Writer Unboxed

This was a little surreal when I read it in Publisher’s Marketplace four weeks ago:

CLASS PRESIDENT, in which the rebellious seventeen year-old daughter of the female US President impersonates her mother with unexpected comedic, political, and even romantic results, to Sarah Sevier at Harper Children’s, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2009, by Chris Snowdon at Working Partners (NA).

It was surreal because I’ve been hired by Working Partners Ltd. to write their next runaway hit: CLASS PRESIDENT. My writing had been selected out of a pool of talented writers to tell this story.

Yep. This is my good news. Professional validation, at last.

And no, I haven’t sold one of my manuscripts yet. That is still a hurdle I’ve yet to jump. But I feel much closer to that breakthrough now than ever in this long journey to publication.

Let me break the story down for you . . .

2007 was a difficult year for me both professionally and personally. My agent couldn’t sell my book. My mother lost her husband. Then she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. My brother deployed to Iraq’s Green Zone. Mom’s house in California almost burned down in the October fires. My agent politely told me that the next manuscript I’d sent her, well, basically sucked. My kid got headlice. Then we all got it. You know, one of those years.

So me and bad news–old friends.

Then in April, I got an e-mail from an editor at Working Partners asking if I wanted to submit a sample for a new project they were greenlighting. To tell you the truth, I’d forgotten all about the fact that I’d put my name into Working Partner’s pool of writers. Former WU contributor Victoria Holmes and I are e-mail buddies, but I’ve never traded coin with that connection. It’s been thrilling watching how successful Vicky and her WARRIORS books have become, but honestly, I’ve been focusing on keeping my head above water these days. Sometimes that’s all you can do.

So I get the e-mail and sure, I’ll provide a sample, what the heck. The editors are offering detailed feedback, and if nothing else, I’ll get a critique from a professional editor and a blog post to tell you guys about.

Mind you, I’ve never written for the YA market. But I watched a little MTV, grabbed a few books off my daughter’s shelves to get a sense of the voice, bought a copy of Seventeen Magazine. I wrote the first three chapters from the POV of a high school senior.

You know what’s weird? I loved it. Those pages kicked out of me so fast, I surprised myself. I sent the sample a week earlier than I had to–also unusual for me because I’m a tinkerer. But everything felt solid. These are the times when years of honing your craft really pay off. I didn’t have to second-guess myself on the mechanics, which freed me up to concentrate on dialogue and a peppy YA voice.

A day later I get an e-mail from the editor asking if they could send my unedited sample to a “major publisher” who wants to buy the project. Sure, I say. Then I go about my life.

I slept on it. Then it sorta occurred to me that maybe it was a good sign that they wanted to send my sample to a “major publisher”. That maybe I had a shot at securing this commission. That maybe someone working as a publishing professional really likes my writing.

So I e-mailed Vicky. I’d been scrupulously silent to her during this whole process because I didn’t want her to feel weird or pressured in any way, shape or form. She wrote back immediately to tell me that she’d been waiting ages for me to contact her (did I mention how much I love her! sniffle) and that it’s highly unusual for WP to send out unedited samples to publishers, but that I nailed it. It was clean, professionally written, and best of all, exactly what they were looking for. If the publisher likes it, I’ve secured the commission.

Lemme tell you, my jaw needed picking up off the keyboard.

The publisher–HarperCollins y’all–did love it. And yesterday I sent off the completed 40,000 word manuscript in the first installment of CLASS PRESIDENT.

I’ve learned so much during this process: working from a storyline, processing editorial feedback, contract negotiations, and working under a deadline. And I’ll share what I’ve learned with you over the next few weeks.

So there you have it, folks. My good news.

Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She has written two novels under the pseudonym Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter--both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President's teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins.

Kathleen Bolton

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