How I Got a Book Deal – Writing My First Book: Modern Crochet Sweaters

Hi all!

I know many people are curious about the ins and outs of writing a book – how a book deal comes about in the first place, what exactly it entails, how the process unfolds.. and I thought I’d share my personal experience with you here. My finished manuscript was sent to my publishers in January 2021. I began my pattern tests in February, they lasted through May, and my final rounds of manuscript edits were completed in May, once the pattern tests for each sweater in the book have come to a close. Over 500 people were involved in testing patterns for this book! The publication date is February 8th (after being delayed more times than I can count) and it’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon and at most places books are sold. I have also published the corresponding blog posts so that you can order your yarn ahead of time! Now that the manuscript process is completely wrapped up, I feel ready to share my first writing experience with you! I hope you enjoy reading it! It’s been so much fun to share this new journey with you all. You helped me design some of the sweaters through Instagram polls, you helped me test each pattern to make them even better, and you are the reason this book even came to be. I’m so grateful to you! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to get you an answer!

Here’s my story –

For me, this book deal was such a blessing and it came at a time in my life where I felt like everything was falling apart. This was the spring of 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, my partner had just lost his job in Alberta and we moved back home to Manitoba to figure out what the heck we were going to do. However, due to the inter-provincial quarantine requirements, we couldn’t look for rentals once we arrived in Manitoba, and had to live with family in the basement for what ended up being a few months. (Thank goodness we have loving family to give us a place to stay!) I’m sure you can imagine this kind of stress, and on top of it, all of my things (including work things and tax receipts during tax time) were packed away in boxes in the garage and I was more disorganized than I’ve ever been. I felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

Then, I received an email that appeared to be a follow-up to one I had previously brushed off as spam. Upon closer inspection, this appeared to be a real email addressed to me from a real publishing agency asking if I’d be interested in writing a book. After doing some research on this particular publishing agency, I replied that I was absolutely interested in hearing more, and we set up a conference call to discuss what a potential Knits ‘N Knots book might look like. I had a lovely conversation with two people from Page Street Publishing that lasted about a half hour. When I was asked about whether I was more interested in doing a knit or crochet book, I told them that I thought my audience would be most receptive to a crochet book based on the fact that most of my patterns have been crochet ones, and mentioned that I was most known for sweaters. At the end of the call, it had been settled that we would be creating a crochet sweater book with a variety of layering pieces, from ponchos to cardigans. They also walked me through the basic process of writing a book and how royalties work. I felt really confident after this call and was excited to begin dreaming of pattern ideas and chapter titles.

The next step for me was to complete the Table of Contents and write one pattern for the book to send over as a sample piece before signing my contract. The purpose for this was to give my publishers an opportunity to provide important feedback so that I could confidently write the rest of the book, knowing exactly what they’re looking for. This was helpful to know that I was on the right track and a lot of helpful suggestions were given. This process of writing the very first pattern was a bit challenging for me since I had no idea what the sample pattern should entail. I didn’t even know how to write it – Google Docs? Word? I had no idea about any of it! Let’s just say I had quite a few questions, and did my best on creating one sample pattern (which ended up being the Maple Grove Cardigan, named after the beautiful maple tree in the backyard of the house we just purchased). I sent it in, received some great feedback, and I was confident that I was on the right track to begin writing the rest of the book. Once this first pattern was done, it was much easier to write the rest since I had a template to follow. The first pattern, however, was the most challenging, because I didn’t know how long it should be, how much detail was “too much detail”, how long the descriptions should be, what types of headings I wanted, etc. It was just a little daunting sitting down in front of a blank Word Document with no outline to follow and knowing that every decision is mine – which, of course, is a good thing. As I wrote the remaining patterns, I figured out what details I liked to include, went back and made some adjustments, and found my overall writing style. It just takes some practice!

Next on the to-do list was to sign the contract. I read through our contract and felt good about it. The thing about first-time authors is that the royalty rates are pretty standard across the board for your first book, with this publishing house anyway. If I wasn’t comfortable with the payment structure, this was my time to pass on this book. Truthfully, I’m not doing this for the money but because I’ve always wanted to write a book, and I know I can bring value to people with a size-inclusive pattern book filled with youthful sweaters people will love to wear. The payment I’ve received is just icing on the cake. When you write a book with a publisher, you get an advance, which is a lump sum of money to tide you over while you write the book. Then, once the book is published and making sales, you don’t receive any additional payments until the book surpasses the advance. For example, if you are paid $10,000 as an advance, once the book is published, you’ll only receive payments once the book has made $10,000 in royalties. That’s why it’s called an advance – you’re getting your money in advance. Mine was split into three payments: one upon signing the contract, one upon sending in my completed manuscript, and one when the book is finally published. 

The process overall was very smooth. The entire time I was writing, I was in contact with one person from Page Street Publishing (Emily) who was so helpful in answering my questions and walking me through every step of the process. She always responded to my emails immediately and made me feel at ease while I worked through the manuscript. I think that she is one of the main reasons my experience was so positive. I felt like I had a mentor who had my best interest in mind and it made me feel very comfortable from start to finish. I’ve heard some stories from other publishers that were less than ideal, and my personal experience was just fantastic from the get-go.

I can’t wait for you to get your hands on this book. I poured my heart and soul into these designs and I hope you love it. You can find all the pre-order information on this page here. View the book blog posts here with all tester photos, customization tips and tricks, yarn substitutes, and so much more information.

Make sure to follow along on Instagram (@knitsnknotswpg) for more book updates and special behind-the-scenes details!

Preorder my book – Modern Crochet Sweaters: 20 Chic Designs for Everyday Wear – here!

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Janine