Scarsdale! I gave the agents with the full manuscript notice when the offer was made, and ultimately, none of them had an editorial vision for Kanae. We wished each other well, I replied to Scarsdale to tell them I was ready to look at the contract, and now we’re talking about cover art and book blurbs.

I never actually thought I’d get to this point. I still have books in the query trenches – Necroweaver, as a novella, doesn’t have the demand my other works do, but I’ve done a rewrite of MR. WOLF and started querying another horror novel, THE OTHER FACE OF SYMPATHY. I’m working hard on completing the sequel to Kanae, tentatively titled KAV, and plotting the final book of the series, DELENAE.

So, that brings us to our million-dollar question: what is Kanae about?!

Tasked with finding the missing demigods, Kanae hopes to find them and convince them to help her depose a dictator and end the civil war that’s plagued her country, Qistedei, all her life. With her partner, Ymi, and new friends, Niac and Quin, she goes on a deadly journey, threatened by elemental creatures and pursued by an army out to collect the bounty on her head.

IF YOU LIKE...

Unique magical worldbuilding, queer found families, and powerful feminist messages, KANAE is 100% for you! There’s polyamory, diverse sexuality and gender identities, and women owning their bodies and autonomy. The cast is also entirely comprised of BIPOC, as well, though I hesitate to refer to them as being of any particular ethnicity when it’s a fantasy world.

I’ll keep my blog updated with all the info about KANAE’s publication as I’m able to, and hopefully some readers out there will get just as excited for the release date as I am!