how i got a book deal 🥂💙 | my debut novel, full submission timeline, & winning a publishing contest
It's so wild to see my name and my book title on an actual Publishers Marketplace deal report but here we are! 😭
timestamps ✨
0:00 preview
0:30 i got a two-book deal !!
5:08 my history with Lost Island Press
7:47 what the traditional publishing industry is like
14:49 feb 17, 2024: initial concept
17:44 july 1, 2025: discovered publication contest announcement
20:40 july - sep 2025: started YA military dystopia book (project.jojo)
22:23 oct 2025: pivoted to YA small town mystery (project.vigilance)
23:10 oct - nov 2025: created chapter-by-chapter outline
23:40 nov 11 - dec 29, 2025: drafting
24:55 dec 30, 2025: submission time !
26:39 jan 10, 2026: first follow-up email
27:04 jan 11, 2026: my manuscript passed Stage 2
28:00 jan 17, 2026: first call with Mel Torrefranca
32:29 jan 26, 2026: my manuscript passed Stage 3
32:40 feb 2, 2026: second call with Mel Torrefranca
38:16 feb 2, 2026: i got the publishing contract !!
41:50 feb 4, 2026: officially signed the contract
42:00 feb - mar 2026: press materials and cover design
42:10 mar 21, 2026: official author reveal
follow me on Instagram for more writing updates: @authorkimberlyco
January 10, 2026 was the day I received my first email from the publisher I submitted to, notifying me that they were reading my manuscript and wanted to ask follow-up questions. February 4, 2026 was the date I signed my publishing contract with Lost Island Press. Now, today, on March 21, 2026, I get to officially announce that I won the Lost Island Writing Contest and landed a two-book deal! 🥹 I can’t believe I get to type these words finally — I'M GOING TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR.
My debut novel, THE SHADOW OF BILLIE JENKINS, will be published by Lost Island Press in 2027. It's a small town mystery with a supernatural twist, the first book in my YA duology. It's a Tenebrism portrait of the lengths redemption can stretch, the hidden parts no one wants to confront about themselves, and the reality of who people really are - no matter if their depths contradict their surfaces.
I am writing this with a heart that is eclipsed by gratitude. Thank you first and foremost to God for making this possible, for sustaining me last December 2025 when I was writing the first draft of this book during a tough time. This is not my accomplishment. This is Your accomplishment in me.
I also want to thank everyone on the Lost Island team. Everything you do for the press is so inspiring and I look up to the collective efforts you put into every book. Thank you especially to the founder Mel Torrefranca, for championing these stories - for believing in mine - and for carving out a new space for new voices. You give me hope for the better future of publishing. And I'm incredibly honored that I get to be a part of it.
Thank you to both Mel Torrefranca and senior editor Katie Flanagan for giving me invaluable editorial and developmental feedback on the book. Thank you as well to the other LIP authors Shira Behore, Amanda Michelle Brown, and Julia Rosemary Turk. Your stories are lifesavers, and I am so humbled by the fact that you read mine and gave it a chance.
Thank you for being here and I can’t wait until THE SHADOW OF BILLIE JENKINS is a finished book in your hands 💙