We were lucky to catch up with Amy Wallen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?

I have a fabulous agent, but it took perseverance and a continuous belief in my project to find her. As an author of three books, I’ve had three different agents, but not for the three books. As a traditionally published author, finding an agent is the first step toward publishing once your novel or memoir is complete. My first agent was perfect for my first novel. She found a fabulous publisher (Penguin) and got me an incredible deal–the kind dreams are made of. This most recent book is very different than my novel and memoir. It’s a hybrid of a memoir, how-to, and cookbook. It’s also illustrated throughout. It’s snarky, it’s fun, and it doesn’t fit neatly in the categories that bookstores label their shelves. My first agent didn’t represent that kind of book, so I went on the search for a new agent. I found one almost right away. One of my top picks. I was elated. She sent the book out to 20 top NYC editors at top publishing houses. They all were so excited, writing back saying, “Love this!” “It’s so fabulous!” “Amy is hilarious!” And, they all had one more thing to say, “I don’t know where I would sell this.” So no one bought it. Most people, including that agent, would give up. The book is about perseverance, and so I couldn’t give up that easily. I knew all those positive remarks must have meant something. A writer friend suggested I send it to another agent we both knew who published books similar to my hybrid honey. Betsy Amster not only found a publisher, but she found 4 and they went to auction to bid on the book. It found a fabulous home with the same publisher as Doonesbury, Far Side and Charles Schulz books. Andrew McMeel Publishing. Lesson learned: keep at it, and look for the whole where your peg will fit. Betsy knew where my book would fit.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an author of three books. The bestselling novel, MoonPies & Movie Stars was my first book published. My memoir about living in Africa and South America as a young girl, When We Were Ghouls: A Memoir of Ghost Stories came out in 2019. And, my most recent book is to be released Oct 4, 2022. The new book came out of my years as a creative writing teacher. I have taught for over 20 years at UCSD and UCLA Extensions, and was the Associate Director at the New York State Summer Writers Institute. I am also very proud of being the writer-in-residence at Ocean Discovery Institute here in San Diego where I teach K-12 graders to write their personal stories of their experiences as science students. The newest book, How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies: Sweet & Savory Secrets of the Writing Life came out of my love of teaching writing workshops, and my love for baking pies. When I was writing my first novel I survived the long arduous road from putting pen to the page all the way through to my publishing deal with Penguin by baking pies. Pie by pie I made it to the end.

I not only teach in the classroom, but I also teach in my living room–manuscript workshops with a small group of writers who apply. I co-teach with the Los Angeles Times book critic and former book editor, David Ulin. I serve pie while we discuss the book-length works over a weekend. I also work one-on-one with writers on their book-length manuscripts. I consider my forte to be the Big Picture. We get their manuscript to the tightest it can be, and then I also coach them toward traditional publishing. Anyone who gets a publishing deal also gets a pie.

One of my favorite projects combining my pie baking and writing is the month of November which is when it’s National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. It’s a national project where writers cheer each other on to get a first draft of a novel written. I started to doing NaNoPieMo every November. It’s a challenge for me where I bake a pie every day for the whole month. It’s tough because there’s a big holiday in there, and family and grandkids, and well–a pie every single day! I’m on my fourth year of this challenge, and it’s a fun and exciting time on social media. I have started auctioning off the pies as they come out of the oven. Last year I raised over $4000 for Ocean Discovery Institute kids.

I’ll be doing it again this year! Especially since my book will have just come out. Making my writing life fun and coming up with new ideas to be creative and keep things interesting and challenging help keep me persevering on all fronts.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I got my first book deal from Penguin, it was a two-book deal. I signed a contract that said I had to write a second novel. I had a novel already in my computer, but that was not the novel they wanted. They wanted a sequel to MoonPies, my first novel. I didn’t want to write a sequel, so I said I’d write something with the same characters, but a different main character. After much discussion, that was written into the contract, and off I went to my desk to write that 2nd book. How hard could it be? It only took my 7 years to write the first one, and I hadn’t even expected to write a novel. I had a year to write the next novel. First, I had to come up with a story idea. My writing group helped with that. I started to get in something of a groove with this next book, writing every day, feeling lucky to be living the writing life as a paid author. Then my editor left Penguin. The new editor said she didn’t like the pages I had turned in so far. I wouldn’t say I was in love with them either, but they met the qualifications in the contract. In the meantime, my original editor had moved to another publishing house, Hyperion, and she had read a NYT article about a retirement community that she thought I’d be the perfect author for a novel with these characters fictionalized. I read the article and agreed–I felt like I knew these characters! So, my agent (and this is a perfect example of why you need an agent) got me out of the Penguin contract without having to pay back any of my advance, and got me a new contract at Hyperion. Well, that was fabulous, for about a minute. The same editor wrote me an email and said she was sorry, but she was leaving me at the altar once again. She got a deal to have her own eponymous imprint at Penguin. The new editor at Hyperion did not like the bohemian retirees. She said, “We can break the contract now, or you can try to revise it.” Of course I would revise, I’m a people pleaser. I tried to get her to see the light–they were funny and book was going to have some magical realism, and couldn’t she see how great it would be? But she said no, and cancelled my deal. My agent got me out of that one too. This whole story was the saddest time in any author’s life, but what I realized after getting to the other side of it emotionally was that I wasn’t writing the book I wanted to write–I was writing the book other people wanted me to write. Soon after, my memoir was published.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

The one resource I always wish I had had early on was good mentors. Just like the men I dated, I always liked the tough mentors not the gooey supportive ones. The tough ones, I thought, would show me the ropes. Maybe over whiskey they’d provide some kind of insight I couldn’t get elsewhere. Instead, they really just wanted to talk about themselves and make me feel like crap. Sure, I learned a few things, maybe even some great things. I sure heard a lot of fabulous stories about their lives. But later in my own journey, when I went to graduate school and found a few wonderful mentors and supportive peers who wanted to share resources and bounce ideas and were encouraging and supportive, I realized that method was so much more productive for me and my work. I found that having people looking out for your well-being, and hoping for the same things you want, they can give you an advantage that the tough ones don’t. I have truly loved all my mentors, but it took liking myself more to know I’d rather learn in a supportive environment. I hope I am that kind of mentor to my students.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amywallen.com
• Instagram: @amylizwrites
• Facebook: @amylizwrites
• Linkedin: @amylizwrites
• Twitter: @amylizwrites
• Youtube: @amylizwrites
• Other: TikTok @amylizwrites

Image Credits
Illustrations by Emil Wilson