Now What?

Last month I shared three things I’ve learned on my way to becoming a soon-to-be-published middle grade author.

I have about a year between now and my book launch, and there’s a lot that happens between now and then. I thought I’d give you a little glimpse at what’s going on behind the scenes, at least for the next several weeks.

Working on the story

Every publisher is different, but the hopefully the priority remains the same across all of them: make sure the story is as good as it can be. Right now, I’m working with the editorial director on revisions that will help bring our shared vision of the story to life.

I’m working toward a very generous but slightly intimidating deadline (aren’t all deadlines like that?). Throughout this stage I’m editing my story and defining my creative process at the same time.

You might have heard that expression about writing the book you want to read? It’s true, but not for the reasons you might think. It’s true because when you’re editing that book, you’re reading it over and over a gazillion times. If you don’t like it, you won’t enjoy this part of the process at all. #trustme

Growing an audience

The other thing I’m working on – and I’m not working on it as much as I should – is connecting with gatekeepers and influencers. This is tricky, because as we have talked about, middle grade writers really have three audiences. I’ve spent most of my time really focused on one audience as I’ve written the book. That’s the children themselves, the readers. That’s who we write for.

Now I need to shift a little more attention to the other two audiences. One is the primary gatekeepers- the parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles who buy books for the readers they love. And finally, we have the librarians/teachers/bookshop employees who make recommendations.

My book isn’t even on shelves yet, so why do I want to work on this now? Because even the best stories in the world don’t sell themselves. It takes time to grow authentic relationships both in real life and on social media. Even though I should have started working on this a long time ago, the next best time to work on it is today.

Continuous improvement

I’m still eager to learn and grow as a writer, so even though most of my effort is going into polishing the manuscript, I carve out time each week to read writing books/blogs or listen to podcasts. Right now I’m listening to K.M. Weiland’s ‘Helping Writers Become Authors’ podcast and loving it.

Gratitude

Not a day goes by that I’m not immensely grateful that I get to do this. All of it. I have loved every minute of trying, learning, failing, laughing about failing, and trying again. If you take away anything from this post, or this blog, please let it be this: If I can learn to write for children, you can too. Don’t give up.

See you next time.

When Kelli McKinney and her family aren’t exploring national parks, she can be found on the sidelines at her son’s tennis tournaments, brewing a cup of cinnamon spice tea, or chucking a toy across the backyard for her English Mastiff to chase.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and her graduate degree in radio/tv/film from the University of North Texas. She enjoyed an eclectic-yet-fulfilling fifteen-year career in corporate marketing before wandering off on her own to be a freelance copywriter.

Now, she is a part-time copywriter, full-time mom, and a children’s author. She lives in Texas but a huge piece of her heart belongs to Oklahoma. Her debut novel, JEFF PENNANT’S FIELD GUIDE TO RAISING HAPPY PARENTS is forthcoming in late 2022 with Chicken Scratch Books.

Kelli loves to hear from readers and writers. She can be reached through her website at www.kellmckinney.com or on Instagram @klmckinneywrites .