A quick hello:
I’m Kate Broad. My debut novel, GREENWICH, is coming out with St. Martin’s Press in July 2025. I’ve also published 10 romance novels under a pen name and work as award-winning editor with twenty years of publishing experience.
I started this newsletter to provide advice and support for authors at all stages of writing, publishing, and hang-wringing. Subscribe and let me know how I can help!
For one-on-one writing, editing, and publishing support—from idea to finished manuscript to query letters and submissions—please find me at Broad Editorial.
A longer introduction:
Once upon a time, I got a PhD in English (American literature, specifically Reconstruction through the 20th century, specifically the history of feminist and not-so-feminist utopian and dystopian speculative literature and sci fi). I published poetry, essays, and co-edited an award winning volume on YA dystopian fiction—the first academic book on the genre, in fact! I was teaching and also working as a freelance writer and editor in K-12 educational publishing.
But I really, really wanted to write a novel.
I’d always wanted to write a novel.
I just didn’t know about what.
I dabbled with young adult and middle grade sci fi. Queried. Revised. Queried. Revised. Maybe I should have kept going. But then I had an idea for a romance novel and put the Impossible Kid’s Book aside. My dissertation had been on the romance plot in contemporary feminist political novels (think Margaret Atwood, Marge Piercy, Toni Morrison, Ursula Le Guin). I’d zeroed in on how different novels are structured and how the work within their worlds also comes to work upon the reader. For the first time, I had a clear idea for a novel from start to finish and more confidence that I could actually do it.
I queried that novel in 2013, signed with an agent 6 months later, and it was published in 2014: my debut, written under a pen name that I’ve done a terrible job of keeping secret. (It’s Rebecca Brooks.)
I went on to publish ten romance novels, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestsellers and a “Top Pick” in Oprah Magazine. I rereleased that first novel and a companion novella on my own when I got the rights back, so I have experience self-publishing as well.
But I still felt myself pulled in another direction. The whole time I was writing romance, I’d continued to work on a literary novel, an upmarket coming-of-age suspense that felt close to my heart. In 2018, I signed with a second agent to represent that novel and my future non-romance work. That agent and I parted ways, and in 2021 — after over 20 full requests and multiple offers — I was overjoyed to sign with Jade Wong-Baxter at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency to bring my new books to life. I couldn’t have landed with a better agent for me! But I know how fraught this process can be, and that’s why I want to use the knowledge and experience I’ve gathered over the years to help other writers succeed.
[And, UPDATE: My debut literary novel, GREENWICH, that I worked so hard on with Jade, has found a home and will be coming out from St. Martin’s Press in July 2025. I’ll share more about that process, and how this all came to be, as we get closer to pub date!]
In 2021, I won a grant from the Bronx Council on the Arts to support Bronx artists and writers. As part of the grant, I gave a webinar in 2022 that I called “Ask An Agented Author,” in which I talked about how to get a literary agent and provided tips and resources for querying, then opened it up to a Q&A. I was expecting 2 people, would have been thrilled to have 5, and reminded myself I could always cancel it if no one showed. Imagine my face when over 150 people registered for the event, 55 of them in the first 24 hours. Querying is HARD, publishing is a minefield, and the whole process to bring a book from idea to publication can be confusing, isolating, and opaque. This Substack came out of that event and my realization that there’s a clear need out there for information, resources, community, and support.
I rely on generous donations from subscribers who see value in this work and want to help make this project sustainable for me. I’m committed to keeping this information free and not paywalling any of the Q&As or the archive. Your support makes this possible—and your questions ensure I have something to write. So please subscribe, consider upgrading your subscription, and let me know how I can help!
