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Latinidad – Spring 2026: Kate McKean

Contents:

Saludos
Q&A: Kate McKean
Workshops: Dominican Writers Conference
Resources: $150,000 Tulsa Artist Fellowship

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BEFORE YOU SEND IT OUT

“Marcela was fantastic. Her passion spews out in her editing, commentary pages, and phone conversation. You can feel her desire to want you to succeed, and with her experience in the industry she will tell you exactly where your work stands. She gave me the tools I needed to move forward, what steps to take, what order to take them in, and what I should be focusing on and for that I’m beyond grateful. When you sign up with Marcela, you will get the whole package. Marcela, thank you so much for your guidance!”
—Sophia Sotto, author of Turquoise Mix-Up

Ready to work with a professional editor? Visit https://marcelalandres.com.
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1. Saludos

Shortly after I began my career at Simon & Schuster, I discovered my job entailed helping writers manage their emotions. I wish Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life by Kate McKean had existed then! Publishing companies should give copies of Write Through It to authors along with their contracts.

Savvy writers already know McKean through her newsletter Agents & Books. (If you don’t subscribe, stop reading and go sign up: https://www.agentsandbooks.com/.) McKean generously shares advice based on her experience as a literary agent and striving writer. Her tips on pages 87-88 regarding how to compile a submission list alone are worth the price tag.

Yet Write Through It stands out amidst the crowded shelf of how-to-get-published guides because she gently but firmly holds your heart as well as your hand. Kindness and honesty sometimes seem mutually exclusive but McKean succeeds at conveying both. To learn more, read the Q&A below.

Helping Latinos get published,
Marcela Landres
marcelalandres@yahoo.com
https://marcelalandres.com

2. Q&A

Kate McKean is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, New York. She is also an adjunct professor at New York University and earned her MA in fiction writing at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Electric Literature, Catapult, and elsewhere. She writes the Agents & Books newsletter at https://www.agentsandbooks.com/. For more information, visit https://www.katemckean.com/.

Q: You’re a mom, published author, literary agent, writing group and book club member, semiweekly newsletter writer—plus you read approximately 72 books a year! As the weary mother of a five year old, I am in awe of your time-management mastery. How do you muster the energy to do your own writing? When your batteries run low, how do you recharge?

A: When I had my kid, who’s now nine, it really forced me to remove stuff in my life that I liked but didn’t love. To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of TV and I know I’m missing out there, but at the end of the day, my turn-brain-off activity of choice is scrolling my phone. It is not the best choice! But it is the choice I am making now. I’ll probably make different choices down the line. That flexibility is also key, and something I’m really lucky to have in my day-job as a literary agent. Some days my job is really to read on the couch all day! But as a writer, I only do what works for me: early morning writing sessions a few days a week. I cannot write everyday. My schedule and brain just don’t allow for it. When I’m on deadline or in the throes of a big project, that shifts some and I might skip my book club that month. The real secret of people who seem to do it all is that they aren’t doing it all all the time. Flexibility and balance and sacrifice is how it all works. When I’ve been reading and writing too much, in my head too much, I have to get outside, see trees, and talk to people. When I’ve been outside too much, I need to hide on my couch in silence with a book. If you listen hard enough, you can hear what your body and your brain needs, and what anyone else has to say about it is immaterial.

Q: Countless query letters, proposals, and manuscripts have crossed your desk over the course of your career as a literary agent. What have you culled from the oceans of submissions that informs your own writing?

A: Reading queries, proposals, and manuscripts have really taught me to cut a lot of “throat-clearing” at the beginning of any piece of writing. I’ll often start writing–wherever it makes sense to start–and when I go back to edit, I end up cutting the first couple of pages, or at least the first few paragraphs. I was just warming up in that space, and most of the time the story gets started down the line. In editing these things with my clients, too, I’ve become much less precious about my words on the page. If those ones I just wrote don’t work, I’ll change them later. There are always more words.

Q: On p. 42 of Write Through It you say, “Ask any published writer, and they will tell you the things they want to change about their book, no matter how long ago it came out. Books are done mostly when we have to stop working on them, either because of a deadline or for our own good, not because they are perfect.” Now that Write Through It is out in the wild, is there any part of it you wish you could alter?

A: I’m really happy with how Write Through It came out! I read it eight times through in the editing process and whatever ended up in there was really meant to be there. But I do think I could have gotten some real query letters, with explicit permission from the authors, to include in the end of the book, instead of the fictional ones I wrote myself. I used my own ones because I wouldn’t ever want an author to feel like agents were holding up their query letters and pointing out all the ways they are wrong. There is a way, I’m sure, to show readers actual query letters so they can learn from them that’s kind, ethical, and helpful to the most people possible. I chose to write them this time. If I write another writing book, maybe I’ll get permission to use real ones next time.

Q: Along the same lines, on p. 211 of Write Through It you say, “Your book will have its own life in the minds of readers, separate from you. Let your reader learn and grow and get mad and fall in love and find insight and make connections in your book that you didn’t even know were there. That’s why we read books. They become ours when we do. Don’t hold on so tightly that you deny readers this essential experience.” Has there been feedback to Write Through It that surprised you?

A: I have seen one or two readers be annoyed that I don’t cover self-publishing, which is a fair assessment. I don’t! But also, you don’t want me to. I’m not an expert about self-publishing and I won’t pretend to be. There are other great resources on that. But honestly, the response to this book has been so heartwarming to me. I get so many authors saying it came to them just when they needed it, or it said the thing they really needed to hear, or that they’ve gone back and reread certain chapters and it really helped them at different parts of their writing journey. That’s all I wanted it to do–to be a helping hand to writers when they need it most. And to reassure writers that we all go through the same bouts of worry, doubt, and fear when it comes to writing, even those of us others assume have it easy or know everything there is to know.

Q: While you’ve published stories and essays (my fave is “What Bird Watching Gave Me After My Miscarriage”), you’ve written three picture books, three novels, and two non-fiction books but only two of those sold to publishers. Has the advice you give to writers in general and clients in particular evolved since Write Through It was published? If so, how?

A: Writing and publishing a book has really given me the opportunity to talk about all the books I didn’t get published and I’m really thankful for that. Before, I was a little more shy about it, as many authors are, but because I’m a literary agent, too, I felt extra sensitive about it. Now I realize that sensitivity is just ego, and it doesn’t matter. I will continue to write books and they all have the same chance of getting published as my previous ones did: about 50/50. And that’s ok! And I will continue to talk about the books I publish and the ones that don’t get there because it’s important for all writers to see that publishing one book doesn’t open the door to guaranteed publication forever, and even those of us on the inside struggle to find success. If one of your books doesn’t get published, go write another. The other option is to quit.

And to my clients, I think I am much more specific in my editorial letters when we’re working together on editing a manuscript. The editorial letter from my editor, Stephanie Hitchcock, was a masterclass in support, feedback, suggestion, and encouragement. After I read their letter to me, I knew I had to up my game to my own clients!

Q: I know at least five people who would love your upcoming picture book Pay Attention To Me!—and only one of them is a child. What (or who) inspired this tale?

A: This book first came to me through a title: Bright Lights, Big Kitty even though that didn’t turn out to be the final title. (I’ll hopefully use it for something else!) Also, throughout my career, I’ve worked on cat and dog specific websites that turned into books, starting with I Can Has Cheezburger back in the early aughts, to We Rate Dogs now. So I’ve seen a lot of cats get famous on the internet and I decided to tell the story of one cat and why he wanted to be famous. But the real secret is: I’m allergic to cats and dogs!! I can’t have one of my own! So I enjoy them online where they don’t make me sneeze.

(Note: that is how Cheezbuger is spelled for this site. 🙂 )

Q: Do you have upcoming projects that my readers should have on their radar?

A: Absolutely! Everyone should rush out and preorder Anna Cowan’s spectacular queer historical romance called The Duke. It’s hot and sexy and beautiful and you fall deeply in love with all her characters. Out April 28! In June, I have two clients with books out that you should definitely read. Out June 2 is Danny Lavery’s third novel Meeting New People, about a woman who sets out to find her last best friend. On June 28 comes Bobby Finger’s third novel, too, called We Are Gathered Here Today, a fantastic and funny novel about friends and weddings and the friends you make at weddings. Last but not least is New York Times bestseller Jordan Ifueko’s The Genie Game, the first of a new middle grade series that’s pitched as Harriet the Spy meets Black Mirror. So good! Out April 21.

My own picture book, Pay Attention to Me!, comes out May 5, and if you preorder now and send me the receipt, you get access to an exclusive Ask Me Anything Zoom call where you can do just that! Ask Me Anything! Find out more here on my newsletter: https://www.agentsandbooks.com/.

3. Workshops

Dominican Writers Conference: Reclaiming Our Palabras

WHAT: Marcela Landres will be conducting one-on-one manuscript reviews.

WHEN: May 1–3, 2026

WHERE: John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City

4. Resources
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$150,000 TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP
Application Period: April 7 – May 7
The Tulsa Artist Fellowship is for national and local artists and/or arts workers of any discipline. Each Fellow will receive a $150,000 project development and artistic practice stipend, plus housing, health, studio assistant, and relocation stipends. For more information, visit https://www.tulsaartistfellowship.org/.

THE DESPERATE LITERATURE PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
Deadline: April 19
Desperate Literature (an international bookshop in Madrid, Spain) and The de Groot Foundation aim to give winners the most visibility possible for their writing. The prize includes cash, writing retreats, publication in multiple print and online journals, and a consultation with a literary agent. For more information, visit https://desperateliterature.com/.

ROMANCE INCLUDES YOU MENTORSHIP
Submission Period: May 1 – May 31
Harlequin’s Romance Includes You Mentorship aims to increase diversity and representation in the romance genre by calling for story submissions by authors in underrepresented communities. The author is offered a publishing contract with Harlequin for their debut novel, a year-long mentorship with an editor to complete their novel for publication, and a grant to further develop their writing career. For more information, visit https://www.writeforharlequin.com/mentorship-recipient/.

NEW LETTERS
The mission of New Letters magazine is to discover, publish, and promote the best and most exciting literary writing, wherever it might be found. They publish and serve readers and writers worldwide and seek poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and book reviews. Contributors are paid. For more information, visit https://www.newletters.org/.

WTAW PRESS
WTAW Press welcomes writers of all backgrounds and especially encourages submissions by women, BIPOC, members of the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, and other traditionally underrepresented groups. For more information, visit https://www.wtawpress.org/.

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“Focus on the people in your life who inspire and support you, not ones that drive your competitive instincts.”
—Kate McKean, https://www.katemckean.com/

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