I Published My NaNo-Novel: How Some Things Happen When You Least Expect Them

During January of our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today,  Katherine Webber, author of Wing Jones , shares her story about the ups and downs of querying multiple manuscripts:

I love everything about NaNoWriMo. I love the community. I love the writing sprints. I love that it forces writers to sit down and get all the amazing stories in their head out on paper. 

NaNoWriMo 2014 was my second time participating in NaNoWriMo. I’d done it the first time the year before, and I can still remember that feeling of euphoria when I hit 50K and won NaNo, and I knew I was going to be a NaNoWriMo devotee. My 2013 NaNo-novel wasn’t ready to go out in the world, but it did give me the confidence that I could write 50,000 words in a month.

I had an idea about a girl runner, but that was all I had. I didn’t know who she was or why she was running. I sat down on November 1 and started writing to find out her story. I think something about the fast pace of drafting during NaNo really helped the flow of my story, as I had to write the words almost as fast as my character was running. By the end of the month I had 50K. It was a hot mess of 50K, but a hot mess I could work with.

I followed proper NaNo advice and put it away for December, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. By the time January came around I couldn’t wait to get back to it and finish the story I’d started. Even though NaNo was over, I kept up my NaNo work ethic to finish and edit the manuscript. I shared it with two of my awesome beta readers to get feedback and make it the best book it could be. While I was editing, I was also querying another manuscript I’d finished earlier in 2014. Even though I was excited about it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was even more excited about my new NaNo novel. Querying is hard, and can be discouraging, so it was great to have another new project to work on to distract me.

“I ended up with multiple offers of representation, including an offer from my dream agent, who had, interestingly enough, previously passed on my earlier manuscript.”

By the end of March 2015 my new novel, Wing Jones, was ready to go out to agents. By this time I’d heard back from almost all the agents I’d sent the previous manuscript to, so I was ready to move on. But then, in a crazy turn of events, the week after I sent out Wing Jones, I ended up getting an offer of representation on the previous novel! I was thrilled, but by this point, I knew that Wing Jones was a stronger book, and the one I wanted to get representation for. I sent a flurry of emails to all the agents who had Wing Jones, letting them know I had an offer of representation and giving them a chance to counter offer. I ended up with multiple offers of representation, including an offer from my dream agent, who had, interestingly enough, previously passed on my earlier manuscript. 

I signed with her in May; we went out on submission in June; and within two weeks, I had offers from nine publishers. When my agent and I told them that the bulk of the first draft had been written in one month, they couldn’t believe it.  I ended up with a two book deal from Delacorte/Random House in the US and Walker Books in the UK. Wing Jones came out in the UK on January 5th and  will be out in the US on March 14th (titled The Heartbeats of Wing Jones). I wrote the first draft of my second book during NaNoWriMo 2015, so right now I’m in the process of editing that. I started a new project for NaNoWriMo 2016, and while I didn’t “win” because I had to prioritize editing my contracted second book, I still got a good head start on my next YA novel.

The best advice is the simplest to give and the hardest to follow: Make writing a priority. Don’t give up. Keep writing. It doesn’t matter if you are a plotter or a pantser, if you are a sloppy drafter or edit as you go, just finish. And then, after you’ve finished and edited it and made it the very best it can be, start writing the next thing. You can do it.

Katherine Webber is originally from California and currently lives in London with her husband. She has also lived in Hong Kong, Atlanta, and Hawaii.  Travel, books, and eating out are her favorite indulgences. She spends far too much time on Twitter so come say hello @kwebberwrites. Her debut novel The Heartbeats of Wing Jones will be published by Delacorte/Random House on March 14th.