Join local author M. Stevenson to celebrate the release of her latest book, of It Depends: An Author’s Practical Guide to Debut Year in conversation with Jennifer Savran Kelly!

About the author: M. Stevenson is the author of Behooved, This Treacherous Night, and other novels for adults and teens. A graduate of Brown University (BA, Geology-Biology) and the University of Idaho (MEd, Environmental Education), she has worked as an outdoor educator, wilderness skills instructor, and science teacher. She is based in the Finger Lakes region of New York, where she can often be spotted wandering the woods talking to birds and plants. Find her online at mstevensonbooks.com.

About the book: What happens after I accept an offer? When can I announce my book? What if I need more time on my edits? How do I run a preorder campaign?Getting a book deal is the achievement of a lifelong dream. But after the champagne pops, the questions pour in. Even after all your research, navigating the publishing landscape can quickly feel overwhelming. Most existing resources focus on writing your manuscript and getting an agent, not on the nuts and bolts of what happens between receiving an offer and releasing your debut.This book answers all the most common questions you have—or didn’t know you’d have—about your debut year. With examples and templates, logistical tips, walk-throughs of editorial processes, and more, It Depends is your practical guide to not just surviving your debut year, but putting your book out into the world as an informed and empowered author.

About the conversation partner: Jennifer Savran Kelly lives in upstate New York, where she writes, bind books, and works as a production editor at Cornell University Press. Jennifer’s debut novel Endpapers (Algonquin, 2023) was a finalist for a 2024 Lambda Literary Award and a fall/winter 2023 Indies Introduce pick. It won a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Foundation and was selected as a finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship.

Jennifer’s short work has been published in Short Story, Long; Potomac Review; Black Warrior Review; Trampset; Green Mountains Review; and elsewhere.