Y’all, this one is a tough one to write. If you’re an author, you understand better than most that some books are truly the story of your heart. For me, A WORD FOR HOME was that story–loosely based my experience of exploring kinship guardianship for of one of my students while teaching fourth grade. It was written in verse, thanks to the encouragement of my amazing critique partner, Reem Faruqi. To this day, I still think it works beautifully as a verse novel.
I finished the draft and incorporated Reem’s feedback. Then, I read it to my mom. I sat in the recliner beside her and read the whole book in one day. When I was done, she said, “That’s my favorite of everything you’ve written so far. Please send it to an agent.” Very shortly after that day, Mom passed away. She’d been at the end of a long battle with Parkinson’s.
When my wonderful agent, Kristen Terrette, offered me representation just weeks later, we were both excited and hopeful that this novel would find a home. We sent it as an exclusive to my absolute “shoot for the stars” editor, who read it quickly and replied that, as much as she liked it, it was too similar to a book she was currently working on. Okay, no worries; we’d send it out to other editors. This was in mid-2023. Over the course of 18 months, the book won over editors–but not the sales and marketing teams who are tasked with betting on the best potential money makers.
Each time an editor loved it, I’d get my hopes up. As much as my brain said, “manage your expectations,” my heart cried out, “this is going to be the one!” While waiting to hear back about the acquisitions meeting, I’d go to the publisher’s website, browse the catalog, admire the book covers and descriptions, and imagine my book listed there alongside the others. Only to be completely bummed when they got a “no” from the sales team.
At this point, I considered the manuscript dead on submission. For those outside the publishing world, this means that your agent has sent a manuscript to the editors deemed a good fit for the project without receiving any offers of publication. And yes, it feels about as crappy as you’d imagine.
However, in June of 2025, Brittany Willis at Moon + Bird, which was the third publisher to pass on A WORD FOR HOME after going to acquisitions with it, emailed us to ask if we had anything more plot-driven, aka commercial. It just so happened, I did! I’d written a manuscript called CAUGHT ON CAMERA. This, too, was based on an experience I had teaching fourth grade. We sent it to Brittany and waited to see if she liked this book as much as my verse novel.
In the meantime, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) picked CAUGHT ON CAMERA as the winner of the Work in Progress Award in the Middle Grade Category. If nothing else, this was a big boost to my confidence and meant that my work would be featured in a showcase at their conference in NYC in early 2026.
When we heard back from Brittany, she loved it and wanted to take this one to acquisitions. By this time, I felt a bit hardened by disappointment, so I tried not to get excited this time around. The news was much better for the more plot-driven project, and we received a publication offer. CAUGHT ON CAMERA will come out in April of 2027.
So, what have I learned from this experience? Having a book die on submission is tough! It generates tons of doubt in the quality/desirability of your manuscript and kicks imposter syndrome into high gear. But it’s also not the end of the world. I kept writing new stuff while out on submission. I kept honing my craft and attending conferences and webinars. And I never gave up. Luckily, my agent is in this with me for the long haul and never lost confidence in me or my writing. For that, I’m extremely grateful.
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