My FIRST Book Deal!
I’m going to be published! Expect more details on the process leading up to this soon, but here’s my celebratory announcement video!
You can learn more about my novel The Shadow Sister by visiting my Writing page. It also has a link to sign up to my newsletter and information about my agent for anyone interested in foreign, film, or audio rights.
Transcript:
My name is Lily Meade and this video is about my very first book deal! I am over the moon to tell you that my debut young adult novel THE SHADOW SISTER was pre-empted in a two-book deal by Annette Pollert-Morgan at Sourcebooks Fire. I'll explain what that all means in a second but---ahhhh, I have a book deal! I'm going to be published!
THE SHADOW SISTER is a speculative YA thriller about a biracial Black girl, whose sister returns from her abduction changed in ways that trauma alone can’t explain, and the lengths she goes to find out what happened to her. It's about family and sibling relationships, intergenerational trauma, and the media attention struggle we have about who is worthy of being missed. I've pitched it as as *Sadie* meets *Jennifer’s Body*.
Longtime viewers may remember THE SHADOW SISTER as my work in progress that placed as a runner up to the Eleanor Taylor Bland award from Sisters In Crime last summer. This is the same book! I have a video on that honor I’ll link below.
I’ve been sitting on this news for months and there is so much I want to tell you about it, but in order to keep this video from being three hours long I’ll break that into other videos you’ll see very soon.
I will say that my editor received, fell in love with my book, and convinced her coworkers to buy it within a single day. One day! We sent it to her at 10am in the morning and she had an offer by 4pm that afternoon. That’s six hours! On a Friday! And she had no idea how hard my family was struggling at the time—as this was all happening as we struggled to adjust to our rent rising four times its prior amount. She had no idea how badly I needed this, she just loved my book that badly. She just believed in my talent that much.
I’ve had less than stellar experiences with publishing in the past, so I can’t quite explain how soul affirming it is to work with people who respect you so much. Who not only like your work but believe in your power and get excited when you suggest things. I am so happy with Annette and Sourcebooks and truly so blessed to have them as my partners for my debut novel.
Again, I’ll tell you so much more about how this came to be and the process of being published now that it’s public, but for now: it would make my day if you either added THE SHADOW SISTER on Goodreads or subscribed to my personal newsletter. I would love it if you did both, because my newsletter will get you personal updates from me on things like cover details and preorder links; but adding on Goodreads will get you automated updates for release dates and giveaways.
I will link both in the description below.
Also, if you are attending YALLWEST in California this year, please let me know! I am not a featured guest or anything—just an excited fan—but I used a canceled pandemic flight voucher to book a trip and I’m rooming with a friend so I’ll be in Los Angeles from April 29th to May 4th! I would love to meet you and chat about THE SHADOW SISTER in person.
Thank you so much for watching and having faith in me and believing I could do it! I’ll talk to you more about this process and THE SHADOW SISTER very very soon!
