Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

I recently registered for a book reviewer’s account with Edelweiss, which is a service very similar to NetGalley where I have typically received the ARCs I have reviewed here on my website. Write Through It by Kate McKean was the first book I requested, for two reasons: (1) I am a little burned out on heavy historical fiction, and (2) I assumed I had a good chance to be approved for this ARC since it is targeting a specific audience.

That specific targeted audience, while not small, is simply writers who want to be published, writers who will read ALL the books offering advice on obtaining the Holy Grail of the book world, a book in print published by one of the “Big Five,” namely, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Hachette, and Penguin.

Full disclosure: I am most definitely a member of this specific targeted audience. I’ve been working on a novel for decades, the same one, in one form or another, some of that time spent writing, but most of it spent thinking, outlining, daydreaming, rethinking, loving my idea for this novel, and simultaneously hating it as well. I’ve attended webinars, taken online writing classes (one particularly excellent one by published author Louise Miller), and maintained a Google Docs folder of all my iterations of my book. My main character, through the expert guidance of Louise Miller, has come into focus as a real, live, breathing individual currently living rent-free in my head and in the 9,000 or so words I’ve managed to get on paper, most of which I’m unhappy with.

Dear Kate McKean, how did you know I needed this book? There is so much great information in this book. It is sort of like getting the secret code to unlock the vault door where all the treasures are stored. I highlighted so many passages while reading this on my Kindle, I finally just made the decision to just pre-order the book and sit with a highlighter and a stack of post it notes and read it all over again.

Kate McKean’s bio reads like the poster child for success in the publishing world: as an undergrad, working at University Press of Florida, MFA from University of Southern Mississippi, joining the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in 2006 rising to her current position of Vice-President at the agency in 2011, and having also served as an adjunct professor at New York University. She is also the writer of the popular newsletter Agents & Books.

In my quest to learn more about the art of writing, I’ve made my way through many books about the art of writing, some by very famous people. Among my favorites are Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. What I found refreshingly different in McKean’s book is her insider’s view of the publishing industry, from the chair of a literary agent, the first editor of any book. Lamott and King wax poetic on writing as successful writers, and yes, the information in their books is very valuable, and obviously given who they are, very well written.

McKean’s book, however, hit me differently. Her candid, straight forward prose is no holds barred advice, to get to the Holy Grail you must go through the jaws of hell, one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page, at a time. You actually have to sit down and do it. LOL, easier said than done, but at least here is someone who is being completely realistic about it. Whether you are a “pantser” or a “plotter” she lays it all out for you. Step by excruciating step.

Another thing I really enjoyed about McKean’s book was the explanation of the book industry terminology. Deckled pages? French flaps? Cover copy? Blurbs? It’s all explained in plain English.

McKean is very realistic with what is in your control as the writer of a to-be-published book and what is absolutely not in your control. She is honest about the end goal for the publisher: to make money by selling tons of copies of your book. This may mean you don’t get your choice of font or title or cover illustration. But, bearing in mind that you have obtained the Holy Grail, and the experts want what’s best for your book every bit (i.e. $$$) as much as you do, then let the experts guide you to the right decision.

I enjoyed this book and I learned a lot from it. Will it make me a better writer? Perhaps not. Has it inspired me to get my butt in my chair and get my first draft of my decades-old novel finished at last? YES INDEED.

Kate McKean’s book Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life will be published on June 10, 2025, by S&S/Simon Element. If you are a writer, or a writer-wanna-be, preorder this book now!

Congrats, Kate, on obtaining the Holy Grail!