Today I am sharing my first author interview post, featuring Carrie Kwiatkowski. Carrie has secured a book deal for a beyond brilliant book which you can read about below!
Before the interview, I’d like to mention that I worked on The Bindery Guild with Carrie. It’s been incredible to witness her journey, and I’m absolutely honoured to have had the privilege of contributing editorial feedback on this work. I’m beyond excited for its publication, and if it snags your interest, I hope you’ll give Carrie a follow and keep an eye out for its publication. I’ll also share in my newsletter when the book is published.
Kathryn: First, congratulations on your book deal for The Bindery Guild. Can you tell us what the book is about?
Carrie: Thank you, Kathryn! It’s been a quite an adventure to get here. *sobbing* Here’s the blurb:
The Bindery Guild is about an agoraphobic bookbinder named Olive Benedict who has always been passionate about books. Naturally. They’re her chance to put herself in the footsteps of thousands of different characters and worlds, all while safely secluded at home in 1910s Seattle, running her father’s bookbinding business in her brother’s absence.
But when her father hurriedly locks himself in the shop’s supply closet without explanation, Olive’s routine is thrown all out of sorts. She unlocks the door and peers inside to find that the closet is completely empty.
Enter Jack Vale, a mysterious gentleman in old-fashioned clothes who may have the answers she needs to find her father and bring him home. Jack reveals that her father is a member of a guild of magical bookbinders that protects whole other worlds. And the beautiful miniature dioramas he painstakingly binds between the covers of books as a hobby? They’re the keys that allow these binders to step into entirely different realities—alternate universes just as real as Olive’s.
A dazzling journey through alternate histories, from Edwardian London to Sarajevo on the doorstep of World War I, The Bindery Guild is a fantastical whirlwind adventure brimming with dark secrets, page-turning politics, and a betrayal that could unravel more than one world.
Kathryn: Where did you get your inspiration from for the original idea?
Carrie: I think many writers have blips of inspiration and those can come in many forms. For this book, I had just finished assembling a ‘book nook’ kit that I received from friends of mine as a present back in 2023. After I turned on the lights, I bent down and looked inside and was struck with wonder. I said to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if this were a portal that took a person to this exact scene, wherever it was?” Alas, The Bindery Guild was born!
Kathryn: When getting editorial feedback on the novel, were there any changes you found difficult to accept, or resisted at first in any way?
Carrie: I’ve been writing for about twenty years now and I think have hit all the stages, one of which is resisting criticism. I don’t resist anymore. In fact, I dropped that early on. I remove emotion/ego and take other’s thoughts into consideration, because if it feels off to that person, it probably will feel off to someone else. What criticism tells me is that something isn’t right, and I need to fix it. About 95% of comments/concerns I will agree with and, with a sigh, dig into revisions. Nobody likes the feeling of not hitting the mark, but for me, I get over it quickly. I only want to improve.
Kathryn: What was your writing journey to getting your book deal? How many books did you query? Could you share your querying sats?
Carrie: My writing journey was fraught with heartache, obstacles, setbacks, and rejection. I began naively, thinking that because I was a good speller, could form sentences, was an avid reader, and had an imagination that writing a story shouldn’t be that hard. Ha! Speaking of ego death…
My first book will never see the light of day; it was that terrible. My second book actually won awards and after 132 rejections, I finally got an agent. It died on submission, however, and the agent and I went our separate ways. This grasshopper still had much to learn, so I dug in, and learned. I won some more awards but still hadn’t landed another agent. I asked myself what was I doing wrong? More craft books, picking apart my query letter, more studying story… four more historical fiction books relegated to the growing pile under my bed. And then I remembered the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So, I did something different. After the inspiration of the ‘book nook,’ I decided I was going to return to my love of fantasy. I also reached out to a freelance editor, the marvelous Kathryn Harris, after I’d completed my initial readable draft, to get an unbiased opinion, help me over a crucial mental roadblock, and have her point me in the right direction. And that my friends, was the ticket! I was off and running!
These are my estimated stats across seven manuscripts:
Queries: ~350
Requests: ~40 partial to full requests
Offers of rep: 3. One from first agent that I ultimately parted ways with, 2 for The Bindery Guild
Time spent querying: ~15 years
Kathryn: I’m a big believer in there being several factors that ultimately lead to success. What were the biggest factors for you that you feel ultimately led you here?
Carrie: Persistence and silencing my ego. Allowing myself to make mistakes and then learn from them. That is the only way I grew. And I’m still learning and growing. There are many factors that ultimately spell success for a writer and most of them are out of our control. Timing, the market, personal tastes, etc., are some of those. But persisting in the face of constant rejection? That choice was mine. I didn’t want to quit and absolutely fail. Heck, I wanted to fail while giving it my all!
Kathryn: A lot of authors talk about how challenging it is to be on submission. Was this your experience? How did it compare to querying?
Carrie: My wonderful agent, Alexandra Machinist, did not share her process or who she contacted, which in hindsight was a blessing. I tend to overthink, and if knew who she submitted to, I would be a mess. Instead, the silence allowed me to concentrate on my next idea. Compared to querying, it was smooth and fast. I think I was only on submission for three months before it ended up at auction. Querying was years of ups and downs and waiting and hoping with ultimate utter disappointment. Bleak, yes. But worth it. Why? Because I love telling stories. This is my happy place.
Kathryn: How does it feel to know your book will be out in the world in less than a year?
Carrie: The idea of it is surreal and exciting. And, I must admit, a little scary. But I’m taking all the steps in stride and enjoying the ride, because frankly, it took a hot minute to get here!
Kathryn: What is your writing routine/process like?
Carrie: My routine is varied, but now that both of my kids are driving, my schedule has largely become my own. My imagination is most active in the morning, after coffee, and when I get the most work done. If inspiration strikes, I’ve been known to be at my computer in the wee hours, or after dinner, or with my sound-canceling headphones on while my husband watches a hockey game. When my kids were little, I would take my computer in my truck and type away while I waited in the pickup line. Basically, I wrote whenever I had free moments.
Kathryn: What advice or message of hope would you like to share with other aspiring authors battling the query trenches?
Carrie: Find critique partners that tell you what they honestly think and not what they think you want to hear. Having someone massage your ego will get you nowhere fast. Enter writing contests, go to conferences, meet other writers. Network. Find your people that you can commiserate with while in the trenches. It’s incredibly lonely down there, covered in mud and dodging metaphorical bullets.
Kathryn: Lastly, where can readers find and follow you online?
Carrie: I can be found posting random stuff about writing and gardening on Instagram and I have a Facebook author page. I also have a website where you can check out stuff about The Bindery Guild (and hopefully more books in the future!) and a little more about who I am. My last name might be a tad difficult for some to pronounce. Here’s a quick guide: QUIT-COW-SKI 😊
Instagram: @carriekwiatkowskiauthor
Facebook: Carrie Kwiatkowski, author
Website: www.kwiatkowskibooks.com
I hope you enjoyed reading this interview with Carrie. If you’re a querying author struggling to find success, I hope you’ll see Carrie’s long journey as hope that you can get here some day too! If you’d like some feedback on your current WIP, I offer a free first chapter edit to all email subscribers, and run a monthly giveaway for 10,000 words of developmental feedback. The sign up information can be found below.
Happy writing and querying! Kathryn 🙂
