Debut Novels—How We All Got Our Start, What We’ve Learned Along the Way

Plus a Giveaway of New & Noteworthy Debuts!

We all have to start out somewhere. And the road to publication is never without its twists and turns. What bumps did we all face along the way? Who—or what life circumstances—helped or hindered our progress? For every author you meet, you will hear a slightly different tale. But, oftentimes, some of the lessons learned— from rejection and failure, from sticking with it and reinventing ourselves, from riding the wave of new trends to hanging on to battle-tested strategies—resonate no matter who we are, what kinds of books we write, or how long we’ve been at this. And always, those lessons don’t apply just to our writing journeys, but across our personal lives as well. So, here are our stories of how we got our start. And what we’ve learned along the way. So far, at least. Because one thing is for sure—we are all works in progress. 

What was your debut novel and what year was it published?
MKA: Every Crooked Nanny debuted waaay back in 1992 from HarperCollins. My first novel is in a box somewhere in my house.
PCH: My debut, Losing the Moon was published in 2004. It was the second novel I wrote! My first manuscript was my fourth published novel (Between the Tides). 
KH: My debut, How to Sleep with a Movie Star, was published in 2006!
KWH: My debut, Dear Carolina, was published in 2015.

What was your path to publication like? Did you face much rejection before getting your first offer?
PCH: Oh, I faced loads of rejection (still do!). I entered my novel, Between the Tides into a contest for RWA in Atlanta, where I lived at the time. I’d entered some of my writing in other contests and workshops, but this time, I won! It was an award called The Maggie, and with it, I found my first agent. But even after that it was rocky – my first round didn’t sell, so I put it away and wrote another novel (Losing the Moon), and that one finally sold to what was then called New American Library and is now called Berkley. I ended up publishing ten novels with them through the years! Even with publication, there were times when they rejected a story idea, so it isn’t one and done with rejections at all. 
KH: My first idea for a book was a nonfiction guide to surviving one’s twenties, which was basically a ridiculous idea because I was only 23 at the time! But I wrote a nonfiction proposal, which landed me an agent–who promptly pointed out the silliness of the plan but also noted that I could write–and asked if I had a novel to show her. It just so happened that I did–I was working on a novel about a magazine writer (which was what I was at the time) who gets into a situation where the whole world thinks she’s having an affair with a movie star, while in reality, her love life is a total disaster. It was the height of the “chick lit” craze in the mid-2000s, and this book was right in that vein. We got an offer for that book on April 1, 2004 (twenty years ago this month!) from Warner Books (now Hachette Book Group), and it came out 22 months later, in February 2006, as part of the launch of a new imprint called 5 Spot.
KWH: I signed with my first agent in 2012, and he began shopping the manuscript he signed me for—a prequel to Dear Carolina. Since I had finished Dear Carolina and was anxious to get feedback on it, I entered it into a writing contest–The Tampa Area Romance Writers Women’s Fiction Contest–to get some feedback from some real authors on my work. I ended up winning the contest, an editor at Berkley was the final round judge, and, after a round of revisions, she bought the book! That said, I had plenty of rejection on the manuscript my agent was shopping in the meantime, so it wasn’t all sunshine and roses!
MKA: I queried my first novel, a mystery, and got some polite rejections, but finally, interest from an agent, who wanted major rewrites, but by then I’d started my second novel. A dear author friend sent my first five chapters to her editor at HarperCollins. He’d rejected my first novel, but loved the idea of Every Crooked Nanny and bought it based on those five chapters. I had to go back to the agent who’d expressed interest. She subsequently negotiated a two-book deal with Harper, where I stayed for seventeen books. 

What do you remember about the day you were offered your first contract?
KWH: I had pictured the moment a million times, how I would get in the car and drive to my husband’s office while telling him the news and call my mom on the way. I got the call around 9:15 in the morning, right after I had walked home from dropping my 2-year-old son at preschool, right around the corner. When I got the call, instead of doing all the things I had imagined, I went downstairs, got a bottle of champagne, and drank a glass all by myself. It was one of the best moments of my life.
PCH: I will never forget it! I was in carpool line picking up my youngest son, Rusk, at preschool. I had a little flip phone (this was 2002) when my agent called. I was accustomed to bad news and almost didn’t answer. This time – a sale! I was so excited I pulled out of carpool line to cry for a minute, then back in line and onward with my life :) I felt different after that – a little bubbly inside as I knew the path had opened up. 
KH: Oh yes. It was April Fool’s Day, 2004, and when my agent called with the news, I was so upset at her, because I thought it was an April Fool’s joke, and that seemed really mean! Ha! Fortunately, it turned out not to be a trick!
MKA: I was working as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and after the editor at HarperCollins expressed interest in talking to me, I scammed an assignment that would take me to New York City, (about the making of The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) because I couldn’t afford to take the trip on my own dime. After I’d finished the reporting, I tiptoed over to Harper’s offices for my meeting with the late, legendary Larry Ashmead. At the meeting, he told me he wanted to offer me a two-book deal, and that I should have my agent call him. I ran out of the office, called my husband to tell him the news, then went with a former newspaper buddy who was working at ABC News to celebrate with drinks at the iconic Monkey Bar.

Were any fellow authors particularly supportive of you as you were starting out? 
KH: Yes! Very early on, I befriended a few other writers who were writing chick lit – Sarah Mlynowski (now a hugely popular middle grade writer), Alison Pace, Lynda Curnyn, and Melissa Senate. Soon after, I also made friends with three other writers who were also part of the 5 Spot imprint launch: Jane Porter, Megan Crane, and Liza Palmer. I’m still in touch with most of these ladies; most of them had been published before, and they were so supportive of me as a newcomer!
KWH: Yes! I met Ann Garvin right before I got my first book deal, and she asked me to be a member of the Tall Poppy Writers immediately after I heard the news. It was so great to have the support of other authors! 
MKA: I had a mentor/fairy godmother, Celestine Sibley, who was a longtime columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She championed me and introduced me to Larry Ashmead, who gave me my first contract. After I interviewed her for a piece in the AJC, and later attended a writer’s workshop where she was teaching, Sue Grafton agreed to blurb my first book, which was huge. Through my membership in mystery writing organizations like Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, I met the late Margaret Maron, who I came to call my mystery mama.
PCH: Oh, yes! One of the very first authors I met was our own Mary Kay Andrews, who supported me and encouraged me. We were both members of RWA in Atlanta, and I remember sitting in a booth together at meetings while she told me of the publishing world in bits and pieces. There were others, of course, from the early 2000’s who offered me blurbs and introduced me to the industry! Through the years, author support and friendship have been the rock that has kept me sane. I am quite sure I would have left the business if not for those friendships. 

How have you continued to pay that support forward as you’ve moved through your career? 
KWH: I think Friends & Fiction has been a huge part of that mission to support other authors. I also try to blurb as often as my schedule allows–especially debuts!
MKA: I support writers through interaction on social media, attend their signings in Atlanta if I’m available, and try to meet up with writers when I’m on the road. I’m part of a loosely-knit group of authors in Atlanta, and we try to meet for lunch to talk about the business, offer advice, and lift each other up.
PCH: I have always felt that we are all in the same boat and if someone else is punching holes in the boat, we go down together. I have always hoped that I lift up others the way I was lifted up. I think Friends & Fiction has been a huge part of that goal – being part of a literary community is the best thing about being a writer. 
KH: I agree that F&F has been a huge part of letting us support other writers as often as possible. It’s one of the things I’m proudest of in my career! I also try to blurb—especially new writers—whenever I can. When you’re just starting out in your journey—or even a few books in, when you haven’t had a big breakout book yet—those blurbs can really help. I also run a weekly “Kristin Recommends” feature on my Facebook/Instagram to shout out books I’m excited about.

Looking back, how have you changed as a writer since your debut novel was published?
MKA: I’ve literally grown up in the business over the 32 years of my fiction career, so I better have changed! I started writing what’s called “category mystery” and over the years I’ve branched out to what’s now called women’s fiction. I adopted the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues in 2002, which had a mystery, but was really more of a novel about relationships. I’m always trying to stretch, challenge myself, write more deeply, but mostly to leave my readers with that Ahhhhh feeling when they close one of my novels. 
PCH: I sure do hope that my writing has deepened, sharpened, and improved! I never want to stop learning; I am always reading a book on craft or creativity while diving into podcasts and articles. I think Friends & Fiction has been part of my growth as a writer also! I love hearing about what works for others, while refining what works for me. Yes, I think my writing has changed dramatically, in both subject and scope. 
KH: I’ve changed enormously! I’ve grown up so much as a person in twenty years—there’s a world of difference between age 24 and age 44 in terms of how you see the world and your place in it—and I think change as a person always bleeds into change as a writer. Plus, I’m writing in an entirely different genre than when I started. I re-read my first novel a year or so ago and could hardly recognize that I’d written it myself; it didn’t feel like “me” at all anymore!
KWH: I hope I have gotten better, refined my voice. But, if I’m being really honest, I think there’s a purity to a debut that is almost impossible to capture in subsequent books. It’s the last time you’ll ever write with the door closed, so to speak, so that definitely changes things. 

What bit of advice would you give to aspiring authors aiming to publish their debut novel?
KWH: It can be a very tough business, and you have to acknowledge right up front that everyone isn’t going to love your work from the beginning, and there will continue to be bumps along the way. But, if you hold onto the fact that you write because it’s your greatest love, then that’s more than enough. That’s everything. 
KH: Realize that for the majority of us, publishing is a matter of playing the long game. Very, very few writers have a hugely successful debut right out of the gate–but I think that’s hard to understand when you’re just starting out, and it’s easy to feel disappointed when, for example, your first book doesn’t hit a bestseller list. But the vast majority of writers start somewhere near the bottom and work their way up over the years, honing their craft, building their audience, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. If you can stick with it through the bumps in the road, like Kristy said, you’ll continue to grow. It took me fourteen years before I hit the New York Times list for the first time, and many of my friends have similar stories. 
PCH: Publishing your debut! OMG congratulations! This is such a moment for you. There is only one debut, and it’s thrilling. After nineteen novels, I can say this. As for a career, that’s a whole different thing. My advice would be to become part of the literary community, learn, read, listen, ask. Be willing to change and switch lanes, listen to your own curiosities. Know that this will be a wild ride and there is nothing like the publishing industry — ask for advice, trust your gut, and find the people to work with who have the same goals and understand your work. This is a lifetime’s journey of creativity.
MKA: Remember, the writing life, especially when it comes to your debut, is about the journey, not the destination. Research the publishing business like it’s your job, because hopefully, it will be your next job. Manage your expectations. Ask your agent and your editor what’s realistic in terms of goals for your first book. Probably you won’t make a bestseller list, or get reviewed in the New York Times. But a favorable review in one of the publishing trades, like Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, or Booklist is a huge get. If you’re writing genre fiction, look into joining writers organizations like Mystery Writers of America. Find out about the different roles marketing, publicity and library sales play in publishing. Pay attention to everyone who helps you on your journey, and always, always treat them with respect. That lowly intern or editorial assistant who emails you with pesky questions might someday be your publisher. It happened to me, and two decades later we have a great relationship. 

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The F&F Family Recommends Some New & Noteworthy Debut Novels—PLUS A GIVEAWAY!

On Friends & Fiction, part of our mission has always been discovery. We love it when our community members tell us how much being a part of the F&F family has broadened their reading horizons. It’s just as true for all four of our hosts and founders—and for our Managing Director Meg & podcast co-host Ron as well! Since we formed F&F four years ago, we have all read far outside our normal comfort zones. And we have all had the joy of discovering new-to-us authors along the way. And, while we love to welcome well-established authors who are already household names as our guests on the weekly show, we also love the chance to shout out those just getting their starts in this difficult business. So, in the spirit of discovery, here is a selection of a bunch of debut novels—either recently published or about to come out—that we see fit to call to your attention. We hope you discover some gems here. Also, thanks to the generosity of the publishing houses, we are able to offer this fabulous selection of books for giveaway. So, please ENTER TO WIN. And, while you’re at it, visit our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org and order up the ones that really strike your fancy.

Mary Kay Andrews Recommends

Sylvia's Second Act, Hillary Yablon (Pamela Dorman Books, March 12)—I loved this debut and that’s why I blurbed it: “Hillary Yablon gives readers hungry for a midlife romance a fizzy, delicious story we didn’t know we needed. Take a bow, Sylvia, cause readers are gonna give this laugh-out-loud female buddy story made in Manhattan a standing ovation.”

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, Kerryn Mayne (St. Martin’s Press, July 9)—Author Kerryn Mayne and I are pub house sisters and she has delivered a witty, charming, fun debut, loaded with humor and heart, and with a completely fresh and quirky main character that you can’t help but root for. If you liked Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, pick this one up.

Summertime Punchline, Betty Corrello (Avon Books, May 21)—This is a hilarious and sweeping love story about a comedian forced to return to her Jersey Shore hometown and confront everything she left behind ten summers before. A plucky heroine remaking herself. A beach setting. The meaning of home. Humor. Romance. This one ticks all the boxes.

Patti Callahan Henry Recommends

The Heirloom, Jessie Rosen (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, May 7)—The answer to the biggest question of her life lies in someone else’s past. Happily ever after is hard enough without bad karma in the mix.

Plays Well with Others, Sophie Brickman (William Morrow, Aug 6)—In the vein of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Fleishman Is in Trouble, a wickedly funny and incisive debut novel following a mother trapped in the rat race of NYC parenting as her life unravels.

Middletide, Sarah Crouch, (Atria Books, June 11)—I was lucky enough to get an early read (as in months ago) and this book swept me away with its imagery and its mystery about the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams. It gave me Crawdads vibes.   

Kristy Woodson Harvey Recommends

Some Doubt About It, Marion McNabb (Lake Union, May 7)—Books about authors always capture my interest. This one has a great scandal at the center that keeps the pages turning.

Dad Camp, Evan S. Porter ( Dutton, June 11)—I have a soft spot for books about camp (Who knew?) and I just love this premise! 

Mistakes We Never Made, Hannah Brown (Forever, May 7)—Who could possibly be better to write a rom-com than a Bachelorette star? No one I can think of! Bring on the star-crossed lovers and hilarious hijinx!

Kristin Harmel Recommends

Birding with Benefits, Sarah T. Dubb (Gallery Books, June 4)—Christina Lauren (the writing team of Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs) call this book “unqualified joy” and “blazingly sexy, razor sharp, and heartachingly real.” I trust them entirely to steer me toward a great rom-com, and this one sounds fantastic; it’s about a divorcee who embarks on her “year of yes” and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life.

Acts of Forgiveness, Maura Cheeks (Ballantine, Feb 13)—Ooh, I love this one. Publishers Weekly said in a starred review, “Cheeks seamlessly threads the themes of resentment, forgiveness, and legacy through the multilayered narrative.” It’s a searing story about a Black woman who digs up her roots–in spite of her family’s reluctance–in order to participate in the nation’s first federal reparations program.

The Bulgarian Training Manual, Ruth Bonapace (Clash Books, June 4)—OMG, that cover. Meg Wolitzer calls this comic novel (about a woman searching for her parents and for jeans that fit, assisted by a book with magical powers) “inventive, surreal, and powered by the unexpected.”

Meg Walker Recommends

The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, Sarah Tomlinson (Flatiron Books, Feb 13)—I mean, you quote a Rolling Stones song in the title, and I’m already sold. I like nothing more than a novel about a rock band (Daisy Jones, anyone?!) and this one has also been compared to Almost Famous, one of my favorite movies. It’s about a ghostwriter penning the tell-all legacy of a legendary rock band. With raves from Jenny Jackson (Pineapple Street) and Nina Simon (Mother-Daughter Murder Night) it doesn't seem like you can go wrong here.

Welcome Home, Caroline Kline, Courtney Preiss (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, April 16)—Come for the fun, witty rom-com that takes place at the Jersey Shore (my stomping grounds). Stay for the beer league softball team and second chance at love with a hometown crush. Don’t just take my word for it. This one comes highly recommended by Steven Rowley, Annabel Monaghan & Amy Poeppel. 

Shanghailanders, Juli Min (Spiegel & Grau, May 7)—Full disclosure: in a former life I used to work with publishers Cindy Spiegel & Julie Grau. What that means is I know and trust their taste implicitly, especially in debuts. After all, this is the team that brought us Shelley Read’s recent debut novel Go As a River. This one follows a cosmopolitan Shanghai household backward in time—beginning in 2040 and moving through our present and the recent past—exploring their secrets, losses, and how they make and remake themselves across the years.

Ron Block Recommends

Daughters of Shandong, Eve J. Chung (Berkley Books, May 7)—This stirring debut tells the emotionally driven story of Chiang-Yue, who, along with her three daughters were abandoned by their father and extended family during the Chinese Revolution in 1948 for not producing a male heir. Determined to survive and thrive we get a deep understanding of the horrific traditions of the time, along with the strength within that pushes these women to thrive. Inspired by the author’s own family history. 

Linh Ly is Doing Just Fine, Thao Votang (Alcove Press, July 23)—Linh Ly is a 27-year-old unreliable narrator that will pull you in on the first page. Her past and present trauma cause her to become obsessive about her mother’s dating life and its effect on their lives. Told in equally honest and hilarious prose, Linh’s adventures will have you turning the pages to find out where it will all end up. A remarkable, relatable tale. 

The Frontrunner, Brad Fawley (Green Writers Press, April 9)—Fawley manages to pull off the near-impossible—mesmerizing me telling a story about runners. Former Olympic rivals have had very different paths to their current lives, but now, through their coaching of upcoming hopefuls, we get an inside glimpse of the passion, drive and determination to become champions. The running scenes alone will leave readers holding their breath! 

ENTER TO WIN all 18 of these books!

SHOP THESE BOOKS on Bookshop.org!

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F&F April Pick of the Month: Emily Henry, Funny Story
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Sally Hepworth, Darling Girls
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Janet Skeslien Charles, Miss Morgan's Book Brigade
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Ruth Ware, One Perfect Couple
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F&F May Pick of the Month: Mary Kay Andrews, Summers at the Saint
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Steven Rowley, The Guncle Abroad
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Sunny Hostin, Summer on Highland Beach
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Annabel Monaghan, Summer Romance
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Lisa Wingate, Shelterwood
Watch: June 12 | Listen: June 14

F&F June Pick of the Month: Kristy Woodson Harvey, A Happier Life
Watch LIVE: June 19 | Listen: June 21

Chris Whitaker, All the Colors of the Dark
Watch: June 26 | Listen: June 28

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