Fresh Ink: An Interview with Debut Novelist Jael McHenry

I’m so excited to feature Jael McHenry in the very first Fresh Ink, a monthly series of interviews with debut novelists that focuses on the journey from first book contract to publication date. I first heard about Jael and her beautiful debut, The Kitchen Daughter, through Twitter, and was immediately drawn to it for its haunting vibes (and the fact that like her protagonist, I, too call my grandmother Nonna).

I can’t even imagine how busy the weeks leading up to the big day must be for a first-time author, and I’m so grateful to Jael for taking the time to give us a glimpse into her publishing journey! The Kitchen Daughter debuts tomorrow, April 12.

First, a few quick numbers:

Length of time from book’s start to pub date: 3 years and 3 months

# of agents you queried before signing: For this book, only 8; but lifetime, 50+

# of books written before this one: 4 or 5

# of revisions you went through: 12+

We’re lucky that there are so many great resources for writers to learn about publishing these days. That being said, what’s the one aspect of the process you never could have predicted?

How warm and supportive other authors are. I’m communicating every day with other people who’ve been through the same process and it makes a HUGE difference. Everyone’s experience is unique, obviously, but learning from people who’ve been through it before – not to mention having friends to celebrate the good and murmur over the bad – has been a really unexpected boon.

What was it like to work with an editor after having worked on the book on your own?

Fresh eyes are such a help, especially since my agent and I had gone through several rounds of editing together. And Lauren is incredibly insightful. Her editing style was perfect for me, because she’ll find weak points and opportunities for improvement, and she’ll offer a potential solution, but it’s never “you must change this.” It’s “this chapter is slow” or “I lost sympathy for this character in this scene” or “Do you think you could push the emotions deeper here?” It really made the book stronger.

Your cover is so stunning. I understand that usually authors have very little input on the cover itself, but what was the process like from your POV?

It’s so funny. Before the design process started, they asked for my input, so I sent some samples of other covers and photos that I liked. But when the final cover came back it was absolutely nothing like what I had proposed. And thank goodness for that! This cover is so much better. It was one of the easiest parts of the process for me since they did such an incredible job right off the bat. There were a couple of font tweaks and that was it. All I had to do was say “Yes.”

Can you tell me about the process of getting blurbs for your book? Did you approach writers you knew, or ones you didn’t? What was the process like?

It was a combination. I approached some writers that I knew, and some I didn’t know, and my publisher approached a couple of people as well. It’s really nerve-racking, but you get over it, because it’s important. Even for the writers I knew, I wanted to be respectful of their time, and I didn’t send out a blanket plea – I wrote individual notes, a lot of them handwritten. I only asked authors whose books are similar to mine in some way. It was never just “Who do you know?” It was “Whose readers might like this book, and how do we reach that author?” And the results have been great. I nearly fainted when we got that Lisa Genova quote for the cover. I was so happy.

How much input did your publisher and agent have in your marketing plan? Did you hire any outside PR or marketing help?

My publisher put the whole thing together, really. They have been 100% supportive of this book, and I’ve gotten a lot of great opportunities, like the video cooking demos on my author page. I also hired a publicist just because I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could – you only get one chance at the debut – and she has worked hand-in-hand with my in-house publicity team to get the book out there. They’ve been wonderful. A lot of the social media stuff I started doing on my own just because I love it, but it dovetails nicely with their plans too.

What are your plans for April 12?

Champagne! I have a radio interview, and a reservation for a fancy celebratory lunch, but mostly you will probably see me on Twitter, tweeting up a storm.

About The Kitchen Daughter:

After the unexpected death of her parents, shy and sheltered Ginny Selvaggio, a young woman with Asperger’s Syndrome, seeks comfort in family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning—before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish.

A haunted kitchen isn’t Ginny’s only challenge. Her domineering sister Amanda insists on selling their parents’ house in Philadelphia, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents’ belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn’t sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn’t know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father’s photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from her parents’ recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

Jael, thank you so much for sharing your journey, and congratulations! I’ll be throwing virtual confetti your way tomorrow and can’t wait to read your book.

Readers, what family recipes evoke the feeling of home for you? How does food influence your writing?