“Find a writing group…and don’t be afraid to really dig into your manuscript and make real changes”

WriteMentor mentee and Novel Award shortlistee Julie Farrell interviews Young Adult author Brianna Bourne about publishing her debut – from agent representation to book launch

Hi Brianna! Thanks so much for doing this interview for all our wonderful writers. I’m sure they’ll all be dying to hear a bit more about your debut novel, You & Me at the End of the World, and your journey to becoming a published author! Can you start by telling us how you came to write this story? You were a WriteMentor alumni yourself weren’t you?

Thank you Julie! And hi WriteMentor writers!

I started writing You & Me at the End of the World about five years ago. I wanted to write an opposites-attract Young Adult romance where the two characters were alone together—seriously alone—for a huge chunk of time. The story follows Hannah and Leo after they wake up to find they’re the last two people in their silent, empty city, with no idea of where everyone else suddenly went.

I queried the project for about six months, and despite getting lots of lovely full requests, nothing was turning into an offer. I knew something needed work, so I applied to the WriteMentor Summer Programme. I was chosen by two amazing mentors, KC Karr and Sharon Johnston, and I’ll be forever grateful for their guidance and to Stuart for setting up the programme. During my mentorship months, I added a second point of view to the novel (Leo’s), which basically meant rewriting the entire book from scratch. When I headed back into the query trenches, I landed an agent!

What was the most helpful aspect of the mentorship? What did you learn about your writing?

I really needed a push to get me over the fear of revising. I kept making small, insignificant changes to the manuscript, but I was terrified to go in and rip whole chapters out and replace them with juicier scenarios, even though I KNEW there were ways to make the story better. Having a hard deadline and knowing that my mentors expected big changes was the shove I needed to make the manuscript match my vision.

I felt the same during my mentorship, I think it took me a full two weeks of taking a deep breath before the plunge! Did you know the answer to why everyone in Hannah and Leo’s city disappeared right from the beginning, or did that come later?

I knew the answer before I knew pretty much anything else. I love it so much and I wish I could just say it’s a book about _____!

It’s so hard to pitch/market this story because I can only say a few things before getting into major spoilers. I will say that I planted clues all along the way, so be on the lookout for those. Only one person has 100% correctly guessed the twist—maybe you’ll be the second!

Challenge accepted… So, can you tell us how did you navigate finding an agent, being from the US but living in the UK? (So many UK agents reject US-set books on the basis of a hard sell to UK publishers).

Initially, I did only query US agents, but after my WriteMentor mentorship I started approaching a handful of UK agents (I’m American, but I live in the UK, so that further confused matters.)

I ended up getting three offers of rep, two from US agents and one from a UK agent. The UK agent had the clearest vision for how to pitch the book, not to mention stellar editorial instincts, and that’s who I decided to sign with.

Some UK agents work with subsidiary agents, but my agency pitches directly to US editors, and I love that about them.

(I will say that it took a lot longer for us to sell the UK rights—UKYA feels very slow at the moment.)

Do you have any advice for writers out there in the trenches?

The trenches are torture. I took every form rejection to heart, but I think it’s really important to note that SO many of our submissions must just not even get read, or read with a fresh and open mind. When I was selecting my mentees for this summer’s WriteMentor Summer Programme, I read 70+ submissions in a week, and my brain was fried by the end. Agents get easily 5 times that amount in a week. I knew all of this when I was querying, but I didn’t fully understand it the way I do now.

Also remember: many agents already have a huge roster of clients to support, and are only looking to add one or two new writers per year.

I ended up getting three offers of rep, two from US agents and one from a UK agent. The UK agent had the clearest vision for how to pitch the book, not to mention stellar editorial instincts, and that’s who I decided to sign with

What’s been the journey since signing with your agent? Did things move pretty quickly?

After signing with my agent, things moved along so smoothly. We were only on submission for a few weeks before the book went to auction between two huge US publishers. I worked on edits for about six weeks, then the copyedit came through, then my editor and I traded a few pass pages to clean up last minute micro-details. During that time, the teams at Scholastic were gearing up to print and launch the book. In January of this year, I started drafting the second book of my two-book deal, and I’m in edits for that now.

Things are all-go! How involved are you with the cover design process and the marketing campaign? (Which is totally killer!)

For cover design: not involved at all. I literally got an email one day that said “Here’s the mock-cover, hope you like it!” (I loved it, so that was very handy!) And then a couple months later I got another email with the final version, which just blew me away. The cover designer, Maeve Norton, is a genius.

I think if something had rubbed me the wrong way I would have been able to broach that with my editor, but I didn’t have a single concern. It’s been my phone lock screen since the day it came through.

The official marketing campaign, which is being worked on by far more skilled people than me at Scholastic headquarters in New York, involves paid advertising on a national scale, Scholastic Book Fairs and magazines, and a bunch of other stuff that I don’t even know about.

My amazing publicist arranged my launch events and interviews with media outlets and bloggers.

If by marketing campaign you mean what you see on my socials, that’s pretty much my own hustle. I’ve gotten very good at using Canva, and I’m part of an amazing group of debut authors who share knowledge and help each other through rough spots.

I was really blown away by the content on your Instagram, it looks brilliant. And I think our readers will relate to the value of having a strong community around you! You launched an awesome trailer for the book, would you share with us how you went about creating it?

Sure! I think I’d always dreamed of having a book trailer, and a few months ago I sat down to try making one myself (publishers very rarely produce trailers, and usually only for big name authors).

I opened up a video editor I had no idea how to use, and about a dozen stock footage tabs in my browser, and started dropped things into a template. Many, many, many grueling hours (weeks?!) later, I sat back and watched what I’d made…and it gave me chills. And I’ve been living with this book for five years.

At that point, I knew I had to share it. So even though it was a massive undertaking, I’m so happy with how it turned out.

Not very gracefully, I must admit. Juggling the admin for a book that’s coming out and the creative work to bring my next story to life is rough. They use such different skillsets and it honestly feels like I have two completely separate full-time jobs. I find it really hard to switch between the two, so I have been in admin/marketing mode for the past couple of months—but I really need to cross back over into the creative zone now!

I can think of a few writers (myself included) who will relate to that. What are you most excited for about the launch?

I’m going on a mini-road trip to sign books in a bunch of indie bookstores and a few Waterstones, and I’m so excited for that. I didn’t get to have any in-person events thanks to the pandemic, so this feels like the next best thing (Although I did have some amazing virtual launch events with some incredible authors!)

I’m so pleased you’re getting to get out on the road and meet readers – surely one of the highlights of being an author. So, where do you see yourself in five years time?

Hopefully writing my 3^rd or 4^th Young Adult novel, if readers want more of my spec-twist love stories!

We do! Do you have any advice to give our budding writers?

Find a writing group and work with trusted critique partners who can give you honest (but sensitive) feedback.

And don’t be afraid to really dig into your manuscript and make real changes. Rewrite whole chapters if you know deep down that you need to, or even the whole book. It’s so hard to pry yourself from what’s already written, and I still resist before remembering to follow my own advice. Tell yourself you can always go back to that earlier saved file—but you might find that your rewritten sections are your favorite!

Such wise words, Brianna! Thanks so much for chatting to us, and we wish you every success with your book!

Thank you so much for these awesome questions, Julie. And thank you Stuart and Florianne for hosting us on the WriteMentor blog! Wishing everyone all the best with their writing.

Twitter: @BriannaBourneYA | Website: briannabournebooks.com

Twitter: @Julie_Farrell_ | Website: juliefarrell.co.uk