We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julie Kingsley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Julie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I believe that creatives are plagued by creativity, that being a maker is something you can’t really help. Characters show up unannounced like little rambunctious beasts, plots unfold during a road trip within that “what if” I took the longer way, and the tiny details of life expand if you consider the metaphor of details. That being said, every single maker has had day jobs. I’ve personally been: a bingo lady at a nursing home, fourth grade teacher, bartender, ice cream scooper, seventh grade teacher, failed tech company owner, college instructor, chamber maid, Twitter consultant etc, etc, etc. All of these jobs contain creative thought and space for ideas. Being a published writer, podcaster, and being the co-founder of The Manuscript Academy and the Manuscript Academy podcast has been a culmination of every job I’ve ever had. That’s curious to me. A forward step always leads somewhere!
Julie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
How did I fall into my weird spot in publishing? It’s actually a great story. My entire career has been built on baby steps. I loved teaching. LOVED it. But when I had two kids in quick succession (the second in the front seat after 45 minutes of labor — which totally freaked me out), I had the luck to stay home with my kids, who each needed therapies from their crazy births, thus falling off my original path. I scraped together my first company (Tutoring), and found the I had a true gift for framing the message around business. Down the road, I ended up teaching Mass Communication and Screenwriting at a New Media/Communication department. I started blogging, and seeing the opportunity of pulling like-minded people together. I founded a writing retreat and volunteered at SCWBI. At a Startup weekend, I found a group of developers and had my first failure of a business, but as that was imploding…. I met a literary agent on a bus in NYC. We had a little spat about the door, which really cracked us up. Standing in the street corner, she invited me to a party full of agents. As a budding author, I jumped. I met my business partner for the Manuscript Academy at that party.
The Manuscript Academy’s mission is to be the happiest place in publishing. A full service conference, we have a faculty of between forty and sixty working literary agents, over a hundred hours of curated content, and monthly live events. We aim to give writers the push they need to get over that final publishing hurdle of getting a contract. I’m extremely proud of this community. It’s my luck every day to work with such an amazing group of creatives.
And, yes, I’m still writing. My focus is YA, with a book-to-film focus. I love difficult subjects hidden in whimsy.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
It’s complicated, right? We’re currently living within a world that seems to mostly consume micro-bites — YouTube shorts, TikTok and Instagram videos, etc. I’ve been reading that museums and non-profits have also lost funding. Okay, what can we do? I think it’s important that we all take this as a reset. Do a quick audit on how much online media you’re consuming, make changes. Make it a priority to read that book, to visit the new art exhibition, and donate if you can. As a maker, lean into the feelings of this time. Don’t edit yourself. Keep at it. Your work is important. The future needs your perspective!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Fear has been my biggest lesson, primarily financial insecurity. It’s been so ingrained in me that I’ve walked away from a teaching pension, which in my family of origin is the stupidest thing you could ever do. I wonder if money fears are something you’re born, but they solidify in your psyche from all of those stories a family tells is whispered tones of being cold and hungry.
Being an entrepreneur is scary, being a writer too. There is incredible insecurity within the unknown and uncertain, and like climbing any mountain the trail can often be rugged, leaving you gasping for breath until you reach the summit. That is the fun of it. Why stay in the fear zone? I’m best when I’m developing ideas and leaning into opportunities. It is what makes me tick. I can’t help it. We should all be able to lean into what we are best at. If not, what the point?
My biggest lesson from the entire experience? I’ve learned that each piece of art/business has incredible back-story and energy behind it. If you’re a maker or entrepreneur, be proud. You’ve got this!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://juliekingsley.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manuscriptacademy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.t.kingsley
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-true-kingsley-b76923a/
- Twitter: @juliekingsley
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@manuscriptacademy
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-965795498
Image Credits
@JudyBeedle (First picture)
@ElizaethRunser