It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Kaitlyn’s Path to Publication

I met my agent during a live tweet of 50 Shades of Grey. It was a different time back then. Twitter was a different kind of place. We did live tweets that dissected the fact that Ana’s never allowed to eat in that damn movie (BUT REALLY THOUGH) and made friends over silly jokes. There were fewer Nazis to worry about. The world was not yet on fire. But I digress…

Let’s talk timeline.

2014: Kaitlyn, living in South Korea, realizes that her MG portal fantasy is going to be a non-starter. Starts writing a book about twins. Goes to Thailand. Reads a lot of books. Moves back to the U.S.

February 2015: Attends SCBWI conference in NY. Has dinner at PRUNE. Meets Gabrielle Hamilton, a major literary and culinary hero who very generously offers to introduce Kaitlyn to her agent. A fire is lit under Kaitlyn’s butt. She races to finish the book.

April 2015: Finishes book. A little light revising. Kaitlyn queries Brent with a book that is 1,000% not ready. A very nice rejection.

May 2015: Another agent asks for an exclusive revision of the book. Kaitlyn, a newbie, doesn’t know if that’s standard practice and reaches out to Brent for advice. He encourages her to do it.

August 2015: Kaitlyn turns in the revision and only hyperventilates a little.

September 2015: A very kind rejection.

October 2015: Kaitlyn, still believing in THE DIMINISHED, and thinking Brent is the agent for her, re-queries him with the following gif:

November 2015: Brent offers representation! Kaitlyn is elated and accepts. Also, she buys a house and gets engaged. Definitely not a banner month or anything.

December 2015 – February 2016: Kaitlyn revises furiously, getting THE DIMINISHED ready to go out on submission.

March-April 2016: A great deal of nail-biting and rejection, until, FINALLY! some good news. THE DIMINISHED is going to acquisitions at HarlequinTEEN! AND THEY LIKED IT! The wonderful Lauren Smulski offers on the book! Kaitlyn signs her contract the day before her wedding.

Actual photo of the author crying right after learning her book was to be published.

May 2016 – March 2017: Kaitlyn writes the sequel.

March 2017: Kaitlyn does her first round of revisions.

July 2017: A major editorial pass!

August 2017: Line edits!

September 2017: Copyedits!

November 2017: Revise and turn in Book Two!

December 2017: ARCs arrive!

And now here we are! Just 4 short months to pub, and starting to see cool things like reviews on Goodreads, pictures on Instagram, and folks talking about the book on Twitter! I can’t wait to share it with y’all.

Author: Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

Kaitlyn Sage Patterson grew up with her nose in a book outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After completing her M.F.A., she moved to South Korea, where she taught English and started writing her debut novel. THE DIMINISHED will be published by HarlequinTEEN in April 2018, followed by its sequel in 2019. When she's not staring off into space and trying to untangle some particularly troublesome plot point, she can be found in her kitchen, perfecting the most difficult recipe she can find; or at the barn, where she rides and trains dressage horses; or with her husband, spoiling their sweet rescue dogs.