"The best thing that could have happened to me was my first novel not being published."
Lauren Evans, author of Casket Case, shares how she made it into her Second Chapter.
One of my favorite things is to support authors, either by buying and reading their book(s), publishing this Substack, interacting with them online, or talking them up to friends and family. But one thing that gives me all the feels is supporting debut authors. I have so much respect for someone in their debut era - it’s exciting, scary, and celebratory all at once. And with how the market is going, it’s even harder to stand out, make sales, and publish again.
Today’s featured (debut) author is Lauren Evans, an author I had the chance to meet online through Substack (and maybe the BOP Geneva group?). Working in higher education, Lauren officially opened her Second Chapter just a couple weeks ago when her debut novel, Casket Case, was published.
Below, Lauren shares how her first career helped her with creative writing, the one investment tactic she swears by, and how chance timing helped her. Enjoy!
Let’s start in the past. Tell us about your pre-author career journey.
I got a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in liberal studies, so I went the only place that would have me: higher education! I worked in housing in undergrad and grad school, and I enjoyed getting to know students. I have been on staff at a university since I graduated grad school in 2014, and most of those years were student facing. Earlier this year, I moved into a role that deals more with curriculum.
I concentrated on non-fiction in grad school and thought I might become the next Hannah Horvath or Carrie Bradshaw, but that didn’t stick. I started playing around with fiction in 2014, and I am finally publishing my first novel this year!
Did you have any preconceived notions / myths about becoming a writer? How did you overcome those?
Yes, I thought it would be more “figured out”, like one day I would know exactly what to write and how to write it. So far, that has not been true. I also thought I would never be a “real writer” because I don’t write every single day, and so much writing advice says you should. I’m not sure I’ve overcome that so much as I’ve made peace with my life as it is and the ways I’m able to fit writing into it.
Juggling anything with a day job is hard work, especially something as in-depth as writing a book. Can you set the scene for what your life looked like when you started writing?
I was working at my day job way too much. It was pretty much my whole life. I ran a lot of student events which meant working normal hours and then running the events during nights and weekends. Working like that meant I was exhausted a lot. A lot of my writing was done in my head while I was doing something else (like commuting!), and then I might have a productive writing session once or twice a month. As my project started to take shape, I carved out more and more time for it.
Did your first career help in your writing at all?
Yes! No one tells you that half of a writing career is writing, and the other half is admin work. I’ve never met a bureaucratic process I can’t handle! This was extremely helpful while querying! I also do a lot of writing at work, even though it’s not too creative. I still think exercising the muscle has been helpful for me.
Did you employ any tips and tricks to help you write? If so, what were they?
The thing that helped me most was creating my own writer’s retreat. I now have it down to a science, so that I can be my most productive. I needed “skin in the game” as they say (I cringe at this phrase but it works here, I suppose). Writing wasn’t my day job, I was exhausted and burned out, and I wasn’t exactly rolling in the dough as a higher ed professional, so paying in advance for two nights in an Airbnb an hour away from my house made me feel like I actually had to write instead of pretending to write and watching TV during my scheduled writing time instead. It also gave me an environment away from my responsibilities, but not so far away that I would waste a lot of time in the car.
A huge element of writing and the path to publishing comes from a cultivated community. What is your writing community like and how did you find it?
I have two friends from grad school who are kind enough to read my drafts! I’m lucky to have friends who are big readers, so they’re also great to ask about ideas. My boyfriend is also a writer, and he’s working on an epic fantasy, which is different from my romance writing, but we are always talking about our characters and plot and whatnot. I’m going to get more kissing into his book, and I’ll probably wind up with some type of action scene if I’m not careful.
Casket Case is published by Orion Books in the UK and Dell in the US. Could you tell us about your path to publishing?
I chose traditional publishing because I could not imagine having to figure out how to self-publish. I have so much respect for those who do. To start, I sent out many, many query letters. My first novel did not find an agent. Then, I wrote Casket Case. I sent many, many more query letters. I literally sent one final query letter after deciding it was time to give up on Casket Case and move onto my next project, and it was to my current agent. We moved fairly quickly—I think it was about three months between signing with my agent and signing with my editor at Dell Publishing. I did maybe two edits with my agent and then one big edit with my editor before moving into copyediting (another big task!) and a final edit of the galley copy.
What would you recommend to others who are considering traditional publishing?
The best thing that could have happened to me was my first novel not being published. That’s easy for me to say as someone who just published a novel, but it’s true. When I started Casket Case, I felt like I had nothing to lose because I had already failed. The worst that could happen was that I could fail again, but I had already survived that. This was great because I had no idea if anyone would buy a romance about death! So, I really was writing for myself.
I would recommend editing your manuscript multiple times and having more than one other person’s eyes on it before starting to query. It’s also a right place, right time situation, so cut yourself some slack and give yourself a break from time to time. You never know when a new agent or new editor will pop up who would love your manuscript.
To be able to pivot any career, there’s usually a supporting financial element tied to it. Did you have any financial support that helped you on your journey? Could you share what that looked like?
I am still working at my full-time job in higher education! Like before I was published, I am saving up right now to go on my own writing retreat at an Airbnb. For me, this means making writing a priority above other things I might want to do with my money.
There’s also a blackhole when it comes to how much authors make, enabling a myth that once you’re a published author you can write full-time as the only source of income. But it's not always that simple or linear! Could you tell us a bit more about how this is working for you financially?
LOL I absolutely could not live on my writing salary. First of all, the word “advance” is a bit misleading, or at least mine is! I’m very happy with my advance, but I get it in installments: one when I sign, one when I turn in the final manuscript, one at publication, and one a year after that. So, that means at this moment, I have only received about half of it. Without boring you to death (Casket Case pun intended), this was not a lump sum because of taxes. Percentage wise, I’m at around 75% day job and 25% writing job at this particular moment. I would love to one day be a full-time writer, but as someone who lives alone and does not split expenses, it’s not happening anytime soon.
Time to put on your wise Hindsight Glasses. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Trust yourself. To my mind, if you read a lot of the particular genre you want to write, you know if your story is good or not. You know if it’s as good as the published books you’re reading. You know if it’s ready for someone else to read. You know if you’ve edited it as much as you possibly can before sending it to an agent or editor or contest. I wish I had trusted myself a bit more, and maybe I would have written Casket Case sooner than I did.
What did you learn about yourself during this process?
To just keep going! I’ve had some disappointments, and of course I have some things I would do differently if I could, but I keep moving on to the next thing on my to-do list. I think that’s as good of a compliment as I could possibly give myself.
Are there other Second Chapter authors that inspired you? If yes, who are they?
Diana Gabaldon! The biologist who wrote in the middle of the night to give us Outlander!
What's been your favorite read of 2024 so far?
Margo’s Got Money Troubles – I can’t get it out of my head!
Thank you so much, Lauren! Personally, I loved the idea of investing in yourself by crafting your own writing retreat. It ups the ante on really hunkering down to write.
You can follow Lauren on Substack (
) and Instagram (@laurenevanswrites) If you liked the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Belladonna, Casket Case should be your next read.As always, thanks for reading! You can find Second Chapter also on Instagram and Threads. I love putting this weekly newsletter together, highlighting how authors moved into their Second Chapter, hopefully inspiring aspiring authors along the way.
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Thanks for featuring me, Cori! This was a fun interview!