Meeting The Publicist

She was waiting outside on the corner, looking at ease in the glamorous FlatIron District, home to modeling agencies and publishing houses, shopping and art. She was wearing a black pencil skirt with impossibly high heels and a light blue summer blouse. Pale skin, dark eyes and hair. Young.

"Jessica?" I asked. "Jessica Zimmerman?" Her eyes lit up and nodded. I was five minutes late, having rushed downtown from work to get there. We found a table inside the Ben Venuto Cafe and spent the next-almost-two-hours getting to know each other. She is new to Macmillan as of February, having come from St. Martin's Press.

"I'm an extrovert," I told her. "I'm willing to do almost anything. I love people." I know that authors have to do A TON of self-marketing and promoting. "Oh. But I might be shy talking about my book." Yeah, I have to get over that one!

There were no surprises, like "Oh yes, we are planning a HUGE book tour for you," or "Guess what - we sent Oprah the ARC and she wants to be your best friend!" But it's okay to dream big. If I didn't dream about being published after all, I never would be!

Mostly we talked about our lives and being passionate about what we do.

Then she talked about the "crossover" appeal of EDGES because it's not "fluffy", (meaning that adults will warm to it too.) Oh Jessica, I love you already! She wants to get magazine coverage for January issues, which come out mid-December. (If we go for December issues that come out in mid-November, people won't be able to by the book yet.) That would be crazy in the adult fiction world where buzz is king and the first week of release is crucial, but YA books "have longer legs."

Longer legs! I need me some of those to run down to meet Meg (my mentee) and get to the final CHAPTERS event for Girls Write Now! More on that tomorrow . . .