How I Got Published: Kristina Stanley

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Kristina Stanley

Kristina Stanley was head of security at an isolated resort in the debts of the Purcell Mountains, British Columbia. Her time in that job and her love of skiing led her to write the Stone Mountain series.

Her books have garnered the attention of prestigious crime writing organizations in Canada and England. Crime Writers of Canada nominated DESCENT (July 2015, Imajin Books) for the Unhanged Arthur award for the best unpublished crime novel. The Crime Writers’ Association nominated BLAZE for the Debut Dagger (to be published fall 2015, Imajin Books).

How I Got Published

For me the journey to publication was a long one. I wrote four novels. I believe I needed to do this in order to improve my writing and bring it to the level where it deserved to be published.

While I was writing, I spent four years creating an online platform. Most publishers today want an author to have a platform before they will consider taking on a new author. The unexpected benefit for me was that I love connecting with people on the Internet. I have a wide range of contacts, all of who are interesting to interact with and learn from. Four years may seem like a long time, but to connect personally and develop relationships does take time.

In the early days, I was very lucky to receive detailed critiques from publishers who rejected AVALANCHE, the third novel in the Stone Mountain Mystery series. I studied the feedback and improved my writing. One suggestion was AVALANCHE should be the third book in the series not the first. I’m happy to say I followed this advice and have a publisher for DESCENT and BLAZE. Now my dream is for AVALANCHE to follow suit.

I found my publisher, Imajin Books, by reading a novel by Cheryl Kaye Tardif. Her style is similar to mine, so I checked to see who her publisher was. As it turned out, Cheryl is the CEO of Imajin Books. I waited until Imajin Books was open for submissions and sent in my work. I followed the guidelines carefully and had my work submitted seconds after the opening time. If you read the guidelines at www.Imajinbooks.com you’ll see how important having a social platform is to getting published.

Thank you for reading, and I’d love to hear what you have to say about publishing in the comments below.

Thank you to Carol for hosting me today.

If you would like to check out DESCENT, you can buy a copy or download a sample at: myBook.to/Descent.

When Kalin Thompson is promoted to Director of Security at Stone Mountain Resort, she soon becomes entangled in the high-profile murder investigation of an up-and-coming Olympic-caliber skier. There are more suspects with motives than there are gates on the super-G course, and danger mounts with every turn.

Kalin’s boss orders her to investigate. Her boyfriend wants her to stay safe and let the cops do their job. Torn between loyalty to friends and professional duty, Kalin must look within her isolated community to unearth the killer’s identity.

“Murder rocks the competitive ski world in Stanley’s layered tale with enough suspects to keep readers guessing until the last chilling chapter.”– Brenda Chapman: Brenda Chapman: Author of the Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries.

For an in-depth look at Kristina’s publishing and marketing process check out her blog at www.KristinaStanley.com.

Thank you, Kristina for being here. I wish you all the best in your writing career.

43 thoughts on “How I Got Published: Kristina Stanley”

  1. It’s always so interesting to learn how others get published. I always learn! Thanks very much to both of you.

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  3. I admire that you wrote 4 books. I wish I had done that as once you are published there is so much to do, it’s hard to find time to write (maybe if I wasn’t working fulltime as a freelance writer/editor). But I agree on building the author platform. I started in 2012 — 3 years before publication. It feels funny, to do that, but as you say you build a network and learn from others along the way. Another great post.

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  4. A director of security at a resort sounds like a great professional background to use in one’s fiction. And I admire her for having the patience to get four books written before querying. Sounds like a smart tactic.

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    • Hi Stacy. I submitted Descent and Blaze at the same time – exactly two minutes after Imajin Books opened for submissions. I received an email that day stating they’d received my submission. They next day, they asked for the complete manuscript for Descent. A day later, Blaze. And within a few weeks we had a signed contract. There is no dilly-dallying when it comes to working with Imajin Books.

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  12. I am a sporadic visitor buy always backtrack to make sure I read every one of Carol’s posts since they are chock full of humor, information and her collection of authors is astounding.
    Glad to learn about publishing from Kristina Stanley. Your premises for your books sound interesting, mysterious and would pull the readers in trying yo solve the crimes. The unique setting with your knowing natural descriptions and pssibilities would enhance the books tremendously.
    Good luck and continue to build your series. We will look back and say, ” I knew her then. . . Before she made it on the New York Times Bestseller list,” Kristina. 🙂

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  17. Pingback: Mystery Mondays: Carol Balawyder on Subplots | KRISTINA STANLEY

  18. I think you did this the right way, Kristina. My Sir Choc books are published through a small publisher in the UK and I had no on-line presence or platform at all (not even Facebook) when the first book came out. I have had a massive learning curve and also think it is improving my writing a great deal. I have had an on-line presence for about 18 months now and I also love it.

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