Interview with Meredith Zeitlin: Dreamer, YA Author, and Hero to Girls Everywhere

Pull up a chair, a beanbag, or your neighbor, and take a seat, WordHustlers. Our latest WordHustlerInk interview is doozy! Meredith Zeitlin is not only a voiceover artist, actress, genius, and all-around great gal, she’s also coming out with a funny, honest, entertaining YA book that is going to wow the world. It’s called “This Just In: Kelsey Finkelstein Is Freaking Out.” And we’ve got the sneak peek!

WordHustler sat down with Meredith to discuss her book, her dreams for publishing domination and….wine coolers? Hey, everybody’s doing it.

Buckle in and get ready for some wonderful tips and words of wisdom from an author on the brink!

WordHustler: Meredith, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Can you tell our readers how you got your start in publishing and entertainment?

Meredith Zeitlin: Thanks for having me! This is my first-ever interview, so I will try not to screw it up.

I’m a VORACIOUS reader, and have been my whole life. I love, love to read. And I actually come from a family of writers – almost everyone on my mom’s side of the family writes professionally. Growing up, I always wanted to be an author (that, and a prima ballerina) and had this plan to write the most incredible books. I’d get an idea (which was always strikingly similar in theme and style to whatever I’d just finished reading) and occasionally make it to page 5 before giving up. I was much more successful with the angst-filled poetry.

In high school, I worked on the paper and eventually became the Editor In Chief; I worked my ass off and loved everything about it. In college, I couldn’t decide whether to pursue writing or theatre, my other main activity, and I ended up doing both: I was a theatre major at Northwestern University, and also a member of the “Creative Writing for the Media” program, which accepts 12 students each year and focuses on screen/television writing and playwriting. (If anyone would like to read a TRULY terrible play that is a thinly disguised attempt by the author to deal with her unrequited love for a young man in her acting class, do be sure to let me know.)

When I graduated I figured I’d immediately be lauded as the next Bernadette Peters, which shockingly didn’t happen. Through a series of lucky strokes I started auditioning for voiceover work and have been doing it ever since. And it’s through a connection in the voiceover world that I found my fabulous literary agent, so I guess if everyone could join me for a chorus of “Que sera, sera” now, that would be great.

WH: What is Kelsey about?

MZ: Kelsey is about a smart, occasionally insecure, very ambitious 14-year-old girl named Kelsey Finkelstein, who is embarking on her freshman year of high school. She was the editor of her middle school paper, has always written for the paper, even thinks in articles (the book is narrated partly in articles that exist only in Kelsey’s mind), and has decided to rebrand herself in high school by doing something totally different - soccer team, school play…whatever she can think of. Unfortunately there are two main obstacles: 1) her little sister is discovered by a talent scout and suddenly becomes a celebrity and the focus of everyone’s attention and 2) everything Kelsey tries to do is a TOTAL DISASTER.

WH: What inspired you to write Kelsey? Were you reacting to the Gossip Girl brand of books and their lack of reality?

MZ: I wanted to write a book that was sort of a response to the Gossip Girl/Clique/etc. craze - a book about a REAL girl in NYC, who isn’t drinking martinis at the Savoy while clutching a limitless platinum card and having X-rated affairs with half of her school, but who drinks wine coolers in her friend’s living room, has parents that drive her insane, and thinks everyone is having sex but her. A book with a cast of relatable characters like the ones I loved growing up in books by Judy Blume, Lois Lowry, and Paula Danziger, for example. Books that made me feel like I wasn’t the only awkward bookworm in the world.

Also, I wanted to write a book that was challenging to read and funny (I hope). Because most young adult books I’ve read in the last decade - not all, but MANY - are so dumbed down as to be insulting. And that makes me furious! Why aren’t we challenging kids to learn anymore? Or more importantly, THINK?

WH: What was your road to getting published like?

MZ: Long. Longer than I thought it would be, despite repeated attempts to remain rational.

Once I finished the writing part, I had some very smart friends read the draft and give me their very helpful notes. I did another pass and when it was super ready-to-go, I made a list of agents who might be interested in the book. The first four were agents I had a direct connection to, the second group were agents I had a nominal connection to, and the third were agents who I had no connection to and would contact if the first two groups were a bust. I was really lucky to sign with the magnificent Elaine Markson, who was in Group One. Then I waited for a year, receiving “good rejections,” all of which said basically the same thing: they loved the voice, the humor, and the characters, but what was the hook!? I was like, Couldn’t the hook be the voice, the humor…but no.

So the hook became the thing to figure out. My agent and I tossed around some ideas and I came up with a secondary storyline and did a rewrite. We sent it out again. This time, John Rudolph, the delightful man who is now my editor at Putnam, told Elaine that he loved the voice, the humor, the characters… but he thought the book needed a hook. BUT – he wanted to have a conversation with me instead of rejecting the book outright. So we had a lovely phone chat in which I expressed my hesitation to make one of the characters a werewolf, and he said another way to go might be changing the narrative style. I brainstormed about that and came up with an idea I thought would be different enough but still totally true to the spirit of the story. I spent the next month rewriting the first 60 pages, I sent it to John, and then Elaine called me a week later with an offer!

It was extremely rad. But what I didn’t realize then is what an even longer road there is to getting the book finished! The momentum is hard to maintain when people say, “Oh you’re getting published? How great! When can I buy your book?” And you have to say, “Oh…maybe in a year and a half? Don’t forget, okay?”

But…I think it’s gonna be worth it.

WH: What’s your writing process? Outline? Synopsis? Seat of your pants?

MZ: Honestly, the only outlines I’ve ever made have been after I’ve done the writing – and that includes every paper I ever wrote in school. (Please don’t tell my teachers. They’d be so mad.) Although my editor had me do a chapter outline for Kelsey before starting the latest rewrite, and I have to say it was very helpful. Who knew?

Anyway, usually if I get an idea or a sentence or something in my head I’ll just open a file on my computer and put it down, and maybe never touch it again. (I only type, by the way. I can’t write longhand at all.) Or I’ll re-read and add to it when the mood strikes or tack it on to something else… I actually have about half a thriller that I got stuck on and still want to finish one of these days. And Kelsey started the exact same way – I decided that I wasn’t writing and I should, so I sat down and started writing whatever came into my head. After awhile it started to look like a book, and I basically forced myself to finish it. Which was the hardest part of the whole process, actually.

I don’t structure my writing schedule at all – I will literally write for 3 minutes, then run out of steam and watch TV. Or I’ll write during the commercials, or while IM-ing someone. Or if I’m feeling very serious, I will put on a musical score (Once On This Island is number one for writing) and write while singing along to it. Isn’t there a study out there about how distracting your brain actually makes you more productive? It works for me, anyway. I simply can’t just sit down for x number of hours and write, and I truly admire people who are that disciplined.

WH: How do you balance writing with the rest of your life? Are there times that are better or worse for you to write?

MZ: Balancing my desire to write with my infinite tendency to procrastinate is my biggest challenge, actually. I still haven’t figured it out. Deadlines – real or self-imposed – help. So I write any time of day that I can keep still long enough to do it. Keeping my cat from sitting on the keyboard when I’m trying to type is probably the biggest issue I have to deal with in terms of outside forces.

WH: When is Kelsey being published? How long did the editing process take?

MZ: Well, I’m in the editing stage right now. I technically have until December ’09 to turn in a final manuscript, and Putnam has 18 months to publish after that. Hopefully, though, it will be out sometime in 2010. Fingers crossed!

WH: What’s it like working with publishers and editors? Many of our readers have been published, and many have signed with agents, but for those who are still figuring the game out, can you give them any tips about being an author editors enjoy working with?

MZ: Well, I’m still very new to that part of it, myself. But my editor is about my age and very cool, so it’s been easy to work with him – so far, anyway. I will say that it was difficult getting suggestions for changes that I was seriously not into, and I panicked a bit that he wanted to change my book into something it wasn’t ever meant to be. But remembering that he is this nice guy who is just a person like me, and that he wasn’t going to tear up my contract and light me on fire if I didn’t agree with every single thing he said, helped. And we went back and forth for a little while, scrapped the things I was adamant about, and I compromised by making some of his changes that I didn’t think would work at first… and it turns out they work much better than what I had originally.

So I would say the two main things I’ve learned so far are: a) your editor is a reasonable person, and you shouldn’t be scared to tell him or her if you really don’t agree with something he’s suggested, and b) your editor has his or her job for a reason. He probably really knows what he’s doing and trying his ideas can benefit your work. And if it doesn’t, you can always change it. After all, everyone is ultimately on the same side, wanting to make the best book possible.

Of course, I say all this not having yet gotten notes on the brilliantly overhauled new draft I just turned in. Check back with me in a couple of weeks, ok?

Oh, and one more thing – don’t harass your publisher about getting your contract and/or advance. Apparently, it always takes forever to get it, and it doesn’t mean something is wrong or they’ve changed their mind, but that the wheels of the publishing world move slower than molasses. So don’t expect to see it for at least 70 years after they promise they’ll get it to you. I still don’t have mine, but my lawyer swears it’s coming…

WH: Do you have any say over the book cover?

MZ: I hope so, but based on what I’ve been told by other new authors, I very much doubt it. I’m really excited to see what a designer will come up with, actually. The only thing that I am going to try to insist on (again, if I can) is that they not put a photo of real people on the cover. I hate going into bookstores and seeing reprints of my favorite YA books – which used to have illustrated covers – with pictures of child models on them. I’m always like, “That is NOT what Margaret looks like!” I wrote almost no physical descriptions of the characters in the book, and I did that on purpose; I want anyone who reads the book to be able to imagine the characters looking any way they want.

WH: Do you see Kelsey as the start of a book series?

MZ: I envisioned it as a four-book series, one for each year of high school. I guess it will depend on whether fans clamor for more Kelsey.

WH: Has their been any talk of Kelsey being developed in Hollywood?

MZ: I never kiss and tell, WH.

WH: And we love you for it. So what are three things you’d encourage writers just starting out to do?

MZ: 1) Write. Don’t sit around worrying that you don’t know what your ending is or what kind of book it should be or that you don’t know how to get an agent. Just write – even if it’s terrible. Just keep going. You’ll be amazed what you come up with.

2) This piece of advice is actually credited to my writing teacher in college, the marvelous Michael Elyanow: “Kill Your Babies.” Basically, it means that even if you’ve written what you think is the funniest, most clever, poignant, whatever, thing in the world, if everyone is telling you it doesn’t work to further your story… cut it. Be brutal. It’s very hard, but it makes your work better. (Even if you think it won’t.)

3) Do your homework. When looking for an agent – or publisher, if you’re going that route first – find out who is on whose client roster, what genres of work that person represents, whether that person is accepting new clients, what they want you to submit if so, etc etc. If you send your brilliant historical novel to someone who is looking for true crime, it’s just a waste of your time and the recipient’s.

WH: What are three things you’d beg writers just starting out to NOT do?

MZ: 1) Don’t get frustrated and stop writing. Put it down, eat a cake, watch a Golden Girls rerun… but come back to it!

2) Don’t think your first (or second, or third) draft will be your last, even if you’re sure it can’t get ANY better. It can, and it will.

3) Don’t give up if you get rejection letters from agents or publishers – I certainly did, and I’m sure I will again. Yes, it sucks, but it probably means that it isn’t the right fit for you to work together, not that your work isn’t good. Keep getting your writing out to different people; even if it seems like it’s taking forever to connect with someone. Things in the publishing world DO take forever. I’m still learning that, every step of the way.

WH: Do you think WordHustler is beneficial to writers?

MZ: What’s WordHustler?

In all seriousness, though, emphatically yes. For one thing, if I had known the website existed when I was doing submissions I wouldn’t have spent literally hours yelling at my printer for refusing to understand that it didn’t get a vote about whether or not it had to print everything the way it looked on the screen. In fact, just not having to ever use my printer again, or address important envelopes in my 10-year-old boy’s handwriting, or argue with the FedEx guy about which labels to fill out, would make my stress level much lower.

But also, having a community of people who are asking the same questions – or, even better, offering answers to them – is incredibly valuable. I was lucky to have friends who are authors to ask about cover letters and things, but what if I hadn’t? And it’s also a place that helps you do your homework – instead of wandering around the web, trying to figure out all the things I mentioned above about the right agent/publisher for you, the information is right there. It’s brilliant.

Who are we to argue with such a woman? We hope this interview has left you inspired and ready for action! So what are you waiting for?

Why not submit your children’s or YA book to Putnam like Meredith? Or maybe you want to compile your own list of Group One agents to go after, like Cornerstone Literary Agency or The Doe Coover Agency?

You’ve got the talent, you’ve got the drive, now all you need is the chance. And WordHustler wants to help you get it.