We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristy Woodson Harvey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristy below.

Kristy, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you’ve thought about whether to sign with an agent or manager?

“How to find an agent” sounds pretty simple. Sort of like “how to tie your shoe” or “how to plant summer lettuce.” But, if you’re a writer, trying to place that first novel or non-fiction work it can be very tricky!

I can’t remember exactly how old my son was when I started writing those dreaded query letters. But I distinctly remember lying on the couch between the 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. feedings, re-reading my personalized query to and agent I wanted to work with, and seeing the bomb on his website that he tends to only take new authors on the recommendation of existing author clients or those with previously published works. (i.e., not me.) I weighed the options. The rule-following part of me was going to sigh, delete what I had just worked so diligently on, and move on to the next agent on my list.

The crazy tired, hormonal, middle-of-the-night me pressed “send” anyway. I got back in bed and waited for my next wake-up call.

When I got up for the day, I had an email from said agent waiting in my inbox. I’m pretty sure it had been sent around 5 a.m. I figured it was either a form “I said I don’t take new authors, quit bugging me,” or “I like your writing, but…” Instead, it was a short note from asking for the full ms.

Needless to say, I danced around the living room.

This makes no logical sense, but, in my previous job at Northwestern Mutual, we had this formula: 10-3-1. Under no circumstances does it relate to finding an agent. But, looking over my spreadsheet, I had sent ten query letters and this agent made the third request for my manuscript. It seemed like a good omen that I was going to find my “one!”

I liked this agent immediately, not only because he also seemed to keep my same, odd, middle-of-the-night hours but also because he kept me posted through his reading process. And he signed me quickly. And he was the first person who didn’t know me that read my work and said he absolutely loved it with no “but” attached. After all that rejection, that “love” phone call is one you don’t forget!

Kristy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of eleven novels that, whether contemporary or historical, I think could best be summed up as Southern family drama. Many of my books have been optioned for film or TV, and I have some fun projects in the works to that end! I am the co-founder and co-host of the weekly webshow and podcast Friends & Fiction with fellow NYT Bestselling authors Patti Callahan Henry, Kristin Harmel, and Mary Kay Andrews where we interview authors every Wednesday live on Facebook at 7 pm about their work, their writing life, and pull back the curtain on their personal lives. It’s great fun! I’m also the co-founder of the interiors blog Design Chic with my mom, Beth Woodson. I absolutely adore writing. It is my true passion but, for years, I wondered if that in and of itself was enough of a contribution to the wider world. Enter: 2020. I’m embarrassed to say that it was the first time in my Type-A life that I had realized how vitally, incredibly important people’s joy was. Just plain, old, happy-for-the-sake-of-being-happy joy. If my readers are to be believed, I think my work brings that to people’s lives. And I realize now that that’s enough!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Getting out into the world and hearing from my readers! I tour pretty extensively, and I love getting to hear from readers which book is their favorite, what resonated with them most, how something I wrote made them happy or look at the world a little differently. Writing is a very solitary process, which I, quite frankly, love about it. But the work takes on a whole different meaning when it’s in the hands of readers.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I probably had a slightly different path to building my audience because, before I was an author, my mom and I had already started our design blog, Design Chic. We began around 2010, which, in my opinion, was sort of the golden age of blogging. The internet wasn’t totally flooded but blogs were popular enough that we had an easy time gaining followers across our platforms. When I started writing, I started a separate website, email list, and Facebook page where a lot of my current followers joined me, but some things, like Instagram, remained combined. I had many people urge me to separate the writing part of my life, but authors, like readers, have diverse interests. For me, having the design element and the writing and reading element together in one place has worked wonderfully well. I think the design piece has landed me new readers and readers have come to the design blog.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kristywoodsonharvey.com
• Instagram: @kristywharvey
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kristywoodsonharvey
• Twitter: @kristyharvey
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKMPzYb7O-tE9XcsuWQfOhg

Image Credits
For the photos on the dock with my family and the dog and me and The Wedding Veil: Grace Bell. The others are just candids from events!